Critical Doubt Read online

  With a sigh, he stood in the middle of the room and wondered what the hell he was going to do next. And why he'd come here alone.

  He'd been ignoring his phone ever since he'd gotten the first text from Savannah. He knew she was angry that he'd left the building without telling her where he was going. But he was still glad he'd left. With Parisa's team taking over the case, he and Savannah were going to be sidelined. Or at least, he'd be put on ice. She might be able to stay in the thick of things, but they wouldn't want a former Army Ranger and a former teammate of their group of suspects around to muck things up. However, he was starting to regret leaving Savannah behind.

  Being alone wasn't really getting him anywhere. He was missing the hell out of Savannah and feeling like crap, because he knew he'd probably worried her and disappointed her. She would think he didn't respect her, that he didn't think she could handle herself, that she wasn't capable of helping him, and that wasn't it at all.

  He'd never respected anyone more. He also cared about her.

  He might even love her…

  That thought caught his breath and sent his heart racing. He'd cared about women, but he didn't think he'd ever really been in love.

  But Savannah… Damn! She was everything he'd ever wanted and more.

  He'd let her go the first time. Was he really going to push her away the second time?

  He knew the answer to that question, because he'd already done it. He'd left her behind so he could be alone. He'd made up a lot of excuses in his head. He needed air. The bells were ringing. Todd and the others had betrayed him, so he needed to think. The FBI didn't want to work with him. Why should he work with them?

  But it was all bullshit. He'd left because that's what he always did. Todd had been right about that. Ever since he'd gotten hurt, he'd been running away. And he'd never run away before. He'd always stood his ground, even in the face of unspeakable fear. It wasn't an enemy that had brought him down; it was his own mind.

  And now he wasn't just running from friends, he was running from the most incredible woman, who for some unimaginable reason wasn't at all scared off by his issues or the fact that every time they were together, she was fighting for her life.

  He had to do better. Not just with her, with everyone and everything else. No more running. No more standing alone.

  But first, he had to get those weapons back. He knew the guys better than anyone. He should be able to figure out their plan, where they would go, what they would do next. He just needed to think. He couldn't stand the thought of those weapons ending up in enemy hands. So, he'd take one more pass through Mason's house to make sure he wasn't missing anything. Then he'd call Savannah back, plead for forgiveness, and hope she hadn't finally decided she was done with him.

  As he returned to the living room, his gaze landed on the small trash can by the bookcase. There were two coffee cups tossed in the garbage. His pulse leapt. Maybe they could get some DNA off the cups. One or both of them might reveal who else had been in Mason's house. But as he took the cups out of the trash, and set them on the floor, his heart began to race even faster at the sight of the piece of folded paper in the bin. It was a paper airplane.

  His head spun with images of Leo making those airplanes out of any piece of paper he could find. Had Mason taken up that hobby? Or was Leo… He couldn't finish the thought.

  His ears started to ring. Not now, he silently pleaded. But the bells were chiming, and Leo's name was echoing off each ring. He put his hands over his ears and closed his eyes, wincing at the strobe lights going off in his head. He was losing touch with reality. He was going into his head. And he wasn't sure if, this time, he would come back out.

  The bells had never been this loud, this painfully piercing. They were followed by explosions, flashes of light, and images from his past: the guys were playing soccer to while away the time; wading through knee-deep water on a night raid; patrolling some small desert town, trying to talk to the locals who didn't want them there. He could see that village square, the coffee stand where they'd grab a cup before heading back to the barracks.

  The bells rang louder—church bells.

  Another memory came into his head.

  Every week Leo asked them to stop by the church so he could say a prayer. They'd always agreed, respecting his faith, and it never took longer than a few minutes. But one day, Leo had been gone a lot longer, and the locals near the church had been getting restless with their military presence. They needed to go.

  He went into the church, but Leo wasn't there.

  He walked out the back door and saw Leo talking to a man. When Leo saw him, he broke away from the conversation and rushed toward him.

  "Sorry it took so long," Leo said. "I was just trying to make the locals feel like they're being heard."

  "We need to get back to the team," he replied, thinking something was off. Leo was acting strange.

  Why hadn't he asked him what was wrong?

  The images moved forward in time: the mission to rescue an aid worker; listening to the ops team outline the plan; waiting for the helo to spin them up; creeping through the dark of the night toward the abandoned hotel.

  And then the nearby church bells rang twelve times—midnight.

  They were happy for the noise to cover up their presence.

  He positioned himself in the front with Leo and Carlos. Mason and Hank were at the side door. Todd and Paul went around the back.

  When his three-man group hit the lobby, shots rang out.

  The lights blinded him again. Flash bangs. Explosions. Smoke. Heat. His brain felt like it was on fire.

  Figures were shooting, others were running, the building was collapsing. He yelled into the radio to abort the mission.

  And then there was Leo, standing over Carlos's body. He should have been dragging Carlos to safety, but he was backing away. Leo ran into the shadows toward another man.

  He strained to see the man's face. Was it one of his team?

  The smoke cleared for one second, and he caught his breath. It was the man from the church, the one he'd seen Leo talking to the week before. It was Rajeesh Buthanu, an arms smuggler and terrorist who was on the CIA watch list.

  Leo knew him. Leo knew one of the men who'd just killed Carlos!

  They both disappeared into the smoke as more bullets rang out.

  He dodged for cover, but he was too late, feeling a horrendous shredding pain in his leg. As he rolled behind a wall, he wasn't sure his leg was even there anymore. He needed to get away. He needed to save his team, but he couldn't wake up. He couldn't move. He couldn’t see anything.

  Then the light began to prick at his eyes. He finally found the strength to open them.

  He wasn’t in the hotel anymore. He was at Mason's house. His gaze lit on the paper airplane.

  Leo! He scrambled to his feet and grabbed his phone. He saw the text from Savannah and wondered what the new developments were. But he was more interested in telling her what he'd just realized. She'd been right all along. The bells had been trying to make him remember what he'd seen at the church and at the hotel. Leo had been working with an arms dealer. And if that were true then, it had to be true now. Leo had to be alive. He had to be running the show.

  He punched in Savannah's number. It went to voice mail.

  Dammit! He needed to talk to her.

  Checking his watch, he realized at least thirty minutes had passed since he'd arrived at the townhouse. He needed to get out before anyone else arrived, including the FBI, who would only stop him from acting on what he knew.

  After leaving the house, he jogged down the street to his truck and hopped in. As he drove away, he called Savannah again, this time leaving a message.

  "I just left Mason's house," he said. "I saw a paper airplane in the trash and the bells went wild. I finally listened to what they had to say, what they had to show me. Leo is alive, and I think I know where the guys are, where they've taken the weapons. Call me back." He paused. "And I'm sorry, S
avannah." There was a lot more that he wanted to say, but this wasn't the time. He ended the call without giving her the address of where he was going. He knew the FBI wanted him off the case. Paxton had told him as much. If he pulled Savannah into this or took the FBI on some wild-goose chase, he could be jeopardizing her job, and he knew how much it meant to her.

  He set his phone in the drink holder next to his seat. He'd call her back when he got to the scene, as soon as he knew if he was really on to something. Then she could call in whatever teams she wanted.

  She might think he wanted to save the guys, but what he really wanted was answers, and his best shot at getting those answers would be if he went in alone.

  Although, there was a good chance he'd get no answers and end up dead. He couldn't forget how far his team had strayed. He wanted to believe that they didn't all know the end game, but he couldn't be sure. What he was sure of was that if Leo was alive, and he was controlling this plan, then those weapons weren't going back to Spear. They were going to the enemy, and he couldn't let that happen.

  After filling her father in on Chief Tanner's involvement with the faked deaths of Paul and Todd, Savannah got back into the car Parisa had lent her and pulled out her phone. She was surprised to see she'd missed a call from Ryker. But she'd been caught up in having one of the first real conversations she'd ever had with her father. Their relationship had definitely taken a huge turn. She hoped that would continue once this was all over.

  Her dad had agreed to head back to Fort Benning as soon as he got someone over to put a temporary fix on the broken doors leading into his home. She would have preferred he leave immediately, but he was his own man and he always had been.

  As she listened to Ryker's message, her heart sped up once more. Leo was alive?

  Maybe no one was dead. Maybe Carlos was alive, too.

  She wondered what else Ryker had remembered and where he was going now. Clearly, he hadn't chosen to give her any details, but that wasn't going to work for her.

  She called him back, and to her surprise, he answered.

  "It's about time," she snapped. "What is going on? Where are you?"

  "I'm headed to a horse farm near Silver Springs. Did you listen to my message?"

  "Yes. You think Leo is alive?"

  "I do, and I know where he is. He used to spend Christmas at his grandfather's farm. It's about halfway between DC and Baltimore. It's the perfect place to stash a truckload of weapons. And no one is looking for Leo, because he's dead."

  "What's the address?"

  "I'll tell you when I get there."

  She did not like his answer. "You can't do this alone, Ryker. You have no idea how many men you'll be up against. Stop pushing me away. I'm in this, too, and you need me." He didn't reply for a moment, and the silence made her nervous. "Ryker, I know you hate to ask for help, but this is me."

  "It's not just about asking for help. I want answers."

  "And you think they'll talk to you?"

  "If I'm alone, there's a chance."

  "No there's not. They tried to kill you, Ryker. You're not one of them anymore. They won't listen to you. They won't follow you. They're in too deep. You know that, even if you don't want to admit it." As she was talking, she started the car, leaving the phone on speaker as she headed toward the expressway. She might not have an address yet, but she knew the direction she needed to go.

  "You're probably right," he admitted. "But there's a chance that Leo is calling the shots. They may not even know he's alive."

  "At least one of them does."

  "Has Mason come out of surgery yet?"

  "No, but there are agents at the hospital. He'll be arrested as soon as he wakes up. Now the team's focus is on finding Vance."

  "Vance?" he asked with surprise. "Why? Did he get a ransom call?"

  "No. It's a long story, but my father got suspicious of Vance and followed him to a meeting with an arms dealer by the name of Rajeesh Buthanu."

  "That's the same guy Leo met with in Afghanistan. That's what I remembered. Buthanu is in DC?"

  "Yes. And you're saying that Leo met with him while you were deployed?"

  "When we did our weekly patrols, Leo always wanted to stop in at this particular church. He'd be gone a minute, maybe two. It was always quick. We didn't think much of it. His faith was important to him. But one day he was missing for almost ten minutes. There was action in the village. It felt like something was going on. We needed to get out of there, so I went looking for Leo, and I saw him talking to some guy in the back of the church. I didn't get the greatest look at him, and Leo brushed me off, saying it was just a local complaining about us being there. A week later, I saw a CIA watch list and the man's face was on it, but I didn't have a chance to ask Leo about it before we were sent on our last mission." He took a breath. "What I remembered today was that that man was at the hotel. Leo had a chance to kill him, but he didn't take the shot, and then Carlos went down, and my knee was ripped apart and the building exploded."

  "You're saying this arms dealer was involved in your ambush?"

  "Yes, and I think Leo was, too."

  "Maybe he set you all up."

  "Or someone set Leo up. He could have been involved in smuggling guns, and they wanted to take him out of the game. While he never had weapons on him, he could have been an intermediary, a money collector."

  "For someone like Colonel Vance. Vance might have set up the entire team just to get rid of Leo."

  "Why would he get rid of someone who was helping him?"

  "What if Leo was blackmailing him?" she suggested. "What if he wanted a bigger cut? Vance might have found him to be a threat. But it doesn't matter. We need to find both men and then figure it out."

  "You were right, Savannah. The bells were trying to tell me something. I should have listened to them long before this. They were trying to remind me of what I knew, but it was buried in my subconscious."

  "Well, you know now. I need the address, Ryker. If you won't give it to me, I'll just get Parisa to track it down."

  "I could be on the wrong track, Savannah."

  "I'm sure you're at least fifteen or twenty minutes ahead of me. If you get there, and there's nothing to see, then I'll call everyone off. You know it's the right play. If Leo is in charge, he's clearly very dangerous, and he won't have any loyalty to you. I know that's probably hard to hear, but you have to hear it."

  "You don't pull any punches, Savannah."

  "We said we'd be honest with each other."

  "There's another reason I don't want you there. I don't want you to get hurt. And it's not that I don't think you can't take care of yourself. You've become very important to me."

  Her heart squeezed with love at his words. "I feel the same way. But we're better together. You know we are."

  Silence followed her words, and then he said, "Twenty-three Morning Glory Way."

  "Thank you. Will you wait for me to get there?"

  "I can't make that promise. I know you've seen me debilitated by the bells, but my head is clear now. You want me to trust you, and in return you need to trust me."

  "I do, Ryker. I'll text you when I'm close. And you better answer."

  "If I can, I will."

  That answer didn't make her feel good at all. But she needed to get to the farm and fast.

  Contrary to what she'd told Ryker, she didn't call Parisa right away. She had no interest in saving any of the guys, not after multiple attempts on her life and the hell they'd put Abby through. But she did want to save Ryker, and coming in quiet would be the best way to do that.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The farm was located in a heavily wooded area, with the nearest neighbor a mile away. As Ryker drove down a lonely two-lane road, he remembered hearing Leo talk about the place, the trails that ran around the property and along the creek that led into town. When he was almost there, he pulled off the road, driving into the trees, and hiding his truck in the woods. He would go the rest of the way on
foot.

  He texted Savannah the location of his truck and said he was going to take a closer look at the property. He didn't wait for a reply as he grabbed his gun and got out. He found the creek and followed it toward the farm.

  He knew that Leo's grandfather had died eighteen months ago, and that Leo had inherited the property but hadn't been that excited about it because it needed a lot of work. He'd said that his granddad hadn't done any improvements or had horses there in over a decade, so he'd probably have to fix the place up before he could sell it. Leo would have rather had cash. But now Ryker suspected that the farm had come in very handy. In fact, it was probably where Leo had been hiding out since he'd faked his death and somehow been able to slip out of Afghanistan and get back to the States without anyone knowing. He must have had help for that, too.

  When he drew near to the two-story home and the adjacent horse barn, he paused, sliding back into the shadow of the trees. There was a black Jeep in the driveway and the back door to the barn was partially ajar. He couldn't see the front of the barn from his location, but there certainly had to be another entrance from the driveway.

  His brain quickly computed the facts. Since the Spear truck had been left empty, he was guessing they'd loaded the weapons into a smaller van and brought it here. It had to be in the barn. There were two ways into that structure—front and back.

  There was no sign of movement in the house. The shades were drawn in front of almost every window, except a bedroom at the back.

  His phone buzzed. Savannah had arrived and parked next to his truck. He told her to follow the creek, and she'd find him in the trees before she got to the house.

  He wasn't sure he'd made the right call in telling her where he was, but he did trust her, and she was very good at her job. They'd also been in this together from the beginning, and they needed to finish it together. He just hoped he could keep her safe. Because at the end of the day, he didn't care about anything more than he cared about her.

  He saw her coming down the shadowy trail a moment later. He moved back toward a natural rock barrier and motioned her over. They squatted down behind the rocks.