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“Rick,” I exclaim, surprised as he strides towards me, eating up the distance within seconds and wrapping me up his arms. I stiffen before relaxing in his warm embrace. Realising this is what I needed but from someone else, not Rick. “I’m glad someone is pleased to see me,” I mutter, my face squashed against his broad chest.
Pulling back and holding my shoulders, a confused expression on his face. “Ah, you’re talking about the Neanderthal in the other room, I take it.” He teases, a smile pulling up the corner of his lips. “Yeah, well, Blue’s never been good with expressing his feelings.” He guides me to the sofa, groaning as I lower myself into the chair, and he takes the seat next to me. “You scared him, and he doesn’t know what to do with that feeling.”
“Don’t try and defend him. He might be your friend, but he’s being a dick,” I point out, arching a brow at him. “Besides, you give great hugs, and it was actually just what I needed, so thanks.”
“Happy to be of service. So, how are you?”
“I’m okay. A little bit sore in places, but I’ll live.”I’ve had worse.I don’t say that out loud, though. “Ryder mentioned that we are staying here for a day or two, if that’s the case then I really need to call work and sort out a few days off. And Jamie, I need to check she’s okay. I could really do with my phone; do you know what happened to it?”
Rick rubs his hands up and down his thighs. “Seb went back early this morning and collected your belongings. I’ll have someone bring them to you, but you don’t need to worry about work.” I look at him, my eyes wide and brows raised. “Ryder called them this morning and told them you needed some time off.” His voice remains firm, giving nothing away, but the flexing of his jaw tells me that he’s not entirely happy.
“Are you fucking kidding me? No, of course you’re not.” I huff, dropping back in the sofa. “I might have a psycho ex out for my blood, Rick, but I’m not a child. I don’t need him acting like my fucking father,” I snap at him.
“Look, I know you don’t and that’s not his intention either, trust me. He’s…” he rubs a hand over his face. “He’s a good guy, Camryn. It’s not my place to say, but he carries his own demons and guilt, so don’t be too hard on him, okay.”
“You’re talking about his brother, aren’t you?”
Rick gasps, “He told you about Kyle?” The surprise is clear on his face, so I’m guessing Kyle is something he doesn’t talk about much.
“Yeah, a little. And about how you lost your men on your last tour.” Feeling that Rick is uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, I try to lighten the mood. “We don’t just fuck, you know. We talk too, sometimes.” I smirk at him.
Rick roars out a laugh. “I can see why he likes you,” he says, shaking his head. “I need to get going, I’ve got to be back in Peterborough this afternoon for Max. I’ll see you soon.” He gets to his feet, and I go to get up too, but he stops me, leaning down and kissing my cheek. Picking up a control from the coffee table, he pushes a button, and a TV extends from the wall above the fireplace. “Knock yourself out with some trash daytime telly.”
“Thanks, Rick,” I tell him, a little choked at the realisation that without him, Seb and Ryder, I’d probably be dead right now, or begging for death to come and claim me.
“No thanks needed. Take care, Camryn.” I watch as he leaves the room, and then I let the tears fall. Tears that started to build when he mentioned his son.
Twenty-Nine
Blue
I burst into the office, eyes scanning the room like the hunter seeking his prey. Locking onto Seb, who is the other side of his desk, no doubt thinking that will save his arse but it fucking won’t. “You son of bitch! Stay the fuck away from her,” I roar, marching towards him only for Sully to step in front of me, stopping me with a hand to my chest.
“Hey, hey, what the fuck is this all about?” Sully demands. Shooting looks between Seb and me, waiting for one of us to enlighten him. I shove his hand off and turn away from them both.
“Ask that arsehole,” I shout, waving my hand in Seb’s direction.
“Fuck you, Blue. What’s the matter, can’t you handle a little healthy competition?” He smirks, and my fists flex. The cuts on my knuckles from hitting the wall last night split open making me hiss. The pain is good, grounding me, and saving Seb from a serious arse kicking.
“All right, that’s enough you two. Save your pissing contest for later,” Sully scolds. “I think we have more important things to talk about than who wins the girl. How is she?” He looks to me, frowning when it’s Seb that answers.
“She’s fine.” They both look to me when I growl at that, muttering under my breath about how she’s not fucking fine. “She has a small cut above her right eye, a bump to her head from falling when I shot that prick Lewis, a nasty gash to her right thigh, that Mike stitched up and a few bumps and bruises.”
“Okay, good.” I lurch forward, ready to rip Sully apart. “Sit the fuck down. Now. Or you can get the hell out,” Sully barks at me, and I take the seat furthest away from the desk. I hang my head in my hands and grip my hair so tight I almost scalp myself. “If you can’t do your job, Blue, then I’ll put someone else with her.”
“The hell you will,” I say, snapping my head up.
“Then get your head in the game. We have too much going on for you to be going all fucking caveman on us. I take it the body has been dealt with?” Seb and I nod our agreement. Turning to Seb, Sully asks, “What did you get from Blue’s apartment and Jamie’s house?”
“Jamie’s was clean, but there was a small recording device in the bedroom and one in between the kitchen and lounge. There was no audio but more than one recording of Blue and Camryn together.” His eyes flick to mine, the inference clear as mud. “I haven’t been able to trace where the recordings were sent yet. The IP address is in the States, so they’re obviously using a VPN to disguise their true address. The same with Camryn’s phone and the newspaper articles she was sent. But I have someone working on it. I also sent a guy to your house in London too, just to be safe.”
“Good, chase them up. I want some answers like yesterday. Where’s Russ, and why wasn’t he with Scott and Camryn?”
“Scott told me Russ messaged saying he had food poisoning, shitting and puking all over the shop. I’ve spoken to Russ this morning, he’s okay, but thinks it was the burger he got from some dive place up from the hotel. Must have been bad, he usually has the constitution of an ox.”
“Right, well I need to get going if I want to make it back home for Max later. I have a few leads to chase up on the dead hotel guy and also the problem of our mole, but nothing concrete, yet, and I’m still waiting to hear about the autopsy on Lorraine. I’ll check in on Camryn before I go.”
“She’s in the lounge,” Seb casually states, pointing a finger to one of the monitors on the far wall. I stand, moving close to the screen as I watch her limp over to the windows and take in the view outside.
