Ripped, p.1
Ripped, page 1
RIPPED
HEATHER SLADE
The Invincibles Book Ten
CONTENTS
Ripped
1. Rip
2. Pearl
3. Rip
4. Pearl
5. Rip
6. Pearl
7. Rip
8. Pearl
9. Rip
10. Pearl
11. Rip
12. Pearl
13. Rip
14. Pearl
15. Rip
16. Pearl
17. Rip
18. Pearl
19. Rip
20. Pearl
21. Rip
22. Pearl
23. Rip
24. Pearl
25. Rip
26. Pearl
27. Rip
28. Pearl
29. Rip
Epilogue
Want more?
Furied
About the Author
Also by Heather Slade
RIPPED
INVINCIBLES BOOK TEN
ripped
/ript/
verb
tear or pull (something) quickly or forcibly away from something or someone
adjective
having high muscle definition
1
RIP
The last thing I expected when Vex requested a meeting was that he wouldn’t come alone. When I saw a woman I didn’t recognize in the front passenger seat of his SUV, I was even more baffled.
“Who is that?” I asked when I got out of my truck and met him in between where we’d both parked on the bottom floor of the underground parking structure.
“A complication.” He looked over his shoulder as if to make sure she hadn’t gotten out of the vehicle. “Her name is Pearl Fischer.”
“Any relation to—”
He responded before I’d even finished the question. “Yeah, according to her, John Fischer was her father.”
Fischer and his accomplice, both members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas—the ABT—had been shot and killed a year ago after kidnapping a woman the people Vex and I worked for were hired to rescue.
Then as now, Vex was undercover on a CIA-backed mission to infiltrate both the ABT and their parent organization, the Aryan Nation. His role, and mine, was focused primarily on the Texas chapter, while there was another team undercover at the national level.
“Why is she with you?” I asked. And why the fuck was I here? But he would get to that—I hoped sooner rather than later.
“As you know, the ABT has essentially split into two factions. Fischer was on the side that supports an ABT more in-line with the Nation.”
Okay, so this wasn’t going to be quick. “Your mandate.”
“Exactly. I’m supposed to be ‘cleaning up’ the Texas chapter, particularly the assholes in the splinter group.”
I chuckled silently. The Aryan Nation was a prison gang made up of street thugs, which meant their definition of “cleaning up” was subject to interpretation.
Vex’s official cover was that he’d been the former leader of the Nazi Freedom Riders. In his role, he’d facilitated its merging with the Aryan Nation. After the merger took place, he was given the rank of colonel, above the usual highest of major at any state chapter.
“You still haven’t answered the question about why Fischer’s daughter is with you.”
“Scottie picked up on some chatter about Pearl we don’t quite understand.”
McKenna Walsh, code name Scottie, was an agent with the Department of Homeland Security, on loan to the CIA and working undercover as Vex’s common-law wife.
“What was the chatter?”
“Seems the splinter group has it in for the young woman—”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m getting to that, Rip. What Scottie overheard suggests Pearl wasn’t actually Fischer’s biological daughter.”
That explained why he’d started out saying “according to her,” she was John Fischer’s daughter. However, I was getting really impatient really fast. “And?”
“Scottie heard one of them say that now that Fischer is out of the picture, they can use her to get what they want from the Aryan Nation.”
Now that he was out of the picture? He’d been dead for over a year. “What do they want?”
“No idea, but evidently, she’s valuable to someone in Idaho.”
“Are you following up with the Nation?”
“Got my contacts inside seeing what they can find, but so far, neither John Fischer nor Pearl is on anyone’s radar as being significant. I’m headed to their headquarters now to see what I can figure out myself.”
While this wasn’t making much sense, Vex did start out by saying he and Scottie didn’t understand the chatter she’d heard. “So, what? The ‘splinters’ planned to kidnap her? Ask for some kind of ransom?”
“Initially, at least. Scottie said they planned to have their ‘fun’ with her first.”
“First?”
“Before they kill her.”
“So you transported her off the compound? Risky.”
“The cover is that ‘Ms. Shay’ and I have been called back to Idaho for a council meeting and took Pearl with us.”
“Where is Scottie?”
“She had to rendezvous with DHS, so I took her by the safe house to get her car. We’re meeting up at Austin-Bergstrom in about an hour.”
“If the splinters believe this Pearl is of value, how would they feel about you delivering her right into the hands of whoever they think wants her?”
“I’m hoping it stirs them up.”
“You got anybody on the inside of this group?”
“Negative, but I’m workin’ on it.”
“All right. Keep me informed.” I took another look over at the SUV.
“Who does this woman think I am?” I asked.
“I know you from the Nazi Freedom Riders.”
“Someone who didn’t come over when you did?”
“That’s right. You left gang life, but you’re someone I trust to keep her safe.”
“Does she know her life is in danger?”
“Affirmative.”
“What am I supposed to do with her?”
“For now, take her back with you to the safe house.” Vex spoke as if he was in charge of this mission rather than the other way around. However, I had asked.
“If she isn’t Fischer’s kid and the splinters believe she’s of some value to the Nation, who the hell is she?”
“Good fucking question.”
“All right. Anything else I need to know tonight?”
Vex shook his head. “Negative.”
“I’ll contact Money in the morning and make him aware of this development—see how he wants us to proceed.”
Kellen “Money” McTiernan was the current director of the CIA. McTiernan used the firm Vex and I worked for—the Invincible Intelligence and Security Group—for jobs that fell outside what he could make happen within the agency itself—like the infiltration of a national terrorist organization.
“Who is this woman’s mother?”
“Says she never knew anything about her. She’s lived on the compound as far back as she can remember.”
If that was the case, it meant her existence, at least for the most part, was entirely “off the grid.” She’d have no identification, no money, and no way to get any. The ABT would’ve provided everything—no different than any other cult.
“I gotta be on my way,” Vex said, looking at his phone. “She has some of her things with her. Oh, and her bear.”
“Her what?”
“You know, a stuffed bear.”
As in taxidermy stuffed or teddy-bear stuffed? I guess I’d find out soon enough. “Hey, Vex, how old is she?”
He shrugged. “Maybe late twenties.”
2
PEARL
I held my breath when Mr. Robinson returned to the SUV where I waited. Instead of getting in the driver’s door, he came around and opened mine.
“Come on. I’ll introduce you to Rip. He’ll take you somewhere you’ll be safe.”
He stepped aside, and I got out.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Okay?”
“Going with Rip.”
I didn’t have a choice one way or the other, did I? “Yes, sir.”
After being introduced, I was led to a vehicle that looked exactly like the one Mr. Robinson drove. I got in and hugged my stuffed teddy bear, Mojo, tight to my chest, willing myself not to cry.
No matter what happened next, it had to be better than what I imagined the ABT had planned for me after Ms. Shay told me I was in danger and needed to leave the compound.
I looked out the window when the tears I tried to hold back fell.
“Listen,” said the man in the seat beside me. He didn’t continue until I wiped my tears and turned toward him. “You’re safe. I’m not going to hurt you, nor will I allow anyone else to.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You’re welcome. I haven’t had a chance to get dinner. Are you hungry?”
“No, sir.”
“When was the last time you ate?”
“I had lunch, sir.”
“My name is Rip. You can call me that or nothing at all, but you don’t need to call me sir.”
“Yes, sir…err…Mr. Rip.”
“Just Rip.”
I nodded, but doing what he asked wouldn’t be easy for me to get used to. On the compound, the only way I was permitted to
“What do you like to eat?”
Like? I ate what was served. Even when I’d been on kitchen duty, it wasn’t up to me to decide what to prepare.
“Burgers okay?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
A few minutes later, he pulled into what I knew was a restaurant, not that I’d ever been inside one. “I can wait here,” I said when he parked.
“You need to eat, Pearl. Is it okay if I call you that?”
I was taught to respond no matter what I was called. “Of course, sir—err—Rip.”
“Would you be more comfortable if we used the drive-through?”
“I’m really not hungry.”
“You said you liked burgers, right?”
“Yes, sir, but—”
He held up his hand, started the engine, and pulled out of the parking space.
“What can I get you?” said a voice through an intercom.
“Two double cheeseburgers, two orders of fries, and two chocolate milkshakes, please.”
“You got it, sugar. Anything else?”
He looked over at me.
“No, thank you.”
“That’ll be eighteen dollars and twenty-seven cents at the window, please.”
“I…uh…don’t have any money,” I said when he drove forward.
He looked over at me and smiled. “Even if you did, I’d never let a lady pay for dinner.”
He was quiet while we waited for our food. When the woman handed him a drink holder and a bag, he passed it all to me, then pulled back into the same parking spot he was in before.
“It’ll taste a lot better hot than if we wait until we’re at the ranch to eat,” he explained, motioning to the bag. “Yours is in there,” he said after taking one burger and a container of French fries out.
He unwrapped the burger, dumped the fries next to it, and stuck a straw in the shake he’d put in one of the vehicle’s cupholders.
I did the same, took a bite after he had, and nearly groaned out loud at how good it tasted. No wonder people ate at restaurants. This wasn’t just the best burger I’d ever eaten; it was the best food.
When I took a sip of the shake, I felt my eyes roll back in my head. And the fries? I’d never had anything like them.
“Doesn’t look like you have much with you. We’ll need to get you some more clothes and other things tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir,” I said before taking another bite of food. I realized my mistake a few seconds later, but the man didn’t seem angry that I’d called him sir again.
As for getting clothes for me, he knew I didn’t have any money. There was no point in repeating myself. Maybe he intended for me to get some kind of job or do work for him on the ranch in order to pay him back.
“Misty can probably help with some of it.”
“Is she your woman?”
“No, she’s Hammer’s housekeeper. He owns the ranch where I live.”
If there was already a person who cleaned, they wouldn’t need me to do it. I was sure there were other jobs I could help with, though. I had plenty of experience working in the fields.
Driving through the gates of the ranch wasn’t a lot different than entering the compound, except there weren’t any armed guards for us to check in with.
“That’s where Hammer and his wife, Maeve, live,” said Rip, pointing to the biggest house I’d ever seen. It was all lit up and looked like something out of a fairy tale, except modern and not at all rustic like the buildings at the compound were.
“This is me,” he said, pulling up to another house that was still grand, just not on the scale of the first he’d pointed out. And it was harder to see since there weren’t any lights on.
“I haven’t been living here too regularly,” he said, shutting off the engine. “Wait there.” He got out, came around, opened my door, and held out his hand. I took it.
It felt so powerful, even more than my father’s. Everything about him seemed that way. Rather than being afraid, I felt safe. Something I hadn’t realized was missing since the night the elders woke me to tell me my dad had been killed.
Since then, most everyone on the compound had left me alone to mourn. Even though I was a grown woman, I wasn’t permitted to stay in the small cabin my dad and I had lived in before he passed. Women weren’t allowed to have quarters to themselves. They either lived with the men who had claimed them or in the women’s bunkhouse. Mr. Robinson and his wife, Ms. Shay, had taken me under their wing, though, and insisted I move in with them.
Since Mr. Robinson, a colonel from the Aryan Nation, outranked everyone else on the compound, they abided by his command. Even Major Nichols, who had been the senior elder up until the colonel arrived, followed his orders.
Tonight, though, everything in my life had turned upside down. I’d been back in my room for a couple of hours after finishing my kitchen duties when Ms. Shay knocked, then entered.
“Pearl,” she’d said. “Mr. Robinson and I have learned you’re in danger. He’s taking you off the compound tonight. Now, in fact,” she’d whispered. “Hurry and grab a few of your things. We need to leave.”
Ms. Shay led me to Mr. Robinson’s SUV, which was waiting in an area that couldn’t be seen from the compound’s main buildings. Before we got in, she hugged me. “We’re taking you somewhere you’ll be safe,” she’d said. Mr. Robinson then drove to a house in the city and dropped her off, saying he’d meet up with her later.
Now, here I was, about to enter the home of a man I didn’t know, out in a world I knew next to nothing about living in.
3
RIP
While Vex had suggested I take Pearl to the safe house where I’d been spending the majority of my time, I didn’t agree. More importantly, I didn’t answer to him. I was the lead on this mission. He was undercover and followed my orders.
Tomorrow morning, I’d check in with Money, brief him about her being with me, and see if he had different thoughts than mine about how best to handle this.
The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas wasn’t just a cult. It was a prison gang made up of some of the nastiest fuckers to walk the planet.
Vex said the story they’d come up with was that Pearl would be accompanying Scottie and him to Idaho. He’d need to come up with another to explain why she didn’t return to the compound when he did.
There would likely still be suspicions, but it was doubtful the splinter group would have reason to start looking for her right away.
Regardless, keeping her here on the ranch was the safest option. I’d need to make Hammer aware of her presence as soon as I could, meaning tonight. I also needed to alert Fury.
While she and I were nothing more than a booty call for each other, I’d been out of touch far more often than not in the past few months. If, by chance, she arrived here for a meeting with her boss—Hammer—and happened to notice I was home, she just might decide she had an itch I needed to scratch.
On the other hand, she’d made it clear she and I were not exclusive and she’d put up with no “typical cowboy bullshit” from me. Her exact words. Maybe since I’d been gone so much, she’d already found someone else to mess up sheets with.
“I’ll show you how to use the alarm, and we’ll program your code in the morning,” I said as I punched in my own. There were other security protocols we followed on the ranch, but there was no point in getting into those tonight, either.
The house felt warmer than I’d expected it to, which likely meant Misty had already been here and turned up the heat. I punched a code on my phone that turned several lights on throughout the place.
Pearl gasped. “How did you do that?”
