Page 26 of Locked Down

Ryker didn’t bother to point out the superiority of the Society’s investigative skills.“They’re working on it.”

“What about you? Do you have anything?”Davis’s eyes bored into him. If it was supposed to intimidate him, Davis was failing miserably. Not much intimidated Ryker.

“Not much more. I’ve got a line on a couple men who were outside Vic’s place this morning. They’re from a splinter group that says they support some of your causes, but their leader sounds a little unhinged. It’s worrisome. I’ve assigned people to keep an eye on Vic.”

Davis gave a small shrug.“It’s the price of doing business.”

Ryker bit back an retort and jammed his hands into his pocket in an effort to keep from strangling the man in front of him.“I will check everything here and then I’m heading home for some sleep.”

Davis was reading his phone screen and dismissively waved his hand.“Wait,”he called out as Ryker turned.“Have you made Archer aware of the situation?”

“Of course. You are a board member. It’s important for him to be kept in the loop when a board member is being threatened.”

Davis nodded.“And what does he suggest? Does he know anything?”

Ryker took great satisfaction in the words that came out of his mouth next.“Unfortunately, all of this happened outside of the Society. I can only keep Archer in the loop. He is not able to provide support unless of course you would like to call and ask him directly.”

Davis’s face turned an unbecoming shade of pink as he glared at Ryker.

“Will there be anything else?”Ryker asked. Davis waved him off so Ryker did as he said he would and ran a check on the security. Everything looked solid, so he went home to get some sleep. He would be back that evening. He advised the senator that he was not to go anywhere until he was back. The man just waved him off and answered his phone.

Ryker pulled out of the driveway in his Porsche and immediately dialed Archer.“We have a problem.”

“Only one?”Archer sounded as tired as Ryker felt.

“Davis just met with Bullard Whiklow.”

The silence from the other end of the conversation was ominous.

Ryker continued.“This puts a whole different spin on things.”

“Do you know what they talked about?”Archer’s voice was a whole new level of cold.

“They met in the Society location at the Hay-Adams. There’s no surveillance on the inside and I couldn’t get close enough to hear anything without one of them seeing me.”

Archer remained silent for a long moment. Ryker’s heart rate increased. One of the great things about working for Archer had always been that he was prepared for anything. There had never been a moment when he didn’t know what to do. Lately, it was becoming more and more apparent that there were things going on outside of Archer’s control. Ryker despised the unsettling feeling growing in his gut.

“Whiklow is involved in many things. I need to know what exactly he’s doing with Davis to know…how to respond,”Archer commented.“Has anything happened to give you a clue what Whiklow wants with Davis?”

“Nothing. Whiklow could obviously ultimately be the man behind the attempt to take out that couple on the board but that seems like using a bulldozer to swat a fly.”

“Agreed. Whatever the reason Davis is meeting with Whiklow, it is about more than killing a few people. It must be something huge. Whiklow controls several industries from behind the scenes, oil and natural gas among them. Is it something Davis is dealing in down in Texas?”

Ryker thought about that for a minute.“Unlikely. Texas is his stomping grounds. I don’t think he’d need a powerhouse like Whiklow down there. Whiklow is also the driver and influencer behind many of the top politicians in D.C. I think that’s a more likely scenario but what is Davis involved in that he needs Whiklow?”

Archer remained silent and then said,“Or what does Daviswantto be involved in that requires Whiklow’s permission?”

Ryker’s shoulders knotted. Whiklow had contacts from the cartels to the White House. He could make or break anyone.“If Davis is courting Whiklow…”he left the rest of the sentence unfinished. He didn’t know what it could mean.“Do you think he’s going to use Whiklow to try to take over the Society?”

“No.”Archer’s response was immediate.“Whiklow and I have a rather uneasy truce. I didn’t want him as a member for obvious reasons, but he wanted in, again for obvious reasons. He does a lot of business in our locations all over the world. He’s one of the few people we extend all kinds of outside courtesies to. We help with his security at times and supply him and his people with all kinds of support. In exchange for this, he keeps his influence outside of the Society. It’s written into his contract. An exception is allowed but only if I agree to it. If he wants to break that rule, he’s painting a target on his back. I’d be within my rights to take him out. He’s not going to risk being killed over Austin Davis. Not in a million years. Davis is small time.”

“So what are they working on together, or what does Davis want with Whiklow and why would Whiklow bother to meet with him?”Another thought his Ryker.“Davis got a phone call. I already pulled his records, and it wasn’t on his normal cell or his work cell. It must have been a burner phone. Anyway, someone is telling Davis to back off on the press stuff surrounding the shooting incident. Whoever called wanted Davis to take a cautious approach versus his usual incite a riot method.”

“Do you think it could’ve been Whiklow?”

“On the call, doubtful. Could he be behind it? Possibly. I have no idea why someone would want him to tone it down. What do you think?”Ryker asked.

“I don’t know,”Archer growled,“but I’m sure as hell going to dig until I find out what’s going on. In the meantime, keep your eyes and ears open. I need to know everything Davis is involved in. Everything, Ryker.”

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