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Ryker chuckled. “The way I remember it, they were both kicking ass and taking names. Yeah, they might have needed a little help, but Lord help any bad guy who crossed them.”
Linc let out a laugh. “Ain’t that the truth.”
“What do you mean about protecting them? Do you want some kind of weak, stay-at-home woman?”
“Fuck no,” Ryker answered vehemently. He paused and considered it. “I know that the men in my family are all into the, ‘I’ll pump your gas,’ ‘I’ll open the door,’ kind of thing. Dad even says he wants to cherish Mom. For me, it’s a little different. I just want to make sure I’m there for her, that when there’s trouble, she’ll allow me to take the bullet. You know?”
Linc laughed. “I see what you’re saying. I think that Lark, Jada, and maybe even Leila would be more than willing to take the bullet.”
“Yep,” Ryker said resignedly.
“But jeez, man. Did you see her body? All that lean strength? I’m betting she does some kind of martial arts.”
“Linc, you do realize she lives here in Turkey. Here I’ve been worried about a long-distance relationship of two hundred miles, and you’re thinking of what, seven thousand miles? You’re nuts. My God man, have—”
Ryker’s phone rang. It was Kostya. He picked up.
“Yeah?” Ryker answered.
“We’re just outside of Bismil. Where are you?”
Ryker told him how to find them and hung up.
“What in the hell is taking Jase so goddamned long?” Ryker bitched.
“It’s probably Gideon. He’s parsing through the information so that he can determine exactly what we need.”
After fifteen minutes Ryker’s phone rang again. “We’re pulling in,” Kostya said just as another black SUV pulled in behind theirs. Kostya, Landon, and Nolan got out of their vehicle and squished into the backseat of Ryker’s SUV.
“Now we wait,” Kostya said. As if by magic, all five of their phones chirped with an incoming message on their group text. It was Gideon.
Kostya pulled out his satellite phone and called his second-in-command. “What does Jase have for us?”
“It’s not Jase. It’s Ayaz Polat and his family. There was an explosion at their house, but one of the neighbors swears that she saw one of the little boys dragged away in a car by an American.”
“Fuck, it’s Frank Sykes. Those Kraken motherfuckers are going to use that kid as leverage to get the Princeton boys,” Kostya bit out. “Gideon, do we have any idea what kind of relationship there is between Mehmet and Hamza and their nephew?”
“I’ve got nothing,” Gideon admitted.
“What the fuck do they think they’re going to do? How do they intend to contact those two brothers to even say they have the kid?” Ryker wanted to know.
“Those two idiots might have disappeared for the moment, but Kaan is still accessible, and he’s big on family. I say they’ll go to him,” Nolan said.
“I agree,” Kostya nodded. “The question is, do they know that he is here in Bismil?”
“Gideon, can you find out how many Kraken are here in Turkey?”
“I’ve been working on some searches, and Kane from Night Storm is helping me. He’s ruled out four members so far. Neither of us can pinpoint where the two lieutenants are, so chances are they’re in Turkey since this is such a big bounty.”
“I’ve got nothing else for you right now,” Gideon said. “I’m trying to find out any known places that Kaan Polat frequents in Bismil. If I find something, I’ll let you know.” He hung up.
Ryker looked at the three men in the backseat. They looked wretched.
“He said only one boy, right?” Landon asked quietly.
Nolan nodded.
“I wonder which one,” Landon mumbled.
