Loch rubbed the back of his head and got into his truck. He’d spent far too many hours this morning dealing with the aftermath of the destruction at his gym. He couldn’t believe how much damage had been done in such a short period of time. While he wasn’t going to have to start over from the ground up, it would be close.
The assholes had taken a sledgehammer to every piece of equipment in his place, and broken doors off their hinges to each of his private rooms except for his office. They’d shattered the floor-to-ceiling mirrors, torn down a few of the overhead lights, and had even damaged a few walls by using the sledgehammer on the drywall. They’d busted a pipe so water was everywhere, not to mention other fluids like oil and even gasoline. It was all far too deliberate and rage-filled.
So much anger, so much destruction. And for what? To piss Loch off? To try and scare him into giving Riker the company? It didn’t make any sense to Loch, but it wasn’t like he thought like the sociopath Riker likely was. Between Dennis—if the two were connected—attacking Ainsley when she was visiting her sister at the cemetery, breaking into Loch’s place and trying to search for something, the note, the phone call, and now…this, Riker had clearly lost it, and Loch didn’t think he would back down anytime soon.
But things still didn’t click for Loch. The last time they’d spoken, it sounded like the police thought Riker had something to do with Dennis’s death, but they weren’t telling Loch either way. While he wanted to know everything, he didn’t have the right to ask them about every detail. But still, his family was in danger, and he needed to know the facts. Only he wasn’t sure the authorities had them all. At least not yet. Danger was piling up in Whiskey, something that didn’t happen often, if ever, and Loch knew everybody was on edge, wanting to figure out how to stop it. The fact that Loch’s past was the reason for all of it didn’t sit well with him, but there was nothing he could do except tell the authorities everything he knew as well as try to help them find Riker.
Because, in Loch’s mind, there was no doubt that the other man was connected to it all, even if he couldn’t follow his former teammate’s line of thought. Loch had feelers out with his old contacts to see if they knew where Riker was staying, but so far, they’d come up as emptyhanded as Loch had.
He’d keep looking, but right then, all he wanted to do was see if Ainsley was on her way home yet and go see his girls. He couldn’t believe how quickly things had changed and yet, at the same time, it felt like nothing had. He and Ainsley had always been on this path despite ignoring the connection they had. They just hadn’t seen what they could be to one another.
Or maybe Ainsley had always known, and he’d been the one to ignore it.
He hadn’t been as dense as the rest of his family thought when it came to their curious glances over the years. He’d noticed when they were confused about Ainsley and him, looking between them as if they were missing something. Most of their friends thought they’d already slept together, but then again, Loch had done his best not to think about Ainsley that way until she’d been right in front of him, all angry and sexy as hell. Then, he’d gotten jealous. And now, well, the rest was history.
His phone rang then, pulling him out of his thoughts. Since he hadn’t turned on the engine yet, it didn’t go to his Bluetooth, so he picked up his phone to read the screen, frowning when it said Unknown.
Chills raced down his spine, and he answered, his voice gruff. “Yeah?”
“You should have just given me the company, Loch. You want nothing to do with it, we both know that. You left, remember? You abandoned the company and all we stand for and now you’re living your perfect little life with your little brat and that bitch of yours. You should have given it to me, Loch. All you had to do was sign it over and no one would have gotten hurt. Now, you’re a murderer, or at least the cops think that. Now you know your house isn’t as safe as you thought. Now you know your work isn’t the safe place you wanted it to be. Now you know you’re never safe, Loch. You should have given it to me…but you still have time. Say the word, and all of this will be over. Just say the fucking word, Loch.”
Then Riker hung up before Loch could say anything, and he blinked down at the phone, trying to remember and decipher everything the other man had said. If he had been smart, he would have recorded the conversation somehow, but he hadn’t thought about it, and frankly, there hadn’t been enough time, especially not knowing for sure who was on the other end of the line. Riker had talked without stopping like some villain from a damn movie with his diatribe and hadn’t let Loch get a word in as Loch tried to make sense of the other man’s words.
Riker had all but admitted that he’d murdered Dennis and tried to make it look like it was Loch, even though there hadn’t been any real evidence or motive. And all of this for contacts and intel from a company with a good enough reputation that Riker could have probably gotten in with some major donors and bigwigs, making money and crossing lines for years before anyone even caught on that Jason’s company wasn’t the kind of place it had been before. With what Jason had left him, Loch knew that they were talking millions of dollars.
He shook his head, worried about what else Riker would do to get all that money and power. He’d already done so much, had pushed his men to break the law as he had with Chris, and from what Loch could see, he hadn’t contacted the other man at all afterwards, probably cutting ties as soon as Chris got caught. It was insane.
Loch quickly called Detective Shannon, letting him know about the call since it was all he could do and, thankfully, the two detectives didn’t want to talk to him again just then. They said they’d see what they could do with the number, but they weren’t a high-tech station, and Loch bet Riker knew how to deal with disposable phones and other shit that would guarantee that no one would be able to trace the call. But they had to at least try because, at some point, Riker would make a mistake that would mean they could catch him. Because they had to, damn it. Loch’s family wouldn’t be safe otherwise.
Thinking of those he loved, he quickly called Ainsley, getting more nervous as the rings kept going and it went to voicemail. He tried again in case she was driving or dealing with Misty and couldn’t talk, but it went to voicemail another two times. He put his phone in the drink holder and started his truck, practically peeling out of the parking lot of his gym as he went the back way to his place. If Ainsley had gone to the grocery store, this would be the way she’d go; it was the quickest. And except for one small part, it was completely lined with homes and businesses. It should be safe. Whiskey was supposed to be safe.
Loch called Fox, then Dare, asking if they’d heard from Ainsley, both saying they hadn’t but would ask the rest of the family for him and would get back to him before they started looking, as well. That was his family, always on his side, protecting what was there even if they were all scared as fuck about what was happening.
He took the curve toward his place, then slammed on his brakes as he saw a very familiar little girl with wide eyes and tears streaming down her face, standing between two strangers on the side of the road, a sedan he didn’t recognize pulled over near them.
He pulled in behind them, then threw his door open, running toward the couple and his daughter.
“Misty!”
“Daddy!”
She ran past the couple, who didn’t stop her. Staying on the side of the road rather than on it, he ran to her as well, picking her up as she jumped toward him and crushing her to his chest.
“Baby, what’s wrong? Why are you out here? What’s going on?” He was rambling, asking too many questions for a four-year-old to answer at once, but he was goddamn shaking. Where was Ainsley? He didn’t ask that, too scared to even voice it.
“They took Ainsley, Daddy!” Misty was screaming now, her little body shaking so much in his hold he was afraid she was going into shock. He patted her back, rocking her back and forth as he tried to calm both of them down. His heart was beating so fast, he almost forgot all of his training over the years. He could barely think straight.
“What?”
“Sir?” the woman asked, her voice shaking, as well. She had to be a tourist or just driving through since he didn’t recognize her. “We saw her running on the side of the road, and we pulled over. She started crying and screaming and wouldn’t come close, and we understood that she was scared of us, too. So, we called the police. They should be here soon. She didn’t say a word to us, so we don’t know who she’s talking about or who Ainsley is or even what happened, but you have a smart little girl there. She knew what to do with strangers. And we’re sorry if we scared her, but we didn’t want her to be alone, even if she was just standing near us and not coming close.”
Loch soothed his little girl, who had quieted down to a whimper now as sirens filled the air, getting closer. He was damn tired of that noise, especially since it always seemed to do with him lately, but he wanted them to check out Misty. And fuck, he needed to find Ainsley.
“Thank you,” Loch said, his voice a growl. He knew he was a bit big and scary, but he had his daughter in his arms, and the love of his life was out there somewhere. “Thank you for doing all you did.”
He didn’t know what else to say while the other couple introduced themselves and started talking to fill the silence as they waited for the cops and the ambulance to come. He was pretty sure they were the same paramedics from the graveyard and that just reminded Loch of Ainsley.
Where was she?
And how the fuck was he going to find her?
Because he knew Riker had her. After that phone call, it made the most sense. He needed to find her. Needed to save her. Because if he lost Ainsley after just finding her, he’d never forgive himself. Riker would regret even coming near what was Loch’s.
But he might only regret it for a little while because if Loch had his way, the other man wouldn’t be breathing for long.
Loch needed to find Ainsley.
No matter what.