Page 39 of Bryson's Treasure

“Did you hear them say where they were taking her?”

“Yes.”

“Where?” Grayson asked. He had his cell phone in hand, waiting for the information so he could let Noah know what was going on.

Bryson couldn’t head into a fight with just Grayson and Azadeh by his side. He would need Azadeh to be safe before he went after the man who took Lynn.

“Hotel.”

There was only one hotel in town. Bryson hoped that was where they planned to take her. Grayson was on the phone with Noah, calling for help. They would need to go back to the house to get guns and drop Azadeh off.

* * *

Bryson crouchedand watched the hotel room. He and his brothers had waited until dark to come for Lynn. It would make the extraction easier, and it gave them time to run through everything. The front desk clerk had confirmed Ricky and another person were in the room. Bryson guessed it was someone Ricky had hired.

Azadeh was back at the ranch with Kara and Matilda. Hank had sent extra men to the house to keep watch in case Ricky tried something else. Grayson was posted at the back of the hotel to make sure Ricky couldn’t escape that direction. Noah hid to one side of the door and Bryson to the other. Bryson approached the room and knocked hard on the door. “Housekeeping.”

“Go away!” Ricky shouted back.

Not wanting to break the door down, Bryson knocked again, and when it cracked open, he pushed his way in, catching the man off guard. Bryson wrapped his arm around the man at the door and squeezed until the man passed out.

Bryson let him drop to the ground and scanned the room. Ricky stood next to Lynn with a gun to her head. His old teammate had changed over the last month and a half. His hair was greasy, and his clothes hung off his body. The size of his clothes wasn’t what caught Bryson’s attention though. It was that they were so dirty.

The smell was enough to make Bryson gag. “Let Lynn go. This is between you and me.”

“You took everything from me.” Ricky wiped his arm across his face as he sniffled. Bryson hadn’t realized Ricky had been doing drugs, but right then, Ricky looked like a man going through withdrawals.

Bryson didn’t take his eyes off Ricky. He was worried if he looked at Lynn, he would lose his composure, and he had to stay calm if he was going to save her.

Out of the corner of his eye, movement caught his attention. Grayson had snuck into the hotel room from the back. If Bryson could keep Ricky talking, Grayson might be able to take Ricky out from behind.

“What do you want, Ricky?”

“I want you to pay for taking everything from me. Do you know what happens when Ibrahim al-Asiri doesn’t get his drugs?”

“No.”

Ricky lifted his shirt to show his chest. It was covered in scars. Pus oozed from the wounds, and Bryson realized where Ricky’s stench was coming from. “This.” He pressed the gun harder into Lynn’s temple. “Get me the girl, and I will leave. Ibrahim said if I bring her back, my debt will be erased.”

Bryson closed his eyes for a second. “Not going to happen.”

Ricky cocked back his arm holding the gun, but before Bryson could react, he slammed it down on Lynn’s head. The cry that escaped her lips broke his heart. Ricky didn’t have time to react again. Grayson had come up behind him and pinned his arms.

Noah grabbed the gun out of Ricky’s hand. The urge to beat the shit out of him was strong, but Lynn needed Bryson more. His brothers quickly took Ricky and his lacky out of the room, and Bryson dropped to the floor in front of Lynn. He untied her hands and feet. When her eyes didn’t open, he ran to the bathroom and got a clean rag and soaked it with water.

He rushed back and wiped her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open, and she glanced around the room. “Azadeh?”

“She’s fine and at the house with Kara and Matilda.”

Lynn let out her breath and rested her head against his chest. “I was so worried they would find her.”

Bryson kissed the top of her head. “Thank you for protecting our daughter.”

Lynn nodded against his chest. The next two hours they spent talking to the cops. Local police would hold Ricky until someone from the CIA could deal with him. Ricky wouldn’t spend his time in a normal jail. He would be taken to a place nobody knew about and pumped for information.

The man who’d helped Ricky was a thug for hire and would end up serving a few years for kidnapping. Bryson was happy that everyone who had been hunting them was finally locked away. He didn’t worry about Gabriel coming after them because Antonio was already working on taking over the whole Rockefeller company.

“Ready to head home?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He leaned down and captured Lynn’s lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer. Bryson swiped his tongue across her lips, demanding entrance. Time stopped around them. He pulled back and placed a kiss on her nose. “I love you, Lynn.”

She smiled up at him. “I love you.” She brushed her lips across his. “Thank you for saving me. Now I want to go see Azadeh.”

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