Ryker (Hope City #6) - Kris Michaels Page 0,62

at her turned and ran from the room. The one who remained stared at her and then went back to the door and shut it but turned on the light in the room.

A bed, dresser, and nightstands were the reason for the shadows she’d seen before they turned the light on. He sat down on the end of the bed and dropped his elbows to his knees, still staring at her. His sculptured features were a bit too narrow to be handsome, but he wasn’t what she expected. His clothes were nice. He wore slacks, leather slip-on shoes, was cleanly shaved, and his hair was swept back from his forehead, held with gel. She spent as much time examining him as he did her. Finally, he spoke. “It seems I am now in the center of a very messy situation. The men who have taken you have made critical errors. I don't plan on paying the price these errors will cost. You are my ticket away from their impending demise.” He chuckled when her eyebrows drew tight in confusion. “A simple snatch-and-grab. Stupid. They’ve been doing too much of their product. They had it in their mind that they could get Terrell to give up that whore by holding you for ransom. You blew that out of the water when you shot Peña. I can’t blame you, but I wish you had better aim. Now I must kill both of them. That will be… difficult as they have loyal followers. Your captain will have a choice to make. I wonder what he’ll do.”

Brie shook her head. She knew whatever they were trying to pressure Ryker into was horrendous and Ryker would break the law he’d spent his life upholding. Besides, she’d witnessed them kill one man, and probably another. Tears dripped off the bridge of her nose. Those men had wanted to use her to make Ryker break the law. He’d face an impossible decision. She closed her eyes and shook her head again. He wouldn’t—no, couldn’t—give in to criminals.

“Yes, that is exactly what I thought, too.” He stood and put his hands on his hips. “Sometimes people lose touch of the ideal of a business for profit versus a lifestyle. ‘Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ I believe that is the saying used by many. It is true. Unfortunately for you, they forgot that the business can sustain loss and still be profitable.”

He turned to walk away, and Brie screamed behind the gag, begging him to let her go. He stopped and stood there, facing the door for a moment. “They declared war when they tried to kill your police captain. Now… well, the business will suffer from their delusions of grandeur. I need a few hours to arrange things, then I’ll be back for you. Hopefully, during my absence, Peña doesn’t die and Rubio doesn’t kill you.”

Ryker leaned back and looked down the table at his team. In anticipation of the warrants coming through, Deputy Commissioner Duckworth had formed an interdepartmental strike force led by Ryker’s JDET team. There were three buildings they’d descend upon simultaneously. Right now, only his sergeant, lieutenant, and Tiernan Conner, the captain in charge of the SWAT teams they'd use, were present. The Deputy Commissioner was to his right.

“Do you have everything you need?” Deputy Commissioner Duckworth picked up the stack of paperwork she’d been working through.

“Yes ma’am, I believe we do.” He glanced at Tiernan. “You good?”

“We are,” Tiernan nodded. “As soon as we get these blueprints uploaded to the computer systems, my men and I will develop a plan of attack. We’ll be ready.”

“I’ll brief Commissioner King. I believe someone in this room is still on medical leave.” She turned her dark brown eyes on him and pegged him with a stare.

“I am. I promise I won’t lift anything bigger than my cell phone.”

Fuck. Speaking of cell phones, he hadn’t called Brie. From the moment he’d placed the first call until this moment, he’d focused on nothing but the case. He glanced at the clock. Damn, it was almost eleven. He’d call her when the meeting broke up. She’d probably still be working at the restaurant, especially after a week away.

“See that you don’t. I won’t keep you away from this, but you are in the command vehicle. I find out you violate that order and I’ll bust your ass to beat cop and put you in the Desert. Copy?” Deputy Commissioner Duckworth was a ball buster and a damn good cop.

He tried