Chapter Thirty-five
Ryder wanted to stay just where he was. It didn’t matter that the floor was hard, because Kinsey was in his arms. Something had happened when they made love. He felt certain that she would open her heart to him again.
But there was so much hanging over their heads. Until he could show absolute proof of her innocence, everyone at Dreagan would be wondering about her. Ryder didn’t want Kinsey subjected to that in any form.
He kissed Kinsey’s forehead as she slept. Then he gathered her in his arms and got to his feet. Ryder used his foot to pull back the covers before he lay her down.
Once she was covered, he gave her a light kiss on the lips. “I’ll be back soon,” he whispered.
Ryder gathered his clothes. He yanked on his jeans and slid his arms into his shirt, but didn’t fasten either. He grabbed his boots and slipped from the room.
In the corridor he put on his boots and buckled his pants. It wasn’t until he went to button his shirt that he found himself laughing as he recalled Kinsey yanking it open, popping off the buttons.
Ryder ran a hand through his hair and left the shirt open as he walked to the computer room. He was at the door when Dmitri walked out and stared at him in surprise.
“I expected you to take another night off,” Dmitri said.
Ryder shook his head. “There’s too much going on.”
“You can say that again. I’m glad you’re here. Most of the e-mails have been decoded.”
It was the concern in Dmitri’s gaze that alerted Ryder. “How bad is it?”
“No’ good, my friend.”
Ryder pushed past him and entered the room. He hurried around the monitors to see Thorn rubbing his eyes before looking back at the screen.
As soon as Thorn spotted him he said, “Am I ever happy to see you.”
Ryder sat in his chair and took a few seconds to look at each monitor. MI5 hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary the entire day, which was expected with the weather.
The facial recognition software had finished scanning Ireland with no sign of Ulrik.
In more bad news, there were so many shell corporations within shell corporations from Kyvor that Ryder would never be able to find them all—or those involved.
A smile began to form when he saw an alert on one of the monitors showing a capture from a CCTV of Ulrik outside The Silver Dragon in Perth. At least they knew where Ulrik was now.
Ryder’s gaze landed on the screen before Thorn with the pictures of every Sam MacDonald who owned a business. He then turned his eyes to Thorn.
“None of them were Ulrik,” Thorn said, regret and anger filling his voice.
Damn. That’s not what Ryder wanted to hear. “Esther seems too smart to be fooled by a name. She’s MI5. She’d check the name and the business.”
“We’re going to show her a picture of Ulrik and see if he’s Sam MacDonald,” Ryder said. “I doona know how Ulrik is keeping himself so well hidden, but he’s doing a great job of it.”
Thorn cleared his throat. “You need to read the e-mails your software decrypted from Kyvor.”
With a touch of a few keys, the folder was open on Ryder’s monitor. He read them from the oldest to the newest. The first, dated five years prior, merely referred to Dreagan without actually naming it. But with each e-mail sent at the middle of each month, it became clear that those at Kyvor were looking into Dreagan and the Dragon Kings.
What froze Ryder’s blood was when he spotted an e-mail dated the exact month and year he first met Kinsey. He clicked open the e-mail and read in shock.
“DK #12 has shown interest in a human female. You’ll be delighted to know she works for us—Kinsey Burns. For now I suggest we don’t interfere and see how far the connection goes.”
Ryder wanted to hit something. No. He wanted to kill whoever this was. It proved that these people had been watching the Kings for far longer than anyone knew.
All his cameras, all his software and gadgets couldn’t alert him that they
Ryder wanted to stay just where he was. It didn’t matter that the floor was hard, because Kinsey was in his arms. Something had happened when they made love. He felt certain that she would open her heart to him again.
But there was so much hanging over their heads. Until he could show absolute proof of her innocence, everyone at Dreagan would be wondering about her. Ryder didn’t want Kinsey subjected to that in any form.
He kissed Kinsey’s forehead as she slept. Then he gathered her in his arms and got to his feet. Ryder used his foot to pull back the covers before he lay her down.
Once she was covered, he gave her a light kiss on the lips. “I’ll be back soon,” he whispered.
Ryder gathered his clothes. He yanked on his jeans and slid his arms into his shirt, but didn’t fasten either. He grabbed his boots and slipped from the room.
In the corridor he put on his boots and buckled his pants. It wasn’t until he went to button his shirt that he found himself laughing as he recalled Kinsey yanking it open, popping off the buttons.
Ryder ran a hand through his hair and left the shirt open as he walked to the computer room. He was at the door when Dmitri walked out and stared at him in surprise.
“I expected you to take another night off,” Dmitri said.
Ryder shook his head. “There’s too much going on.”
“You can say that again. I’m glad you’re here. Most of the e-mails have been decoded.”
It was the concern in Dmitri’s gaze that alerted Ryder. “How bad is it?”
“No’ good, my friend.”
Ryder pushed past him and entered the room. He hurried around the monitors to see Thorn rubbing his eyes before looking back at the screen.
As soon as Thorn spotted him he said, “Am I ever happy to see you.”
Ryder sat in his chair and took a few seconds to look at each monitor. MI5 hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary the entire day, which was expected with the weather.
The facial recognition software had finished scanning Ireland with no sign of Ulrik.
In more bad news, there were so many shell corporations within shell corporations from Kyvor that Ryder would never be able to find them all—or those involved.
A smile began to form when he saw an alert on one of the monitors showing a capture from a CCTV of Ulrik outside The Silver Dragon in Perth. At least they knew where Ulrik was now.
Ryder’s gaze landed on the screen before Thorn with the pictures of every Sam MacDonald who owned a business. He then turned his eyes to Thorn.
“None of them were Ulrik,” Thorn said, regret and anger filling his voice.
Damn. That’s not what Ryder wanted to hear. “Esther seems too smart to be fooled by a name. She’s MI5. She’d check the name and the business.”
“We’re going to show her a picture of Ulrik and see if he’s Sam MacDonald,” Ryder said. “I doona know how Ulrik is keeping himself so well hidden, but he’s doing a great job of it.”
Thorn cleared his throat. “You need to read the e-mails your software decrypted from Kyvor.”
With a touch of a few keys, the folder was open on Ryder’s monitor. He read them from the oldest to the newest. The first, dated five years prior, merely referred to Dreagan without actually naming it. But with each e-mail sent at the middle of each month, it became clear that those at Kyvor were looking into Dreagan and the Dragon Kings.
What froze Ryder’s blood was when he spotted an e-mail dated the exact month and year he first met Kinsey. He clicked open the e-mail and read in shock.
“DK #12 has shown interest in a human female. You’ll be delighted to know she works for us—Kinsey Burns. For now I suggest we don’t interfere and see how far the connection goes.”
Ryder wanted to hit something. No. He wanted to kill whoever this was. It proved that these people had been watching the Kings for far longer than anyone knew.
All his cameras, all his software and gadgets couldn’t alert him that they
Similar Books
