This Year's Black (Killer Style 2)

“That’s because you took off half-cocked before I got all the intel to you.”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, well don’t do it again.” Carlos’ fingers flew across the keyboard. “I’m bringing the images up now. Looks like there’s just one road leading into the property. It’s all flat grassland with no cover in any direction. We’d need an invisibility cloak to get in without giving them at least a twenty minute heads up to our approach. But that’s not the worst of it. They have a small runway and the warehouse is big enough to house a prop plane.”

“So they can fly on out at any time. That sucks,” Cam muttered. “How are the authorities here?”

Ryder snorted. “Complicit or afraid.”

“Let me work on backup.” Cam strolled to the corner and started working his charm on whoever was lucky enough to pick up the other end of his phone call.

Borja cleared his throat and backed to the door. “If you’ll excuse me, I must make a telephone call.” He slipped out without waiting for a response.

“Is he safe?” Tony’s voice held a mercenary edge that sent a shiver down her spine.

She traced her thumb across the rope bracelet, certainty calming her nerves. “Yes.”

“Fine. Are you good enough to get off that bed? We need to talk.” He strode out onto the patio, sitting down at the table where she’d had breakfast with Devin only the day before.

Planting her feet on the floor, she stood slowly and took in a calming breath. The room didn’t spin and her head didn’t explode. It may not be much, but it was progress and she’d take what she could get. She had to. Devin didn’t have time for her to stop and whine about her probable-concussion aftereffects. Cam gave her another thumbs up while Carlos never looked up from his screen.

She stepped outside and shut the sliding door behind her. A warm breeze lifted her hair, making it dance along her skin, reminding her of Devin’s touch.

“Just what in the fuck do you think you were doing?” Her brother’s angry voice jarred her back to the present. “You were supposed to find an embezzler. Then you leave the country with some harebrained plan to go kidnap someone from a foreign country like some kind of rogue CIA agent in a bad movie. Jesus, Ryder, you didn’t even send me a text until you were already on the plane.”

He wasn’t saying anything she hadn’t already told herself, but still her hackles went up. Old habits died hard. “I’m not a complete idiot, Tony. I am capable of running a case.”

“I know that, and if you actually ever tried to do something by the book as a team instead of constantly going off on your own and playing by your own rule book, I’d be more than happy to put you on your own cases. Lord knows it would benefit the business.”

She blinked and looked, really looked, at her brother. He had dark circles under his eyes and a weariness that she realized had been there for the past few months. “What are you talking about?”

“You think I’ve kept you on cheating spouses cases because I thought you were incompetent? Shit, if that was the case I would have fired you, sister or not.” He shoved a hand through his thick hair and sighed. “I never doubted your ability. Whenever it counts, you’re always point on.”

A list of mistakes ran through her mind longer than the end movie credits. “Not always.”

“I know about Heath.” The vein in Tony’s temple throbbed.

Surprise emptied out nearly every thought in her head but one. “How?”

“Sylvie.” He shrugged. “She was so mad, she wanted to burn down the world looking for him, and after she told me what happened, so did I.” He held up his hand. “Don’t worry, once we find him, you’ll get first crack at his melon. But you can’t lose your trust in yourself because of him. Don’t give him that power.”

That’s when it hit her. It wasn’t her judgment on the job that was most important. Heath hadn’t only lied to her and hurt her, he’d made her question her own instincts when it came to life, to the people she cared about, to what really mattered. But not anymore.

Fear for Devin one-two punched her hard. “Devin’s not just a client.”

“What do you—” He slumped back against the metal chair. “Shit, Ryder, when did this happen? You’ve only known him for what, a week?”

“We knew each other before this.” She blinked back emotion.

Their first night together seemed like a lifetime ago, but somehow she’d known even then that Devin was different. Which was why she’d run as fast as she could…only to end up right back smack dab in the middle of a bed with him again. The sex was great, but it wasn’t just that. It never had been all about the sex. What exactly it was about him that spoke to her, she couldn’t deal with thinking about right now. That would have to wait until they got him back safely.

“Tony, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Devin’s safe.” She bit the inside of her cheek and held her breath to keep tears from falling.

Tony shook his head, reached across the table, and covered her hand with his. “We’ll get him. I swear.” He leaned back. “Now, I need some food so we can put together a plan. How’s room service in this joint?”

Chapter Fifteen

“Fashion is not frivolous. It is a part of being alive today.”