Challenging Ryker (Kringle Security #2)

Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

It took two days but Caden finally called and said he had some information on Gavin. So now Ryker and Amelia sat at the large conference table at his office with Caden, Luke, Austin, and Nash.

"Please tell me we know Gavin's true identity," Ryker pleaded. This was getting out of hand. They were damn good at their job, and yet, this guy was playing them like amateurs.

"Oh, we know it. Not sure you're going to like what we found though." Luke tossed a folder across the table at him, then passed more of them out to the rest of his friends, except Caden who probably already had the information on his laptop.

"Wait, seriously?" Nash scoffed. "The guy changed his name from Gavin Bates to Gavin Yates. Not very original." Nash was flipping through the file rather quickly. It was how his friend liked to work. He skimmed the details at a fast rate and pulled out the important pieces to discuss.

"Maybe not, but it was effective. I sent the postcard you got at your house to a friend of mine at the FBI who owed me a favor. He ran the prints on the card and got a hit."

Luke had worked for the FBI after he got out of the Army, and before they started Kringle Security. He left on pretty good terms, considering they did contract work for the agency, but he rarely spoke to the people he used to work with. Except a few, it would seem.

Ryker showed Amelia the file. More specifically, the picture of Gavin. He knew immediately, based on her swift intake of air, that it was the guy they were looking for.

"Yeah, that's him."

"Gavin Bates escaped from a psychiatric facility two and a half years ago." Austin didn't look up as he read the information out loud. He let out a whistle next. "This guy's history is intense. In and out of juvenile facilities across several different states most of his teenage life before he turned eighteen and then spent a few years in a state penitentiary. But it's what landed him in the psychiatric facility that has me the most concerned."

Austin wasn't wrong. Gavin's record was a clear indication of a textbook psychopath. But it was the “cannibalistic tendencies” toward the end that really worried him.

"Did he ever try to bite you?" Luke asked Amelia.

Ryker’s entire body tensed when she gasped. He had studied every damn inch of her during their time together and had never seen fresh, or old, bite marks. But the way she responded told a completely different story.

"He wanted to, and tried once, but I fought him on it. This was a few days before I left. I caught him looking at pictures of women with bite marks and I'm not talking just surface-level ones but actual chunks taken out of them. I freaked out when he told me that's what he wanted to do to me. He tried saying I would like it, that it would take our relationship to a whole new level because I would be inside him always. I already had a plan in place to leave at that point. I was just waiting for payday to implement it."

Red-hot fury pumped through his veins. They weren't just dealing with a con artist like they originally thought. No, Gavin was much, much worse.

"How the hell did this guy break out? I thought those places are supposed to be secure facilities?" Austin shook his head in disbelief.

"I think it's safe to say everyone underestimated his level of intelligence." Luke tossed his own closed folder onto the table with force. "Unfortunately, one of the downsides to ruling a person not guilty by reason of insanity is they believe the person has low intelligence or some kind of mental deficiency. There are instances where that isn't the case, and I believe Gavin is one of them. He was smart enough to convince everyone that he had no control over his behavior. His time with Amelia proves otherwise. He was able to control those urges as he built the foundation he needed."

Amelia was vigorously nodding her head in agreement. "Gavin was normal when I first met him, or at least, he had me convinced he was. It was weeks of so-called courting me before he asked me out and then those first few weeks together I never suspected anything. It was months of us being together before I finally realized something wasn't right, but nothing like what you guys are saying."

Ryker had told his friends about how he found Amelia, but he never discussed some of the things she shared with him. It would be her decision to tell them what she wanted.

Obviously, she was ready to share it all.

"It started with him wanting to take control in the bedroom. I'm a big romance lover, so I thought nothing of it at first. I’ve read about BDSM and men in general who lost control but always made their partners feel good. I thought I’d found my very own book boyfriend but I was wrong. What Gavin wanted to do was nothing like I’d read in the books. He was all about the pain and how I responded to it rather than making it pleasurable. It didn't take me long to realize what we had wasn't normal."

The more Ryker listened to Amelia talk, the more he wanted to kill Gavin. It sucked that there were men in the world who took advantage of women's dreams and crushed them.

"Unfortunately, I was too deep in the relationship at this point. I had moved in with him, let him convince me that we needed a joint bank account because one day we would be married and that was the first logical step. I knew I needed to leave but I had to have a plan in place to do so. That took some time. So I played the part the best I could. I did everything he asked so I wouldn't make him mad. It was never good enough and he found ways to punish me no matter what I did. By the time I left, I was used to being chained up on the weekends. I was used to him raping me."

"No one should ever be forced to get used to rape."

The outburst came from Nash. As a man with three younger sisters, it made sense that he would be the most protective of Amelia.

"I know that, but I had two choices. Continue to let Gavin beat me down until I was a shell of the woman I used to be, or fight back in my own way. I knew physically fighting him would end with me dead, so I did the only other thing I could. I used the knowledge that I was going to get out of the situation to shoulder through the torture he dished out."

Ryker draped his arm over Amelia's shoulder and pulled her into his side. She’d proven over and over again just how strong she really was. It took courage to do what she did. He was in awe of her and realized, not for the first time, that he didn't warrant the trust she had in him.

He kissed her head and told her, without words, how much she meant to him. The soft smile she gave him in return was more than he deserved but he would do everything in his power to make sure that she knew how much he appreciated her taking the chance on him. He would become the man she needed no matter what.

"I'm guessing the FBI doesn't have any leads on where Gavin is?" Austin asked.

"They don't," Luke confirmed.

"What about his family? Are they aware he escaped? Gavin started by torturing his sister. That's what landed him in juvenile detention centers over and over again based on what's here. The family moved a lot. My guess is every time Gavin got in trouble, they packed up and left." Nash motioned to the folder on the table.

"Yes, they are aware and in protective custody. He hasn't bothered to approach them. I'm guessing he switched his focus to someone else."

Luke's declaration had everyone in the room looking at Amelia. It was obvious who Gavin's obsession was these days.

"I've given the information to Tex. He has a better shot of finding him than the FBI does, but he needs time. We aren't the only people who use his services. The man is busy."

If this Tex guy was able to find Gavin, then he would owe him his entire existence. Nothing would ever be enough to repay someone for eliminating the threat from her life.

"Keep us posted."

He stood up and snagged Amelia's hand. After the information he’d just learned, he had the need to keep Amelia close and what better way to do that than to spend the afternoon in bed with his woman? With any luck, she wouldn't want to leave for a few days.