Page 22 of Locked Down

Davis’s voice dropped and Ryker missed what he said but then,“I’ve worked long and hard to build this reputation and if I don’t come out swinging, my base will wonder why.”

“It will be fine. Your base will understand. Tone the rhetoric down. We won’t tell you again.”

The sound of the call ending filtered down to Ryker’s ears.Interesting.Someone was calling the shots with Davis. Or at least trying to. What was it all about?

The sound of Davis making another call met his ears.“It’s Davis.”

Ryker couldn’t hear the other side of the call this time.

“We need to meet. The Lock and Key at Hay-Adams. Tomorrow at noon.”

That was it. Davis turned on the shower and Ryker could only hear the water running after that. Who was Davis meeting and what the hell did it have to do with anything? And most importantly who was pulling Davis’s strings?

ELEVEN

Vic woke with a serious headache. The whiskey, but damn if Ryker wasn’t right. It put her out like a light. She glanced over at the clock. Nine a.m.! She bolted upright and then remembered it was Saturday. She was taking the day off. She’d arranged it specially, making sure everyone knew she couldn’t work. She’d told Joyce she had a friend from school coming to town. Her uncle liked her to stay in touch with her friends from her boarding school days. He viewed them as contacts he might be able to use in the future.

The reality was she had no friends from her boarding school days and her whole plan for the day was to stay home, eat junk food, and watch Netflix. She’d earned a day off before last night, but now she really needed it.

Getting to her feet she shuffled like an old woman into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Her cell rang. She stared at her uncle’s name on the screen. What would happen if she didn’t answer it? He’d probably go ballistic. Did she care? Sadly, she did.

She hit the talk button.“Uncle Austin.”

“How you doin’ today, sugar?”

Sugar. He hadn’t called her that in years. And his accent was thick. He wanted something. All the signs were there.

Her stomach rolled again.“A little shaken up.”

“I am so sorry that I couldn’t spend time with you last night. There was so much goin’ on but I should’ve made you my priority.”

When Uncle Austin was kind, her nerves went on high alert. That atypical behavior meant he was only watching out for his interests.

Her stomach twisted in knots. He wanted her to say it was fine, and she would, because that’s how they played this game. She put a hand over her stomach, hoping the queasiness would go away.“That’s okay. Therewasa lot going on.”

“I just knew you’d understand, sugar. Why don’t you come over and we’ll have breakfast? How does that sound? Marilee will be joinin’ us. Is that okay?”

Her breath caught in her throat. Marilee Hartford was the widow of a huge Texas oil man. She wielded a lot of power. Uncle Austin had been dating her for a few years. Talk about unholy alliances. She didn’t fancy having breakfast with that pair of snakes.

Guilt washed over her. That wasn’t fair. Her uncle had provided her with the life she wanted. She needed to be kinder in her thinking towards him.

“Of course, Uncle Austin. It will be nice to see her.”

“Great. I’ll see you in an hour,”he said and then hung up.

Vic stood over the toilet, breathing through her nausea, trying to decide if it would just be better to throw up. It was touch and go for a minute or so but then her stomach settled down again. She got into the shower, cranked the lever to hot, hot, hot, and tried to relax.

Three weeks.Three weeks until her thirtieth birthday. Then she would be free. She would inherit the solar farm from her father, and she could start running it. She had no idea what state it was in, but she knew it still functioned. Her father, Laredo, Larry to his friends, had started out running a farm store. He’d been successful at it but became disenfranchised with everyone ignoring the environment. He believed in communal living. He believed that people should grow their own food, make their own clothes, and share any excess. He also believed in making his own power using Mother Nature.

His father had left him a vast piece of land in Texas, and Larry had turned it into a commune with a solar farm. When she was born, Larry as he wanted her to call him, put everything into her name with the proviso that he would run it until she turned thirty and then she would take over. Another catch was added when she decided to leave the commune. She had to be working on her thirtieth birthday, and not as a barista or some other part-time service job. She had to have a career. Something that said she could run the farm and contribute to its ongoing success.

That’s why she was working for her uncle. She was learning the ins and outs of Washington, getting her feet wet with things like negotiations and the politics of running a business. But she was also learning marketing and how to manage people. All good skills to have when she took over the solar farm. She’d taken finance courses at university, so she was in a good position to take over. Her uncle had urged her, no, almost demanded that she study law, but she convinced him that finance would be helpful as well. He had lawyers but he could always use someone who knew about money.

Three weeks. Then she would…what? Move back there? That thought didn’t exactly appeal. God only knew what state the farm was in. She couldn’t bring herself to check. If it was an unmitigated disaster, there’d be time enough to find that out.

Still, it was hers and while she didn’t believe in communal living, she believed in solar power. Her mother, Doris, and Larry, and the others could live there forever, as far as she was concerned. She just had to run the place. Her uncle might not be her cup of tea in all kinds of ways, but she’d learned a thing or two from him.

In her most confident moments, she thought she could move to Texas and make something of the solar farm. She could live in Dallas or Houston and make the solar farm a success. She could travel and take the vacations she’d always wanted. See the world.

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