Chapter Twenty-Eight

R yker stumbled to the bench and sank down on the cold metal. He rubbed at his face and then held his head in his hands until he heard the door to the room clang open.

His father along with another man were led into his cell, their cuffs were removed, and the door was locked.

Holding his father's gaze across the cell, he saw something flicker in the tired depths of the man's gaze.

"What did you do?" Ryker said between his teeth.

Robert sniffed and gave him a hard stare. "I didn't do anything. You were the one who got played. You let a traitor into our midst and he stole the one piece of evidence that could prove us innocent," Robert snapped and walked over to the other metal bench to take a seat.

The other man glanced between them and then moved over to take a seat on his bench.

"Marshal is not a traitor."

"Yeah, he is and I've known about it for a long time," his father said tiredly.

"What do you mean?"

"That kidnapping attempt? That was Marshal giving himself a way into our home."

"You're lying. He saved my life."

"No. He and his team staged the whole thing. He's been lying since the day you met him."

Ryker couldn't speak. He had to turn his head away to hide his face from his father.

No way in hell would he give Robert Langston any ammunition against him.

If law enforcement charges were correct, Robert Langston worked for one sick son of a bitch. Ryker no longer thought of the man as his father.

"You keep the books for Kenneth Cramer. He's a sexual predator," Ryker spat.

Robert snapped his eyes to the stranger in their midst and turned away, ignoring his comment.

Neither agreeing or denying.

But Ryker wasn't stupid.

He had a feeling in his gut that Robert was guilty as fuck.

And he was starting to suspect that Syn was telling the truth.

Marshal had known about his dad all along.

It took four more days before Syn was able to work his magic and post bail for him.

They reached the Brick estate and Ryker was encased in a suite of rooms not far from Syn's room. His friend collected him and they ended up in one of the estate's many libraries.

With shaking fingers, Ryker tried Marshal's number for the hundredth time.

There was still no answer nor had there been since he'd been given back his phone.

His call went straight to Marshal's voicemail and he left another message.

"Hey, it's me. I don't know where you are or if you're getting my messages, but my family was arrested. Syn got me out on bail, but my mom and dad were denied bail from the judge." He squeezed the phone. "Please, Marshal, call me."

He hated the way his voice trembled and shook, but it was what it was.

"Hey," Syn said, sitting next to him and gently wrapping him up in his arms.

"I can't get ahold of him. If he was involved, why can't I get a hold of him?"

"I'm sure he's okay. We would have heard differently if he wasn't. You know that. There isn't a damned thing that happens in this city that Brick and I don't know about."

His friend's words reassured him somewhat, but he was still terrified that something bad had happened to Marshal.

He still couldn't stay focused on Marshal's part in all of this. If he thought too long about Marshal setting up the kidnapping or using him to get into his grandfather's safe, then his brain would shut down.

If he thought about them being lovers… He shuddered, fighting down nausea as thoughts of being used took over.

Sucking in several quick breaths, he stared at nothing.

"Ry…" Syn's murmurs filtered to his ears and he knew the man had been saying his name for a while. Syn had gone from holding him to lightly gripping his shoulders.

Fumbling with his phone, Ryker dialed Cohen's number.

Cohen knew where Marshal lived.

"Hey, Ryker, what's up?"

"Where are you?"

"We're at a dude ranch in Arizona."

"What?"

"Yeah." Cohen laughed. "Marshal moved us out here a week ago for some R and R. I meant to text you."

Ryker gripped the phone, his mind going a mile a minute.

"Are you okay?" Cohen's tone of voice changed from laughing to concerned.

"Yeah." Ryker forced a laugh even though he was dying inside. Marshal took the time to move his family plus Cohen and Aspen out of state.

But him? Apparently, he wasn't worthy of the man's time.

He had been left to take the fall along with his parents.

"Ryker?" Cohen asked tentatively.

"Yeah. I'm here. I was just going to come by and visit you at Marshal's place."

"We should be back the week after next."

"Can you text me Marshal's address?"

"Sure. Why? You can't get it from him?"

"Ah, you know. He's MIA again." Ryker kept his voice light. They all knew that Marshal had a tendency to disappear.

And now Ryker knew why.

"Cohen!" A young voice was picked up through the phone.

"I'm coming!" Cohen shouted and then returned to him. "I'll text you the address."

"Thanks, man." Ryker ended the call and held onto the phone.

Marshal had deserted him. The fucker had moved his family and saved himself.

And forgot all about him.