Trigger Pull

  Trigger Pull

  Mike Ryan

  www.mikeryanbooks.com

  Copyright © 2019 by Mike Ryan

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  About the Author

  Also by Mike Ryan

  1

  Recker had another restless sleep. Ever since he’d gotten back from London, he could count on one hand the amount of times he actually felt refreshed and re-energized after waking up. It seemed every night was a new nightmare. Almost all of them involved something bad happening. Whether it was to him, Mia, Jones, or Haley, it seemed one of them was always passing away in the dream. And it was usually violently.

  Most of the time, he didn’t remember much about the dream. Just the end result. Though the others were occasionally in them, by far the nightmare he had the most, involved himself. Sometimes it was him falling off a tall building, sometimes he’d turn around and get shot by some unknown assailant, usually not even seeing their face, and sometimes it was him lying in some cold, dark alley, the rain pelting the back of his dead body.

  Recker sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows on his knees as he put his hands on top of his head. He was tired and trying to shake the images of his dead corpse out of his mind. He looked back at Mia’s spot in the bed, but all that was left was her sunken pillow and rumpled blanket. He put his nose in the air and could smell her making breakfast. He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and stumbled out to the kitchen.

  Before doing anything else, Recker came up behind Mia and put his arms around her waist, hugging her and kissing her on the neck. She turned around and kissed his lips. They spent another couple of minutes embracing, neither feeling the need to say a word. After they were done, Mia playfully pushed his chest so they could begin eating.

  “Sit down and eat your breakfast,” she told him, bringing his plate over.

  Still without knowing what time it was, Recker sat down and checked his phone. It was earlier than he thought it was, being only a few minutes after seven. By the sun shining in through the window he assumed it to be around nine o’clock or so. Though the sunshine was supposed to help increase people’s moods and make them feel better, it sure didn’t seem to do much for him. He felt as grumpy as if he hadn’t gone to bed at all. The only thing that was keeping him from showing it was the beautiful woman sitting across from him. He certainly didn’t want to bring her down with him.

  It was a quiet morning by their standards. They spent the next few minutes eating, not even saying a word to each other. They usually were pretty talkative with what they had planned for the day, so this morning was quite unusual for them. Recker kept his head down as he was eating, staring at his food. Mia kept looking at him, wondering when or if he was going to say something. She already thought she knew but wanted him to say it. She’d often wake up multiple times during the night, hearing Recker mumble in his sleep, or feel him toss and turn constantly. Though she rarely said anything about it, she could tell he was having bad dreams a lot. After a few more minutes, she finally had enough of the silence and knew she’d have to drag it out of him, just like usual.

  “You gonna say anything today?”

  Recker stopped playing with his food and looked up. “Huh?”

  “You haven’t said a word all morning.”

  “Oh. Sorry. Guess I just have things on my mind.”

  “Anything you wanna talk about?”

  Recker shook his head as he went back to playing with his food. “No, not really.”

  Mia let out a very loud sigh, intending for Recker to hear her displeasure.

  “You OK?” Recker asked, more concerned with her well-being than his own.

  “No, not really.”

  “What’s the matter? You feel all right?”

  “You’re what’s the matter.”

  “What’d I do?”

  “You won’t talk to me,” Mia replied.

  “What do you wanna talk about?”

  “How ‘bout we start with what’s bothering you?”

  “There’s nothing bothering me.”

  Mia gave him a displeased look as she tilted her head, clearly not happy with his answer. Recker raised his eyebrows before looking back down at his food, not wanting to look at her. He didn’t like seeing her mad at him, which she now clearly seemed to be at the moment.

  “Mike, you’ve been having bad dreams for nearly a month now.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Really? Then why do you wake up in the middle of the night sometimes sweating? Or you sit on the edge of the bed with your hands on your head. You toss and turn more times than I can count. And sometimes you talk incoherently.”

  Recker looked almost embarrassed that she knew all that. “I didn’t realize you were watching my every move.”

  “It’s hard not to when you appear to be in as much discomfort as you are.”

  “I’m OK,” Recker said, not wanting to make a big deal of it.

  Mia got up and moved to the chair next to him, hoping to convince him to come clean with her. She put her hand on the back of his head and rubbed it. “Why don’t you just tell me what it is? Maybe I can help you get through it?”

  Recker turned his head to look at her. He smiled, wondering how he was lucky enough to end up with someone like her. She was definitely the best part of his life. He stumbled over his words at first, not knowing how to begin.

  “I don’t know what it is. Every night it’s a new nightmare. Or it’s an old nightmare.”

  “What about?” Mia asked.

  Recker rubbed the side of his head as he cleared his throat, not wanting to get too specific. “Usually the same thing. Somebody dying.”

  “Anyone specific?”

  “Always someone I know. David, Chris… a few times it was you,” he said, looking at her and trying to plaster a smile on his face to disguise how concerned he was. Not that it worked though. “But mostly it’s been me.”

  Mia continued rubbing the back of his head and also leaned in to kiss his cheek. “They’re only dreams.”

  “I know, but…”

  Mia continued to try and ease his fears. “They’re not going to come true if that’s what’s bothering you. They’re just dreams. Nothing more.”

  “What if it’s a sign of something?”

  “Like what?”

  Recker shrugged. “Maybe it’s a sign that I’m… broken. Like maybe everything’s finally catching up to me. Maybe it’s a signal that something’s gonna happen soon.”

  Mia put both of her hands on the sides of Recker’s face as she looked deep into his eyes. There was a look in them that she hadn’t seen before. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was sadness. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. They just looked different somehow. They put their foreheads together as they closed their eyes, just letting the moment settle in. Then Mia brought her head inches from Recker’s, their noses alm
ost touching as she tried to console him.

  “Nothing is going to happen to you. Everything is not predetermined. The dreams are not indicating that you’re going to die soon. You’re in control of everything. No one else.”

  Recker tried to give her a warm smile, though it came off as a half-hearted attempt. Mia kissed him, then the two engaged in a long embrace. Recker wasn’t yet sure if the talk worked. He still felt a little different. He couldn’t pinpoint what it was either, but something inside him just didn’t feel right. Maybe it was something that would pass once he got to work and put all this stuff behind him. At least until the next day, when he was sure he’d wake up from a similar dream.

  After releasing each other, they stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments. Recker put his hands on her arms and rubbed them up and down. She was such an amazing person, he thought. Sometimes he still wasn’t sure what he did to deserve her. But here they were, her doing everything in her power to make him feel better and lift her spirits. Suddenly, as he stared at her, his thoughts turned from his own dreams to thoughts of her.

  “What about you?” Recker asked. “Are you OK?”

  “I’m fine, why?”

  Recker briefly glimpsed down at her stomach. “You know, the baby.”

  Mia’s eyes quickly became glossy as she fought to hold back the tears. They hadn’t talked about it in about two weeks. For the first few days after Recker got home from Europe, though Mia was happy to have him back, she still felt an unbelievable sense of sadness. Even when he was there, she found herself sitting alone in their room sometimes. Though they talked about it, and Recker tried to be understanding and do what he could for her, it was something she had to work out on her own. He would never be able to understand what that must have felt like. All he could do was try to be there for her when she needed him, which he was.

  After about a week, her sadness and depression started to fade, and she thrust herself back into her work, getting a few more double shifts than usual. Though she usually fought through the bad thoughts that ran through her mind when Recker was home, it was worse when he wasn’t there at all. At least being at work helped to take her mind off it, especially during the day when Recker was usually out doing his thing.

  As Mia thought about his question, she didn’t feel the need to try and hide her true feelings from him. There wasn’t any point in trying to mask them or make herself out to be stronger than she really was. Even so, she still struggled to get the words out. She tried to form a smile, though she wasn’t quite able to get one out.

  “Some days are better than others,” she said. “I don’t know if the feelings will ever truly go away. I just feel like something inside is missing. Something should be there, and it isn’t. Some days are not too bad, and others, I just wanna bury my head in the sand.”

  “What can I do?” Recker asked, wishing he could take her pain away.

  Mia finally was able to form that smile she’d been trying to put on. She put her arms around Recker’s neck and kissed him. “You’ve already done everything you can. You’ve been there for me, we’ve talked, there’s nothing else you can do.”

  “I feel like I can do more. Like I should be doing more.”

  “There’s not. Honestly, just you being here, talking, that’s enough. I’m getting better. Day by day, little by little, I’m getting there.”

  Recker cleared his throat, though it was pretty obvious that he had forced a cough that wasn’t really necessary.

  “What is it?” Mia asked, recognizing his clues for when he had something to talk about that was uncomfortable for him.

  “Umm, well, it’s not something we’ve talked about, and I don’t know if you want to right now.”

  “Now’s as good a time as any. As long as it won’t make me unhappy. I don’t know if I could stand more unhappiness.”

  “Well, I dunno…”

  Mia let out a laugh, thinking it cute how he always danced around awkward subjects. “Just say it.”

  “I was just thinking… I know I was a little stunned when you told me the first time…”

  “A little stunned?”

  Recker grinned, knowing he undersold his reaction. “OK. Maybe a lot. But anyway, I was stunned at first, and it took me some time to get used to it, but if the time comes, and I know it’s up to you whenever you’re ready… but if the time comes and you wanna try again… I would like to.”

  Mia couldn’t contain or hold back her smile this time as she threw her arms around him again, planting a big kiss on his lips. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  They began kissing some more, though their affection was interrupted by the sound of Recker’s phone going off. He looked at it and the pleasant look on his face was quickly replaced by a look of disgust.

  “What is it?” Mia asked.

  “It’s David. Something’s going down. I’m gonna have to go.”

  Recker got up and quickly got dressed. Once he was ready, he walked over to the door, getting another kiss from his girlfriend before he left.

  “Make sure you take care of yourself,” Mia said.

  Though she would never outwardly say it, she was slightly alarmed by the dreams he was having. Not that she believed they were an indication they were going to come true, but more because she hoped they didn’t make him alter his behavior. Recker got this far by trusting his instincts. If the dreams he was having him bothered him so much that he started to doubt those instincts, that’s what worried her more.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be back,” Recker said.

  “You better.”

  2

  Recker had just started driving when he called Jones to see what was going on. There was no point in going to the office and wasting time if Recker could get to wherever he needed to go to quicker from where he already was.

  “What’s up?” Recker asked.

  “We appear to have a kidnapping in progress.”

  “What’s the status?”

  “When I say in progress, I literally mean in progress,” Jones answered.

  “Why are we just hearing about it now?”

  “We’re not. I’ve been tracking these guys for the better part of two weeks. The problem was that they weren’t communicating with any details up to now. Just generalities. I’m not sure they knew either. But today, the apparent leader of the group let the others know it was happening now.”

  “How much time we got?”

  “You probably have none,” Jones said. “Chris, though, might be able to make it in time. I dispatched him about ten minutes ago, so hopefully he’ll be able to get there.” Jones then gave Recker the address that he wanted him to go to.

  “How many people are we dealing with?”

  “Three as far as I can determine.”

  “Histories?”

  “All have violence in their backgrounds. They probably won’t scare easily so it is likely that you will have to use force.”

  “What about the target?”

  “Fred Pinkston. He’s a bank manager for one of the large national brands.”

  “What are they planning on doing? Using him to open a vault or something?”

  “It would appear so. Like I said, they haven’t talked specifics that I could determine. So, I would assume instead of going into the bank guns blazing, they’re using a more methodical approach. I would say that they probably want to use him for access as well as bypassing security measures.”

  “Why not just grab him as he gets to the bank or enters the building?” Recker asked.

  “Probably because they want to prepare him for what they’re planning. Some people feel they’re more likely to get cooperation from their victims when they can prepare them in advance for what they want. That way there’s less a chance of them panicking at the wrong moment and throwing the entire plan into mayhem.”

  “Chris gonna be able to get there in time?”

  “I’m not sure. Let me check in with him. You hurry up
and get there.”

  “Well, I’m not driving like Miss Daisy.”

  Jones then called Haley. “Chris, what’s your position?”

  “Just about there. Couple minutes away.”

  They continued talking until Haley finally reached his destination three minutes later, a two-story brick home in the northeast part of the city. It was in an affluent area, where most of the residents were swimming in money. Long driveways and plenty of land and distance between neighbors, not usually a plentiful thing in the city, punctuated this area. Haley, driving fast, quickly turned a corner into Pinkston’s driveway, a loud screeching noise from the tires sliding on the pavement, and smoke rising into the air. As he drove up to the main house, he saw he was a little bit late. Hopefully not too late. There was already another car in the driveway, and it wasn’t the one that Jones said belonged to the owner of the house.

  “Another car in sight,” Haley said, his car coming to a grinding halt. “Looks like they’re already here. Gotta go.”

  “Do you see them already? What’s going on?”

  Jones didn’t get an answer. Haley had already hung up and was out of the car, running up to the front door. Jones had hoped for at least something of an advanced scouting report, that way he could relay it to Recker, so he knew what he was getting into. But since that was no longer possible, Recker would just have to wing it once he got there. It wouldn’t be that much different than usual for him.

  Once Haley got to the door, he found that it was slightly ajar and pushed it open. He crouched down, his gun lifted in front of him as he entered the home. Almost immediately after going in he was met with gunfire. A shot ripped off a piece of the door frame as Haley quickly tried to identify his targets. He hid back behind the door for a few seconds to figure out his plan.