Page 106 of Critical Doubt

"We found the road map," he told Todd. "This will all be over today. As soon as everyone else is rounded up, your opportunity to talk isn't going to be worth that much."

"The map won't help you. You're seriously underestimating your former team."

"Then talk to me."

"They're listening, aren't they?"

Ryker shrugged. "You've never been stupid. Look, Todd, the shipment left earlier. This plan is already being executed, and you're on the outs. Your team has moved on without you. They clearly consider you a liability. In fact, you should count yourself lucky that you're in custody, because you might be targeted if you weren't. You know too much. You're a loose end."

"They're my team. You stepped away, I didn't."

"Paul didn't abandon anyone, but he's in the hospital. Are you sure you know who you're working for?"

Hearing the coldness in Ryker's voice made Savannah understand why he'd so often been called Stone Cold. He'd just never talked to her that way. But now his anger, his feeling of betrayal, was making him heartless. And Todd was getting nervous.

"I'm working with my team—our team," Todd said.

"It's notourteam anymore."

"We knew we couldn't count on you. That's why we didn't bring you in. You always thought you were better than us because you went to West Point."

"Mason went to West Point, too."

"Mason got there through a lot of hard work. You had family connections. And Mason has little support now. His medical expenses are beyond belief. You have no idea what it's like to have money problems. You've always had it easier than the rest of us. You don't know what it feels like to be desperate. But I do. And so do the others. We're doing this for the right reasons."

"Is Ryker rich?" Parisa asked, drawing her attention away from the interview.

"I don't know. I don't think so," she said. "He lives on a boat on the Chesapeake Bay. He drives a ten-year-old truck. If he has money, I don't know where it is." She frowned as she realized there was probably a lot about Ryker she still didn't know. She turned her attention back to him.

"Once again," Ryker continued. "I have to remind you that Paul is in the hospital after he stopped someone from trying to kill me. The team is shattered. It's done."

"I told you I don't know what happened there. You're trying to get me to turn on my team. I don't do that. You should know that about me."

"Who else is involved besides Hank and Mason? Is Chief Tanner part of this plan? How did you get him involved?"

"Paul knew some shit about him. Tanner cooperated to keep us quiet, but he only helped fake our deaths. He didn't know anything else." Todd paused. "But he got nervous when he realized you were staying at my house. He thought you might find the evidence we'd told him we had on his porn problems. I guess he decided to blow up the house, which was stupid. Mason was really pissed about that."

"It made everything look suspicious," he agreed.

"Yeah. The whole thing was harder than I thought it would be. I wish I'd died first. Having to see Abby's face, Tyler's tears…" Todd shook his head. "That was rough."

"It's too bad Paul didn't get to see what he was putting his family through," he said sharply. "Did you tell him the pain his wife and child were in?"

"I couldn't. He was having too many second thoughts. I had to tell him they were okay. I even said Colin was there. He thought Colin was better for Abby, so it made him more comfortable."

"It made him comfortable to know another man was going to take care of his wife?"

"He felt like a failure. He was trying to make it legitimately, but he couldn't find work."

"He could have found work. He could have joined your company. Are they a part of this? Because after you left, they were grabbing up your files like there was some big secret in them."

Todd had no reaction to that beyond a simple frown. "I don't know why they'd do that. They weren't a part of anything. Those jobs were stupid. I was a babysitter, and they didn't pay me well. Colton and Trent were raking it in, but not the rest of us."

"How's it going down today? Who's working the intercept? Where are the guns going? How is the ransom going to happen?" The questions shot out of his mouth, one after the other.

"Before I say anything more, you have to promise to help me."

"I'm not FBI. I can't do anything to help you."

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