Ryan Lock 04.5: Lock & Load (7 page)
He began to sob. His face crumpled on itself, his bottom lip jutting outwards as tears welled in his eyes. Lock hoped that Ty was getting a good close up.
"Please, I'm begging you," said Jason. "I'll do anything you want me to. You name it. Just let me go."
"Anything?" Lock asked.
"Anything," sobbed the actor, fear completely overwhelming him as his body gave up all control and the smell of human faeces hit Lock's nostrils with a blast of warm air.
Nineteen
Two Days Later
WITH TY DRIVING
and Lock riding shotgun, the black Range Rover powered through Marina Del Rey. Summer sat in back with her manager. He handed her a sheaf of papers and a Mont Blanc fountain pen. She signed them with a flourish that signaled obvious relief.
"Okay, we're done," said Bernstein.
The papers were joint non disclosure agreements between her and Jason. Lock had brokered the
detente
. In return for Jason destroying the intimate footage of Summer, Lock did the same with the footage that he had showing the Hollywood tough guy breaking down to the point where he had soiled himself. The word blackmail had been bandied about at some length to no great effect. As far as Lock was concerned, Jason had started it and he had finished it. No one wanted to see this mess in court, no matter how much noise they made.
Of course none of that was mentioned in the legal documents. The wording was more general and related to an agreement between the two stars that they would not, under any circumstances, discuss their relationship or indeed release any material that related to their time together, either directly or via a third party. That also covered the pictures of Summer's injuries. As far as Lock was concerned, Jason had got a damn good deal.
Summer's manager, Bernstein, looked up from the paperwork. "I don't know how you got him to agree to this, Mr. Lock, but thank you."
Lock shrugged. "Sometimes all people need is a little perspective. It's a long way to the top but you can get back down pretty quick. I think Mr. Durham realized that."
Ty choked back a laugh, covering it by coughing into his hand. "Sorry, must be this air conditioning."
Next to Bernstein, Summer looked like a young woman with the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders. She was flying out to join the cast of her new movie. She could move on with her life. Apart from whoever did Jason's laundry, everyone was pretty much a winner.
"I hope you and your fiancee enjoy Malibu," Summer said to Lock.
"Thanks. We're looking forward to it," said Lock.
"You're an adorable couple," she added.
Lock smiled to himself. "I know. I'm a lucky man."
THE END
About the Author
To research the Ryan Lock series of thrillers, Sean Black has trained as a bodyguard with former members of the Royal Military Police’s specialist close protection unit, spent time inside America’s most dangerous maximum security prison, Pelican Bay Supermax in California, and undergone desert survival training in Arizona. A graduate of Columbia University in New York, he also holds a degree in Politics and Economics from Oxford University, England. The Ryan Lock books have been translated into Dutch, German and Russian, with a Spanish translation of the latest book in the series,
The Devil's Bounty
, scheduled for 2013, from the translator of
The Kite Runner
.
For more information on Sean Black and his books, see his website at
www.seanblackbooks.com
Also available for Kindle in the United States
LOCKDOWN: THE FIRST RYAN LOCK NOVEL
DEADLOCK: THE SECOND RYAN LOCK NOVEL
GRIDLOCK: THE THIRD RYAN LOCK NOVEL
THE DEVIL'S BOUNTY: THE FOURTH RYAN LOCK NOVEL
And in the United Kingdom from Bantam/Transworld
Copyright
Lock & Load is copyright © Sean Black 2012
Sean Black has asserted his right under under the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Edited by Rebecca Cantrell.
Cover design by Joie Simmons.