Page 44 of Shadow Strike
“Because he texted me last night with a threat I couldn’t ignore.And because I needed to know what he was planning before I could figure out how to stop him.”
Regan’s hand tightened on the towel knot.“What kind of threat?”
CB reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.“I recorded the conversation.You should hear it.”
He tapped the screen and set the phone on the bed between them.
Ryder’s voice filled the room.Regan listened, her heart beating harder with every word.The accusation that she was investigating the Outlaws.CB’s refusal to back down.The exchange about loyalty, family, and choices.
And then the threat.
Wade’s name on everything.Paper trails leading back to a man who couldn’t defend himself.Ryder’s insurance policy, years in the making.
The recording ended.Silence pressed in around them.
Regan stared at the phone, then at CB.“He’s been setting up your father this whole time.”
“Yes.”
“To take the fall for everything he’s done.”
“Yes.”
She sank onto the edge of the bed, her legs suddenly unsteady.“Clive..”
“I know.”He stood and moved toward her, stopping a few feet away.God, he was impossibly tall, broad.“If you release your podcast to try and take Ryder down, my father will end up in prison.He’ll make sure my father dies there.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Give the recording to Claire first thing tomorrow.Then go see my dad and find out if he knows anything about what Ryder’s been doing—if he has any documentation, any proof that Ryder’s been operating independently.”
“Will he?”
“The stroke messed him up, but he has good days.Days of clarity.And he was never ignorant.He may have looked the other way too many times, but once he realizes what Ryder’s done, he’ll want justice.”
Regan looked up at him, seeing the weight he was carrying.His father’s fate in Ryder’s hands.His family’s legacy crumbling around him.
And here he was, standing in her bedroom at two in the morning, handing her evidence instead of burying it.
“This is my fault,” she said.
CB’s expression shifted.“What?”
“If I hadn’t started investigating the Outlaws—if I’d just let it go after Ray was convicted—Ryder wouldn’t be coming after you.He wouldn’t have leverage over your father.None of this would be happening.”
“That’s not true.”
“It is.”She stood, needing to move, needing to do something with the guilt rising in her chest.“I pulled you into this.I let you stay here, let you get involved with my family, and now Ryder is using your father as a weapon because of me.I should have?—”
“Stop.”
The word cut through her spiral.CB stepped closer, his hands coming up to grip her shoulders.“Listen to me,” he said.“You didn’t create Ryder.You didn’t make him set up my father as a fall guy.That’s who he is.That’s who he’s been for years, long before you started asking questions.”
“But—”
“No.”His grip tightened slightly.“I see what you’re doing.You’re trying to take responsibility for all of it so you can control the outcome.If it’s your fault, then it’s your job to fix it.If you’re the one who caused the damage, then you get to be the one who saves everyone.”
Regan opened her mouth to argue, but the words died in her throat.He was right, dammit.
