Gridlock: A Ryan Lock Novel (31 page)

Behind them, Fay Liepowitz, Raven’s attorney, walked in, trailing with her the cloud of expensive French perfume that, right now, smelt to Lock a lot like sulphur. She reached out a perfectly manicured hand to each of them in turn.

‘Mr Johnson. Mr Lock, I am very sorry for your loss, as is my client. Carrie was a remarkable young woman.’

Lock said nothing.

‘Please, gentlemen, take a seat,’ she said at last.

Lock and Ty both pulled out a chair and sat opposite her. This table, like the one outside, was mahogany, the surface smooth and perfectly polished. Everything within sight was the same, including Liepowitz, whose furrowed brow suggested that it was now time to get down to business.

‘Let’s keep this short, shall we?’

Lock nodded.

‘Fine by us,’ Ty growled.

‘As you are probably aware, my client has said nothing to the LAPD about your less than ethical, and undoubtedly illegal, actions on the evening two people died,’ Liepowitz said.

That much was true, thought Lock. There was a reason for that, a lot of reasons, and they were all in the envelope that Lock was holding.

‘Kidnapping, I think we can agree, is a very serious charge,’ Liepowitz went on. ‘However, in return for her personal property,’ she said, looking at the envelope, ‘she is prepared to sign a legally binding confidentiality agreement, which says that she will not discuss any further aspects of the relationship she had with you and Mr Johnson here beyond what she has already told the authorities. That includes what happened two weeks ago.’

Lock and Ty had already known this was coming down the pike so there was no need for any further discussion between them.

‘You have a deal,’ Lock said.

She looked towards Ty. ‘Mr Johnson?’

Ty shot her a bitter smile. ‘Sure.’

Lock slid the envelope fast across the table towards her. It went a little wide and she had to dart out a hand to stop it falling off the edge. She opened it and spent a cursory few minutes going over the contents.

Finally, she looked up. ‘There are no copies?’ she asked.

Lock shook his head. ‘That’s everything. We want this over as much as you do.’

‘Very well,’ she said. ‘You understand, of course, that anything that’s signed is merely a way of formalizing what both parties here agree?’

Lock sighed. ‘You mean that if anyone opens their mouth then we’re all in trouble.’

‘Quite,’ said Liepowitz, with a smile that was all teeth and lipstick, reaching over to press an intercom button. ‘Lisa, could you come in here for a moment? I have some material that needs to be dealt with straight away.’

By ‘dealt with’, Lock guessed that she meant that the letters in the envelope between Clayton Mills and Raven would be shredded and then burned to ashes. He got to his feet. The smell of the place, a mix of money and hypocrisy, was getting to him. He needed some fresh air.

‘You don’t want a copy of the agreement from my client?’ she called after him.

He stopped in the doorway, Ty behind him. ‘Mail it to me.’

‘And where should I mail it?’ the attorney asked.

The question was one that Lock hadn’t given much thought to. He’d been living in a hotel just off the Sunset Strip for the past few weeks with only Angel for company. The apartment in New York belonged to Carrie, and the thought of living there without her was more than he could take.

He had no home, he realized. Not in any real sense anyway. Carrie had been his home and now she was gone.

‘Mr Lock?’ Fay Liepowitz prompted him, with a shrug of her shoulders.

‘Send it to Ty,’ Lock said finally. ‘He’ll be able to find me.’

As Lock passed the South Pasadena exit of the 10 freeway heading out of Los Angeles, the dense, choking wall of vehicles surrounding him began to clear. Ahead of him lay open road. He clicked on the radio, then clicked it off again after the first few bars of music. It didn’t matter what song it was: upbeat songs held a mark of disrespect, and love songs, even the cheesier ones, reduced him to a maudlin mess. He had never before been so aware of the power of music. He settled instead for an imperfect silence.

He glanced at the front passenger seat, expecting to see Carrie. It was empty; another cruel lapse of memory.

For the past few weeks he had been surrounded by people who told him that he shouldn’t dwell on what had happened. But not to dwell seemed like a betrayal. And yet he knew that at some point he would have to let go. The weight of doing that felt more painful right now.

He had lost friends before. He had lost family. He had killed and seen those he loved killed in return. His was an existence populated by the ghosts of those who had passed. He knew he was not alone in that regard.

He slowed the car a little, the muscles in his shoulders and back tightening. For a rare second, and for the first time since he had landed in Los Angeles, the highway ahead was completely clear. Ahead of him lay the nation he now loved and hated in almost equal measure; loved for all the good reasons – life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness – but hated because it had allowed men like Reardon Galt and Clayton Mills back on to the streets to destroy those same rights for others.

Finally, blinking away the weight settling on his eyelids, he decided to take the only option open to him. Pressing down on the accelerator, Ryan Lock kept moving forward. He had no destination in mind. He trusted that he would know it when he got there.

THE END

Don’t miss out on the first two books in the Ryan Lock series
:

LOCKDOWN

A Deadly Mission

It may be Christmas Eve in New York, but for ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock it’s business as usual. His task: to protect the CEO of the world's largest bio-technology company from a group of radical, and highly determined, activists.

A Bloody Shootout

But when a failed assassination attempt leaves the streets of midtown littered with bodies, and hours later the son of the company's chief research scientist is abducted from his Upper West Side prep school, Lock's hunt for the boy turns into an explosive game of cat and mouse.

A Terrifying Secret

Through the corporate corridors of power and dark alleys of Manhattan, Lock's search leads him towards a final confrontation with one of the world's most dangerous women. As the clock ticks towards midnight on New Year's Eve, and the crowds gather in Times Square, Lock realizes that not only is his own life in terrible danger but so are the lives of millions of others...

DEADLOCK

‘
The California State Prison at Pelican Bay houses three and a half thousand of America’s most dangerous prisoners. Three thousand, four hundred and ninety nine of them want the remaining inmate dead. Your job is to keep him alive.'

One Prisoner

Super-intelligent and brutally violent, Frank ‘Reaper’ Hays is a leading member of America’s most powerful white supremacist prison gang.

One Bodyguard

Ex-military bodyguard Ryan Lock has been hired to protect him, his mission to keep Reaper alive for a week until he can be brought to trial.

One Week To Stay Alive

But Lock soon realizes that he faces the toughest assignment of his career – just to survive…

Buy them on Amazon here:
Lockdown
Deadlock

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