Free Stryker by Jordan Silver Page A

Halfway home the phone rang.
    “Stryker.”
    “Mr. Stryker this is Drake your wife’s security I think you
better get down here to her store.” My heart dropped in my chest, he didn’t
have to say any more for me to know that something was wrong.
    “What’s going on?” I made an illegal U turn and headed back
in the direction I’d come.
    “There was a fire…”
    “Where’s my wife?”
    “She’s here she’s fine.”
    “What kind of fire... what happened?”
    “The firemen are here right now dealing with it, it doesn’t
look to be too bad. Seems they caught it in time, but your wife was inside when
it happened.”
    “Was she hurt? Put her on the phone.”
    “Gabe…”
    “Sweetie are you alright?”
    “Yes I’m fine but the store…”
    “Forget about the store just stay with Drake until I get there.”
I’m going to have that inspector’s head on a fucking platter. He promised me
that everything was in working order, how could this have happened? I broke
every speed limit getting there, my heart in my throat. To think just a few
short weeks ago I was so mad at her I could kill her, now the idea of something
happening to her made me physically ill.
    The place was a madhouse with fire trucks, police cars and spectators but I didn’t care about that, I only
wanted to find my wife. She found me as I was searching through the crowd and
ran into my arms.
    “It’s okay sweetie I’m here.”
    “I’m so sorry Gabe.”
    “What are you talking about? You have nothing to be sorry
for.”
    “But the store…”
    “What did I tell you? I don’t care about that. Now you sure
you’re okay, you didn’t inhale any smoke?” My only thought now was for her and
the child I was sure she carried.
    “No, I wasn’t in there that long after it started. This guy
came in and got me before I even knew what was going on.”
    “That would be Drake your security.”
    “Security, why do I need security?”
    “Because you’re my wife and it’s not up for debate.”
    “Okay Gabriel.” I wonder if she realized she only called me
that when I was being forceful with her, every other time it was Gabe.
    “Come on looks like they’re looking for us.” Drake was
pointing us out to the fire chief.
    “Good evening sir. I’m Gabriel Stryker and this is my wife
Nadia. We own this store.”
    “Well, we were able to save the building and your stuff
inside wasn’t touched, though there might be some smoke damage. The fire was
started at the back door and thankfully the accelerant wasn’t very strong or
you could’ve had a very different outcome.”
    “I’m sorry did you say the fire was started?”
    “Yes I’m afraid so do you know of anyone who would want to
do this? I’m sure the cops are gonna want to talk to you about that.”
    I drew her closer as her body started to shake. My anger
was a fire burning in my chest but that was for later, right now I had to get
her out of here.
    “I can’t deal with this right now I need to get my wife out
of here she’s tired and shaken up.”
    By then the cops had approached with questions of their
own.
    “Sir, we’re going to need you to come down to the station
at some point to answer some questions. I’m sure the chief has told you what
they found?”
    “Yes he did but like I told him I need to get my wife home,
I’ll be down tomorrow to talk to you guys.” He gave me a card, which I studied
before pocketing it. Yes, I had a good idea who’d done it, I just had to make
very certain.
    “Couldn’t we go in Gabe and assess the damage?”
    “Not now sweetheart, I think you need to be getting home. We’ll
see about it tomorrow.”
    “Okay if you’re sure.”
    “So are we clear? I’ll see you guys tomorrow?”
    “Sure, Mr. Stryker, let’s say ten tomorrow, they’re still
processing the scene. You might want to get in touch with your insurance
company as well.”
    “Yes, I’ll have someone look into it.”
    I walked away after a discreet nod to Drake which