Ryker (Hope City #6) - Kris Michaels Page 0,31

when I need to make a point or get someone to listen to what I’m saying, and that’s what you need to do. Listen. Your relationship with this man won’t cause any hardship for your father. If it does, he’ll take steps to mitigate it. As far as Brody’s problems, that’s on Brody. Your brothers are protective. You ripped him a new one, and from the looks of it, Amber is confirming your tirade.” Hannah nodded down the hall. Amber’s hands were on her hips and she was talking a mile a minute. “Just give him a while to lick his wounds. He’ll figure out he was way off the mark and apologize. And if he doesn’t, I’ll show him the light of day.”

“I was going to bring Ryker to the house on Sunday and introduce him to you and Dad and whoever else came to dinner.” She dabbed her eyes again. “Did I get it all?”

Her mother took a fresh tissue and dabbed under her eyes. “There are no more mascara rings.”

Brie laughed and stared down at the phone in her hand. “Should I call his family?”

Her mother shook her head. “Well, I would want to know if my child was hurt. Would you want to know if one of the boys was shot?”

“Yes, I would.” She opened the phone and scrolled down his list of contacts to the one that read Father. She punched the number in and put the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Terrell?”

“No, my name is Benjamin Ganas. I take it you’re calling about Ryker?”

“Ah, yes sir, my name is Brianna King, I’m Ryker’s... girlfriend. I’m calling to let you know that Ryker was injured in the line of duty. He’s going to be okay, but he’s had surgery. He’s at Sacred Heart and is being moved into the post-surgical ward.”

“Did he ask you to call me?” The man’s question was more like a demand.

“No sir. My mother and I felt we would want to know if a member of our family was injured, so I called you.”

There was a pause before he spoke again. “Brianna was it?”

“Yes sir.”

“Thank you for the call.”

She lowered the phone and frowned. The man had hung up. “Wow, okay, that was weird.”

“How so?” Her mom looked at her expectantly.

“Well, he was rather distant.” Uptight and cold were the words she’d use.

“Some people don’t show emotion easily.” Her mom patted her arm.

She nodded. Yeah, maybe. She bit her lip and glanced down the hall. Damn, she hoped making that call wasn’t a mistake. Ryker had so much on his plate as it was, he didn’t need family drama thrown into the mix.

Ryker winced as he pushed the button to lift his bed up straighter. He’d asked the nurse to send in Terrence and Brody. He needed to talk to them without Brie present.

There was a knock and Terrence opened the door, stepping inside with Brody on his heels. “Well, shit, you don’t look too bad.” Terrence walked up and shook his left hand carefully. Brody just nodded from the foot of the bed.

So be it. He directed his question to his lieutenant. “What have we learned from responding patrols and the crime scene techs? Who has the case?”

“Shootings Division has the case. Detectives Callaway and Forsythe. They are waiting to talk to you.” Terrence nodded toward the door.

“Call them in.” Brody moved to leave. “No, Terrence, you go get them. I need a moment with Sergeant King.”

Terry whistled and then chuckled. “Going to get it again, aren’t you, Sergeant King?”

Brody flipped off Terrence, causing the man to let loose with a rumble of laughter. “You’re not my type, King.” He opened the door and walked out.

Ryker pinned his sergeant with a stare. “Are we going to have a problem?”

Brody's gaze met his. He couldn’t read what was going on behind those blue eyes that looked so much like Brianna’s, but what he could do was confront his sergeant about the situation.

“No sir.” The response was terse and clipped.

“What did he mean by get it again?”

“Family issues.”

Right. That was a door closing in his face. Not like he’d let that deter him. “Yeah, well, here’s a bit of news for you: I love your sister. I’m not going anywhere, so that makes me family adjacent. You report to Terrence and then to the Deputy Commissioner, and before her, it was to Major Hughes. I didn’t change your supervision back to me after my return to duty because at first, I was swamped