Ryker quickly got Talia into the limo and asked the driver to get out of there fast, looking behind them as they drove away. "Ryker, you're scaring me. Who was that following us?" She asked as she held onto him.

He sighed.. still looking back behind them making sure that they weren't being followed "I believe it was your ex Dante. I remembered seeing that face in your pictures that you had up."

"Dante?"

"I'm positive it was him, at first I was going to let it go being that it was him until he flashed me his piece." He said turning around to look at her.

"Piece? What piece?"

"His gun." He said running his fingers through his hair. He then rubbed his face hard as he was picturing the piece that Dante had flashed.

"I didn't even know he owned a gun, in the three years that we were together I never saw one, or heard of him having one."

Talia then got quiet the rest of the way home, she couldn't figure out why Dante would have been there and to show Ryker that he had a gun really had her confused. He was the one who broke it off with her and was the one out cheating on her their entire relationship. After they got home Ryker made sure that the house was all locked up and hoped that they weren't followed home.

Talia was unzipping her dress when Ryker had walked into the bedroom, he walked up to her and helped remove her dress. "Has he been in contact with you recently?"

"No.." She whispered. She was bummed that her night started out great, she was finally enjoying herself and enjoying being treated right for once, then the night to be ruined because of her ex trying to scare them.

While he removed her dress she then remembered how she and Andrea ran into him recently. "Wait.. Andrea and I had gone out while you were out of town, we were dancing when he came up to me, begging for me to take him back and apologizing for letting me go."

"Why didn't you say anything to me?" He asked as he took her dress and laid it over the chair in his room.

"I didn't think it mattered. I slapped him across the face when he tried to kiss me, I told him that we were finished and to never try that again. Andrea later snapped at him telling him that I was with someone new and that you were a hundred times better than him, I just figured that he got the hint and would have left me alone."

"Well, he obviously didn't get the hint. The question is was he there just to be there, or was he there following us?"

As Talia laid in his arms sleeping he couldn't sleep and stared up at the ceiling thinking, he knew Dante from somewhere but from where he thought.

The next day Ryker got up early and went over to Talia's apartment looking for the pictures of Dante and any other clues she might have without even knowing that she may be holding some key evidence.

He found the photos of Dante and an album that she had hidden in her closet. He then went to see Hannah, even though it was one night that she shared with him he remembered the bartender saying that he came to the party with some other people that night.

She looked through the photos and the album Ryker handed her, she was quiet as she studied each picture "I don't know who she is" she says pointing to Talia "But this guy, this guy right here.... he was at the party that night." She says holding up Dante's picture.

"Dante." Ryker said taking the photo from her hand. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Christopher came along with him, along with this guy right here."

Ryker took the album and looked at the pictures, she sat up and pointed to the guy she was referring to. He looked closer but didn't recognize him. He had a full beard and hat on. "What's his name, or don't you remember?"

"I'm not sure. But he was definitely there."

"Thank you." He said standing up, taking the loose pictures and placing them inside the album "I was told that you are being released tomorrow, I have arraigned for Marcus to pick you up and take you to a safe house for the time being."

"Safe house? Why?"

"Because I believe they will be back for you, I'm sure they got word that you're still alive and I want to make sure that you remain safe until I find them and your daughter."

He left to go back home, he was curious as to who this guy was with Dante. He wasn't sure how to explain to Talia that Dante and Topher as she knows him were connected. When he got home she was still in bed asleep, so he grabbed his laptop and started to work. He was beginning to believe that Topher was in town, got a hold of Dante and followed them to the Jazz.

So that means he knows where she's staying he mumbled. He called some friends of his in the police force and got it set up for them to patrol the area around his home and to report back to him if they noticed anything fishy.

Talia came in and sat down on Ryker's lap, she noticed the album sitting next to his laptop and pulled it closer to her. "Where did you find this?" She asked as she opened the album and saw the loose pictures inside.

"I went to your apartment this morning looking for some clues, clues that you may not know that you have. All I could find was this album and the other pictures."

"You went over to my apartment? What clues would I have? Am I under investigation?"

He had to laugh, he curled his finger under her chin and turned her face to look at him "No, you're not under investigation silly." Pinching the bottom of her chin he pulled her to his lips giving her a kiss. "But there is something else that I found out today." He says as he pulled away from her.

Her heart sank, she was worried that he had gotten word about her sister. He flipped through the album to get to the page that Hannah pointed out. "Who is this guy?" He asked pointing to the bearded guy.

She looked at it and looked closer "I remember having this picture taken, but it was the only time that I met him. He was in town from San Diego or somewhere near there, Dante claimed that it was his cousin."

"You don't remember his name?"

"No." She says looking at it again. "Why? Why do you have this anyway?"

"I was acting on a hunch, I laid in bed all night thinking, trying to put the puzzle together. I wanted to see if Hannah could remember more, I was curious about Dante. When she looked through the album she didn't know who you were, but she picked out Dante and this guy." He says with a sigh.

"Dante? How could she know him?"

His arms slid around her waist, and held her tighter, resting his forehead on her back. "I'm putting the pieces together and as much as I hate to say it, Dante and Christopher know each other and I believe that they are working together right now..." He stopped talking to think again.

"Ryker... Are you thinking that Dante was using me?"

"I'm leading towards that thought, and that they have been watching your family for years. You did say that your dad was in control of drug seizures right?"

"Yes, and the biggest one that he seized was right before my dad retired.... oh my god." She said loudly with her hands to her mouth.

"What?"

"I remember something... Dante and I were out to dinner one night and his phone rang, he left the table to answer the call.. when he came back he looked upset, and insisted that we leave immediately. He drove like a maniac to drop me off at my place, not saying a word the entire time. When he came back later he was throwing things around, yelling, swearing and punching the walls. When I asked him again what was wrong he just said that he had been robbed, that his family had been robbed, and that the thief was out there getting away with murder."

"That doesn't sound bad to where he would get like that."

"That's what I said, he lived with me so I had no clue what he was talking about. Nobody broke in and nothing was missing. When I questioned him again about it, he snapped scaring the crap out of me. I never questioned it again, that was the first time I had ever see him get that way. The only thing I could think of was that it had to do with his job, since he said it was something that he worked very hard at. Not long after that, that's when Andrea saw him with another woman."

"So basically he got the word that the drugs were seized and that your father was the one that was in charge of it. He knew what your dad was doing and was basically with you to try and stop it.. I'm sorry to say that he was never with you because he loved you. You were the one giving him the answers that he needed to get his drug shipments to their destinations and to stop from being seized. Somehow your dad was able to stop his biggest one yet and didn't see it coming."

"I think I'm going to throw up." She said as she stood up in shock the more she thought about everything more.

"The question again is who is this guy?" Ryker asked pointing to the other guy again. He just happend to have a finger over the beard and looked again as he saw the top part of the face. "Wow, look now."

She bent down and looked at the picture "Javier... what the fuck?" She closed the album up, feeling more sick to her stomach. "So Dante sent Javier into my work to spy on me, he started coming in after Andrea and I ran into Dante."

"They're all connected." Ryker said slowly in a deep voice.

Talia was in shock, here the man that she was in love with or thought that she was, was part of a drug cartel that she had absolutely no idea about. "Now what?" She asked scared.

"I called to have the area around my home to be patrolled, I believe Dante has been watching you and knows that you're staying here. How else would he have known where we were last night?"

"So you're in danger also." She sighed "All because of me."

"I'll be fine. Trust me."

Ryker tried talking Talia into quitting her job, claiming that he would be able to take care of her. When she refused to do that, he then was able to talk her into taking time off, just until he could find the three men and put them behind bars.

He knew once he figured out where Christopher was he would most likely find that little girl, why he wanted to take her was beyond him. For someone that wanted nothing to do with her and then to take her was a mystery to him.

For the next few days Ryker searched for more information on Dante, Javier and Christopher. He then discovered that they were all blood related, Talia was right Dante and Javier were cousins, and Christopher was Javier's brother.

He then searched the Google maps and looked around Tampico and surrounding areas for bigger homes, homes that someone from a drug cartel would own. There was one that caught his eye, the land surrounding it, how gated and secure it was all around the home had him wondering if that's where Christopher was hiding Victoria.

He needed a plan, he needed to gather enough men to take a trip down to Tampico Mexico, as well as to somehow keep Talia safe while he was away. With Dante and Javier in the area he knew she wouldn't be safe with him not around.

How am I going to go to Mexico and keep Talia safe both at the same time? He thought to himself...

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!! Ryker is figuring things out! Will things go wrong if he goes to Mexico without Talia?🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Don't forget to comment and vote❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤