Ryder

 

Ryder killed one more drink and checked the time. It’d been too long and the feeling that something was seriously awry was inescapable. He tossed down a couple of twenties for the check and headed back up to the room. With each second that passed during the elevator trip, the sense of dread in his gut increased. When the doors slid open, Ryder broke out into a sprint towards the room. Pulling it open, he rushed inside.

 

Sure enough, there was no one there. The room was a mess, and all signs pointed to someone having come in and taken her.

 

“Fuck!” shouted Ryder as he picked up a nearby lamp and threw it hard against the wall, the thing smashing into pieces that sprayed all over the floor.

 

Anger flowed through him. He knew that Franco was behind this—didn’t take a detective to figure that out—but more than anything else he was furious that he’d let Kara out of her sight even for a few moments. He knew that Franco was after her, and he’d gotten sloppy.

 

He searched around the place for any clue, anything that could help him figure out where Kara had been taken. At first, he found nothing. But after a moment he realized that Kara’s phone was nowhere to be found. Remembering that lost phones could be tracked, he realized that this represented a slim chance at being able to find her. But first, he needed to get back with the rest of the Hunters.

 

Ryder rushed out of the hotel and made his way back to his bike. On the way back to where he’d last met with his crew, however, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Ryder pulled to the side of the road, the tires of his bike squealing, and answered.

 

“Who is this?” he shouted into the receiver, already knowing deep down just who it was.

 

“You really gotta ask that question, buddy?”

 

“I swear to God, the next words out of your mouth better fucking be telling me where the fuck I can meet you so we can finally finish this fucking thing.”

 

“Nothing about the girl?” asked Franco. “She’s been a little too scared to talk, but I can tell she’s really missing you.”

 

Ryder realized at that moment that he cared more about getting Kara back than anything else. But he knew that the less he played it cool, the more Franco would know just how good of a bargaining chip he had.

 

“Don’t give a shit,” said Ryder. “What I do care about is getting your ass one-on-one and putting your face in the fucking dirt. Now, I told your little errand boy that I wanted to settle this, so tell me where the fuck you want it to happen.”

 

The words were painful to speak, but Ryder knew what he had to do.

 

“Yeah, see, thing about that is I realized that a little one-on-one with the two of us might not go the way I want it to. I know you’re a real hardass, buddy, and while I’m pretty fuckin’ confident in my ability to kick your ass, I didn’t want to chance it. I mean, why do that when I can tweak the rules a little and tip the odds in my favor?”

 

“You mean by being a dishonorable fuck.”

 

“You call it being dishonorable; I call it being smart.”

 

“Call it whatever you want. I’m gonna bury your ass either way.”

 

“Such a fuckin’ temper,” said Franco. “A temper can be good; nothin’ wrong with a little righteous anger. But too much makes a man do stupid shit—stupid shit that he might regret.”

 

Ryder gritted his teeth, wishing more than anything that he could somehow reach through the phone and strangle Franco right then and there.

 

“So, here’s the deal. Regardless of how much this little piece of ass means to you, we’re gonna keep her as security for a little while. And when the rest of the Gremlins and I are good and ready, we’ll let you know where to meet for the terms of giving this fine little thing back to you and running you assholes out of the city.”

 

“You think you can tell me where the fuck the Hunters and I can go?”

 

“I don’t think, I know,” said Franco. “Now I think that’s all for now. Why don’t you just sit tight and wait for me to get in touch with you? Sound good? Good.”

 

Then the line went dead.

 

Ryder shoved his phone back into his pocket and turned towards the city.

 

“Fuck!” he shouted, his throat raw.

 

But he knew that standing around was the least productive use of his time. Hopping back on his bike, he tore through the city streets until he was back at the warehouse where the rest of his crew was still waiting, preparing for his next order.

 

“Yo, Crunch!” he shouted, striding into the warehouse and attracting the attention of the rest the men. “You still know how to pull that shit where you can hack into people’s phones?”

 

Crunch looked up.

 

“You mean getting into their cloud information? Yeah, I can do it, assuming security hasn’t been updated. But, heh, I usually just do it to scope out girls’ naked selfies.”

 

“You think you could do it and get into the tracking program?”

 

“You give me the number and I can get into whatever you want.”

 

Ryder handed Crunch his phone, Kara’s contact information pulled up.

 

“Then get to it,” he said.

 

Crunched nodded and took a seat in front of a nearby laptop. A flurry of fingers over the keyboard followed, and soon he was deep into it.

 

“Why? What’s the plan, boss?” asked Switch.

 

“Franco’s got the girl,” said Ryder, the words almost painful to speak.

 

“Fuck,” said Marlow.

 

The other guys looked at one another apprehensively and muttered one thing or another. Ryder didn’t need to spell out just what this meant.

 

“And he’s holding her hostage to make sure that we don’t try anything while he gets himself ready to gather the rest of the Gremlins and attack. Whatever he’s got in mind, he’s thinking that if he has enough time to prepare then he’ll be able to take us on head-to-head.”

 

“But we’re not gonna let that happen, right?” asked Marlow.

 

“Not a fuckin’ chance,” said Ryder.

 

“And what about the girl?” asked Switch.

 

“She doesn’t know a fucking thing. And that’s just the way I want it. For all she knows, I’m throwing her to the Gremlins.”

 

“And what’s the truth?” asked Marlow.

 

Ryder said nothing, his jaw clenching hard at the thought of Franco putting his hands on her. The men let the subject drop, Ryder’s expression saying everything that needed to be said.

 

“Boss, I got it!” shouted Crunch. “Get over here!”

 

Ryder rushed over to where Crunch was seated and took a look over his shoulder.

 

“Girl needs to learn a thing or two about how to pick out a halfway decent password. Her last name and her birth year? Weak shit.”

 

“I’ll make sure to let her know,” said Ryder, his eyes eagerly scanning over the map on display. “What we got?”

 

“It looks like you were right—she’s got her phone and her and she’s moving fast. Looks like they’re headed someplace in the south side.”

 

Ryder nodded.

 

“My guess,” he said, “is that they’re gonna need at least a day to prepare whatever they’ve got in mind.”

 

“What the fuck could that be?” asked Marlow.

 

“Bet they’ve formed some alliances with other gangs in the city,” said Switch, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back in his chair. “No way Franco’d be acting this fucking cocky if he didn’t have the manpower to back it up.”

 

Ryder nodded.

 

“We’re about the biggest crew in the city,” he said. “Bet there’s more than a few ankle-biting fuckers out there who’d be down for taking a swipe at us if it meant they could grab a piece of the pie for themselves if Franco managed to take us down.”

 

Ryder didn’t think he could be any more furious, but the idea of Franco holding Kara hostage and using her as a tool to take him and the rest of the Hunters down was an insult that he couldn’t take.

 

“So, what’s the plan, boss?”

 

“We wait until that fucker gets wherever the hell it is he’s going,” said Ryder. “Once there, he’s gonna have his guard down. And that’s when we make our move. But we gotta play this smart—I don’t want to take any unnecessary risks. We’re gonna take the Gremlins out for good this time, and we’re gonna do it right.”

 

The rest of the men sent up cheer that made it clear they were ready to follow Ryder anywhere.

 

Ryder was ready to get to work.