“And why don’t you?” Wolf glared at Ando with such hate that Irene wondered that herself.
“I owed your dad,” Ando said.
“Especially after you got him fucking killed!”
Ando shook his head. “I didn’t get him killed. I liked your dad, but he was a dumbass. Couldn’t keep his fucking mouth shut.” He shrugged. “It’s what did him in.”
Wolf ran the hand with the gun through his hair, and Irene wondered if he didn’t maybe take after his father. He may have demonstrated a bit of vicious cunning, but actual intelligence, not as much.
Wolf took a step toward Ando. “You’re a liar. He kept the club going. He was the heart of that club,” Wolf nearly sobbed.
Ando shook his head. “He might have been the heart, but he certainly wasn’t the brains. Go home, Kert. Go and have a family. Have the things he couldn’t. It’s not too late. Don’t be a fucking idiot like your dad, or shit, like me.”
Wolf fell to the snow and buried his head in his hands. There was so much hate balled up into one person. Ando walked down from his spot from the hill until he had reached where they were on the porch. He held out his hand for the picture she held. Irene handed it over.
He stared lovingly at the family he once had. Her heart ached for him.
“My father was everything,” Wolf said from the snow. “You fucking killed him and ruined my life.”
“Look out!” Ryder yelled
Gunfire cracked through the air.
Ryder threw himself on her as a second pop filled her ears.
“Are you hit?” Ryder asked, his face frantic.
Irene breathed in deeply, her heart still racing.
“I don’t think so,” she said, feeling around.
“She’s not hit, but you have been,” Ando said over them. “You can get up. It’s over now.”
Irene glanced to the snow. A river of red flowed around Wolf. Despite the horror of seeing yet another dead man, she had something concerning her more at the moment. She turned back to Ryder.
“Where were you hit?” she asked, looking along his chest and back.
Ando pointed to the red patch on the side of Ryder’s coat.
Irene pulled off the jacket. He hissed when she touched his blood-soaked sleeve.
“Arm hit.” Ando leaned in to have a look. “No bones, no arteries and no major muscle damage.” He clapped him on the other shoulder. “You’ll be fine.”
She looked between the two. The blood weeping out didn’t seem like nothing to her, but they would know over her she guessed. She bit her lip. “You’re shot.”
“I’m okay,” Ryder said, wincing. “It’s not going to be a fun hike, but as long as we do some first aid, I’ll live.”
“Ryder…” She held back some tears.
He smiled. “I’m fine.” He reached up and ran a finger along his scar. “I’ve been through worse than this, and that didn’t even involve protecting the woman I love.”
A few tears fell from her eyes, whether they were from love or fear, she wasn’t quite sure.
“Well, let’s get you in and cleaned up before you catch your flight,” Ando said. He glanced down at the man born Kert who changed into Wolf. “What a fucking waste.”
* * *
Ryder watched as Irene went back to cleaning and packing for their trek in the snow. He sat at the table while Ando had a look at his arm.
“Bullet is still in there,” he said. “Make sure you go right to the hospital.”
Ryder would have laughed if Ando wasn’t being totally serious. He knew he wasn’t going to die any time soon, but he also knew getting shot wasn’t a joke, but, at the same time, he didn’t want to scare Irene.
“A lousy shot, just like his father,” Ando said. “How he could miss me when I’m right in fucking front of him…”
He trailed off and shook his head.
“Bear down,” Ando said. “This is going to hurt like hell.”
He poured the alcohol over the open wound. Ryder gritted his teeth and gripped the table with his other hand at its burning touch.
“Fuck,” he said quietly, as any louder than that and Irene would start to worry.
“Good man,” he said and glanced to Irene. “She’s a good woman. Always been good to my kids. You take good care of her.”
Ryder nodded.
Never in his life did he think he’d be getting relationship advice from Ando Tamm, especially since he was supposed to be dead, but here he was, and truth be told, it was good advice. There was a part of him that was more than just a little grateful to the man for saving them. Wolf had been right. Ryder was out of bullets and out of ideas, and he was in pain, but at least he wasn’t dead.
His arm ached, but unlike many people, he really could honestly claim to have been through a lot worse, and with Kert dead, it wasn’t like he needed to be at his best on his way to the helicopter.
He hissed when Ando started to wrap the wound with gauze.
“So, you were the one following them?” Ryder asked.
Ando nodded as he worked. “I’m not the man I used to be,” he said. “Cancer has about taken me. Only have maybe a year left. Back ten years ago, I would have been with you, guns blazing, ready to take them all. Now I have trouble keeping up with a bunch of girls.”
“Charlie called you.”
Ando nodded. “She’s my daughter,” he said. “I’d take my last steps to make sure she was safe.”
At least it was all adding up now. “And the dynamite?”
Ando laughed. “Not my finest moment. I intended to throw it further, but we’d been hiking all day, and I was zapped.”
Irene came into the room with a pack and a coat.
“What about Jess?” she asked “What am I supposed to tell her?”
“Tell her that your man saved you,” he said. “No reason she needs to even know. It’s not like I’m asking for her praise. It’s why I faked my own death, but made sure she was set up with money. I knew she needed to be free from my shadow.”
Irene sat next to Ando.
“She’d want to know you’re here,” she said.
He shook his head. “I doubt that. I was in prison all those years, and she never tried. Not that I really deserved it.”
Irene reached out and took his hands. They were weathered and cracked. “You were in prison all those years, and you never tried.”
He sat for a moment, thinking, and Ryder wasn’t sure if she’d ever convince him. That sort of guilt was hard to shake.
“I’ll think about it,” he said and sighed.
Irene stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’ll do more than think about it,” she demanded. “I know who your contact is, and I have no problem stopping by there every day if I have to.”
Ando raised a brow and looked to Ryder.
“Good luck,” Ryder said. “I’ve already learned not to cross her.”
Ando stared hard at Irene for a moment before laughing. “Okay,” he said. “You tell her and we’ll see what she says. Hell, she’s a smart girl. If they had her ID the body, she may even know that I didn’t check out in the prison. Some part of me always hoped she did, I suppose.”
“I will,” she said. “I’ll also tell her about how you risked everything to save every one of us.”
Ando looked away. “You’ll miss your ride if you don’t hurry.”
Ryder was sure that he saw raw emotion reflected there and maybe even a bit of vulnerability. He stood and ushered Irene to the door before it was too much for everyone.
He held out his hand to Ando who took it. “Thank you,” he said.
Ando nodded and waved them out into the cold.
* * *
They hadn’t been walking long before Irene decided that she hated snow, hated it more than anything else. The cold and wet white powder clung to everything. Not only that, but in some cases, the snow went all the way up to her thighs.
“How are you holding up?” Ryder asked.
Irene looked up and realized that maybe she didn’t have an answer after two dead bodies and days on end of being hunted along with a new boyfriend and fantastic sex. There were more changes there than most people had in a lifetime. She stared at his arm. He hadn’t given any sign of complaint, but he was the one who’d been shot, not her, and he was still asking her how she was holding up.
“You know what? Fuck snow,” she said.
Ryder turned around and nearly choked on the laugh that came out.
“What?” he coughed.
“I can’t feel my little toes, and I’m pretty sure that if you ever want to have sex again, certain parts are going to have to dethaw.” She scowled.
He laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She knew she was being silly, but she was cold, tired and ready to be done with this. All she wanted was to go home and snuggle with her man.
“Do you hear that?” he asked.
Irene listened closely. In the distance, she could hear the faint putter of a helicopter.
“Shit,” he cursed. “Let’s move.”
Their ride was early.
Irene tried to pick her feet up as high as she could in the deep snow. Ryder held on to her arm, pushing her past the limits on what she thought she could do.
They reached the clearing, and she began to sob as the helicopter pulled away. No, they’d been so close, and even if Ryder was playing down his injury, she couldn’t imagine it’d be safe for him to hike down a snow-covered mountain in his condition.
He started shouting. “Hey! We’re here.” He waved his non-wounded arm.
She started jumping up and down, waving her arms and yelling.
The chopper continued to rise.
She kept trying to signal for them for a few long moments and then looked down. “No.”
She looked up. Her eyes widened. The helicopter was descending.
She dropped to her knees as the vehicle pulled back to the landing area. Ryder and Irene raced to climb on.
A man in a helmet, perhaps the co-pilot, flung open the side door, reaching down to first pull Irene in and then help Ryder up.
When they were finally under way, Irene sighed.
“What?” Ryder said.
She snuggled into him.
“Just glad to be going home,” she said.
He nodded.
Whatever might happen, they would have each other and that would be enough.
Chapter Fifteen
Irene clung to Ryder as they raced along on the snowmobile, followed by another snowmobile carrying Jess and Kace. It had been nearly a month since they had made it off the mountain, and yet here she was, back on that damn rock again. Not only that, but she was back in the damn snow.
Well, at least this time she had her warm fuzzy pink coat. Taylor had teased her saying that she looked like a giant piece of cotton candy. Ryder had then asked if he could gobble her up. She couldn’t stop the blush that followed.
They leaned to the left to avoid a branch, and she grinned as she tightened her grip on him. Maybe this snow business wasn’t so bad if she got to feel him up like on his bike.
“Behave,” he shouted.
Irene frowned.
She looked over to her right and gave a little wave. Jess and Kace hadn’t been hard to convince to come. Much like her sister, Jess believed that actions spoke louder than words, and Ando had managed some impressive actions. Irene was a little surprised to find that Jess already knew about her father being alive. Of all the things to keep secret, it was the one Irene hadn’t expected, but then Jess had never thought something like this might happen either. She assumed that he’d make his exit and ride off into the sunset, never to be heard from again.
Her heart sped up a little when the cabin came into view. It had been their fortress in the storm, but it had also been the beacon to Kert, the man who had become Wolf. Most of all, it represented a final chance for Ando, a man who had wronged his children.
They pulled up out front, and she stepped off the snowmobile. The snow pushed clear up to her knees.
“I hate snow,” she mumbled.
Ryder chuckled as he guided her to the door.
Before they could even knock, Ando had the door open and stood waiting. She held her breath, waiting to see how things would go.
Ando stared awkwardly between Jess and Kace. Irene wondered how Ando felt about his daughter’s future husband being an ex-cop.
“I hear I’m to congratulate you,” Ando said. He scratched his eyebrow “You’re with child and getting married here soon.”
Despite Kace and Jess’s plan to elope, Irene and Ryder’s little adventure resulted in Jess and Kace returning home without getting married, thus giving Kace’s mother her beloved chance to put together another wedding.
Jess climbed the stairs and stood just steps away from him. She studied him for a long time.
Ando ran a hand over the back of his neck.
“Look, I know this is weird…” he started.
His words were cut off by his daughter’s arms wrapped tightly around him.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For watching out for them. Thank you.”
Jess cried quietly against her father’s chest. It was the first time Irene had seen her react to anything like that, but then, it was the first time her father had actually been an active parent.
Ando pulled back and dried his eyes. He smiled when he looked down at her.
“You have turned into an amazing woman,” he said. He opened the door wide, and Irene was surprised to see Charlie when they came in.
“How is your sister doing?” he asked from the couch.
“Better,” Jess said, taking a seat in a chair. “The break wasn’t as bad as we thought. It did get some muscle, but the infection is all gone now, and they don’t think the damage will be permanent.” She turned to look at her father. “We’re not going to tell her,” she said. “Vic isn’t stable right now. This would all be too much. The money was one thing, but this…” She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded slowly, and Irene felt his pain. He wanted more than anything to know the love of both of his children.
“I understand,” he said. “She’s been through a lot. You all have. Because of me.”
Irene couldn’t help but nod. They really had been through quite a bit, though she blamed Kert and not Ando.
“I have to know,” Jess said quietly. “The man in prison. The one they thought was you. Who was he?”
Ando shrugged. “I really have no idea. It was chance. The boiler exploded, exposing a small sliver of freedom, and I took it. I didn’t set it up, and I didn’t kill him.”
Jess let out a sigh of obvious relief. Irene knew it had been weighing on her. Ando hadn’t been a good man, but he hadn’t been a stone-cold killer either.
Irene grinned. “I think you should show your collection of art.”
Ando shot her a confused look, but Jess seemed excited.
“You collect art?” Jess said to her father.
Ando shook his head. “I really don’t.” He furrowed his brow.
Irene waved a hand. “Of course you do. Here, let me show you.”
She led them down the hall to his bedroom.
“Ando has the finest collection of art I’ve ever seen by two little girls name Jessica and Victoria,” Irene said with a grin.
Ryder stayed behind while the others looked at the pictures Jess and Vic did as kids. He had business of his own here. Kert let the past consume him and turn him into a monster. Ryder had been given the opportunity to let his soul heal, to let Irene heal his soul, but there were still a few loose ends.
He pulled a chair in front of Charlie and sat down.
“For years I’ve been carrying around this hate,” Ryder started, “for what happened the day I got my scar.”
Charlie frowned and opened his mouth, but Ryder held up a hand.
“I was angry at my brother, and you and even Niki,”
he said. He shook his head. “Furious. I didn’t do any good holding on to that anger. All it ever got me was more anger.”
He took a deep breath. This was harder than he ever thought it would be.
“I stopped trusting anyone,” he said, “Even my brother. And you can’t live a life without trust.”
Charlie nodded, and Ryder stuck out his hand. “So, I want to say, thanks for teaching me to trust again. Without you, we would have never made it out of here, and I owe you my life.”
Charlie took his hand and grunted. “You talk too much,” he said. “I think next time I’ll just let you die.”
Ryder laughed at the somewhat sour man.
“How’s that idiot brother of yours?” Charlie asked.
Ryder shook his head. Cage had been a little worse than Charlie had let on. He was never near death, but his knee was badly damaged, and the doctors thought he’d walk with a limp the rest of his life. It was a blow to his ego and, more so, to his pride. Ryder wasn’t sure how he was going to get past this.
“The surgery went well,” he said. “They were able to get the pins in, and the chances of him losing the leg have gone away completely.”
“Damn shame about Carlos,” he said. “But your brother was lucky he was there.”
Ryder nodded. The details were all still a little sketchy, and Cage wasn’t helping much, but from what they had gathered, Carlos had also been out there in the woods helping Cage and Reed. The why still wasn’t clear, but when one of Paco’s loyal members fired on Cage, Carlos tossed Cage out of the way, saving Cage, but at the cost of his own life.
He thought about Havoc. The huge biker had been a big help. Apparently, he only stuck around long enough to make sure Victoria got to the hospital and then took off, which was probably for the best.
As far as the police were concerned, it was just another gang issue.
He looked up when the others came back into the room and smiled at Irene. Their time this last month had been the best he’d ever had. Life was full, and for once, he was happy.
Allen Securities 04 - Ryder Page 12
