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Ryder didn’t want Nathalie to pay the price.
He parked at the dead end, backed up to the guardrail and fence that separated the neighborhood from the golf course.
A white Honda turned onto the street.
Ryder slouched in his seat and peered through the steering wheel, just over the dashboard. He palmed his Glock.
The driver executed a three-point turn and parked directly in front of the blue cottage. The person who exited was male.
Maroon sweatshirt, ball cap, polarized sunglasses. He scanned his surroundings.
Hadley. You bloody tosser.
It had been a few years since Ryder had seen the man, but it had to be him. The man’s height, his build, the structure of his face all fit the Foster Hadley Ryder had served with in the SAS.
Ryder had parked far enough away that he couldn’t be sure Hadley could even see him in the driver’s seat, but the man was no fool. The Suburban was hard to conceal.
Where was Nathalie?
The man walked to the side yard and disappeared through a gate in the privacy fence.
Ryder bolted from the SUV.
Ducking behind a tall bush with glossy green leaves, he calculated an approach angle that would keep him hidden from the cottage’s front windows. He glanced up at the one window visible on the second story. If Hadley used his sniper skills and went high, he’d be able to shoot down on Ryder and there few places to take cover.
Ryder’s mobile rang.
Christ. He fumbled to silence it. A careless mistake.
The screen showed an unknown number.
His sixth sense tingled.Answer it.
“Hello?”
“Mate. Good to see you again.”
Hadley.
“Where’s Nathalie, you bastard?”
“She’s alive. Whether she stays that way will depend on what you do next. I wouldn’t advise you to go charging in here like Superman to save the day. Bullets can so easily find the wrong person, can’t they?”
If anything happened to Nathalie, Ryder would rip Hadley limb from limb. “What do you want?”
“Come to the front door, hands raised where I can see them. I propose we have a chat, like civilized blokes. I have something you want. You can get me what I need.”
Fuck.
Ryder would kick the arses of his men if they agreed to something that stupid.
Lachlan would definitely kick his arse for not waiting for the rest of the team.
His need to see Nathalie and make sure she was okay outweighed everything he’d been taught in the military.
“All right. I’m coming in.”
“Stay on the phone with me. I’d hate for you to hang up, ring Captain Mackay, and tell him what you’re doing. Nice and easy up the steps to the front door.”