Page 47 of Shadow Strike
“Clive.”Wade’s voice was slower than it used to be, the words requiring more effort, but today they came clearly.“Is it Thursday?”
“Friday.I should have called.”CB crossed the room and sat in the chair across from his father.The same chair he’d sat in as a boy, receiving lectures about responsibility and legacy and what it meant to be a Briggs.“How are you feeling?”
“Like a man who had half his brain shut off.Takes me twice as long to read anything as it used to.”Wade closed the book and set it aside.“What do you want?”
No pleasantries, no pretense of a normal father-son visit.CB appreciated the directness, even if it stung.
“I need to talk to you about Ryder.”
Wade’s expression hardened.“What about him?”
“He’s in trouble.The kind that’s going to blow back on you if we don’t get ahead of it.”
“Ryder runs the organization now.Whatever trouble he’s in, he can handle it.”
“Not this.”CB leaned forward.“He’s been extorting Regan Hill, Henry’s daughter.Threatening her, sending men to hurt her.And when she didn’t back down, he escalated.”
Wade was quiet for a moment.His right hand, the one that still worked properly, gripped the arm of his chair.
“That’s business,” he said finally.“Sometimes you have to apply pressure.”
“This isn’t pressure.It’s assault and intimidation.”CB held his father’s gaze.“The FBI is involved now.They’re building a case.”
Wade’s eyes flickered with concern.Or maybe calculation.But his voice stayed flat.“Ryder wouldn’t do that.You must be wrong.”
“I wish I were.He’s been covering his tracks with your name.”
Wade stared at him, and CB watched his father’s face cycle through confusion, denial, and anger.“That’s a lie.”
“It’s not.”CB pulled out his phone.“I recorded a conversation with him last night.You need to hear it.”
“You’re just saying this because you’re jealous of him.”
CB held in his frustration.“I never wanted to lead the Outlaws, and you know it.Why would I be jealous?”
Wade leaned forward, the corners of his eyes narrowing.“You’re jealous that he and I are close.”
CB leaned back.It was true—no denying that.“I wish our relationship were better, yes.That’s not what this is about, though.”
Wade looked out the window, chin raised.“You need to leave.”
“I’m not leaving until you listen to this.”
He played the audio.Ryder’s voice filled the study, laying out his ultimatum, his threats, his plan to make Wade the fall guy for everything he’d built.CB watched his father’s face as the recording played.The tightening around his eyes.The white-knuckled grip on the chair arm.
When it ended, the silence was thick enough to choke on.Wade stared at the phone.
CB said nothing, allowing his father time to process it.
“That boy,” Wade said finally, “has been like a son to me.”
While CB had known it, it still hurt hearing his father say it out loud.“I know.”
“I brought him up in the organization.Trusted him.Gave him everything.”
“I know, Dad.”
Wade’s jaw worked.His good hand trembled slightly against the chair arm.“And this is all over Henry’s daughter?Because of what she did to Ray?”
