that thing in Sardinia, and Jacobs is still in Croatia. Sumner called in from Pakistan, things aren’t going well over there.”
“Really?” Syd perked up. “I love Pakistan this time of year.”
“It’s January, no one loves Pakistan now. Besides, I thought we agreed you were on desk duty for a while.”
“It’s been a while. If I stay much longer, I’ll lose my mind. Look, I’m even starting to get fat.” Syd pinched a fold of cashmere sweater over her taut stomach.
Jake grinned. “You could use a little flesh on those bones.”
She tossed a paper clip at him. “Go to hell, partner.”
Jake’s phone buzzed, interrupting his retort. He pushed the speaker button. “Riley.”
“Your brother is here to see you.”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “Which one?”
“Oh, I didn’t know you had more than one.” His new secretary sounded flustered. “I’ll ask.”
“No, that’s okay. Send him in.”
Syd let out a low whistle. “One of the infamous Riley brothers, huh? This is exciting.”
Jake didn’t answer. His younger brother opened the door, a wrinkled overcoat draped over his arm. He was a younger, heavier version of Jake: same salt-and-pepper hair, same blue eyes. His face was flaming red, either from the cold or nerves. Jake walked around his desk to greet him. “Chris!” He embraced him. “What are you doing in town?”
“I, uh…” Jake followed his eyes and sighed. Syd tended to have that effect on men.
“Syd Clement.” She dropped her feet to the floor and extended a hand in one fluid motion. “I bet you’ve got some good Jake stories for me.”
“I guess.” Chris looked completely bewildered.
“Let me take that.” Jake peeled the jacket off his brother’s arm and hung it on the back of the door. “Have a seat.”
Chris nervously perched on the chair beside Syd, sticking to the edge farthest away from her. As Jake sat back down, he took inventory. He’d missed the family Christmas celebration since Kelly wasn’t up for it, so it had been over a year since he and his brother had seen each other. About that long since they’d spoken, too. Chris was an accountant, married his high school sweetheart, still lived in the town they grew up in. Other than their blood, they had nothing in common.
“So, Chris. What brings you to New York?” Syd asked, breaking the silence.
“Well, it’s kind of…private.”
“Really?” Syd arched an eyebrow and leaned forward in her chair. Chris shied away. “The plot thickens. I can’t wait to hear it.”
“Syd, take a hike,” Jake said. “We’ll finish up later.”
“I always miss the good stuff,” Syd huffed dramatically. She slipped on her heels one at a time, then pointed at Jake. “Remember, one more week and I’m on a plane to the Ukraine. You promised.”
“Bye, Syd.”
“Lovely meeting you, Chris.” She winked at him, then turned and left the room.
“So that’s your, uh…”
“Partner.”
“Right.” Chris looked around the office appreciatively, taking in the floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of Central Park, plush carpeting, oil paintings on the walls. Jake could almost see the calculator in his head tallying it up. “Looks like you’re doing okay.”
“It’s been going well. Better than I hoped, actually. How about you? Susie and the kids okay?”
“Oh, they’re good.” Chris examined his hands, chapped and ruddy from the weather. “Sure is cold here this time of year.”
“Sure is.” Jake fought the urge to grit his teeth. Chris always took forever to get to the point. He’d start with the weather, then move on to something equally innocuous, like sports. “So what’s this private thing?”
He hoped Chris wasn’t going to announce that he’d left his family and needed a place to stay. He had one of the most stable marriages Jake had ever seen, and besides, Kelly wasn’t really prepared to handle company yet.
“It’s Mark.”
Jake went cold. His older brother had joined the military straight out of high school. He was a lifer, ended up a Navy SEAL. And with wars going on in multiple countries, this wasn’t the best time to be an enlisted man. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure.” Chris plucked at the pleats in his corduroy pants.
Jake’s heart clenched. “Did you get notification?”
Chris shook his head. “Oh, no, nothing like that. He’s out of the service, anyway.”
Relief swept over Jake. He’d been braced to hear that Mark had been killed by a suicide bomber or an IED. “When did he get discharged?”
“About six months ago. He’s been working for this company.”
Jake couldn’t picture his rugged older brother in a suit and tie. “What company?”
“I have it here.” Chris dug around in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.
Jake had to squint to read it. “A tire company?”
“No, it’s Tyr Global.”
“You’re kidding,” Jake said. Tyr Global was the world leader in K&R work. They’d been in business for almost four decades, and pretty much wrote the book on hostage negotiation. “Doing what?”
“He didn’t say. But he showed up at our door a week ago, told me he was going out on an operation. If I didn’t hear back from him by the twenty-seventh, something went wrong. That was two days ago, Jake.” Worry furrowed his brow. “So I figured I’d better come see you. I didn’t know what else to do.”
Jake leaned back in his chair, frowning. “So he left the service and went to work for one of my competitors. Typical.”
Chris shrugged. “Probably reckoned you were still ticked off at him.”
“He would have reckoned right.”
“Would you have hired him?”
Jake’s face flushed. “I don’t know. Probably not.”
“Well, there you go, then.”
“So what do you expect me from me?”
Chris leaned forward in his chair and jabbed the desk with his index finger. “He’s our brother, Jake. And this is what your company does, right? You go in and save people.”
