RYDER: A Standalone Military Romance (Blake Security Book 1)

by Celina McKane

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  RYDER

  “I’m so nervous.” Almost a month later Alicia and I stood outside of the senator's home. When Blake told me the man who was willing to take Natalia and pretend like she was one of his granddaughters was Senator Dante Slade, I hadn’t believed it at first. This guy was a former D.A. in New Orleans, and one of the toughest on crime we’d ever had. I guess—in a sense—that proved what she’d done hadn’t been a crime at all. It did require a lot of favors on our end to get the F.B.I. to pretend they knew nothing about the child and a lot of back and forth with our new friend Vlad in Russia to get all of the legal documents sent over. Now, as far as anyone needed to be concerned, the baby had been in Russia with Alicia’s mom this whole time. Other than the ranting’s of the mad man Abel in jail that was the story everyone was sticking to. Aleks had spoken to their mother, and whatever he’d said to her had worked. She not only agreed to the story, she also agreed to talk to the authorities about Abel. She hadn’t given in and said she’d testify yet, but it was a start.

  “She’s going to be so excited to see you,” I said. I didn’t know that. I didn’t know anything about it. I just so desperately wanted her to be happy.

  She smiled and squeezed my hand. “That’s sweet, but she was so little when I sent her away. She won’t even remember me. She’s going to feel like I’m taking her away from her parents…her family.” A slow tear rolled out of her eye and down her cheek. I reached up with my free hand and wiped it away.

  “The hardest part is over, beautiful. You can do this, and I’ll be right here by your side while you work it out.”

  She nodded and sucked in a deep breath before we started toward the door. Before we got to the door, it was pulled open by a tall man with silver hair and a kind face. The senator was dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, but I recognized him from his pictures and television. It’s funny how a man that struck fear into the hearts of so many in court for so long now simply looked like a kindly grandfather. He took one look at Alicia and opened his arms to her. I let go of her hand and she folded into them. He just held onto her for a few minutes and then gently nudged her back and looked at her face. “Why are you crying? This is a happy day!”

  She smiled. “I’m just so nervous.”

  “Listen,” he said, leading her away from the door slightly. “This won’t be easy for the kids to understand, any of them. It will also be quite an adjustment for my wife and I. We love her the same as we do the other girls. But she belongs with her mother—and somehow, we’ll work it all out. I know that you won’t keep her from us, so we’ll just be adding to our family, not taking away from it, right?” She nodded, and he hugged her again. Then he said, “Now dry up those tears. We don’t want to scare her.”

  She wiped her face and pasted on a smile as he led us into the house. We had barely made it through the grand foyer when three little girls ran in screaming and giggling. The two older ones were toe heads with blue eyes the color of their grandfather’s. The youngest one was a petite little thing with jet-black hair, chocolate brown eyes, and tan skin. The girls stopped as soon as they saw us. The middle one looked up at me and said, “Grandpa, it’s a giant!”

  We all laughed, and the senator introduced us. Alicia flinched slightly as he introduced Natalia as “Rebecca Rose,” but I almost saw her melt when the little girl looked up at her and smiled. She had a deep dimple on one side of her mouth like her mother. If I live to be a hundred years old, it will still amaze me that an evil man like Abel Rapava could have taken any part in making this perfect child. “Let’s go into the living room; Mrs. Slade is waiting there for us.” The girls took off running again. Alicia followed them with her eyes on Natalia the whole time. This was going to be a hard adjustment, but the look of awe in her eyes when she saw her child told me that somehow it would all be okay.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  RYDER

  I sat in the back of the courtroom during Abel’s arraignment on arson and murder charges. Moscow wanted him badly, but our new D.A. had a meeting with our state senator, and suddenly he’d wanted him just as badly. Moscow would have to wait. I saw Matt and Julia Branson in the front row. I hadn’t seen either of them since the day Matt fired Alicia and me and announced they were leaving for Italy. Of course, Celia wasn’t with them in court, but it reminded me when I saw them of how much I’d missed her. Alicia talks about her all the time. After court is over, maybe I can talk them into just arranging a little visit.

  “Mr. Rapava, you’re being charged with one count of arson using an explosive device, one count of trespassing, and murder in the first degree, how do you plead?”

  “I plead insanity on this entire court, your Honor. This is completely insane! I wasn’t even in the country when that garage blew up or the driver died. What kind of backwoods justice system is this?”

  “Shall I take that as a not-guilty plea?” the judge asked, dryly.

  “Yes! I’m not guilty!”

  “Thank you. Since the defendant is not a U.S. citizen, he will be remanded to custody without bail until the trial begins.”

  “This place is barbaric!”

  “Bailiff, will you please remove the defendant, and counselor perhaps you can teach your client some manners before he appears in my court again.”

  “Yes, your Honor,” his embarrassed lawyer said.

  I watched happily as he was led away in shackles. Before I left, I managed to get a grumpy Matt Branson and an even grumpier Julia to agree to let Alicia have a visit with Celia. From there, I headed into the office to check in with Blake and see if we’d caught any new clients. As I was getting out of my car in front of the building, I saw a black sports car with windows tinted so dark that they were almost black too. That wasn’t what caught my attention though. There was something near or against the driver’s side window that was catching the sun, and the glare was almost blinding. My first thought was a gun. I passed the office door and walked around the building so that I could cross the street and come up to the other side of the car. I braced myself for gunshots, as I jogged across the street. I tried to stay low as I approached the car, but when you’re six foot six, low is not easy. I was almost to the window when I had to assume I was spotted. Before I could tap on it, whoever was behind the wheel jammed it into gear and left half of the rubber on their tires behind on the road. I had to jump back to keep from having them leave it on me. I was still watching the car when Blake came rushing out of the office.

  He watched the car go around the corner and then jogged over to where I stood. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “You think that was one of Abel’s men?”

  He shook his head a little too fast like he knew for sure it wasn’t. I think he realized it because he quickly said, “Vlad says not many of them are rallying for him. His second-in-command has already taken over the operation, so no one is too excited about him coming back.”

  “Oh, okay…so what case do we have going on that would make someone want to watch us?”

  He started walking back toward the office, and I followed him. “Maybe it didn’t have anything to do with us.”

  My suspicious friend not being suspicious was a dead giveaway that he knew something and he just didn’t want to tell me. “Maybe,” I said. “I got the license plate number. I’ll run it.”

  “I’ll do it.”

  “Nah, it’s okay. I’m a little bored today. Alicia went with the senator’s wife and the kids to the zoo so I have time to kill.”

  Alicia moved into one of the open apartments in my building. She was only one floor away from me now. I planned on bringing her even closer than that soon, but she needed time to get reacquainted with her baby before I put any more pressure on her.

  “I have some paperwork you can do,” he told me as we walked into the office. “I’ll run the plates while you do that.”

  I stopped him in front of Lucy’s desk. She started to say hello, but I could tell by her face she re
alized that we were in the middle of something. “What is it you don’t want me to find?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “The hell you don’t. I’ve known you most of my life, Blake. Why do you insist on trying to B.S. me? What is going on in your life that you can’t tell me?”

  “You know, Ryder, the key words there are ‘my life.’ So do me a favor, do the paperwork I left on your desk and stay out of things you haven’t been invited into. Give me the plate number.”

  “I didn’t really get it. I was testing you, and you failed, miserably.” For the first time in our lives I thought Blake wanted to hit me. He clenched his fists and his jaw and left me standing there shocked as he stormed into his office and slammed the door. I looked at Lucy and she shrugged. What the hell was going on with him?

  I turned to go into my own office and Lucy whispered my name.

  “Why are you whispering?”

  She glanced toward Blake’s closed door and still whispering she said, “Someone broke into his house last night.”

  “What? Was he home?”

  She glanced at his door again. “No, he was out for a run. It happened sometime between midnight and three a.m.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “Brett responded to the call. He said Blake seemed pissed off that the neighbor called. I guess she was taking her dog out, and she saw someone running away from the house all dressed in black. By the time Blake got home, Brett and his partner were there.”

  “What did they take?”

  “I’m not sure. Brett said Blake looked around and he was really agitated, but he insisted nothing was taken.”

  “What the hell?”

  She shrugged again.

  “Thanks for telling me, Lucy.”

  “Sure, but don’t snitch on me.”

  I laughed and winked at her. “I would never. I am going to find out what’s going on. He’s not the only detective around here.”

  As if on cue her intercom came to life and Blake’s irritated voice said, “Lucy! Where is the file on the Gomez case?”

  She rolled her eyes and pushed the button. Sweetly, she said, “In the top drawer of the file cabinet, boss.” We both waited, and a few seconds later he grumbled a “Thank you” over the intercom. It was good to know he hadn't lost his manners completely.

  Lucy looked back up at me and said, “He’s not the only detective, but he sure gets the prize for the grumpiest.”

  Laughing again I said, “I won’t dispute that one.”

  Once I was alone inside my office, I called our contact in the motor vehicle department. I gave him the license plate number that I did get. He was swamped and said it would take him a few hours to get to it. I did the paperwork that Blake left on my desk, said goodnight to Lucy, and went home. Alicia and the Slades were easing Natalia into the transition, so tonight was their night to keep her at their home. Alicia understood that it was the best way to deal with it, but the last time the baby had gone home with them, she’d been depressed for two days. Tonight, I had a surprise that I hoped would keep her mind off of it.

  ********

  “It’s a bike.” Alicia was looking at the beachcomber as if it was a spider that might bite her.

  “Yes, that’s what it is.”

  “Who is it for?” They’d had a great day at the zoo, and her mood had been almost manic when they got home. But as soon as it was time for the baby to leave, it had plummeted.

  “You.”

  “What do I want a bike for?”

  Even her grumpy moods amused me. I tried not to smile though as I said, “I thought we’d go for a bike ride, and maybe have a picnic down by the lake.”

  “Oh…”

  “Alicia, can you ride a bike?”

  She shook her head slowly, and I saw the color rise up into her cheeks. “Oh damn it! I’m sorry. I just assumed…I’m so sorry.” I felt like an idiot. She told me what her childhood was like. There was no reason for me to assume that she got to do regular things like riding a bike.

  She came out of her mood long enough to smile at me and say, “Don’t be sorry. I’m almost twenty-five years old. It’s a natural assumption. We never had a bike, at least not until my brother was old enough to steal one, and then he didn’t let me ride it.” She let out a dark little laugh. “What stories I’ll have to tell my daughter, huh?”

  “Hey, your daughter is going to be so proud of her mother when she’s old enough to understand what a fighter you are. You’re amazing, and Natalia is going to know it.”

  “Thanks. I’m sorry I ruined your picnic plans.”

  “Not ruined at all. We’ll take the other bike.” Her face lit up then.

  “The motorcycle?”

  I smiled, “Yes, you up for it?”

  “Absolutely! Let me go change.” She all but ran into the building and up the stairs. I put the bikes I’d rented in the garage, and after transferring the picnic basket over, I pulled out the Harley. It wasn’t long before she was back down in a pair of skinny jeans and a black t-shirt. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail and the sight of her long, smooth neck made my mouth water. I shook those thoughts off. This evening was about taking stress off of her, not adding more on.

  “You ready?”

  “I’m so ready!” Who would have thought the quiet little nanny would have turned out to be a biker babe?

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  ALICIA

  Getting reacquainted with your own child is a strange thing. At first Natalia was excited that she had a new “friend”—but it seemed like as time went on she sensed I was trying to take her away from the only family she’d ever known and she was pulling away from me. It’s been a month since we began this process. The Slades have been incredible, and I don’t let a day go by that I don’t thank God for putting them in our lives. For the first week, I kept her for one overnight. The second week was three, and I was in heaven. By the third week, we were ready to try four, but on the fourth night Natalia wouldn’t stop crying for her “Grammy,” what she calls Mrs. Slade. I took her “home” that night and I wasn’t too discouraged until this past week. It was already Friday, and she’d only made it through one night with me this week. We had spent the day at the zoo, and it was wonderful, and although Friday was supposed to be the Slades’ night because they did family dinners on Fridays, Mrs. Slade suggested I take Natalia home with me. I was ecstatic until she began screaming when I tried to put her in my car. I didn’t make her go, but I’d come home and cried for almost an hour until Ryder showed up with the bicycles.

  I was in a horrible mood and to top it off I was embarrassed to tell him I couldn’t ride a bike. Somehow he could always manage to make me feel better even when I didn’t deserve his patience. He’d suggested the Harley ride down to the lake for a picnic, and my mood had instantly elevated. I was on the back of his bike now watching the scenery as it passed by and holding onto the handsomest, sweetest man in the world. I’d never be safer than I was with him, and he was proving on a daily basis that I’d never be happier either. I needed to stop and remind myself more often just how rich my life was. I have Natalia back, and it doesn’t matter how long it takes, someday she’ll understand that I’m her mother and I love her. I have Ryder, and although I hadn’t said it to him yet, I love him too.

  He drove into the community park and found a spot to leave the bike. After helping me off the bike, he grabbed the picnic basket and a soft-looking blanket with one hand and my hand with the other. He led me down a cobblestone path lined with trees that seemed to be reaching up for the clouds. Delicate beams of sun poured down from underneath the lazy clouds and tried to force their way through the openings in the trees. We passed the playground, and the sounds of the children playing once again reminded me of Natalia and that she didn’t want to be with me tonight. I tried to swallow my self-pity and concentrate on the beauty of the colorful swings and slides and the laughing little children running back and forth. The
re was a time in the days that I’d bring Celia to the park when I could hardly look at them without tearing up. I had to remind myself that things were so much better now, mostly thanks to the incredible man holding my hand.

  We walked until we were near the lake and Ryder found a place where the grass looked like a soft green blanket and the big trees provided a canopy of both shade and privacy. He spread out the blanket, and we sat down. I watched as he took fresh bread, cheese, and salami out of the basket—along with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

  “Wow, you went all out.”

  “There’s fruit, too.” He pulled out a basket of strawberries and two bunches of grapes.

  Once again, I had tears in my eyes. “I’m sorry. I promise I don’t usually cry about everything. Lately I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  He smiled gently and said, “There is nothing wrong with you. You’ve had a lot of changes in your life lately. You’re just adjusting.”

  “No one has ever made a picnic for me.” The truth be told I’d never even really been out on a date. Sometimes I wondered if a man like Ryder would eventually get tired of a woman like me. I’m sure he’s used to being with classy women and women that couldn’t wait to get him into bed. It wasn’t that I didn’t think about that…a lot. I just wanted to straighten out my life first, and that was proving to take longer than I had imagined it would when I first got Natalia back in it.

  “Well, from now on someone is going to do a lot of things for you that no one has ever done.”

  “Why?”

  He grinned. “Because I love you, Alicia.”

  That wasn’t the response I was expecting or even hoping for. But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, I knew for sure that it was exactly what I wanted to hear. I threw my arms around him so hard that I knocked him back on the blanket. He was laughing as I brought my mouth down on his. I’d never been the aggressor before. I liked it. Ryder stopped laughing right away, and one of his hands came up to rest on the side of my face. The other one rested against the small of my back and held me against him. He opened his mouth, and this time I let my tongue explore his. He completely relaxed and let me kiss him the way I wanted to, long and deep. When I finally broke the kiss, I let my tongue slide out of his mouth, and I used it to trace the gentle outline of his sensuous lips. Once again, I could feel his desire for me pressing into me, and suddenly I realized how unfair to him I was being. I pushed against his chest and sat up quickly.