Jake remained quiet, too pissed to respond. Using his silence against him, Ryker kept going.
“For Christ’s sake, McQueen...think like fucking SOF for a second, and not some lovesick boyfriend. By doing things this way, we can guide her on what to say and what not to say. She can keep trying until she feels comfortable. There will be no reporters present. Our people will record her statement, then instantaneously send it out to all the major networks. No one will be able to take credit for breaking the big story, and she won’t be bombarded with a million questions like she would be at a normal press conference. Olivia will be brought back to life onherterms.”
Shit. Fuck. Shit.Ryker might have a point, but that didn’t mean Jake had to like it. Still facing away from the man, Jake ordered him, “Take me to her.”
After a brief pause, Ryker said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”
Jake swung back around. “The hell you can’t.”
“She’s already on route to our secondary location. They left about two minutes after you sat down to read over that file.”
Sonofabitch. “Why the second location?”
“We wanted to be certain she was safe.”
“Safe?” Jake laughed humorlessly, his words dripping with sarcasm. “This is Homeland fucking Security, Ryker. Pretty sure she would have been safe here.”
“The minute her recording goes on air, reporters will be scrambling to find her. Given what we do, it won’t be a stretch to connect her with us, and when that happens, this place will be swarming with cameras and news vans.”
“Here? Why here?”
“You know how these people work, Jake. They’re tenacious bastards. You think they don’t know about this place? They’ll camp out, wait for her to wear down and exit the building. This way, they can wait here all damn night while we get her set up somewhere else. Someplace secure. Not to mention the possibility of them catching a glimpse of you leaving here, and connecting those dots as well.”
“You can still take me to see her. I need to explain to her why I’m leaving. I need to least say goodbye, for fuck’s sake.”
“I already told you. The plane is waiting. So is your team. Time is of the essence here, Jake. That meeting is tomorrow morning, and if you aren’t on that plane and in place tonight, you’ll miss your opportunity to meet with my contact and catch these sons of bitches.”
Jake was a statue. A very pissed off statue. Sensing his impending explosion, Ryker tried to appease him.
“Olivia will be in good hands. I’ll explain to her that you had no choice but to leave for another mission, and you’ll be back in a few days.” He paused for just a moment. “I assure you, she’ll be taken care of, Jake.”
Ryker’s tone mimicked that of a man speaking to a small child, and it grated on Jake’s last fucking nerve. His head was spinning, and he felt sick to his soul.
He wanted to get the bastards, no fucking question. And no, it shouldn’t take more than a few days to complete the job, but still.
He wanted to see Olivia. Needed totouchher and hold her while he explained what was happening.
Jake hadn’t been able to talk to her since they’d been separated upon their arrival here this morning. Now, he was being forced to leave her without so much as a—
Jake glared at the agent as understanding hit. “You fucking played me.”
“What the hell are you talking about, McQueen?”
Jake’s finger flew toward Ryker. “You knew I wouldn’t be able to resist seeing what was in that file. You purposely sat it down by the chair facing away from the glass, and you knew I’d be too focused on the intel to notice Olivia leaving the room.”
He recalled seeing the man on his phone earlier. “You sent that text, notifying the agent with her to take her away because you neverwantedme to have the chance to say goodbye.” He was in the guy’s face in less than a second. “Why thefuckwould you do that?”
Not bothering to deny it, Ryker answered, “I knew if you got the chance to talk with her, she’d most likely break down at the thought of you leaving her again so soon. If that happened, you would’ve said ‘fuck it’, and let someone else go after Cetro and the others. I needyoufor this, Jake. You’re the best we’ve got, and yeah...no one else would be as motivated to finding and stopping these bastards as you are.”
“Goddamnit!” Jake yelled as he turned away.
“There’s more at stake than just Olivia’s safety, Jake. Think of the next woman they hurt. And make no mistake, theywillhurt another woman. Soon. She’ll be someone’s daughter or sister.” Ryker waited a beat, and with an insinuating tone, added, “Someone’slover.So, no, I wasn’t taking the chance you’d decide to stay. I needyouon this one, Jake. We have to keep these guys from hurting anyone else.”
Well, at least he didn’t lie.
Even so, for a second there, Jake seriously considered hitting the asshole. God, he wanted to. In the end, he didn’t...mainly because Ryker was right. Again.
No one else wanted to stop Cetro and the others as badly as he did. There was an innate need to do this, to keep them from hurting someone else the way they’d tried to hurt Liv. Didn’t mean Jake would let it completely slide, though.
