Page 16 of Locked Down

She bit her tongue to stop from pointing out that while she was always prepared, this was supposed to be her weekend off. She’d planned to walk out the door and not come back until Monday morning, like normal humans do.

He looked her up and down one more time and made a sound deep in his throat.“It will have to suffice. Do better next time.”

Heat crawled up her neck and into her cheeks. She kept her mouth shut though, and waited for him to continue, because she knew there was more. She’d made the mistake of arguing with him in her younger years. Raising a dispute with him never ended well. Situations like that tended to get very ugly very quickly. She didn’t need the humiliation. Just better to let it go.

“Joyce, send her the address.”He glanced over at her again.“You need to move quickly. It starts at six-thirty. Stay an hour and be sure to chat with certain people. Joyce will send you the list and the talking points. Make sure you cover each topic and talk to each person I've specified. Don’t miss anyone.”He gave a final sigh and then waved his hand.

Vic left the office, careful to keep her eyes on the floor to avoid making eye contact with anyone who might be remaining at their desks, though chances of that were limited. Every one of her co-workers had left ages ago. She made her way back to the elevator and stood silently, practicing yoga breathing to calm herself down. Tears swam in her eyes and her throat ached. She also wanted to scream at her uncle, but she couldn’t. He’d saved her almost fifteen years ago and she owed him. A fact he made sure she never forgot.

Ryker appeared at her elbow as the elevator doors opened. “Carl will drive you in your uncle’s SUV. He’ll be out front shortly.

“Thank you,”she muttered as she got into the elevator. The doors closed and she collapsed against the wall. The heat in her face was as intense as the cramps in her belly. She sucked in oxygen and tried not to cry. Crying was for the weak. She was just tired of being in the stressful environment that came with working for her uncle. There was never any downtime. Tired of his people hating her.Three weeks. But the mantra that had been working for the last three months was just not cutting it. The next three weeks would be brutal.

The elevator doors opened, and she walked out to the street. A couple of minutes later, Carl came around the corner in the black Mercedes SUV. He pulled to the curb and waited. She made a face. Not that she expected preferential treatment, but it would have been nice if he’d opened the door for her. She pulled open the back door and climbed into the SUV. Carl took off almost before she had the door closed. She flew back in her seat.

It took her two blocks to get her seatbelt on with all his erratic driving. The belt kept locking. Finally, she got settled and then tried not to pay attention to Carl’s driving. He was going way too fast and cutting people off. Apparently, he was majorly pissed off that he wasn’t back at the office waiting for her uncle. Or at least that’s what she assumed from the way he was driving and the daggers coming from his eyes when he looked in the rearview mirror.

The sound of a phone ringing reached her. It wasn’t hers. Carl picked up and exchanged a few terse words with the caller and then hung up, but he immediately slowed down and started driving like he normally did when her uncle was in the car.

Someone had called to yell at Carl. She would like to think it was her uncle, but she knew differently. Ryker. Her uncle wouldn’t have given her the SUV. Ryker was being as good as his word. Making sure she had a ride. And then checking up on that ride. She had no idea how he knew Carl was being an ass, but he must have because now Carl was behaving himself. Ryker was good at his job. And not half bad to look at.Who was she kidding?One thing about her upbringing in a commune was she’d learned to be honest with herself. Ryker Sterling was drop-dead gorgeous. Nice, too. A trait she didn’t come across too often in D.C.

Carl stopped at the curb in front of yet another hotel. He hopped out before she could say anything. He came around and opened her door.

“I can take a cab home, Carl,”she said as she gathered her things. She’d just put one leg out of the SUV and started to stand when the door next to her exploded. Bits of foam and leather flew in her face. She reared back and fell onto the seat of the SUV. Carl stood there as if stunned stupid. The next bullet hit him, and he went down. Vic screamed. The doormen ran for cover. It took a few minutes before she realized the shooting had stopped. The sound of sirens was getting louder.

She got up her nerve and got out of the SUV. Her knees almost didn’t hold her. She went over, flopped down on the pavement next to Carl, and searched for a pulse. There was none. Carl’s sightless eyes stared heavenward; shock still written on his face.

NINE

One of Ryker’s team had called him with the news of the shooting. He also heard it on the police scanner. At first, the police thought Davis had been hit, not realizing the bodyguard had taken the bullet. Knowing he had to get the senator to his home as quickly as possible, Ryker immediately dispatched a team to the scene. He was concerned for Vic and had left instructions for his people to bring her to Davis’s house as soon as she was allowed to leave the scene. Someone needed to look after her. She needed some help.

Ryker wanted to be on the scene, but his job was to keep Davis safe. He’d evacuated Davis from the building and broke several speeding laws as he raced to get him home. Ryker was on the phone the whole way, breaking yet more laws, calling in everyone on his team to report to the house for additional security. Davis had insisted that his assistant needed to come with him, and Ryker had accommodated the request, although Joyce had glared at the back of his head the entire drive as if he had been the shooter.

Now they were seated in Davis’s home office, and Ryker had set his team to patrolling the grounds.

“Joyce, make sure to send our condolences to Carl’s family. See if his wife needs anything,”Davis barked.

“He wasn’t married,”Joyce replied from her position across the room.

“Right. Speak to his parents then and arrange a time for me to meet with them. Make it before the press conference.”

Ryker gawked at Davis.“Press conference?”

Davis glared at him.“Yes, of course. I have to extend my condolences to Carl’s family and decry this horrible act of violence.”He paused, and drummed his fingers on his chin, as if in thought. Then, he said,“Floyd, can you get Wallingford and a few others to condemn this attack? You know the drill. Make sure they mention me by name.”

Floyd nodded as he left the room, his cell phone already glued to his ear.

Ryker bit his tongue for as long as he could, but the whole scene turned his stomach. He got politics, playing the game was a necessary evil, but this was over the top.“Perhaps you should check on your niece,”he suggested.

Davis glared over at him but immediately started speaking into his cell, his Texas accent sounding much deeper than it had moments ago.“Yes, yes, I’m fine. An old dog like me is hard to kill,”he said and followed it with a chuckle.“I am deeply disturbed about this.”His voice was now all serious.“I am devastated at the loss of that fine young man. I will be speakin’ with his family shortly. Wonderful people. Such a tragedy.”

Ryker moved to stand by the door, so he could miss most of the conversation which was turning his stomach. The shit being slung in that room made him long for a shovel to keep his head above it, and for a long, hot shower. How did the man not feel dirty when he acted under false pretenses? Ryker would get as many details as he could from his people.

The police arrived, one lead detective followed by a couple of FBI agents. Lazlo, Davis’s chief of security strolled in after them. They all wanted to talk to Ryker, and of course, Davis.

It was going to be a long night, no question. Joyce glared at him as he suggested she go to the kitchen to find someone to make coffee. Maybe it was condescending, but there was no one else to do it, no disrespect intended, and it wasn’t like he was telling her to make it. Just deliver the flipping request. She was the one who’d come over to the house from the office and wanted to be of service. Floyd had left already, and Lazlo was completely useless. And no way in heck was Davis going to do it. On a night like this, coffee was a necessity.

Ryker gave the agents and the cop a rundown on the security protocols he’d just gotten in place. He mentioned he just started yesterday and had no viable suspects at this time. He introduced them to Lazlo and instructed the security chief to turn over any death threats that Davis had received, along with any other pertinent information.

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