Page 39 of Locked Down

Lazlo nodded and then stifled a yawn with the back of his hand.

"Why don't you head home? We're good here for the moment.I'mgoing towant more guys on at night, so come back after you've had some sleep and some food."

"Alright. See you around ten."

Ryker watched as the other man left the room. Tedious, that's what it was, Ryker decided.Not enoughaction.All this timespenttrying to figure shit out.One of the many things he liked about the Lock and Key Society was that the job wasneverboring.Monstersneededtobe wrangledall the time. If therewasa problem, he or one of his team would solve it. Easypeasey.If itwasup to him,Davis would've been six feet under by now.Problem solved. Archer's strict adherence to the rules made life difficult.

He rubbed his eyes and then snapped his laptop closed. Staring at the screen was only making him sleepier. What he needed was time in the sack. He immediately thought of Vic.He'dlike a lot more time in bed with herandsleeping wasn't on the menu.He rubbed his eyes again. He needed to clear his head.

Getting up offthe couch, hewent through the kitchen and out the back door.He wandered over to the edge of the pool. Tony was right. There was nowhere to hide in the backyard. It was either grass or pool with very few areas blocking anyone's view. The pool house was therebutthe guy would've had to walk across the patio to get to the drainpipe. No overhanging trees offering him handy foot orhand holdsto climb either.

Ryker stared at the house. Had there been two of them? One to hold the ladder and one to go up and enter the house? Then where was the ladder? Ryker couldn't picture any of the men who worked for Jacobs bringing a ladder andthencarrying it back to the truck once his buddy was inside. That's just ridiculous.

Ryker looked at the light blue sky. The sun was shining, and the temperature was climbing. He looked at the drainpipe.If the intruder didn't climb up that way,thenhow did he getupthere?Did hejustfall out of the sky?

He froze. That thought rattled around in his head.Wasthatevena possibility?Could Langille have jumped out of an airplane and landed on the roof? What were the odds of stickingthatlanding?

Ryker stared skywards without really seeing anything. Then he cocked his head. Maybe not. He started back towards the house. An idea just occurred to him.One that would explain the anomalies.

Ryker hurried through the house and took the stairs two at a time. He entered Davis's bedroom and looked around.Nothing.Then he walked into the bathroom and looked up. In the corner of the bathroom was an access panel to the attic. He went over and scanned the floor under the trapdoor.Nodirt or debris, nothing to indicate thatthe panel had been moved. He looked up at the panel. It looked normal.Wait a second. A smudge marred one corner of the otherwise stark white paint. It was, he realized, slightly askew.

Bingo!Thiswas how the guy entered the bathroom. He'd come down from the attic. The question changed: how did he get into the attic in the first place? Ryker scratched his chin as he stared at the ceiling.

An incoming text message distracted him. Davis had summoned him. Ryker headed down to the study.Being at this man's beck and callwas becoming tedious.

"Senator,"he said as he entered the study.

"Any progress?"Davis demanded.

"Some.Butnothingto reportjust yet.Did you need something?"

Davis's eyebrows came together, highlighting the shade of dull red his face had become."Yes, I bloody well need something. I need you to find out who's trying to kill me!"

Floyd stood up."Senator, I think maybe a break is in order. You've had a long couple of days and very little sleep. Don't forget we have an early meeting tomorrow. Maybe you should take the rest of the afternoon off and relax. We need you to be fresh."

Davis shot his assistant a look and his lip started to curl when his eye caught something. The clock? Ryker thought that was it. A sudden change came over the man, like someone had just injected him with lithium. He calmed down instantly."I think you're right. I just need a little lie down. I'mgonnahead up.Find me if you need anything."

He turned to Ryker."Is it safe to stay in myownroom?"His eyes snappedbuthe kept his voice calm.

"Yes, sir.I have extra men on the grounds outside, as well astwo men in front of the video feed.I've ordered all the cameras checked, so we're good to go."

"And yet you still can't figure out how this happened."He madetskingsounds as he walked by Ryker and went out into the foyer.

Ryker bit the inside of his cheek. There was no need to tell Davis what he'd discovered yet.He needed to confirm it first, and eventhen, he mightnottell Davis.He would have to talk to Archer about it.

He nodded to Armstrong who was studying some paperwork and went back to the office off the kitchen. He opened his laptop and wasin the midst ofwriting an email to his boss when he heard Davis's voice through the vent. It wasn't as loud as before, but he could still make out the words.

"What do you mean why am I home?"

The tinny voice from last time reached Ryker."Your stunt last time made it very clear to us that you want to be in the public eye, so why aren't you out there now?"

"Because someone tried to kill me,"Davis retorted."Last time you told me to stay home. Now you want me out? Make up your mind,"he snarled.

"Last time you set up a fake hit using your niece as baitandthen you wanted to go on all the TV shows and talk radio to rail about it. You wanted to be out there after you put your niece into the line of fire. That would've looked like you were exploiting what happened to her. Some of the newspapers even hinted at that. We don't want you doing anything at her expense. It tarnishes your reputation."

Adrenaline juiced through Ryker's veins. His hands closed into fists as he fought to stay on the couch. He wanted to run upstairs and strangle Davis with his bare hands. That man, herownuncle, had arranged for Vic tobe shotat. He was a cold, sick individual. Ryker's stomach was a bundle of knotsandhis pulse pounded in his ears.

The voice continued."This is different.Thishappened to you. Nowyoucan go out and be in the public eye. Just don't go on TV or radio to talk about it. Put yourself out there, but don't be so obvious about it."

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