Ryker pulled free. “Knock it off. I’m not a klutz.”
“Uh-huh.” Jory gestured Ryker through the rickety gate, where Matt waited on the other side. “The fact that your guard is down, when you surely have excellent instincts, must tell you something, right? You can trust us.”
Did Jory have odd instincts like Ryker did? Was it a family thing? “Right. I always trust guys holding a picture of my possible twin. Always.”
Jory chuckled. “I knew you’d be funny. I’m usually the funny one, and it’d be nice to pass that baton.”
Matt frowned. “You aren’t the funny one. Not at all.”
“Sure I am.” Jory seemed to hand Ryker off to Matt. “You take him. I’ll grab the truck and meet you at his place.”
“Nobody needs to take me.” Ryker blew out cold air and tried to step away from the duo. “I’m not going to ditch you guys, because you have answers I need.”
Matt leaned in, his face going hard and losing any semblance of friendliness. “Listen, Ryker. I haven’t slept a decent night in four months, since we learned you were out there, by yourself, with a kill order over your head. Now that we’ve found you, no fucking way are you getting out of our sight until we know you’re okay. Now take me to your rig or I’m going to beat the shit out of you, and then you’re going to take me to your rig.”
So much for brotherly love. Defiance and the need to hit something rose fast and hard in Ryker. It’d be a damn good fight—that was for sure.
Jory shoved him in his uninjured arm and knocked him an inch to the side. “Come on, you two. Stop acting like morons. We have to get to Madison.”
Ryker turned on him, his fists clenching. “What? Are you the peacemaker?”
Jory slowly nodded, his gaze solemn. “Yep. Always have been. And you don’t want to cross me, brother. When we were sparring in there, I was pulling my punches because we needed you alive for questioning.”
Ryker leaned in. “So was I.”
Jory grinned. “Good to know you’re not a pussy. We need to move now.” Even though his voice was congenial, a thread of concern rode through it.
The entire neighborhood spun around Ryker. Was this vertigo? “Fine.” He turned and headed down the street to his truck, then suddenly paused. “Wait a minute. Kill order?”
“Yep.” Matt caught up to him. “I’ll explain as we go. For now, where’s your truck? It’s cold out here.”
Ryker slowly moved back into motion. “Who wants me dead?”
“The good news is, not us, because then you would be.” Matt slung an arm over his shoulders. “Welcome to the family, Ryker.”
“I don’t believe this,” Ryker muttered. “I already have two brothers, Heath and Denver.”
“Interesting.” Matt stiffened but kept up the long stride to the truck. “I wonder if any of us share a mother. It’s nice to have three more brothers.” He crossed to the passenger side and jumped in. “If you’re a brother to one of us, you’re a brother to all of us.”
Ryker forced himself to keep calm as he moved into the truck and started the engine. His phone buzzed and he read the message from Heath. They’d found Zara. His body electrified. “Hold on, Matt. It’s going to be a fast drive back to my place.” They’d have to get to the airport quickly.
It was time he and Dr. Madison faced each other again.
*
Less than twenty minutes later, Ryker was fully suited up and riding in a borrowed helicopter. He’d quickly introduced Heath and Denver to Matt and Jory, noting belatedly that Denver and Jory had a remarkably similar jawline. Had Dr. Madison created a bunch genetically linked men? It was too creepy to contemplate.
He shook his head to get back to reality. “You guys have a helicopter.” He sat back in his seat and tugged down his bulletproof vest. Oh, the vest was his, but the helicopter?
Matt nodded from the pilot’s seat. “Yeah. We own a security firm that provides services in other countries, from protection to infiltration. Our headquarters is far away from our homes, and we keep the distance on purpose. We hire a lot of ex-military guys to do the work and pay them well.”
Sounded like they made good money. “The business can’t be traced back to you?” Ryker asked.
“No,” Matt said shortly.
Ryker tamped down on emotion. The helicopter had been loaded with enough weaponry to take out a small country, but he had kept his comfortable Glock and knives instead. Denver sat in the co-pilot’s seat while Jory and Heath bracketed Ryker.
Zara had to be all right. Hopefully Greg was sitting tight, but Ryker knew that if the kid found an opening, he’d take it.