Page 51 of Call Sign: King
“You two are together?” Ryder asked obtusely.
“Madison stopped by the house after you called. She stopped to fill us in on why she was leaving work. I packed a bag. I’m heading to Toronto with her,” Jaxson said.
Ryder’s sense of relief was palpable.
“I was just calling to ask you to do just that. My team is handling the police investigation, but I need someone with your skills to deal with the fucking press. There are news vans, paparazzi, throngs of fans… it’s a fucking circus, and it’s only going to get worse.”
“You leave them to me, but how much do you want to share?”
“I don’t want to share shit, but unfortunately, the police and fire presence has already got the sharks circling. They smell blood in the water, and they’re all looking for their piece of the story. As you know too well, since Kathleen O’Malley’s expose, they were already dogging her which is what led to the bastard finding her in the first place. If I have to so much as look at one of the assholes, I’ll lay them out flat.”
“Understood. I’ll have some time to work up a press release on the plane.”
“What do you need from me?” Ryder asked.
“Two things. One, make sure the people in charge there have my number and know you’re giving me the authority to speak publicly for you and Khloe, and two, find the fucker who did this and make him wish he’d never been born.”
“Roger that,” Ryder squeezed out, grateful for Jaxson’s no-nonsense strength in the moment. “Knowing that you’re dealing with the public and will also be in town to support Trevor and Madison is gonna give me the cover I need to leave for Russia knowing things are under control here.”
“So, you’ve figured out who is behind it then?” Jaxson asked.
“Not officially, but I just can’t think of anyone other than one of the Bratva families I used to run with in Eastern Europe having the balls to pull this off. I may not know which family yet, but we’re working on it.”
“Then get going. I’m pulling into Burbank airport now. Cash and Sam are in town. They’re lending us their plane.”
More friends he’d owe in the future. He just prayed he and Khloe would be able to thank them for their help together in the future.
“Fly safe.”
“Check in when you can.”
“Will do.” Ryder said before ending the call.
“We need to talk.” MacGyver was back.
Now that he had Jaxson on his way, Ryder couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there and get in the air.
“Can it wait?” Ryder asked, prepared to bolt to the airport.
“No.”
“Fine, then spit it out,” he said, unfairly taking his annoyance out on MacGyver.
“Axel called.”
“Okay. That’s good, right? Do they have a hit on the fingerprints?”
“Not yet. Bing’s still working on it.”
“Then what? They figure out where the plane is headed yet?”
“Wrath said to tell you they’re still trying to track the plane through the air traffic control network.”
“Fine, but as long as the GPS tracker is working…”
Ryder saw the truth in Dakota’s dark eyes before he heard the words coming out of his mouth.
“…found her implant. It went offline thirty minutes ago.”
