Ryker (Hope City Book 5)

by Kris Michaels

  “Arms up! Get on your knees!”

  Ryker snorted. Yeah, where had he heard that before? He obliged with his left arm. “My right arm is broken. I’m Captain Ryker Terrell, HCPD JDET. These two are the runners from the warehouse sweep. Call it in and ask.”

  “I’ll do that once you go to your knees.” The cop moved up and kicked his weapon away.

  “Dude, that is my service weapon. If you fuck it up, I’m having the department come after you for the cost of repair.” Ryker dropped to his knees and then sat on his heels. Man, he’d seriously fucked up the doc’s work on his shoulder.

  He heard the uniform call it in and heard Patel’s voice answer. He sniggered when she cussed over the radio. She was a momma bear.

  One of the uniforms brought his weapon and handed it to him as the other cuffed the man who’d dropped Brie into the harbor. “Did he break your arm, sir?”

  “No. I had shoulder replacement surgery about a week ago.”

  “Holy hell, you took down two perps one-armed?”

  “Yeah, and I thought you were going to take it easy today.” Tiernan’s smart ass comment brought a smile to his face, but he wasn’t moving. Actually, he couldn’t. If he did, he’d puke. He was done.

  Tiernan crouched down beside him. “Dobson?” Ryker needed an update on the hurt member of his team.

  “He’ll live. Not sure if he’ll be back to work anytime soon. Looks like the bullet went through his ankle.”

  “I can recommend a doctor.” Ryker tried to lose the exhaustion, but damn it, he was fucking tired. “The op?”

  “From what I’m getting from Control, we have all three sites secured. No casualties. My guys took down three in the warehouse, but we were able to get medical to them in time. They opened fire on us. We have it on video for internal affairs. How about we get you to the hospital?”

  Ryker nodded. “Yeah, that would probably be good.”

  “Fucker nailed you in the shoulder, didn’t he?” Tiernan offered him a hand up.

  “Yeah. Do me a favor, would yah? Find out who the hell that guy is and make sure they watch him close. He’s mental.”

  Tiernan chuckled as he ducked under Ryker's good arm. Ryker groaned but appreciated the support. “He’s not the only one who’s mental. You’d probably give him a run for his money.”

  “Not funny.”

  Tiernan laughed and started them toward the mouth of the alley. “Yeah, it really is.”

  Ryker focused on moving one foot in front of the other. Okay, it probably was fucking hilarious. He’d laugh tomorrow.

  Maybe.

  Chapter 19

  Ryker opened his eyes. Fuck. Right, the hospital. Again.

  “Hi.” Brie leaned over him.

  “Babe.” The word sounded like a croaking toad with a mouth full of flies, but she smiled at him. Fuck, he'd never get enough of that smile.

  “The doctor was pretty upset with you.” She pushed the hair off his forehead.

  “Not my fault.” He blinked up at her. “How are you?”

  Her smile faltered for a moment. “Scared. Tired. Sore.”

  He lifted his head and glanced down at the bed. He didn't have an IV stuck in him, so he tapped the silver rail with his hand. “Put this down and lie down with me.”

  She shook her head. “I don't want to hurt you.”

  “The only thing that is going to hurt me is you not getting in this bed and holding me.” He tapped the bar again.

  Brie glanced at the door. “I'll get in trouble.”

  “No. Come on. I'll protect you from the mean nurses.”

  She chuckled and shook her head. “You couldn't protect me from a two-day-old kitten right now.”

  “Okay, then you come protect me from the mean nurses. Please, babe, I need to hold you.” Ryker reached up and touched the bruise on her face. “I need to know you're okay.”

  Brie glanced at the door again before she hit the button to lower the rail. He brought up his good arm, and she snuggled in beside him. Her leg over his, her head on his good shoulder, and her arm folded across his abdomen. Her warmth immediately wrapped around him. He kissed the top of her head. “Tell me what you're afraid of.”

  She puffed a small exhale of air. “I don't know. I guess my sense of safety is shaky. I mean, when those guys were harassing me, I still had a bit of control, you know? Then those other guys showed up and... I can still see Blondie hitting the wall and then... that man put a bullet in his head.”

  Ryker closed his eyes for a moment, trying hard to find a calm place that he could talk from, but... “Someone was harassing you? Who is Blondie?”

  Her body tensed for a moment. “Blondie is what I called the guy. He was the one that sliced my tire. He and his friend kept turning up to hassle me. I don't really know why. I thought the harassment was tied to the pressure Councilman Davis has been putting on me to pay him to get my agenda item about donating food to the homeless shelter in front of the city council.”

  His hand stilled on her hair. “I don't believe we talked about any of those issues.”

  She shook her head and looked up at him. “No, I was trying to take care of it by myself.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Why were you hesitant to tell me?”

  She sighed and snuggled closer under his chin. “I don't know. I was afraid of bothering you, of depending on someone else, and yeah, maybe I didn't want you to march in and tell me what I should do.”

  He closed his eyes and started stroking her long brown hair again. “We need to work on our communication, or our marriage is going to be rocky.”

  She tipped her head back again. “Did you just ask me to marry you?”

  He opened his eyes and smiled at her. “No. I'm not giving you a chance to say no.”

  She smiled and kissed his chin. “Then I say yes.” She yawned and snuggled nearer to him again. He held her against him and let himself drift to sleep.

  The light from the hall woke him. Brody stood in the doorway, glowering at the bed. Ryker shifted and then realized Brie was still sleeping with him. He wrapped his good arm around her and motioned with his fingers for Brody to come in.

  His sergeant pulled up a chair near the head of the bed on the opposite side of his sister.

  "Sit rep?" Ryker whispered the words.

  Brody leaned forward and spoke quietly. "The guy you took down in the alley is Gary Cava. He's a big man on the West Coast. The feds are all over him. Seems he's been expanding by taking out regional kingpins. He's a conduit for the feds to reach the cartel leadership. He admitted to killing Peña and Rubio. The fucker knows he's going to get a deal from the feds to testify. He's a straight-up killer, Cap. He could have put a bullet in Brie at any time, but according to the feds I talked to, he has a strange moral code. He skinned one of his top lieutenants alive for killing a kid's dog and then he bought the kid a new puppy. She's fucking lucky to be here." Brody's voice cracked.

  Ryker could feel his eyes filling. He closed them and tightened his arm around her. She squirmed a bit and he loosened his hold. "Go on." He blinked his eyes open.

  "We let Mouse know she was safe. The doctor wasn't happy about the drive-by, but the lieutenant felt it would help her get better, and she risked it all to talk to us, so he drove to New York after we knew you would be okay."

  "Bet Fenton had a field day with that." Ryker rolled his eyes. Fenton, what a douche.

  "Well, I have some intel on that issue, but no one knows this yet." Ryker lifted an eyebrow. "Seems Colonel Fenton is retiring. He hasn't been given an option. The videos that were taken in the squad room when he was ranting and raving made it to the internet. They went viral and the mayor's office acted."

  "Well, I'll be damned." He moved slightly and winced. His body had been used up. He wasn't being a baby by admitting he was damn sore.

  "Probably, but that's not my doing." Brody chuckled a bit and so did Ryker. Brody sighed. "We found the vehicle Rubio and Peña used for the drive-by on your house
at the warehouse. We got one of the hit squad to roll for a promise of WitSec. The feds agreed. The guy confirmed they did the drive-by because you had access to Mouse. The woman had seen too much, they wanted her dead, and they were sending a message."

  "Hell of a message. Idiots. Did they actually think we'd give them Mouse?"

  Brody shrugged. "Delusions of grandeur and all that shit. Untouchable. They thought they were untouchable." Ryker nodded in agreement. "There are a couple loose ends. Brie said the car she was transported in had a police cage in the back and was burgundy in color."

  Ryker turned his head and stared at his officer. "An unmarked car?"

  "We had that thought, too." Brody pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Six burgundy unmarked in the fleet. Two were in for maintenance. The rest were accounted for. Mozinga and Dawson are looking into who had access to the two vehicles in the maintenance yard, but it is looking like a dead end."

  Ryker nodded. He lightly ran his hand up and down Brie's arm. "So, it’s over. For her." He spoke to himself, but Brody answered.

  "Yeah, except for that dickwad councilman. But Bekki is on that shit like stink on week-old garbage. She's going to take that bastard down. I can hardly wait."

  Ryker shifted and asked, "Shouldn't there be criminal charges?"

  "Yeah, but there is nothing but hearsay now, and we don't know that the guys in the alleyway that were harassing Brie were connected to the councilman. Nothing to tie them to the guy. Let Bekki ferret out the rest of the rats and then the police can get involved."

  "I guess we'll have to do that."

  "And you're off for the next four weeks. Deputy Commissioner Duckworth has sent word to the team that if she finds out you're working we'll lose our positions. So, you're persona non grata."

  Ryker chuckled. "I can live with that."

  Brody stood. "Good, because I like my job. Besides, you two need to mend." He nodded to his sister. "Take care of her, Cap." Brody placed the chair back and headed to the door. He stopped and smiled at his sister. "I'm glad for both of you."

  Ryker watched the door swing shut and closed his eyes, holding the woman he loved. Maybe this time he was enough. God, he prayed he would never let this woman down.

  “It's a freaking disaster.” Brie glanced at the vehicles parked outside of the huge house.

  “It's just your family.” Maybe. There were several cars he didn't recognize.

  “I told them something small.” She parked in the only open slot in front of the house.

  “Small for your family is something just this side of five hundred people. You should have been specific with your mom.” Hannah King would take the reins in any situation. The woman was full tilt. Always.

  “I was! I said small. In what world is all of this small?” Brie spread her arms, indicating the slew of vehicles piled into the cul-de-sac.

  “In your mom's world, babe.” Ryker chuckled and got out of the passenger side of Brie's vehicle. He'd been damn good about following the doctor's orders this time. He had one more week of medical leave and other than doing some computer work and making sure Terrence and Brody were on track, he'd kept his ass at home, away from any temptation of going back to work too early.

  “I'm sorry.” She walked up beside him. “I never should have told her we were getting married.”

  “Like she wouldn't have figured it out when you showed up wearing this ring?” Ryker held her left hand in his. He'd bought her a diamond solitaire. It wasn't huge, he wasn't made of money, but Brie had loved it when they went shopping for rings and that was all that mattered.

  “Right? Well, I guess we deal with whatever Mom has in store, huh?”

  “Her intentions are good.” They held hands as they walked past the cars that lined the street.

  Brie stopped and looked at a rather expensive-looking Land Rover parked next to a huge 4x4 truck. “Remember you said that, okay?”

  Ryker looked at the vehicles. “Why? Who do these belong to?”

  “Us.”

  Ryker spun. Xander and Killian were on the sidewalk just this side of the gate where the others gathered. “We didn't go in. When we got the call there was going to be an engagement party...” Killian shrugged. “If you don't want us here, we'll call the others and tell them not to come. They are waiting around the corner. We didn't want to ambush you.”

  Ryker squeezed Brie's hand and held it tight as he approached his brothers. “I'm happy you're here. What will Benjamin say? I'm sure he's against any reconciliation between us.”

  Xander shrugged. “I've lost a great amount of respect for him, but he is my father. I will always try to be the man he raised me to be. Except in this situation, he is dead wrong, and we've all talked. We're successful. If Father wants to cut ties, we'll all be okay. We hope it won't come to that, but he's hurt all of us by driving a wedge between us. It's time to heal. If he can't be a part of that, it's his own fault.”

  “Call the rest of the boys then. I'd like you to meet our family.” Ryker put his arm around Brie.

  “Perfect.” Xander smiled as Killian removed his phone from his pocket. He nodded to the sling. “I thought you were supposed to be out of that by now.”

  Brie tipped back her head and laughed. “Oh, boy! Xander, why don't we go into the backyard and grab a beer?”

  Xander offered her his arm. “Why do I get the feeling there is a story there?”

  Ryker watched them walk into the backyard arm-in-arm. “They're on their way.” Killian pocketed his phone. “Elias doesn't have much time away from the hospital, but he wanted to be here to congratulate you. Dimitri, Xander, and I can stay for the duration, but we've all agreed if it becomes uncomfortable for you, we'll leave. We don't want to disrupt your life.”

  Ryker nodded toward the backyard. “That family is like the family we could have been. They are the salt of the earth and are way too deep in each other's business.” He turned at the sound of car doors closing. His brothers strode up the walk. They'd changed so much yet remained the same.

  Elias was in the lead. Dimitri’s smile lit up the street and he bounded forward. The hug wasn't as hard as he was suspecting, which was a godsend. He didn't want to face Doctor Phillips anytime soon. “I missed you, Ry.”

  He hugged his brother back. “I missed you, too.”

  Elias hugged him gently after Dimitri moved away. His youngest brother backed away and looked down at his scrubs. “Not really in party attire. I've got to head back. Another resident is covering for me. Killian and Xander will take Dimitri home, but I wanted to come and say congratulations.”

  “Would you like to meet Brie?” Ryker motioned toward the back yard.

  “I really can't today. But next time I get a break, maybe we could do dinner or something?” Elias cautiously offered the suggestion as if Ryker would bat it away like a foul-smelling fish.

  Ryker smiled. “We'd like that.”

  “Yeah?” Elias' smile rivaled Dimitri’s.

  “Definitely. You name the date, and dinner is on me.”

  “Thank God. Medical residents do not make a lot of money.” Elias gave him another hug. “See you soon.” He turned and jogged back to the car they drove up in.

  Ryker motioned to his two brothers. “Time to meet the rest of the family.”

  Brie sat in one of the Adirondack chairs under the weave of fairy lights that her mother loved so much. The day had been long but perfect. Ryker and his brothers had learned to relax around each other as the day wore on. The laughter from the picnic tables where the men gathered brought a smile to her face.

  “Goodness, Brie, you didn't find one fantastic man, you found four!” Tara sat down on the lawn with her glass of wine.

  “Five. He has four brothers. The youngest is a medical resident and couldn't get away.”

  “A doctor?” Bekki claimed an empty chair. “Yummy. So, the Terrell brothers are smart and good looking.”

  “Not Terrell, their last name is Ganas. They're half-brothers.” />
  Bekki choked and wine tipped from her glass as she coughed. Brie leaned and whapped her sister on the back. Erin McBride grabbed Brie's arm and stopped her. “You're going to kill her before she catches her breath.”

  Bekki nodded, still coughing but holding her hand up to stop Brie from pounding her on the back again.

  “What's going on?” Caitlyn McBride dropped into another chair.

  “Brie is trying to kill Bekki,” Erin explained. “Where are the rest of the chicks?”

  “Oh. Brie, stop trying to kill Bekki." Caitlyn waved at the house. "Kallie and Amber are keeping the moms and kids occupied in the kitchen while they visit with Kimberly. She's nice and digs the moms. Hey, do you know if any of Ryker's brothers are married?”

  “I don't think so. Why? Which one are you targeting?” Brie spoke as she watched Bekki wipe her eyes.

  “All of them.” Caitlyn and Erin said at the same time. She pointed across the lawn. “Is that Dimitri? He's been talking to Dawn for almost an hour now.”

  “Reeeaaaallly...” Tara drew out the word. “That should upset the scales.”

  “What? What are you talking about?” Brie leaned forward and looked around the bush that hid the table where Dawn and Dimitri were sitting.

  “You really haven't been around lately, have you? Blay and Dawn are like two magnets that are trying way too hard not to get together if you ask my opinion.”

  “Blay?” Brie laughed. “No way. Blay is a player. They probably are discussing schedules. Blay sometimes picks up Gage and watches him when he's not working.” She shook her head. “I saw Blay the other day, and he was heading to the Celtic Cock to meet some woman from work. You're way off base.”

  Tara took a drink of her wine and sighed. “I think those two would be fantastic together.”