Page 107 of Critical Doubt

"You seem tight with Savannah. Can you get her in here? She loves Paul. She'll want to help me."

"Will she? After what you guys did to Abby?"

"It was for her own good. And for Tyler, too."

"Whatever you say to me, you're saying to the FBI. You know that. If you want a deal, show them you have something to sell. Give us information that we can use."

There was a long moment of silence. Savannah watched as the two men stared at each other with so many emotions she couldn't begin to decipher them.

Then Todd sat back in his chair. "I'm not talking until I get a promise in writing." He looked past Ryker to the mirror. "Do you hear that, Savannah? Make me a deal or get me a lawyer. That’s all I have to say."

"You're a fool, Todd," Ryker said. "We carried you for years, covering up your mistakes, making excuses for your lack of abilities, for the way your nerves got in the way of executing your missions. I can't carry you anymore. I'm done."

Ryker pushed back his chair and stood up, leaving the room without a backward glance.

"That was cold," Parisa commented.

"Yes," she said, feeling a chill in her bones. When Ryker didn't immediately enter the room where they were, she wondered if he'd left so abruptly because he was truly pissed at Todd or because the bells had started going off. "I thought he'd come in here when he was done. I should find him."

"Give him a minute to cool off. And while you're doing that, you can tell me what's going on between you two," Parisa said, giving her a speculative look.

"We're working together."

"I'm not blind, Savannah. I've seen you work with plenty of men, but there is a hell of a lot of tension between you and Ryker. It feels like romantic, sexual tension to me."

"Fine. We had a very brief fling a long time ago, and since we saw each other at the funeral, it got going again."

"I knew it."

"Yes, you're very insightful," she said dryly.

"You should be careful, Savannah."

"Why? Because hanging around with him almost got me killed?"

"No. Because he looks like the kind of man who could break your heart."

She let out a sigh. "He probably is that kind of man. But as much as I tell myself that there is no future and I should keep my guard up, I can't do it. I can't seem to back away from him. It's like there's this invisible rope between us, always trying to pull us together."

Parisa gave her an understanding smile. "You have it bad. And I know exactly what you mean."

"It was that way with you and Jared?"

"Yes, and like you and Ryker, we met under extreme circumstances. That only heightened everything."

"But you guys made it last. That's impressive."

"Do you see a future with Ryker?"

"I don't know. Our lives are in very different places. He has issues he's dealing with that stem from the attack on his team. I think that's why he's having trouble handling Todd. He knows how much the guys have suffered since leaving the service, because he has suffered, too. And he appreciates their desire to take care of their families, even though he hates what they've chosen to do."

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions. That's what my stepfather always says. We've both seen a lot of people do terrible things for what they think are good reasons. But you can't get caught up in their motivation, not with a multi-million-dollar cache of weapons on the line."

"You don't have to worry. I won't compromise myself."

"Not even for Ryker?"

"He would never ask me to do that." Her gaze flew to the door as it opened, but it wasn't Ryker; it was the special agent in charge of the DC office, Lloyd Paxton, a fifty-something man, with twenty years of experience at the bureau. She'd met him briefly on her way into the office, and he hadn't seemed too thrilled with the fact that she'd delayed bringing them into the case until this point. He also didn't seem to like having Ryker in the mix, but so far, he had let Parisa run the show.

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