Page 58 of Break a King (Five Kings 3)

Dexter

As intrusions go this one is the most surprising and as I look up my heart starts racing when I see the anger in a certain man’s eyes as he says roughly, “Cut the call.”

I don’t even question the request because I haven’t got a death wish and as I do as he says, he lowers his body into the seat opposite my desk. I’m not even surprised that Helen doesn’t run in after him because everyone knows to keep their distance from this man. Ryder King, military badass and one of the most violent, deadly men, I think I have ever met.

“Dexter.”

He seems angry which is not a good thing – for me and I try not to let the nerves show as I face him.

“What the fuck is going on?”

“I have the same question for you?”

“Regarding...”

He slides a printed sheet of paper toward me and I look at the image in surprise. The headline tells me I’m fucked and as I read the words, I know exactly why he came.

“What’s this?”

“Tomorrow’s headlines, apparently.”

“Since when? I didn’t authorize this.”

“Then maybe you can explain why it’s ready to go?”

“I can’t.”

I lean back in my chair and tap my fingers on the desk angrily. How the fuck is this happening? Who thinks they can get away with pissing in my business and not being caught?

I peer a little closer and see an unfamiliar name credited to the story. Holly Bryant.

I tap the name into my computer and it pulls up the details of a journalist who works in the rag I call The Globe. Their offices are in the basement of this very building and I say gruffly, “The reporter works in this building, it should be easy enough to find out how she bypassed the usual channels. I’m pretty confident we can trace this one back but what would anyone gain from this, it’s just gossip?”

“Outlined in fact. Wake up, Dexter, news has been leaking from your operation for months now and are you seriously telling me that you know nothing about it because I’m not a fool?”

“I know.”

I swallow hard because Ryder King is the opposite of that and I groan. “Don’t you think I’m aware I surround myself with vermin most of the day? Hell, I’m the biggest one of all but my company has procedures and if they go against them, I show them the door. This woman will soon discover that first-hand if she is trying to make a name for herself at the expense of mine.”

“Or she could be working for someone else, someone who wants to bring our organization down and someone who stands a lot to gain from our demise.”

He is staring at me as if I’m some sort of Bond villain and I say tersely, “Stop thinking I have anything to do with that, you need to look elsewhere and if you seriously doubt my loyalty to this club, then we have a major problem.”

I glare at him and he nods. “Understood.”

“Then who is it?”

“That’s what we need to find out.”

Ryder looks thoughtful which is always a good thing and never a good thing for the person in his sights.

“The facts are revealing a picture that spells trouble for us all. I was set up for murder and then lured into a trap to introduce me to the grim reaper. Lucas was also lured into a trap with a view to ending his life. I assigned Hunter protection and now he is being called out in the press – your press, which leads me to think you are also being set up to take the fall. Brewer has been monitoring our intelligence and gathering information and we understand whoever is doing this, has some kind of involvement in this club. If not directly then they have access to our records because Lexi’s records were wiped from existence. This article reveals her humble beginnings and despite the fact she told Hunter’s family she started life in a trailer park, their background checks out and there is no evidence from any of our surveillance that the leak came from any of them.”

He shakes his head and fixes me with a hard look. “So, whoever is doing this knows more than we are comfortable with, so I expect you to crack down on this hard and find out who is feeding information to your reporters and allowing them to bypass your system.”

“But there’s only one man left if you suspect someone in this organization and you are seriously deluded if you think he’s the man responsible.”

“I didn’t say that.”

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