Page 132 of Her Defiant Warrior

“And wasn’t that a beautiful day,” Ryker said as he leaned back in his chair and rested his linked hands on his belly. Everybody chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah.” Jada waved her hand dismissively. “You did good. Huzzah, accolades, and compliments. Anyway, my lead on Sykes, I’m pretty sure, is solid. I found where his ex-wife filed three different restraining orders against him in three different states when they were both in their early twenties. The last one was in Pennsylvania. They had two children, a boy and a girl. In Pennsylvania, her nine-year-old boy went missing. She, local and state law enforcement, were convinced that Frank took him. Frank popped up again nine years later. Two years after that, Ivan Sykes popped up when he joined the Navy. He swore up and down that he had run away from home. Frank was never prosecuted.”

“And their relationship?” Kostya asked.

“Ivan only spent four years in the Navy, then he cut his teeth with Decker Worldwide. His dad was already working there. They were both involved with some high-profile hostage rescue ops with Decker, which taught them just what they needed to know to work on the other side when Daddy got the Kraken Elite up and running,” Jada explained.

“How come we haven’t heard about Ivan before this?” Mateo wanted to know.

“He was badly injured during the last op with Decker. He was out of the game. But when I checked out where he was supposed to be living, and the in-home care he was supposed to be receiving, there was nothing. According to the nurse’s agency, he fired them five years ago. But he’s still collecting benefits from Decker.”

“So, he’s an all-around asshole,” Braxton muttered.

“Sounds like,” Keegan agreed.

“If he’s collecting benefits from Decker, you must have some kind of line on him,” Kostya growled. “What is it?”

“Yeah, what?” Mateo demanded to know.

“He’s having his benefits deposited into the same bank he always did. It’s in Oklahoma, but surprise, surprise, it then routes to Lionel Security and Trust Bank in Annapolis.” Jada and Gideon both gave Mateo pointed glances.

“How long ago did that start happening?”

“Five years ago.”

“So long before Lainey started working there,” he pointed out.

Kostya swung his head around to stare at Mateo. “Are you defending her? Are you thinking that she’s not involved with the Kraken?”

“I’m not saying that at all,” Mateo said with his palms up. “I’m just saying that’s before her time, so there must have been someone working with them at the bank before she got there. It’s just one more piece of information I’m going to need to get from her.”

Kostya nodded. “Gotcha.”

Mateo opened the door to his condo after the fourth doorbell ring, the third knock, and the second pounding. He flung it open.

“Oh, it’s you. I was expecting Jase.”

“So, are you going to let me in or not?” Braxton asked.

Mateo let out a long-suffering sigh. “Come on in.”

He watched Braxton take in his duffel and one suitcase.

“Interesting. I can’t remember when I needed to go somewhere that required more than a duffel bag,” he said as he looked over at Mateo.

“Yeah, well. I’m going to be living in a furnished apartment in Baltimore for a little while. I need more than just a change of clothes to make this look legit.”

“Yeah, I heard that our guy MacLaine turned into a Lainey. Gideon showed me her picture. Not surprised to hear that you’re going to park your ass in Maryland for a bit,” Braxton said as he headed over to Mateo’s fridge and pulled out one of his IPAs. He knew exactly which drawer to open to find the bottle opener. Shit, he needed to buy a small fridge for his deck and store his beer there. Maybe then he’d have some of the shit he bought instead of it all being drunk up by his friends.

Mateo watched as Brax came back into the living room and sat his happy ass down in Mateo’s favorite chair and took a long pull from his beer. “This is good. You and Gideon always have the best beer. I hope he gets his place rebuilt soon.”

“Cut the shit and tell me why you’re here.”

“Can’t a friend just stop by and shoot the shit with his buddy?”

“Sure, except when said friend pounds on the door loud enough to wake my neighbors. You’ve got something to say, so say it.”

“I asked Gideon and Jada to send me the workup on our girl Lainey. She seems lovely. I read the part where she adopted her dog from a kill shelter when she was twenty-four hours away from being put down. The pup only has three legs.”