Hot Extraction (9 page)

CHAPTER TWO

Ryker is in a towering rage as he paces about in his room. He has turned that fuck Baltasar over to the CIA to let them sweat the details out of him, but knowing that Baltasar is in good hands doesn’t make him feel any better.

He and Michael Henry had made a pact when they had escaped the jaws of the lion. As the only two surviving members of that failed mission they had promised that if the opportunity were to present itself they would settle the score for Baltasar’s treachery. He had him! He had him and he didn’t pull the trigger. But this mission is too important to throw away their only potential lead for some personal…

He hears the knock on his door and takes several deep breaths, calming himself before opening it. Ronnie is standing there, a smile on her face.

“They told me you were back. I thought you were going to come and get… Ryker, what is wrong?” She hasn’t known him that long. Just over a week. But she can tell instantly that something has gone wrong. Terribly wrong. He has the look on his face that he has when the shit is hitting the fan. A look she knows well after he saved her ass. Twice.

“Nothing,” he grumbles, stepping back, silently inviting her to enter.

“Bullshit. What happened?”

“I met the contact. He wanted to play games so he and the CIA are in—aggressive—negotiations at the moment.”

“They’re torturing him?” she asks in shock.

“Unlikely. Not yet anyway. At the moment they are probably just sweating him. Torture can be counterproductive. The subject will tell you whatever you want to hear. There are better, more subtle ways to get people to talk.”

She doesn’t like the sound of that either. “But there is more to it than that, isn’t there?”

He looks at her. Dr. Veronica Baker, daughter to the kidnapped Dr. Julian Baker, the man he is looking for, is not only a brilliant geneticist, but obviously a good people reader as well. “Yes. I know him… and let’s just say that I owe him something.”

She has never seen him like this. Even when their life was hanging by a thread, he was calm, cool, and in control. But now, here in his room, he seems totally out of sorts. “Ryker. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

He takes a deep breath, trying to let the anger go. “The man’s name is Baltasar. He is a CIA contact. A couple of years ago we were on a mission to snatch a senior al Qaeda member hiding in Batroun. Baltasar tipped us on his location. We were going to go in, bag him, and then squeeze him for intel. Baltasar set us up. They knew we were coming and we walked into a buzz saw. A lot of good men died. I swore that if I ever found that bastard again I would kill him.”

“Wait. I thought you told me you were a search and rescue guy.”

“I am.”

“But, why…”

“Ronnie, I can’t tell you everything. SAR is what I do, but it’s not
all
that I do. Not all that I have done.”

She tries to get her mind around what he is saying. “How many? How many were killed?”

“Four. I and another guy escaped. We left three men behind—the other died before we could get him help. Mike, the other survivor, still doesn’t have full use of his left arm… and probably never will. He was a hell of a southpaw pitcher too. Maybe good enough to go pro. But not now.”

“And you?” Ronnie asks quietly. “What about you?”

“Me? I got off light. Nothing more than cuts and abrasions.” Ryker stares into nothingness for a moment.

He still hasn’t fully forgiven himself for leaving those three men behind, especially after their bodies were paraded around on television like fucking trophies. You
never
leave a man behind. Ever! But he had been part of the fighting retreat back to the beach trying to get Brennon out while he was still alive, him and Michael dragging the man between them. But it had been too little, too late, and he had died before they could be picked up. 

“I’m sorry Ryker,” she says, and she means it.

“Yeah. Me too,” he replies, before flopping into a sit on his bed. “I wanted to kill that son of a bitch so badly.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because he might lead us to your father. I couldn’t take the chance of scratching off our first good lead.”

Ronnie relaxes a bit. The Ryker she saw when he opened the door scared her a little. But the old Ryker seems to be back. She sits on the bed beside him. “I know it must have been hard. Thank you for not killing him.”

He smiles slightly. “The night is young. I may still get a chance.”

She returns his smile. “Maybe. But I actually had something else in mind for tonight.”

He can feel a thrill pass through him. He and Ronnie had become lovers last night and, for him at least, it had been magical. He can feel his lips beginning to pull into a wide smile when his phone rings.

“Evans,” he says into the phone.

“Will you find Dr. Baker and report to the detention area? Your friend has become very eager to talk.”

“We will be there in less than five minutes,” Ryker says before hanging up the phone. “Baltasar has become talkative. Let’s go see what he has to say.”

***

There is a man waiting for them as they step off the elevator in the basement of the embassy. “Right this way,” he says, directing them to a darkened room. Through the glass they can see a sweating Baltasar sitting in a chair at a table, another man across from him. Their escort steps to the glass and flips a switch.

“…but I can find out!” Baltasar says.

“You haven’t exactly proven yourself reliable in the past,” the interrogator points out.

“I know! I’m sorry! That was a mistake! I shouldn’t have done that! I see that now!”

“Baltasar… why should I believe you now? How do I know you aren’t the same lying sack of shit you have always been?”

Baltasar licks his lips nervously. “This is bad, okay? I know what will happen if this virus thing gets out. You Americans will send your planes and your bombs and you will turn the sand to glass. I don’t want that. Okay? I still have family that lives in Syria. I just want to go home. That’s all I want. I thought this was my ticket to get home. I tell you where Dr. Baker is and you forget about me.”

“But you see, Baltasar, there is that trust thing. You fucked us once. Maybe you are planning on fucking us again. How do I know?”

“I won’t! I just want to go home! I just want to go home and be with my wife! Please!”

“But you just said you don’t know where he is.”

“But I know who has him! I told you, I can find out!”

“Tell me who they are. If it checks out, then we can talk about what happens next.”

“No! I can’t do that! You will kill me!”

“Baltasar… I’m not going to kill you. I’m just going to make you
wish
I would kill you.”

Baltasar says nothing, the sweat beading on his face. “No. I won’t tell you. Let me go and I will find out. Or kill me.”

“You know what I think. I don’t think you know anything. I think you think I’m stupid,” the man says, rising. “Perhaps I should have Evans come in here and talk to you. I understand that you and he go way back. You know, I’m kind of surprised that you made it this far. I guess I didn’t give him enough credit. After reading your file, I’m rather surprised you lived long enough for us to even know you might know something.” The man looks to the guard standing in the room. “Find Evans and have him report here,” the interrogator says before stepping out.

“Wait! Wait!” Baltasar screams, rising to his feet as the door swings shut, leaving him alone. His hands are bound with a plastic restraint, but his feet are free and he paces around the room. A moment later the interrogator steps into the room with Ryker and Ronnie. “We’ll let him sweat a few minutes. If I send you in there, can I trust you to actually not kill him?” he asks Ryker.

Ryker stares at Baltasar through the window. “For now.”

The scary Ryker is back. “Ryker,” Ronnie says softly.

He looks at her and his face softens. “Don’t worry. I’m okay. But this is the best chance we have to find your father. We have to break him, no matter the cost.”

“But…” she says.

“Don’t worry, Dr. Baker,” the interrogator says gently. “We haven’t laid a finger on him. He’s nothing but a coward. Easy to break. His imagination is doing most of the work for us. Now, Evans, this is how it is going to go down. We’re going to go in together. You are going to take the place of the guard. Don’t say a word. Just stand there and look like you are only seconds away from pulling your weapon shooting him where he sits. Should be easy for you since we had to practically pry your weapon out of his side as it was,” the man teases with a grin.

“If he talks are you going to let him go?” Ryker asks, his eyes never leaving Baltasar as he returns to his chair and sits down again.

The man smiles. “There are many types of freedom,” he says as he turns to the door. “Dr. Baker… please stay and continue to listen. If he says anything that sounds wrong, or you hear something that seems relevant that I don’t pick up on, please press the red button,” the man says, pointing to a button on the control panel under the window. “I will get a tone in my ear and will know that you need to see me. Okay?”

She nods slowly, uncertain that she wants to see what happens next.

Ronnie watches through the glass as Ryker and the other man enter the room. Baltasar’s eyes go wide when Ryker steps into the room. She is amazed at how cruel Ryker can look, a nasty smile on his face as he stands by the door. Ronnie feels her stomach flip over and she wonders if she knows this man at all.

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***

They’ll fight each other along the way, but she is the only chance he has to save both his name and his club.
Mason Butler is good with numbers. Tasked as treasurer for the Fallen Angels MC, he’s always been able to make the numbers add up, but when he discovers that a large chunk of money has gone missing, he decides to call in help to figure out where it could have gone. 
Caroline Lewis is a computer whiz and a math genius, but she’s not great with people, especially incredibly sexy bikers who show up at her house unannounced. Working together is difficult, but underneath the hostility, there is plenty of sexual tension that threatens to explode. 
As they fight the urges that keep bringing them closer, Caroline begins to find evidence that someone has been stealing from the club. To find the thieves and save the club, they’ll have to work together, but when Mace is forced to make a choice, the consequences will put everything to the test.

***

Derrick Baker knew where his life was headed
Since graduation, his path had seemed straightforward. He enlisted in the navy, married his high school sweetheart, had a son, and now was expecting a second child, a little girl.  He would have loved seeing his wife grow with their children inside her, but he’d always believed he had a duty to do his country, and he was determined to see it through.
Sarah Donovan had no idea what to do with herself.
Getting laid off from another job had convinced her than she needed to figure out where her life was going.  Now, almost thirty with no career, no husband, and nothing to look forward to but growing old alone, she was starting to worry. Until she gets the phone call that changes everything.
They are brought together by tragedy
Even as they grew older and drifted apart, Sarah loved her sister more than anyone, so receiving a call telling her that both her sister and her unborn niece were killed in a car accident, Sarah races across the country to help her brother-in-law and her nephew.
Now, as they try to rebuild their lives, they just might create a future together.
Derrick, taking leave from the military to take care of his son, is devastated and turns to the sister-in-law he hardly knows to help work through the pain and anger of losing half his family. But as they mourn together, lust blooms between them, and continues to grow into something much wilder.

***

Book 1 of the
Iron Raiders MC
series