Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

RYAN

 

I don't like this situation one bit, but what I like so much less is that it relies on Logan coming through. I've trusted him with more than this, plenty of times. Dozens. Hundreds.

But that was before I got confirmation on who the leak was. That was before Spider turned up dead. It wasn't me. Couldn't have been. Unless I've been having strange Ambien-blackouts. And I don't take sleeping pills.

It wasn't Davis. Couldn't have been. She's going against all her orders on this job. It's why she's so resistant to bringing me in, something that her 'partner' obviously isn't in on.

He thinks we're just a little below board. He probably isn't even aware of the job we pulled. Or at least, he's not aware that she's involved, at least. Who knows. Maybe I'm not giving him enough credit.

Someone knows, though. Someone knows there were five people there, and that two of them are dead now. I don't have the luxury of imagining that it's going to be days or weeks.

We might have hours to defuse and deal with the threat. It begs an important question. If they were going to kill me, why hadn't they done it when I was in the room with them?

If they aren't going to kill me, why the charade? Why "2/5?" There's too many questions right now, all swirling around in my head, and I don't God damned like it one bit.

The situation is eating at me. I swallow hard and force myself to keep my focus. The engine cuts off when I turn the key, and lean the bike over.

I can't let Logan know that I'm aware of what he's been up to. I have to play it straight. They might still be tying up loose ends, even if he's involved with them.

And who knows. Maybe he doesn't even know that he's the leak. Maybe I'm overestimating his involvement. There's a thousand possible solutions. I should be careful not to jump to the worst possible conclusions.

I swallow hard. That still means I have to figure a way not to let on that I know what he's done. I flip his key out of the ring and take a grip on it. The door is locked, but I open it.

"Hello?"

I call out. The sound of my voice seems to echo through the empty halls for a while. I swallow again. He should be here. Where else would he be? There's no other jobs planned for today.

I check in the garage, and sure enough, his bike is there. A day like today, there's no way that he wouldn't take it. Never mind that the truck is right there beside his Harley. No, he's here. He has to be.

I call out again. "Hello?"

No answer again. My hands are starting to clam up. I don't like the thoughts that are running through my head. The ideas that I'm starting to have.

It doesn't make any sense. There's no one else who could have been the one to be working with the Crazy Horses. They wouldn't kill him, not if he was working with them. It didn't make sense.

None of it makes any sense. I swallow hard and take a breath, and pull the pistol out of its holster on my belt. I don't know what I'm going to find, but I know I'm not going to like it, and I know that there's a very good chance it could be dangerous.

If there's any danger, I want to be ready for it, and I want to be ready now. I rack the slide on the pistol and flip the safety off. All it will take is one little pull of my finger.

I start mentally ticking off the rooms in my head. The kitchen was the first place I checked. I passed by the den, didn't see anything. But I didn't look that hard.

Then I went down the stairs, checked the garage. But that took me through the downstairs lounge.

There's an office, I could check the den more carefully, and then there's the bedrooms upstairs. I go through them mechanically. I keep the pistol aimed at the ground, but I'm ready to bring it up at a moment's notice. Nothing, nothing nothing.

I go up the stairs, work left to right. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I notice, though, as I go into the last room. Logan's room. The door isn't closed. It's just blown most of the way shut, as if by the wind.

I push the door open with my foot.

"Drop it!" I don't, not right away.

Logan says it again. He's got a shotgun, and it's trained right on me. I de-cock the gun and put it on the bed.

"Where's the girl?"

"What are you talking about, man?"

Logan lowers the gun halfway. "The girl. Where is she?"

"The cop?"

"Sure. The cop. Where is she?"

I think about it for a second. "I have no idea."

"So she's not with you?"

"No."

Logan lowers the gun the rest of the way. "Close that door behind you."

I close it. He gestures toward the bed. I move the pistol and take a seat. Logan takes a minute before he starts talking. "Spider's fuckin' dead, Ryan."

"Yeah, I know. I was coming here to warn you, in fact."

"Someone ratted us out to the Crazy Horses. You know what I'm thinkin? I'm thinkin' that girl of yours, she found a very different way in with them than the one she told you about."

In my head, I dismiss it immediately. "What makes you say that?"

"I sure as hell didn't do it. Spider, he's—"

"He was working with the feds."

Logan cuts himself off. "No shit?"

"I mean, I can't give you hard proof. But he must've been the reason I got arrested. The timing fit. So I was keeping an eye on him."

"Fuck. Then, shit. I dunno."

I don't know how much to tell him about my own suspicions. He'd deny it either way, but some part of me hopes that I'd be able to at least find some explanation with his help that would absolve him.

There must be some explanation, but I can't find one. Logan's not acting like someone who's absolutely confident he won't get his ass shot.

If I had to pick anyone now, I'd have to side with him. Davis fits. But I can't shake the feeling that she's not involved. There must be something else involved, but I can't see what it is.

"What's our next move?"

"Next move? We deal with the girl. Scheck."

"How do you figure?"

"I don't know, yet. She's got some big mother-fucker working right under her. Hits like a mack truck, and he's good at it. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, all that shit."

Logan frowns. "That's not what I like to hear, Ryan. Simple. I prefer simple. Send in a few of our guys with heavy weapons and take the place out. That's the kind of planning I like to hear."

"You know they have more guys than us, though. We can't take them all at once. There just isn't a way to do it. So no matter what we did, it would just open up a war. A war we can't win without some kind of edge."

Logan lets out a breath. "Yeah, I know."

I know exactly how he feels. I can't blame him for wishing, but we don't have the luxury of wishing any more. It's time to get down to business.