Page 72 of Without Fail

“Yeah, he is and I’ve known about it for a long time,” his father said tiredly.

“What do you mean?”

“That kidnapping attempt? That was Marshal giving himself a way into our home.”

“You’re lying. He saved my life.”

“No. He and his team staged the whole thing. He’s been lying since the day you met him.”

Ryker couldn’t speak. He had to turn his head away to hide his face from his father.

No way in hell would he give Robert Langston any ammunition against him.

If law enforcement charges were correct, Robert Langston worked for one sick son of a bitch. Ryker no longer thought of the man as his father.

“You keep the books for Kenneth Cramer. He’s a sexual predator,” Ryker spat.

Robert snapped his eyes to the stranger in their midst and turned away, ignoring his comment.

Neither agreeing or denying.

But Ryker wasn’t stupid.

He had a feeling in his gut that Robert was guilty as fuck.

And he was starting to suspect that Syn was telling the truth.

Marshal had known about his dad all along.

It took four more days before Syn was able to work his magic and post bail for him.

They reached the Brick estate and Ryker was encased in a suite of rooms not far from Syn’s room. His friend collected him and they ended up in one of the estate’s many libraries.

With shaking fingers, Ryker tried Marshal’s number for the hundredth time.

There was still no answer nor had there been since he’d been given back his phone.

His call went straight to Marshal’s voicemail and he left another message.

“Hey, it’s me. I don’t know where you are or if you’re getting my messages, but my family was arrested. Syn got me out onbail, but my mom and dad were denied bail from the judge.” He squeezed the phone. “Please, Marshal, call me.”

He hated the way his voice trembled and shook, but it was what it was.

“Hey,” Syn said, sitting next to him and gently wrapping him up in his arms.

“I can’t get ahold of him. If he was involved, why can’t I get a hold of him?”

“I’m sure he’s okay. We would have heard differently if he wasn’t. You know that. There isn’t a damned thing that happens in this city that Brick and I don’t know about.”

His friend’s words reassured him somewhat, but he was still terrified that something bad had happened to Marshal.

He still couldn’t stay focused on Marshal’s part in all of this. If he thought too long about Marshal setting up the kidnapping or using him to get into his grandfather’s safe, then his brain would shut down.

If he thought about them being lovers… He shuddered, fighting down nausea as thoughts of being used took over.

Sucking in several quick breaths, he stared at nothing.

“Ry…” Syn’s murmurs filtered to his ears and he knew the man had been saying his name for a while. Syn had gone from holding him to lightly gripping his shoulders.

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