Page 55 of Destroy a King (Five Kings 4)

Dexter

We head to the den and Sam looks worried. “What’s up?”

In a low voice, I tell him what my cryptic text revealed.

“It appears they have our man.”

“Holly’s stepbrother?”

“Yes, he showed up at his mom’s house yesterday evening. Ryder’s team went in and now he’s safely locked up at The Rubicon awaiting interrogation.”

Sam shivers. “That doesn’t sound good—for him.”

“Only if he withholds the information we want.”

“What about her old man, isn’t he some military sergeant or something? I’m guessing he didn’t just sit back and let them take his stepson.”

“Actually, he was the one who tipped them off.”

Sam looks so surprised I almost laugh out loud. Lowering my voice, I whisper, “Holly’s father is a loyal officer. He was told his son was involved with terrorists and needed to be lifted out of the situation for his own protection. His commanding officer told him everything we wanted him to know and so when Colton showed up unannounced, intent on staying only one hour, Ryder got the call to strike and so, here we are, one step closer to finding out what the hell is going on.”

Sam falls silent, and I know he has many questions. He never asks the full story, just knows that I belong to an organization that involves several top CEOs and powerful men. He knows I have a job to do but knows nothing of the King himself. Do any of us really? It’s that thought that worries me because life is changing for all of us and we may not like what that means.

As soon as we reach my den, Sam waits for instruction and as I read the text that I’m surprised to see, I smile. “It appears our stay here is at an end. Maybe you should make the necessary arrangements.”

“And Miss. Bryant?”

“Move her things to my apartment.”

Sam raises his eyes and I nod, feeling very pleased with how this day is going already.

“Yes, she is now my new apprentice in every way. New beginnings Sam, and uncertain endings.”

Shaking his head, he grins. “I’m happy for you, Dexter. I hope it all works out.”

“What you mean is, you hope I don’t fuck this up.”

I roll my eyes as he laughs and as he leaves, I turn my attention to the text I received at breakfast.

Reaching for my phone, I make the call and wonder what this all means for Holly.

“Hey, you took your time.”

“Says you, what’s up, Ryder, you losing your touch? I’ve been kicking my heels here for well over a week already.”

“I expect you’ve kept yourself busy.”

“You know me so well.”

He laughs softly and then a more serious tone creeps into his voice.

“We’ve been ghosted.”

“Meaning?”

“Holly’s stepbrother is an impressive technician. He’s been operating a dual set up to ours, existing under the radar. Twinned our systems and cloned our codes. This man has been playing us like puppets this entire time and if I wasn’t so pissed, I’d sign him up.”

“Then why don’t you?”

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