Redeem My Heart (30 page)

“I’d take his advice, Agent White,” Ryland encouraged soothingly, drawing the weapon from his holster. “It’s a bitch when one of your own rats you out, isn’t it? Agent Scherer, please continue with what you
do
know.”

“We planted evidence in Travis Bowers’ foot locker,” Scherer confessed rather quickly, the words coming out fast as Cy stepped out of the shadows for a little incentive. “That was it. I swear.”

“It’s not mine,” Travis said desperately, trying to convince his platoon sergeant and the lieutenant. “You have to believe me.”

“That’s hard to do when the evidence says something completely different, Specialist Bowers.”

A piercing pain radiated through Ryland’s temple, causing him to turn slightly to hide his reaction. Where the fuck had that come from? He swallowed the groan that had formed in his chest, refusing to show any vulnerability. He remembered clearly being involved with the drug cartel during his last deployment. He recalled killing Demri Calvert when his fellow soldier discovered he was dealing. It
had
been real. He was certain of that. He finally fought through the lessening pain to focus on what was being said.

“He’s right,” Agent Clark stated in agreement, backing up his coworker while adding a few memories of his own. “It was the only way to get Travis Bowers taken into our custody so that we could question him in relation to another case.”

“And what case would that have been?” Cy asked, picking away at the dried blood on his knuckles with a stained handkerchief. “And who wanted him questioned?”

“We don’t know,” Agent Clark said defensively, the cut on his lip bleeding once more. “We followed orders. That’s all.”

“Agent White, you seem rather quiet,” Ryland surmised, tilting his head as he studied the battered and bruised agent. Cy had done one hell of a job on all three of these men. “Would you like to add anything on to the confessions of your colleagues?”

“No.”

“So be it.”

Ryland placed the cold sterile barrel of his weapon to Agent Scherer’s forehead. The man struggled even more so against his restraints, causing White to close his eyes tightly in an attempt to shut out the sights and screams echoing off of the steel beams above them. Scherer was now begging White to come clean.

“Wait!” White yelled over his comrade’s pleas for life. “Just…stop. He doesn’t know anything.”

“Time is up, Agent White,” Ryland disclosed in a deadpan voice. For some reason, his stomach became slightly nauseous that the situation had come to this. Could he pull the trigger on this husband, father, and son? It angered him that he even thought twice. A part of Ryland had him squeezing the trigger while another had him holding back. Cy didn’t know that. Ryland needed this to end before Cy took this matter in his own hands. He’d already taken things to extreme with White and Scherer by the time Ryland had obtained Clark, as evidenced by the man’s bloody lip instead of the mangled faces of his colleagues. “You either tell me what I’d like to know or each of you can meet your maker in turn. Tick tock.”

Agent White finally talked, revealing quite a bit more than Scherer or White had been privy to while they all were in country. Ryland slowly lowered his weapon in somewhat disbelief upon hearing the confession of Agent White. These things were being said about him and yet the events could have happened to a virtual stranger. Nothing White said resonated with Ryland and it changed nothing in his outlook of his life. He’d always said he didn’t possess a soul, but now it was clear that he had—two to be precise. They’d been battling each other for decades, but there would be no winner. They would forever remain at war—the one he never came home from.

Ryland took a step back to clear his head, holstering his weapon. Cy appeared just as surprised by what he’d heard, neither of them making a move toward the exit. The other two agents appeared somewhat shocked, but it was hard to tell with their swollen facial features. There wasn’t much of a doubt that White was telling them the truth with the details he recalled, but it didn’t make any of this easier to swallow.

Cy attempted to get more answers, but it was evident that White had no idea that E.D.A. had been reinitiated. It didn’t matter what his knowledge was of the present condition of the program. He’d given them everything they needed to stop the corrupted man who’d been pulling the strings. Ryland now was armed with the intelligence to end this, but it was bittersweet. Those two warring souls would forever remain in a battle that couldn’t be won.

Chapter Twenty-Five

F
allon checked the display on her phone for the hundredth time in the past ten hours. It was zero six thirty the following morning and there was still no word from Ryland. She’d spent most of the night at her office trying to figure out what his agenda was, considering she’d been wrong about his thirst for knowledge. He’d acted like he would have gone for Quaid or Utley. He had done neither.

“Agents White, Scherer, and Clark are being treated at Walter Reed and then will be questioned about their involvement,” Townes said from his position across the kitchen island in her apartment. Fallon had returned home sometime in the middle of the night hoping Ryland would come back like he’d promised, but her place had been cold and empty. Instead, it was to Townes informing her that three missing agents had been located and were now connected to Ryland’s agenda. She set her phone down with a thud and then turned around to make coffee, giving herself something to do. “Schultz is taking lead and Crest should be here shortly.”

Quaid had finally disclosed to Schultz last night that Utley had been quietly looking into E.D.A. He’d launched his own personal investigation, unaware of who he could trust, after Fallon had shed a light on the disbanded illegal program. Quaid had been adamant that Utley wasn’t a part of the veiled platform, but he either didn’t want to divulge Utley’s location or he truly didn’t know. Schultz and Crest had gotten nowhere, with the exception of ruling out both men.

“We should be there for the questioning,” Fallon said, pouring coffee grounds into the white cone. She flicked the handle on the kitchen faucet and placed the glass carafe underneath the stream of cold water. “It’ll help me in determining what Ryland’s next step might be.”

Worry, hurt, and anger had been sparring within Fallon since her last conversation with Ryland. Only it hadn’t been Ryland. There had been a part of Travis making an appearance and he’d been confused. It caused her pain to know that he was out there somewhere, dealing with this transition on his own. She conceded transition was too broad a word. Not to mention that he wasn’t the stone cold killer he’d once been. Ryland might very well find himself in over his head. She actually comforted herself with the thought that there would never be a transition, but more of an acknowledgment. Ryland should still be here with her rather than out there doing God knows what.

Fallon’s front door burst open, startling her and causing her to almost lose her grip on the carafe. She quickly set it down in the sink and reached for a hand towel to wipe the water from her hands. Jax, Connor, and Crest came through the door in that order. The anguish pouring off of Jax was more than evident and she hadn’t needed him to get in her face to see it, but he came at her so quickly that she’d allowed herself to be caught between him and the counter. He was inches from her with a finger digging into her chest.

“Where the fuck is he?” Jax was breathing harshly and panic poured off of him. Fallon had never seen him so out of control before, but she held her own against this invasion of her personal space until she could decipher what had happened…and it couldn’t be good. “You know. Tell me now so I can hand his worthless ass over to whatever fucking country, agent, or program wants him. Now!”

“Jax, I have absolutely no idea where Ryland is,” Fallon carefully stated, her mind spinning of what could have transpired to cause such a terrifying reaction from this seasoned agent. “Tell me what—”

“Jax, I know this is hard, but you need to keep your shit together,” Crest murmured, gradually stepping in between Fallon and Jax. He placed a hand on Jax’s shoulder and forcefully yet gently pushed him back. “We’ll find Derrick and…”

The blood rushed through Fallon’s ears at what she’d just heard, preventing her from hearing anything else. Derrick? Jax and Emily’s son was missing? She laid a hand on her stomach to try and prevent it from lurching, but it was useless. It wasn’t until Connor stepped in front of her that the ringing in her ears subsided.

“Fallon, we need you to focus. You claim to not know where Ryland is and you can imagine how hard it is for Jax to believe you.” Connor gently rubbed her arms as he made sure they maintained eye contact. Fallon inhaled deeply, trying to maintain her cool when all she wanted to do was scream in anguish. “That only means that we need you to help us do our job and figure out where he might be or what his next step is going to be. Whoever it is that is currently running E.D.A. has taken Derrick and the only thing they want in exchange is Ryland.”

It made total sense now. E.D.A. had lost Neoni a while back and now had suffered a blow when Moza was taken out. Whoever was behind the resurgence of the program had a mere two subjects left, only one of which was operational. They needed all the original subjects of the operation to keep the platform covert. The profits from their efforts would keep E.D.A. afloat with the oversight that came with taking operational funds from the Agency’s black ops budget. They now comprehended who they were, how the covert program began, and most likely who was responsible. It would be imperative for E.D.A. to seize Ryland and Cyril as quickly as possible before their memories made it unattainable for any of the original key words or phrases from their initial program to work. Who better to deliver them but the man whose wife Ryland had been ordered to kill? Jax Christensen couldn’t have been a better target and whoever was running the show behind the curtains knew all the players well.

“I swear to you, I don’t know where Ryland is,” Fallon whispered, shaking her head at the impossible position they’d all just been placed in. Jax needed his son back, but to hand Ryland over to E.D.A. meant forfeiting someone else’s life—a trade where someone would unquestionably die. “Just…give me a minute.”

Fallon had enough strength in her legs to shift her position, seeing Jax shaking off Crest’s hold as well. Townes was currently setting up a laptop on the coffee table positioned in the living room. She needed details if she were going to even fathom a guess as to what Ryland’s next move was, but she didn’t want to be the cause of stirring up Jax’s emotions. It appeared not to matter, since she’d apparently done just that.

“We don’t have a fucking minute,” Jax said loudly, crossing the distance to where Townes now had the computer up and running. He all but pushed the other man out of the way and took a seat on the edge of one of her chairs, pulling the laptop closer. Fallon could hear ringing coming from the small speaker and her heart broke at the sound of his wife’s voice. “Emily, did they say anything else to you that could help me track down this son of a bitch who took Derrick?”

“No.” Emily had to clear her throat numerous times to get that one word out, but it spoke volumes of the desperation she was experiencing. Fallon pushed past Connor, who was shaking his head that she shouldn’t interrupt. It was too late for that. She walked closer until she could see Emily on the screen, noticing that Jessie, Lauren, and Elle were there with her. It reminded Fallon that the CSA team members were family. “H-he wasn’t alone. There were two of them, but I didn’t see either one. They somehow got into the house without setting off the alarm. I woke up to the sound of Derrick calling me. He was screaming Momma, Jax. He was yelling my name and I couldn’t get to him.”

Emily was one of the strongest women that Fallon had the privilege to meet. She’d been a NOC agent for the NSA years prior, doing what needed to be done to bring down a coup against the United Nations. She’d falsified her death and went on the run for years before Ryland had accepted a contract on her life. Emily had faced death multiple times and managed to stay alive in spite of long odds. This…Derrick being taken from her…could very well be her undoing. Jax wasn’t about to let that happen though and neither was Fallon, despite that they would be pitted against each other…because she couldn’t allow E.D.A. to get their hands on Ryland.