Jackson (Mercy Ring Book 1), page 22
“I can’t fucking lose him!”
The sound of a man’s angry voice had her jolting. And even that small movement made pain shoot through her skull.
She was in the back of the vehicle, but not on the seat. She was on the floor. And even though she couldn’t see, she knew the car was moving fast.
The events of the day came back to her in a wave that had her throat closing and nausea yet again sickening her gut at the memory of the men who had been shot dead.
“Shit. There are too many cars up ahead.” It was a different voice this time. A voice also coming from the front. “Is this why the exits were closed? Because they knew we wouldn’t be able to drive through? What the hell is this?”
Suddenly, the car lurched and her head bounced off something, the middle console maybe, causing her eyes to shutter in pain. She heard the impact of metal on metal, as if a car had hit them.
The men cursed.
“Even if the assholes don’t crash us, we’re gonna have to stop. There’s nowhere to turn off.”
The car started to slow. Before she could recover, they were hit again. This time, the men were even louder in their cursing, and she could feel that the driver had lost control. The squeal of the tires grinding against the road was loud, and she scrunched her eyes tight, bracing for impact.
The second the car crashed to a stop, River’s head once again bashed against a hard surface. Pain shot through her skull like a hundred tiny daggers.
Suddenly, the bag was tugged from her head. She squinted her eyes, the combination of light and that last hit causing more pain in her head.
Strong fingers wrapped around her upper arm.
“Shoot the assholes,” Elijah growled as the creak of a door sounded. “Call me when it’s done.”
Then she was being dragged from the car. The brightness blinded her, and loud music and voices drilled into her skull. She felt like she was in a daze. She knew she needed to try to stop the man from pulling her, to resist, but was barely able to think, let alone fight.
When the blast of gunshots echoed through the air, it was quickly followed by countless loud screams. The pounding steps of people running.
People ran past her, panicked, looking for shelter. Shoulders bashed into her own.
When the next person ran past, causing her to stumble, she started falling, only to be yanked to her feet again.
Then his voice was in her ear. “You fucking run or I put a bullet in your head. Got it?”
His words were obviously meant to scare her into obedience. They did the opposite. They pierced the fog that clouded her mind, reminding her that she was being pulled away from the crowds. Away from safety.
There were people running everywhere. In a crowd like this, it would be hard for anyone to spot her, but she had to try.
He tugged her forward again, but this time she pulled back, lowering her body for leverage and causing Elijah to stumble. He grunted before firming his grip and pulling her onto a quieter side street. Her body was thrown against a brick wall. Then he was crowding her, his fingers wrapping around her throat, cutting off her air.
“Don’t fucking mess with me!” Elijah growled, his head lowering.
When he removed his hand, the air rushed back into her lungs, and her legs tried to cave, but he was already dragging her down the street again.
She sucked in deep, steadying breaths, trying to ward off the dizziness that was hedging her vision. Everything was a blur. Elijah. The path in front of her.
Still, she pressed her heels into the pavement. They both stumbled yet again, but she remained on her feet—just.
The man had barely turned when she raised her leg and kicked him as hard as she could in the knee.
His knee gave instantly, and he shouted in pain, his fingers untangling from her arm as he fell. She ran back the way they came. She got only steps away before a hand tangled in her hair, yanking her back.
More pain splintered through her skull.
Her body was shoved against a wall again, her cheekbone colliding with and scraping against the rough brick surface.
“What did I fucking say?”
She felt the sticky wetness of blood running down the side of her face. The throbbing in her head intensified, hazing her vision further.
When he pulled her back again, she wasn’t sure if he was going to throw her against the wall once more or force her down the narrow street.
He did neither. Instead, he gasped sharply—then she was tugged roughly in front of him, the cold muzzle of a gun pressed to her head.
“You…!” he whispered.
River’s vision was dim. She scrunched her eyes, trying to clear them, but all she could see was a blurry outline.
“How the fuck are you here—and where the fuck are my guys?”
Elijah took several steps back, dragging her with him.
“Your guys are dead.”
River’s world narrowed to pinpoint accuracy. The pain, the dizziness, it all faded at the sound of his voice.
“And I’m here to make sure you die, too.”
Her breaths were coming out in jagged gasps. It couldn’t be him—could it? Maybe she’d already passed out. Maybe she was hearing something that wasn’t there.
The gun pressed harder to her head. It barely registered. She took two more blinks, and finally, she saw him clearly.
“Ryker…” she whispered.
This time when her vision blurred, it was due to tears. She blinked them away as fast as she could, desperate to keep him in her line of sight.
Ryker’s gaze hit hers for a second, his eyes softening just a fraction, before sliding back to Elijah and hardening once again.
Even though she was hurting and tired and probably would have collapsed if she wasn’t being held up, for the first time since the agents had left her home, she felt okay. Like her heart had reconnected to her body. Like she was finally whole again.
Ryker had his gun aimed at Elijah, and for every step the man took backward, Ryker took one forward.
“My guy drove you over a bridge! He killed you,” Elijah growled.
“Only he didn’t. I killed him. We just made you think I’d died, so you didn’t look for me or come after my family.”
She could feel the angry, panting breaths coming out of Elijah. “I’m gonna kill you, motherfucker!”
Suddenly, two police officers ran around the corner onto the street. Both looked young. Their guns were drawn, aimed at Elijah, and she could have sworn she saw a tremble in their hands.
She heard the frustrated growl from behind her. Then the gun moved away from her head—and she knew exactly who he was aiming for.
Before he could pull the trigger, River threw an elbow into Elijah’s gut. His gun went off. There was the sound of bodies hitting the dirt, men diving to the ground.
Then Ryker was shouting. “Don’t shoot!”
But it was too late. Two shots were fired from the direction of the police officers. Elijah roughly shoved her forward and one of those bullets caught her in the ribs.
She crumpled, pain stealing her breath. She was vaguely aware of additional gunshots from both behind and in front of her, followed by Elijah’s loud grunt.
There were footsteps—then she heard a different voice.
“River, talk to me! Rae!”
Jackson. Oh, God. Jackson was here. He’d come from behind them, shooting Elijah, while Ryker had shot him from the front.
Warm hands touched her cheeks. Her arm. There was pressure on her ribs, but the wound was oddly numb.
She closed her eyes, hearing Jackson but too tired to answer. A fuzziness was seeping through her mind.
“River! Don’t you dare give up!”
A smile tugged at her lips at her brother’s voice.
“I knew you were alive,” she mumbled with lips she could barely work.
A breath brushed against her ear. “I am alive. And I need you to stay alive too. Don’t give up on me, River.”
She tried to nod but it didn’t quite work. The fog was winning. And she could only pray that when she woke up, Ryker would still be there.
CHAPTER 32
“You ever do that again and I’ll kill you myself.”
River heard Jackson’s voice. It was quiet, like it came to her through a tunnel. She wanted to reach out and touch him. Tug him closer. But exhaustion and a murkiness in her head kept her still.
“I’m sorry.” Her heart gave a giant thud at the sound of her brother’s voice. “I wanted to reach out, I really did, but Widow and Todd insisted it was safer that no one knew until after the arrests.”
Her chest ached. Alive. Ryker was alive. And he was here. She needed to wake up. See him with her own eyes.
“Theoretically, it was probably the right call,” Jackson said quietly. “But you haven’t been here. You didn’t see what it did to her when they told her you were dead. She refused to believe it for so long.”
There was a moment of silence, and even though her eyes were closed, she could feel its heaviness.
“I hate that,” Ryker said softly. “I hate that her, my parents, and you guys all had to attend my funeral. They said it was the only way.”
“Tell me about that night,” Jackson said.
Again, River tried to open her eyes. She tried to lift her arm. But the exhaustion was insurmountable. In the back of her mind, she knew she was in the hospital. Knew that she must have drugs in her system to help her rest. And those drugs were trying to tug her under again. Trying to pull her away from the voices of the two men she loved most in the world. She hung on to those voices by a tiny thread.
Ryker sighed. “I knew something was wrong the second I stepped inside the club that night. There was this heavy energy. Elijah and his guys kept looking at me, and their stares were…intense. I had a rock in my stomach the entire time.”
“They knew,” Jackson said.
“It wasn’t surprising. I’d gotten too close, and DHS were putting together their sting. I even had the opportunity to see the guns in the kegs and take pictures when no one was watching. Or at least, I thought no one was watching. That’s why I went back to my room at River’s the night I was declared dead. The phone I’d taken the photos on was in there. I never took it back to the club in case they checked me.”
There was a brief pause before Ryker spoke again.
“So, I won my fight, got in my car and left straight away. I’d almost reached the bridge when a guy rose from the back seat. I assume his plan was to hit me over the head and jump out before the car went over the bridge.”
“But you saw him…” Jackson said.
“Ducked just before the hit came and grabbed the guy. I barely got out before he went over the bridge in my car. I called Todd. That’s when they told me they needed to seize this opportunity, and I needed to be dead. For my safety, and the safety of River and my parents. And so the operation wasn’t blown.”
The fog started to pull her back under.
No. She tried to stop it but couldn’t.
River didn’t know how long she slept, but when she started coming around again, the light behind her lids wasn’t quite so bright, and the room was silent.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. And that’s when she saw him. The man she’d been told over and over again was dead. The man she’d been told she’d never see again.
Tears flooded her eyes. “Ryker…”
His steely brown eyes shot open, boring into her.
Tears spilled over, tumbling down her cheeks. “Everyone told me you were gone.”
Her brother took her hand in his, his face pained, eyes darkening. “I’m sorry. So damn sorry.”
“I didn’t want to believe it,” she said quietly. “And even when those men from Homeland Security came to my house and insisted you were gone, I still struggled to accept it.”
His hand tightened around hers. “I wish I could have told you. You have no idea how much.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I know. I heard you talking to Jackson while I was barely conscious.”
He gave a slow nod, and for a moment, they were both silent. Taking each other in, appreciating that the other person was really there.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” she asked quietly. “Outside the gym that day?”
Anger flared in his eyes as he nodded again. “They told me to stay away, but I knew you were looking into things. I needed to make sure you were safe. When I saw that asshole attack you…” His jaw clenched.
“Thank you.” She squeezed his hand. “Have you spoken to Mom and Dad?”
Another flash of pain. He nodded. “Yeah. It was…emotional. Even Dad struggled to hold it together. I’ve been banned from ever working with law enforcement again.”
A laugh bubbled to the surface. Laughing with her brother felt good. “I am in full support of that ban.”
“They’ll be back soon,” he said. “I forced them to go home and rest. Seeing you in bed with a bullet wound, and me alive…it was a lot for them.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “But they know that I’ll be okay, and that you’re back for good? That everything will be okay now?”
“They know.”
“And it will be, won’t it? Okay I mean? Because you are actually back this time?”
They both knew that even though he’d returned from his final mission physically, he’d never returned in any other way.
Ryker sucked in a sharp breath. “It’s over. Mickey’s dead and his club will likely shut down. And Elijah and his men are dead.”
A small pause.
“And, yeah…I’m back. Jackson mentioned he told you what happened in the Middle East.”
River swallowed, giving him a small nod. “I’m sorry you lost people you cared about.”
“The pain and guilt will be with me forever. But I need to learn to live with it, to not let the emotions affect me so much.”
“I’ll be here for you the entire time.” He’d know that already, but it was worth saying.
“Thank you.” Then he shook his head. “I can’t leave you, anyway. You find trouble the second I do.”
A small smile stretched her lips. “How else was I going to get you back?”
There was a deep growl from his chest. “You put yourself in danger.”
“So did you.”
“That’s different.”
She raised a brow. “Just because I’m not a trained soldier, doesn’t mean I’m going to sit by and do nothing when my brother gets himself almost killed.”
Another shake of his head. “For every second that Jackson’s not there, I will be.”
That was the big brother she remembered. “And you don’t mind? Me and Jackson?”
A short laugh sounded. “You guys have been a sure thing since we were teenagers. I was just waiting for his stubborn ass to realize.”
She smirked. “You and me both.”
At the door to the room opening, they both looked up to see the man himself step inside. He held two coffees and was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. Or at least, she assumed it had been yesterday.
Her heart sped up. He looked huge and dangerous, and when his eyes met hers, they were possessive.
Ryker rose from his chair. “I’m gonna go see Cole and Dec for a bit. Erik might have stopped by, too.”
Jackson tilted his head toward the hall. “They’re in the cafeteria.”
“Call if you need anything.”
Before he could walk away, she touched his arm. “Don’t go far.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Jackson took slow steps toward the bed. Her skin wasn’t quite so pale, and her breaths were even.
Good. Seeing her shot and unconscious…God, it had torn him in two and almost destroyed him.
He gave Ryker one of the coffees as the man passed. When the door closed, Jackson sat on the edge of the bed, placing the second coffee down and taking her hand.
“How are you feeling?” he asked quietly.
Her warmth seeped into his hand, up his arm, and into his chest. Jesus, touching her was everything. Seeing her awake, alive… Hell, the only reason he’d left the room to get coffee was because being with her, while she’d been so still, had been killing him. Ryker had noticed, and had kicked his ass out of the room to get them some caffeine and stretch his legs.
“I don’t feel any pain,” she said quietly. “I think whatever drugs they have me on are strong.”
He nodded, words not coming very easily to him right now. Eventually, he sucked in a deep breath. “You scared me.” And that was an emotion he wasn’t used to. He rarely felt fear. And he’d hated every second of it.
Her eyes softened. “I’m sorry. If I’d jumped out of the truck, I would have gotten caught in the gunfire. I had nowhere to go.”
He stroked the back of her hand. “I know.”
Her gaze shot to the spot beside her. “Lie with me?”
The woman didn’t need to ask him twice. He climbed onto the bed, being careful not to jolt her or touch her injury. His arm went around her, and she nuzzled into him.
This was exactly what he needed after the hellish twenty-four hours they’d had.
“How are you feeling about Ryker?” she asked quietly.
“I can’t believe he’s alive. Best damn surprise of my life.” He glanced down, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “You knew all along.”
She gave him a small smile. “I’m just stubborn and can’t accept that anything isn’t exactly as I need it to be.”
“You don’t give up on the people you love.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I like that.”
“I don’t. So if you ever try to disappear like Ryker, I’ll hunt your ass down, too.”
He chuckled. “I don’t doubt it.”
She snuggled closer. “So…you still set on staying in Lindeman?”
“Yes.” He paused, his thumb stroking a circle around her shoulder. “In fact, I spoke to Larry’s wife. She’s getting the papers ready for us to buy her husband’s gym, and then we’ll reopen.”
