Page 45 of Locked Down

Ryker did his best to keep his face neutral.“It matters because we are going to need her help.”He sighed and leaned against his counter.“So far, Davis hasbeen very effective at keepingme outside of the inner circle.I’m finding out bits and pieces, but not enough. We still don’t know what the hell he’s up to. I think Vic is going to be our way in.Davis put his foot in it royally tonight,butheseemed to recover somewhat.I need to lean into that.”

Archer seemed to study Ryker.“You think telling her what a son of a bitch her uncle is will make her more willing to help?”

“That’s the plan,”Ryker agreed.

“What did Davis do this evening to anger her?”Archer asked.

“Hebasicallyput her on offer to several of the more influential political types under the guise of worrying if something happens to him, she’ll be all alone.Really,he’s trying to form alliancesbutfor what I still don’t know.”

Archer nodded.“I can see where that would agitate Invicta.”

Ryker snorted.“Yeah, it didn’t go over well.”He cocked his head.“What’s the story with Vic’s family?”

“Her parents liveona commune in Texas that her father founded. They are both still alive, as far as I know. Invicta decidedwhen she wasa teenager that she was done with commune life and pleaded with her uncle tocomesave her.Eventuallyhe did.”

Ryker’s shoulders tightened a fraction.“Does that strike you as odd?I mean,I don’t see Davis as a caring uncle, so why did he take her away from the commune?”

Archer shrugged.“I have no idea.He must have thought there was some value in it for himotherwisehe wouldn’t ever do it.You know Davis as well as I do. He’s not the type of man to care about his young niece.She must have come with somekind ofbenefit that he wanted.”

Ryker’s gut rolled.Just thethought of young Vic getting used by her uncle was enough to make him want to pound something or wrap his hands around Davis’s neck and squeeze.

Archer stood.“Tell her whatever you need her to get her to do whatever it is you need her to do. But don’t tell her too much. Just a hint or two of what he’s been up to. We don’t want him to find out we’re telling his niece about all his sins. We do need to make progress. Do some more digging. Push harder. We have to know what’s coming. If you can’t handle this, I can?—”

“I’ve got it,”Ryker said coldly. He didn’t like to be threatened, not even by Archer.

“You have a job to do, so do it. No excuses. I expect results.”Archer rose from the couch.

“You should know that Davis set up the attempt on Vic’s life. Itwas meantas a publicity stunt. One he wanted to dine out onbutthe Tin Man, the guy who calls him on the burner cell, stopped him.Saidit would look bad. So, the Tin Man sent Langille to fake an attempt on Davis’s life.Toldhim to get out there and dine out on that onebutdo it with class.Turns out,Armstrong knew about the whole thing but didn’t warn Davis so the attempt would seem more authentic.”

Archer’s eyes narrowed.“It’s like they’re setting him up for a run for office, but his seat isn’t up for re-election for a couple of years.”He jammed his hands into his pockets.“I need to make some calls.”

Ryker gave a curt nod and followed Archer to the door when the other man turned and stared at him.“Don’t get involved in Vic’s life, Ryker. Nothing good will come of it. She is just a pawn in this game, and we will use her as such. Anything else would bring trouble down on us.”

Toolate.Ryker was already under her spell. But rather than confess, he merely said,“I understand,”and kept his face neutral. How he was going to comply with Archer’s request was beyond him. He needed to give it his best shot though because the alternative was to disobey Archer and the consequences of that didn’t bear thinking about.

NINETEEN

“No more delays. You wanted thisandit’s ready. I cannot keep waiting for you. You either take it tonightoryoudon’t get it at all.”McGinnis’s gut roiled. He’d been popping antacids like candy for weeks. He was days away from retirement. Hoursreally. Once this was out the door, so was he. He had his escape all planned out. McGinnis would disappear. The island breeze would be in his hair in less than twenty-four hours. He’d have a new name and a drink in his hand.Ifhe could get this fucker to take delivery of the damn bomb.

“Fine,”the client growled.“Meet me?—”

“No, you meet me in Baltimore, on the waterfront.”He gave the exact address to the buyer.“I’ll expect you in one hour.”He clicked off the callandimmediately took the battery out of the burner phone and then crushed the phone under his heel.

Standing, he put his arms on his lower back and arched to stretch his cramped muscles. He glanced around his workspace. This hidey-hole had served him wellbutnowhis time here was done. He walked over and loaded the last few items into his duffle bag. He carried the bag to the trunk of his car on the pier. He had it parked in the shadows so no one would see it. He could make it to the car and be gone in seconds. He’d done a dry run a few times. He was good to go.

He returned inside and sat on the stool, prepared to wait, but he’d only wait so long. His shoulders tightened. He pulled out his gun from the waistband of his pants. This whole commission made him much more nervous than usual. He did not want to be here. So much could go wrong.

Suddenly, he had a thought. The edges of his mouth turned upward slightly. He walked back to the car and opened his trunk. He pulled out a length of chain, a combination lock, and a container of zip ties. Closing his trunk, he grabbed his items andheaded back intothe warehouse.

Carefully wrapping the chain around the bomb, he dropped one end through the hole in the bench.Then he brought the two ends togetherand wovethe combination lock through the two chains,thenlocked it.There. Nowitwas securedto the table. Stepone.

Next, he grabbed the zip ties and carefully fastened the chain to the bomb's wires. The chain wasn’t that thick, so it wasn’t heavy. As long as he was careful, it should be fine.

After twenty minutes of careful labor, he stood back and admired his work.Not bad.It would take them at least ten minutes to cut the zip ties to remove the chain,and that wasonlyafter they figured out that the chainwasn’t attachedin any other way. All in all, he figured he had a fifteen-minute head start. The best part of theplan,he didn’t have to be in the same area as the buyer and the bomb. He would be in his car, watching through the open door of the warehouse with binoculars.

He placed a cell phone on the tableand then walkedover to his car and got settled in.Nothingto do now but wait.Oncethis business was finished, he would have more money than he needed,andhe wouldbe officially…happily…retired.His heart rate ticked up, and his breaths came more rapidly. He just had to keep it together for another hour or so.

* * *

---