Silence #2
Zayden takes a breath and begins. “Cleo can’t find anything out about Ryker. He’s clearly using a fake name. The only reason she was able to put two and two together at the restaurant is because of CCTV footage. If we don’t know him, it means we can’t find him, which means—”
“We can’t kill him,” Xavier grumbles. “Perfect. What does he want?”
“Everything.” Zayden looks at me, and I lean further into Yale. “The Agency, the businesses—”
“So what?” Xavier asks. “Tell him to go fuck himself.”
Zayden looks at me, as if he’s about to throw me into the deep end and I should brace.
“I plan on doing just that, but right now, he’s got the advantage.”
“If he’s so dangerous, can’t we just give him what he wants?” I ask. “It’s just a business.”
“It’s more than that.” Zayden’s level tone forces me to meet his eye. “He’ll get resources. Contacts. Weapons. He’ll have the power to do a lot of damage, Q, and he doesn’t seem like he wants to do anything positive with it.”
“Is there anything positive about training killers?” I ask, then shrink back. “Sorry.”
Yale mumbles in my ear, his breath tickling my neck. “Not exactly a team player, Q.” I laugh and elbow him. “The recruits also rely on us,” he adds. “Some of them come to us because they have nowhere else to go. Ryker will likely kill them if we give him control.”
It makes sense. In my rational brain, I get it, but we’re also putting our lives on the line for a business.
“So that’s a big no-no.” Xavier finishes his coffee. “What’s the plan, then?”
“We arrange a meeting. Say we agree to his terms. We kill him,” Zayden states simply. “He’s had the upper hand so far; he’s likely getting cocky. Especially after Grant.”
“Surely he won’t fall for that?” I ask, looking between them.
Xavier says, “Unless he thinks we’re putting something important at risk, too.”
I blink, and Zayden’s expression turns thunderous. “Not a fucking chance.”
“What?” I ask, but both men are quiet. “You mean use me?”
“No,” Zayden growls. “We’re not using my wife as bait.”
Xavier rolls his eyes. “Please, we’ll be close the whole time. He clearly has a fascination with her. She’s a good distraction, and you’re also not giving Silence enough credit. She’s smart. She’s strong. She held her own when she was in that hotel room, so why can’t she do it again?”
“Did you just compliment me?”
“I’m clearly delirious from blood loss. Don’t get used to it.” He side-eyes me but winks, and I bite the inside of my lip before looking away. “We have the perfect distraction. Silence and Ryker meet somewhere public. She brings the paperwork for the Agency—”
Yale sighs. “Again, with the paperwork. Everything is online, you fucking dinosaurs.”
“Whatever.” Xavier waves his hand. “She keeps him talking, we kill him.” He uses his thumb and forefinger as a gun and fires.
Zayden looks less than convinced. “I don’t like it.”
I raise my hand. “Don’t I get a say in this?
I’m the big, fleshy piece of bait, right?
So it’s my decision.” They stare at me, waiting for an answer I realize I don’t have.
Am I okay with being bait? Not really, but Xavier is right.
I handled Ryker once, and that was with no preparation.
I can do it again, especially if it means we can go home.
“Let’s … do it.” Zayden opens his mouth to argue, but something Xavier said has me jumping in before my husband can try to change my mind.
“What do you mean he has a fascination with me?”
Zayden says nothing, clearly still not comfortable with involving me so deeply, so Xavier pipes up. “He had Grant steal your things. Panties, stuff like that.”
My skin chills a little, and I play with my wedding ring. “He was stalking me.”
“But you’re safe here,” Yale reminds me.
I nod, but my mind drifts. To memories. A silhouette that held my hand and whispered that he’d never leave me.
“For now, we plan,” Zayden says, interrupting my thoughts. “We find a location, call in some backup. Preferably Charlie.”
Xavier whoops. “Good old Charlie Callahan. If he’s coming, there’ll be fireworks.”
“Who’s Charlie Callahan?” I ask.
Zayden smiles. “A friend of a friend.”
“He looks like a boulder,” Xavier says. “But he’s fucking adorable.”
I find myself smiling, too, a little taken with how warm Xavier is being with me. It’s unexpected but needed, especially today.
“I’m gonna get Goodwin to keep an eye on Monica,” he says, taking his phone out of his pocket. “Just in case Ryker decides to grab her.”
My heart thumps a little at the thought. If Grant was involved, then he’s right—Monica could be in danger, too.
“Shouldn’t we bring her here?” I ask.
Xavier shakes his head. “Grant is dead. It’s unlikely she’s worth anything to Ryker. Bringing her here might just put her in the firing line.”
This safe house really doesn’t seem so damn safe. Before I can ask more, Xavier leaves the kitchen, and Yale follows, telling us he’s going to make some calls and start warming up the living room.
“Tell me.”
I meet Zayden’s eye. “Hm?”
My husband’s gaze is fixed on me, and I suddenly wish he didn’t know me so well. “When Xavier mentioned that Ryker had been following you, you tensed. Why?”
Rubbing my thumb into the palm of my opposite hand, I wonder whether it’s worth dredging this back up. Probably not, but if there’s even a small chance …
“I think I love you, Silence.”
I clear my throat. “I was stalked when I was younger. I think … he didn’t follow me, but he did visit me at night. For a while.”
He frowns. “How long?”
“Four years … maybe five?”
“Holy shit, Silence.” He closes the space between us. “Did he hurt you?”
Resting my hands on his chest, I shake my head. “No, not even close. He was … harmless. Kind, even.”
“Now you’ve lost me.”
I was lost, too. Having someone sit in my room and watch me for years, especially when that someone is in a mask, would freak most people out. It didn’t scare me, though. I was so lonely growing up that I’d have taken any friend I could.
“Life was … crappy,” I admit, looking down. “I don’t like talking about it because it feels pointless now, but my dad wasn’t exactly Dad of the Year. He was paranoid, always talking about how we had to prepare …”
Zayden tilts my head up. “Prepare for what?”
“He never said. He just kept insisting that if we weren’t ready, we’d die.
” The words leave a thickness in my throat that I wish would outgrow.
I was a kid then, but it’s been years. I should be over it by now.
“He wasn’t all bad, he just … had his demons.
And he thought he was protecting me by keeping me isolated.
The person in my room was the only friend I had for a long time. ”
It felt safe to talk to someone without a face, and when he finally talked back, I cried. Maybe part of my childish mind thought he was a figment of my imagination, and hearing his voice brought to life the truth—that I wasn’t alone.
“Could it have been Ryker?” Zayden asks gently.
There’s a chance, yes. As much as I want to remember the good parts of that friendship, the way things ended …
“Maybe? The last time I saw him, it was tense. But it’s been sixteen years; why would he suddenly pop up now? And honestly … I think he broke up with me.”
My husband blinks. “Now he was your boyfriend?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I had a crush on him, but y’know, he was a masked guy in my bedroom. That isn’t exactly the basis of a healthy relationship. Could you look into it, anyway? It at least eliminates a possibility.”
He nods. “Of course.”
“And please don’t tell your brothers. Xavier would never let me live it down.”