Claiming Felicity (Ace Security #4)(19)

The room was deadly silent after Ryder stopped speaking. The only sound was the ticking of a clock on the wall.

“I’m no stranger to evil, or fear,” Ryder said flatly. “And I absolutely will not hesitate to kill anyone who tries to, or has, hurt the innocent. I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again in a heartbeat. The look in Felicity’s eyes reminds me of the women I’ve seen who have been traumatized so badly they’ve pushed it deep inside to try to deal with it. Felicity’s good at hiding that trauma, but it’s there. I suspect something’s happened recently to bring it back to the surface. To make her want to run again.”

“Again?” Nathan asked.

Ryder tore his eyes from Blake’s to look at his other brother. “Yeah. She’s been here five years. I’m guessing she wasn’t planning on staying here as long as she did. But she met Cole, and Grace, and decided to stay.”

“A few months ago, she took a trip to Chicago,” Blake said quietly, his tone much less acidic than it was a few moments ago. “She wouldn’t tell Grace or Alexis or anyone why she was going.”

Ryder brought his gaze back to Blake. “Chicago?”

“Yeah. She drove there and back,” Logan said. “Grace begged her to fly, as it would be faster and safer, but she refused. Said the drive would do her good. Let her clear her mind or some shit.”

Ryder’s mind raced. “It takes an ID to fly nowadays. She have one?”

Logan nodded. “Of course. A driver’s license.”

“You’ve seen it?” Ryder asked.

“Uh . . . well . . . no, but she has to have one. She’s got that PT Cruiser she drives everywhere,” Logan said.

“She’s currently living above the gym,” Ryder mused. “She didn’t need an ID for that, as Cole knows her. She doesn’t use credit cards, does she?”

“I’ve never seen her with one . . . have you?” Blake asked his brothers.

Nathan and Logan shook their heads.

“Right. She could’ve bought the car with cash, and she doesn’t fly.”

“Grace always complains when Felicity drives them somewhere. Says she drives like a ninety-year-old half-blind grandma,” Logan said.

“I think, based on that, we can assume she’s never gotten a speeding ticket. She lives under the radar, totally,” Ryder concluded.

“Fuck,” Logan swore. “How could we have missed this?”

Ryder immediately shook his head. “You had no reason to think she was in any trouble, and you’re not around her all the time. Besides, you had your own women’s situations to deal with. Felicity has had years of practice hiding in plain sight.”

“You’ve been here a week, and you figured it out,” Blake said. “We’ve known her for over a year and never put two and two together.”

“People who are trying not to be found get really good at being invisible,” Ryder said easily. “Their lives depend on it.”

“So . . . what do you need from us?” Nathan asked.

“As I said, something has spooked her. I have a feeling whoever she’s been running from has found her. I don’t know if he’s here in Castle Rock yet or not, but we can’t take that chance. All it’ll take is one minute of inattention, and he could get to her.”

“Do you think he wants to kill her?” Blake asked, sounding much more invested in the conversation now.

“I honestly have no idea,” Ryder said. “I mean, if that’s all he wanted, I have a feeling she’d already be dead.”

“Then what does he want?” Logan asked.

“What do all bullies want?” Ryder asked rhetorically. “They want to see their victims suffer. It feeds their ego. They need to feel superior. They feed off the fear of the people they’re picking on. It doesn’t matter if the bully is eight, or seventy-eight.”

“We sure have experience with that,” Blake muttered. “That describes Mom to a T.”

“So he’s gonna fuck with her before he moves in for the kill,” Logan stated.

Ryder’s lips pressed together in annoyance, and he nodded. “That’s what I think.”

“The more he fucks with her, the better our chance to catch him,” Nathan stated.

Ryder wanted to yell at the other man, but unfortunately, knew he was correct. “Right. As much as I hate it, there’s not too much we can do to keep him from playing his games, but we can make sure Felicity knows we’ve got her back.”

“Twenty-four-hour surveillance is going to take a lot of time,” Logan noted.

“I’ll pay whatever it costs for Ace Security to take this one,” Ryder said immediately.

Logan’s face turned red, and he glared at his brother. “Fuck you. That’s not what I meant. Shit, Felicity is like our sister. We would never try to profit off her situation. All I meant was that we’ll need to rearrange some of our cases. Take less on until this asshole is caught.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to piss you off,” Ryder said sincerely. “But I think it’ll take less time than you think. I’ll be with her at night, so no one has to worry about that. During the day, when she’s working at the gym, Cole can keep his eye on her, and if she needs to run errands or hang out with any of your wives, one of us can be nearby.”