Ryker (The Mavericks Book 6)

by Dale Mayer

  He flashed her bright smile. “I’ll do that.” And he walked to the door.

  She was amazed at the resilience of youth because, in truth, she was flagging again, seriously and badly. With her clothes folded and sitting on the edge of the bed, she climbed back up on top and stretched out, then dropped her head on the pillow. She didn’t know where Andy got so much energy. She was dead tired. But then yesterday had been brutal in so many ways. She wished Ryker would come back soon.

  He’d said he’d step out for a few moments but whatever was going on sounded pretty off to her. But she’d had so much coffee that she should have been running around in circles, and yet, instead she yawned like crazy. Surely a little nap wouldn’t hurt. She wasn’t even sure what time it was, but it had to be close to noon. She let her body sink once again into the fluffy bed. She was quite content to stay right now. As much as she’d like to be a tourist and walk around, the footwear was an issue, and, if a tour meant getting back into her heavy clothing again and lacing up those hard boots, she was totally okay to stay barefoot. Besides she was supposed to stay out of sight, and that would be impossible.

  As she thought maybe she could drift off to sleep, she heard a light knock, and the door opened.

  “Going to bed?” Ryker asked.

  She smiled without opening her eyes. “The guys left, so I was thinking I would relax a bit more. The thought of getting dressed again and putting on my heavy work boots was more than I could contemplate.”

  “Are your feet sore?”

  “A little bit,” she said.

  Just then, gentle fingers picked up her feet and gently checked them out.

  “You’ve got pretty big blisters,” he said. “That’s not good.”

  “I was trying to ignore them,” she said. “We trekked a lot of miles in rough terrain.”

  “I know, but you’ll have to put those boots back on again when we leave.”

  “I know,” she said. “I don’t even have bandages.”

  “I’ll fix that,” he said. “Back in a minute.”

  He walked over to his bags. She watched as he went into a small pack and returned, then lightly covered her blisters with ointment and then with bandages. One of the blisters had opened, and, even as he put a second bandage on top, the second blister popped. “That’ll help them to heal too,” he said as he quickly cleaned them and rebandaged them.

  “Now my feet don’t look anywhere near so nice,” she said with a laugh.

  “They look beautiful, like the rest of you,” he said. Then he glanced at the table full of cups and plates. “I should clean that up too.”

  “I can help,” she said, swinging her legs over to the side and sitting up. “I didn’t want to waste an opportunity to lie down and relax.”

  “Just stay there,” he said, waving her back. “I’ll put everything back on a tray and put the tray outside the door.” And, with that done, he took it out and laid it on the floor to the side of the door.

  As the door opened, she thought she saw somebody standing there. “Who’s out there?” she asked. He hesitated, and she shook her head. “No more secrets, please. What’s going on?”

  And he told her about the two men who work for the hotel.

  She paled and stared up at him, firming her lips even as her stomach churned. “They really were doing that to me?”

  He nodded. “You have to remember that they weren’t necessarily doing it to you. You weren’t a person. You weren’t a woman they knew or cared about. It’s not as if they would do it to their own families.”

  “In other words, I’m just part of a profit-making scheme,” she said.

  He nodded and shrugged. “It’s humanity at the worst of times, unfortunately.”

  She nodded. “Isn’t that the truth? But it sucks.”

  “It does,” he said. “But they’ll stand there on guard.”

  “Just means that they’ll let anybody in.”

  “But we won’t be here,” he whispered. She looked at him in surprise. He walked out onto the balcony, and, before she realized what was going on, he motioned for her to come. She walked outside, and she saw two boards crossing the balconies to Miles’s balcony. She stared at it and shuddered. “Are you serious?”

  “Very serious,” he said. “I want you to crawl from here to there.”

  He helped her up to the side, and, with Miles at the other end, and her refusing to look down, she slowly crawled and made her way across the balcony. When Miles lifted her off, she gave him a big hug and said, “I really don’t want to do that again.”

  “I understand,” he said. “And, if we didn’t have to, it’d be much easier.” And just then, he hopped up onto the two boards and met Ryker, who was on the other side. Ryker handed him off bags and bags of stuff.

  Then, with everything moved over to Miles’s room, she asked, “But what about Andy?”

  “Hopefully we won’t have to stay here,” Miles said. “At least not for very long. But, if need be, Andy and I can stay in your room tonight.”

  “Is that fair though? What if the guerrillas come in after me there?”

  “Hopefully it’s not even an issue,” he said. “We do have to get out of here in a fairly reasonable time frame today.”

  “And what about Pablo?” she asked.

  “Well, I have good news for you there.”

  She stepped inside Miles’s room, realizing it was pretty well a duplicate of hers and sat down on the bed. “Tell me,” she demanded. “Is he okay?”

  He explained what had happened and why he’d been given a private room off to the side to keep him safe. Her face lit up. “So, not everybody in this village is like those two assholes outside my room?”

  He shook his head. “No, and most people don’t deal with the guerrillas at all. They keep quiet. They like to ignore the fact that the guerrillas even exist. I also questioned Pablo as to the guerrilla’s plans and if you are likely to be in any danger still, but he didn’t have an answer for me.”

  “So potentially safe except for those guys standing guard?”

  “Yes, and oddly enough,” Ryker said, “one of them is married and with a young child.”

  She frowned. “And he was prepared to throw away another woman like his wife?”

  “More a case of another woman so that his wife could have a better life,” he corrected.

  Her shoulders sagged as she realized just how much of an opportunity that would be here. Most of the people would be happy with the simpler life but you would always get the young men who weren’t. “I’m still not terribly impressed,” she announced.

  “Neither are we,” Ryker said. “And, by the way, you said that the men went out. Where did they go?”

  “Benjamin wanted to go for a walk around the village, and Andy was interested in finding food or crossing paths with Miles,” she said. “Nothing is wrong with that, is there?”

  “No, hopefully, they’re not gone very long,” Ryker said. “We haven’t gotten our orders confirmed yet, but chances are, when we do, we’ll have to move fast.”

  She looked at Miles. “Did you bring food?”

  He smiled and nodded. Then he walked over to the desk at the front of the room and motioned at the two large bags.

  “Right,” she said. “So, can we sit outside and have it there?”

  “Well, to hide that you’re here in this room now, I suggest we eat inside,” Ryker said.

  She nodded. “That’s reasonable. We could also move to another place entirely.”

  “Only if you know where we can go,” he said.

  “It’s already past two, so I have to pay for a second night here anyway,” she said, sagging back on Miles’s bed. “Did you remember to bring my clothes over?” she asked Ryker.

  He nodded. “I did.” He motioned to the folded stack of clothing on the side, and she smiled.

  “I just hated to leave my clean clothes over there. Did my boots come too?” She turned and looked around.

  He frow
ned and said, “No, I guess not.” He walked back out and without even putting the boards back up, he quickly made his way over to the other side.

  “How did he do that?” Manila asked.

  Miles laughed. “Well, I could say he’s half monkey, but the truth of the matter is, we were trained to do this stuff all the time.”

  She sighed. “Maybe, but it’s still pretty amazing.”

  “It is. It’s almost magical,” he said with a laugh. Then Ryker appeared again, walking through the balcony door with her boots.

  “Now, whenever you leave our rooms though, you should be leaving from that door, shouldn’t you?”

  “Now that the two men are on guard, yes,” he said. “I’ll stage it to look like you’re alone.”

  She swallowed hard. “Are you expecting one of them to do something?”

  “I am,” he said. “It would be nice to put a stop to this.”

  “What about Pablo? Is he safe in this town?”

  “I’m not sure,” he said.

  “More concerning is how to get him back to his family,” Manila said.

  “Does he even want to return?” Ryker asked. “His uncle gave him to the guerrillas and ditched him in the jungle, and he quite likely paid that guide to do it too.”

  “Maybe he can find a life here then,” she said. “He was looking for work, and there wasn’t any at his home.”

  “Well, maybe the hotel has a spot now,” Miles said. “Especially with those two losing their jobs.”

  “It’s possible. It’s hard to say though. I’m afraid that’ll be Pablo’s cross to bear.” Ryker shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m sure there are multiple ways to travel around here, but it might take him a week if he’s determined to get home again.”

  “I feel like we should help him,” she said. “We’re responsible for him ending up here in the first place.”

  “Yeah,” Miles said. “We’re responsible for him still being alive.” He winked at her, and she laughed.

  “I get that, but, at the same time, it sucks.”

  “Not to worry. We’ll make sure that he’s not just dumped here.”

  “Any idea if we can leave today?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Ryker said. “It’s already two-thirty. I would hope so, but I can’t say for sure.”

  “I want to relax and enjoy being here, but, at the same time, now I feel like I can’t do that.”

  “Until you’re back home again,” Miles said, his tone very serious, “I highly suggest you don’t relax at all.”

  “Right,” she said. “And that’s terrible. It’s life, isn’t it?”

  “It so is.”

  She groaned. “So, food?”

  The men quickly rearranged some of the furniture, so they could sit around the small table in front of the open glass balcony doors. And then Ryker brought over a selection of what looked like meat and vegetables and lots of rice.

  “This looks wonderful,” she said, as she scooped up some for herself onto one of the plates that he had brought over and then served them each a serving as well. “Did you intend this for everybody, as in all five of us?”

  “More or less,” Ryker said. “If we need more, we’ll get more. What I want to do is make sure that your tank’s topped up just in case we have to go for a long time without again.”

  Her fork froze in midair as she contemplated that. When he gave her a steady look and nodded, she sighed and took the bite anyway. “I really don’t want to have to do that anymore.”

  “We’re not safe yet,” Ryker said. “Remember that. Don’t let your guard down.”

  “Fine,” she said. “I’ll eat, and then I’ll have a nap. Because, while I’m stuck in here, I might as well at least regain some energy too.” And she quickly polished off her food, then got up and grabbed the top blanket and laid down on top of Miles’s bed. She pulled the blanket over her shoulders and slept.

  “That was fast,” Miles said. “She ate and then fell right asleep.”

  “At least she’s using her reserves for what’s needed,” Ryker said.

  “Are you really expecting the guerrillas to come today?”

  “I don’t think it’ll be the guerrillas at all,” he said. “I think it’ll be somebody who’s a sympathizer and informant for the guerrillas.”

  “More than those two guys?”

  “I think they were paid pennies,” he said. “I think somebody else in town here is likely running messages and doing whatever the guerrillas need.”

  “Maybe, but it’s not like the guerrillas have money.”

  “Except now that they have partnered up with the drug trade, that’s not quite true. They have way more money than we think.”

  “So what are you’re expecting to find?”

  “I’m not expecting to find anything,” he said. “I just want to make sure that we’re out of here before anybody else tries anything.” Just then, his phone beeped. He checked the messages coming through and said, “That’s Asher. Looks like a naval ship’s not too far away.”

  “We’ll get there how?”

  “Arranging for a Zodiac,” he said. “We’ll meet at the beach at midnight tonight.”

  “That works,” Miles said. “That’s really good timing. If she can sleep now and then eat again, we can get her to the beach and get out of here before things go to hell.”

  They heard an odd sound outside. “I think that’s already in progress,” Ryker whispered. With a hard look at Miles, he rose and walked to the door, but Miles followed him and said, “Remember? It’s my room.” He stepped out and heard some heated voices outside. Miles spoke calmly and said, “I’m sorry. I don’t know where they are. I think they’re sleeping.” A couple more voices spoke, and then a man stormed off. Miles stepped back in. “So, that looked like the hotel manager talking to the two young men again.”

  “Right,” Ryker said. “If we’re certain that those two snitches are sympathizers, chances are the manager is involved with the guerrillas. Otherwise, why would these two men be following orders like this? Still, the owner seemed to take a hard line against the guerrillas, so I wonder where the manager stands on the issue.”

  “Right, and it would make sense that he would see and know people around the village. So then we have to get out of here now?”

  “No,” Ryker said. “We’ll stay as long as we can. And just when they think that we’re settled in for the night, and the manager’s planning whatever he’s planning, he’ll find out that the room next door is empty.”

  “I like it,” Miles said. “I think I’ll head back down to the hospital and talk to Pablo again. See what he can come up with for his plans and any other guerrilla contacts around here. And maybe speak with that young doctor.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Ryker said. Then he frowned at the bed where Manila laid. “But I’m not sure if we should leave her alone.”

  “Stay,” Miles said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “You mean in an hour.” Ryker checked his watch. “It’s almost three o’clock, and, with any luck, she’ll sleep until four.”

  “I’ll be back around four or five then,” he said. “If Andy or Benjamin return, give them some food and try to get them to stay here, just in case we have to pull out earlier.”

  “Will do.”

  At that, Miles stepped out. He spoke to the two young men outside Manila’s door too, his voice carrying easily, and then he headed down the stairs. Ryker very quietly locked the door and headed back to the table that he quickly cleared off. Then he pulled out his laptop and brought up the chat window and told Asher where they were and what was going on. He wrote, Don’t know what’s happening with the hotel owner, but the hotel manager could be a sympathizer with the guerrillas.

  We can’t get you out before midnight, the chat message came back. So make sure you stay safe until then. The photos you sent of local guerrillas didn’t get any pops. No one showing up on our Most Wanted lists, including Interpol. The guerr
illas won’t win any brownie points by taking you out now. With any luck, if we make it too difficult, they’ll give up.

  I highly suspect that’s the answer, Ryker typed, but I’ve got two young men standing watch over her room now.

  And that’s not a bad idea. If nothing else, they’ll tell the guerrillas that they were forced to do this, and that she’s in there.

  That’s what I figured, he said. It’s still dicey but get us out fast.

  Got a question for you, Asher texted.

  What’s up?

  How well do you trust her team?

  I don’t trust anybody, Ryker said. What about them?

  Benjamin’s in financial difficulty, Asher said. As in grave financial difficulty. He’s losing his house. Do you think he’d have something to do with the guerrillas?

  Yep, without a doubt. He’s slime. Ryker sat back and thought about it. What happens if she doesn’t return?

  Well, he’s next in line for the promotion at Global.

  But he doesn’t have a degree.

  Which is why she got the job in the first place, Asher said. Doesn’t mean that he wasn’t eligible. Apparently, it was a tough decision.

  So then will he likely get offered the job if she doesn’t return?

  Unfortunately, that’s quite a big possibility, he said. An ugly one but definitely a possibility. Still not a huge motive for murder.

  For Benjamin, it is. He can’t climb the career ladder on his skills alone. So what about Andy? Any problems pop for him?

  No, Asher said. Unfortunately, he’s new. He’s just a student who’s trying hard to make his mark in the world and to grow his career.

  Agreed, Ryker said.

  At that, Asher signed off and left Ryker studying the coastline and their rendezvous spot. He didn’t trust anyone. Silence was the best option. And, therefore, he wouldn’t tell Andy or Benjamin what they were doing until it was time to leave.

  “Anything wrong?” Manila asked.

  “No,” he said, turning his head and smiling at Manila, who laid on the bed, cozy and sleepy. “Return to sleep.”

  “How long have I been out?”