Reaper's Salvation: A Last Riders Trilogy by Jamie Begley (read a book TXT) 📗

the island, which is what I told you when showed up on my doorstep.”

“Gabriel Allerton was raised with a golden spoon in his mouth. He’s never had to be afraid of his own protection a day in his life. You’re going to send a message that, if anything happens to Gavin and Ginny, there won’t be a rock he can hide under.”

“Allerton only hires the best. Those who fail to live up to his expectations are never heard from again,” Desmond countered. “He is welcome around the globe.” He took a sip of his brandy before getting up to refill King’s glass. “Allerton only hires the best for his security personnel and has a jet at his disposal. Whatever threat comes his way will be met with force from whichever country he flees to.”

“No rock will be able to hide him,” King reiterated his words, glancing up as his glass was refilled. “Or you.”

Desmond placed the brandy bottle back on the mahogany sideboard. “Are you threatening me, King?”

King placed the cigar between his teeth to gently cup the brandy glass. “We go back a long way, Desmond. But if anything happens to Ginny and Reaper, I won’t protect you. I walked away from having a family once, and it nearly destroyed my most precious possession. A Last Rider saved her, made her whole again. So, no, I won’t step in. I will be right with them, seeking revenge. Unlike Allerton, I wasn’t raised with a golden spoon in my mouth. I can go back to using plastic—they both accomplish the same end.”

Desmond stiffened, turning back to him. “Using plastic …? That wasn’t just a figure of speech, was it?”

“I know where you’ve buried the bodies on the road to your success. I would hate to use that knowledge against you, but I will if I have to.”

“The Predators would never turn against me—”

“Look out the window.”

Desmond went to the window beside the sideboard.

“The Predators might work for you, but they are loyal to me,” King stated implicitly.

“I’m aware. I should have replaced them with those who wouldn’t have divided loyalties,” Desmond ruminated out loud.

“Ice and Jackal would have slit your throat if you tried to replace the Predators with new blood.”

“What’s the difference between then and now? My neck is still on the chopping block.”

“The difference is you can help Reaper and Ginny. You will also have both the Predators’ and The Last Riders’ gratitude. That, my old buddy, is worth more gold than Allerton will ever give you.”

“My relationship with Allerton goes beyond money.”

“Are the connections he provides worth your life?”

Desmond leaned a hand on the side of the windowsill, staring out at Ice and Jackal standing on his front lawn with twenty or so men sitting on their bikes in the private driveway behind them. The high, imposing gates blocking the entrance had a guard station with two men at all times. Desmond was disgusted with his men.

“Allerton has a wide circle of influence. The Predators may slit my throat, but Allerton can make me wish I was dead before he pulls the plug. Like I said before, if my neck is on the chopping block, does it really matter who is responsible?”

“You know as well as I do,” King said uncompromisingly from his chair, “that when it comes down to a life or death situation, the only option left is to choose the side that will fight dirtier.”

“Are The Last Riders prepared for the havoc Allerton can wreck on their lives?”

“They are.”

Desmond went to the cigar box on his desk, opening it to choose one. Taking a cuter inside the box, he snipped one end, then reached for an oversized lighter to hold the cigar over the flame. “And you’re willing to sacrifice your new family for them?”

“They are a part of my family.”

The silent man who had been monitoring the conversation between King and him spoke for the first time. “Take this. Keep it with you the entire time.”

Desmond placed the cigar between his lips to take what looked like a stubby cell phone. Having worked with dog-eat-dog thugs for more years than he wanted to count, the man who accompanied King chilled him to the bone.

“Allerton will have my suitcases and me searched when I arrive at the plane. How am I supposed to get this by his security?”

King grinned. “Be inventive.”

Desmond didn’t find anything amusing with the situation. Visions of the amount of money he imagined raking in from Allerton’s greedy manipulations would no longer be possible unless he was able to convince him to return Ginny and Reaper. Desmond didn’t hold out hope. However, he had been in dicey situations before and managed to turn the cards over in his favor.

“Seeing the Predators are no longer following my orders, send them away. They’ve made their point.” Leaning back on his desk, he crossed one foot over the other. “Gabriel will send someone on his payroll to make sure I arrive at the airport alone and to ensure no one will be able to sneak on board.”

King rose from the chair to go to the window. Moving the curtain aside, he gave Ice a flick of his hand.

Soon, loud motorcycles could be heard leaving from inside the room.

“Feel free to leave with them,” he encouraged.

“Wanting to get rid of us so you can disappear? Allerton isn’t the only one who has several places to hide.”

King’s laconic reply had Desmond grinning at him. “I admit I thought about it,” he conceded. “Then I decided it didn’t benefit me.”

“Why not?”

“Because of you, King. You’ve never been on the losing side.”

Chapter Fifteen

Ginny watched Gavin leave the room, her bravado deserting her without his presence.

Feeling alone even with him in the next room, she folded her arms over her chest. Trudy had been right; Gavin was never going to love her the way he had Taylor. Her sister tried to spare her that pain, but Ginny held both arms open for him to walk