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His friend eyed him up suspiciously. The men knew each other well and were both trained in interrogation methods. Keeping subtle secrets washard.
Spencer's focus shifted to someone coming up behind Ryder just before he felt the slap on his back between his shoulder blades. Ryder turned in time to see Jaxson Davidson sliding into the stool next tohim.
He'd come here hoping to talk to the owner of the club, only now seeing him here Ryder suddenly regretted drinking so much. He could see the intensity in Jaxson's eyes he'd forgotten about. This was the kind of man he needed to keep his wits about himself when interacting with, not get sloppydrunk.
"Helms. Your timing isimpeccable."
He didn't know what the newcomer meant by that crypticmessage.
"Davidson." Ryder raised his glass as if to salutehim.
"How much have you had todrink?"
"Don't worry. I'm not playingtonight."
Jaxson reached out and pulled the glass out of Ryder's hand as it was almost touching his lips. "I don't give a shit about that. We need to talk. I was happy when Danny let me know you'd checked in." The owner looked at Spencer and added, "Give us a minute, will you,Spencer?"
"Sure thing. I'll go back and finish up thepayroll."
Only after Spencer had disappeared did Jaxson grab the departed man's deserted glass and down the last swig of bourbon before turning on the stool to talk with Ryder. "He's so full of shit. I know he's going back there to play fucking Candy Crush." Jaxson's friendly grin disarmedhim.
Only after the men shared a chuckle at their mutual buddy's expense did Jaxson get serious again. "I'm pretty good at reading people, Helms. I hope I haven't read youwrong."
Ryder jabbed the taller man. "Do you use tarot cards or crystals for yourreadings?"
"I'd love to spar, but I don't have time to dick around. We're leaving for the airport in less than an hour and I have other calls to make before wego."
"Heading out on vacation?" He heard the slight slur in hisspeech.
"No." He waited to answer more until Ryder looked up into his eyes. "I'm flying to California to try to help protectKhloe."
Fuck. That got his attention. He'd come hoping for news of her. Now he wasn't so sure he wanted to hear more. What the fuck was he going to do with informationanyway?
Jaxson pressed him. "Did you hear me? Have you been watching the news? Some asshole is terrorizingher."
Hearing that she really was in trouble got his adrenaline flowing. His brain was clearing. He needed to think clearly. "Terrorizing herhow?"
"Stalking her. It started a few weeks ago with threatening letters and emails. Now it's escalated to him gaining access to both her New York apartment and on-set private trailer. He left candid photos he'd taken as he stalked her with messages saying she was only his. His last note talked about how he had a secret hideaway ready to take her to and how he planned to fuck her every day for the rest of her life once he got herthere."
An angry growl escaped as Jaxson finished filling himin.
I need to find this asshole and make him wish he'd never beenborn.
He forced himself to approach the problem like the professional he was. "Do the police have anyleads?"
"No, and her production company and publicist are giving her the run around about working with thepolice."
"What the fuck? So who's protecting hernow?"
"Her normal detail. They added another personal bodyguard, but she's freaking out. She called Chase this afternoon because the studio is making her go through with the scheduled red-carpet opening of her newest movie release tomorrow night. She begged Chase to come be with her for the event. All three of us are goinginstead."
Ryder remembered bits and pieces from the report on TV the day before and replied bitterly, "Why isn't her precious boyfriend, that Reynolds asshat, taking care ofher?"
Jaxson grinned, clearly hearing the unguarded jealousy in Ryder's voice. "That's a sham. They broke up before Valentine's Day. He's the reason she'd come to visit Chase in the first place that weekend. She'd come home early and caught Dean with his dick stuck in one of their mutualfriends."
Ryder hated himself a little for feeling relieved. "So why keep up thecharade?"
"They're starring together in the movie that's opening. The studio demanded they keep up public pretenses that they're still together until after the movie is out for a fewweeks."
