Ryanne Theis is the daughter of the largest drug ring on the west coast. Things are kept within the family. Aunts, uncles, or cousins are given sectors to run as they please. Ryanne's father isn't picky. As long as the numbers check out there's no reason for Ryanne to go in and clean up the mess. Ryanne was who is called when something goes wrong in a sector. She's almost as good with numbers as she is with a gun.
There hadn't been any problems that the sectors themselves couldn't deal with, but when her uncle died and one of her cousins became the new face of the operation in White Pine Bay Ryanne felt the need to keep a close eye on things there. And with fires starting and people from Nick Ford's family turning up dead Ryanne knew it was time to intervene.
"Tucker, I need to go in." Ryanne said to the man outside her father's door.
"Wayne is in on the phone right now."
"Come on, Tucker. I'm his daughter."
"I'm sorry, Ryanne."
"I technically don't have to ask you. I'm just doing it to be nice. Please, step out of the way."
Tucker sighed and stepped aside allowing Ryanne into the room.
Inside sat Wayne at his desk writing down some notes from the conversation he had just finished with one of his Southern California sections. If you looked at Ryanne and Wayne side by side, you could see the resemblance. She had his dark brown eyes and freckled nose and cheeks, but she had her mother's long dark curly hair and thin but curvy body.
"Dad, we need to talk."
"Well, looks like I need to show Tucker who the real boss is around here. Good thing I just finished my phone call." Wayne said as she walked in not looking at her.
"This is important. Jodi assigned Zane to take over for Gil. You know there was a reason I told you not to give him a sector. Zane is irrational."
"Well, give him a chance. Maybe the authority will do him some good." Wayne said without looking at his daughter.
Ryanne slammed the newspapers down on his desk catching his attention. There was one newspaper with the front page of the sheriff's house on fire and another with the headline of two dead. The names of the deceased people matching those of the names of Nick Ford's people.
"He's already gone crazy."
"Well, we can't let Zane ruin the working relationship we have with Mr. Ford, nor with Sheriff Romero." Wayne said calmly looking over the newspapers. "Take care of it. Figure out how high the problem goes and take care of it."
Ryanne nodded and walked out. She was on the next flight to Oregon.
A few hours later she was pulling up to her cousin's house. Men were standing outside with guns looking at her.
"Ryanne." Jodi said walking out her front door.
"Your boys better watch who they're pointing their guns at. You never know when you're about to make the worst mistake of your life." Ryanne said looking at them.
"Yeah you guys wouldn't like to shoot the boss's daughter, and my cousin." Jodi said with a smile.
"We need to talk."
"Always to the point. Come on in."
Jodi led the way to her office and opened the door.
"Can I offer you anything to drink?" Jodi asked.
"Maybe later. We need to talk about your horrible business decision."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about your decision to put your brother in charge of White Pine Bay. There's a reason Wayne didn't give him his own section."
"He's not causing any trouble."
"He killed two of Nick Ford's people. Ford is threatening a war and your brother is the one that started it. People are going to die, your sector is going to fail, and you will be out of a job."
"What are you saying?"
"Either you take care of it or I will."
"I can try."
"You will and I'll stick around here for a little while to make sure you do. You still have that spare room upstairs, don't you?"
"Yeah." Jodi said just standing there as Ryanne walked away.
Ryanne went up to the room and pulled the holster and gun off her back and put it in the dresser drawer. Ryanne reached into her boot and pulled out her knife a little making sure it was still there and then went back downstairs.
"Why don't you come out and feed the animals with me?"
"You and your animals." Ryanne said with a smile.
"Yeah, it's something we both used to love back when we acted more like cousins and less like business partners."
"Fine." Ryanne said with a dramatic sigh that was obviously meant as a joke.
They walked out to the barn and Jodi handed her a bucket. A car pulled up and Jodi's dogs started barking. Jodi walked over to the door and smiled saying 'Hey'.
"We need to talk." Was said by a man that Ryanne assumed had come from the car.
Ryanne came out behind Jodi and looked at the man. She walked out and was looking into blue eyes that were accompanied with dirty blonde hair and tan skin. He was rather attractive in his jeans, tee shirt, and leather jacket. Definitely the bad boy vibe that Ryanne was normally attracted to.
"Don't worry about her. That's the big boss's daughter. She probably knows more than I do." Jodi told him after he had eyed Ryanne suspiciously. "Ryanne, this is Dylan. He's kinda in charge of the operations down at White Pine Bay when Zane isn't there. Saved his life too."
"Not bad for someone that's, what,.. twenty?" Ryanne guessed.
"Twenty-three." Dylan corrected.
"Not bad."
"So, what's going on?" Jodi asked him.
"Where's Zane hiding?" Dylan asked.
"Hiding?" Ryanne asked. This was a new development that Jodi had left out. She knew he was causing trouble and tried to play dumb with her.
"Yeah, Sheriff Romero threatened him."
"Well, he did burn down his house." Ryanne sighed and looked at Dylan so he could continue but he didn't. "There's more isn't there?"
"Zane wants to convince Ford to sell his business and will keep killing until he does." Jodi said looking at her.
"And you decided to leave this out until it was brought up by someone else?" Ryanne asked raising her voice.
"Can this wait?" Jodi asked impatiently.
"This is not done." Ryanne said and turned her attention back to Dylan.
"Why do you need Zane?" Jodi asked.
"You know why. You told me to take care of it so I'm taking care of it." Dylan said and Jodi looked down at the ground.
"You're gonna kill him." Ryanne said in a low voice.
"If I know where he is." Dylan nodded.
"Jodi, you need to tell him. We need to take care of this."
Jodi didn't say anything.
"You need to make up your mind on what you want." Dylan said and walked away.
"Jodi?" Ryanne asked as Jodi tried to get back to work on her animals.
"This isn't that easy for me. He's my brother."
"Your brother is going to get half of this town killed."
"But he's still my brother. Not all of us are like you."
"I think about what's best for my family. And right now, that is killing your brother."
"If he's locked away in a house somewhere he can't do any damage." Jodi tried to reason.
"Nick Ford will not stop until your brother is six feet under. I'm only talking to you because this is your region and you know the people. Understand that I do not need your permission to kill your brother." Ryanne said and walked away.
Ryanne went inside and upstairs to call her father.
"Ryanne, baby. How's the trip?" Wayne asked.
"Things are worse than we thought. Zane didn't just kill two people and torch the sheriff's house. He has started a war with Nick Ford. He wants to force Nick to sell his company to us and he will not stop killing until he sells."
"That's a problem." Wayne said seriously.
"Jodi told one of her employees to do what he needs to do and then she put Zane into hiding. She doesn't want to kill her brother."
"Not everyone is capable of it."
"He is going to get us all killed."
"Not all of us. Just White Pine Bay. Get back on the plane and come back home. You'll be safer here."
"White Pine Bay is one of our largest producers. We can't just let Nick kill Jodi and take it from us."
"No, we'll end up negotiating with Nick from here after he has taken care of your cousins."
"Dad, this is serious."
"Obviously, you called me 'Dad'."
"I'm not leaving here. You gave me a job. And you know me. I'm a bulldog. Don't let go until it's finished."
"Okay, I finish up your work then we'll discuss a plan of action from there."
"Thank you."
"Love you, darling." Wayne said.
"Love you too." Ryanne said and hung up.
"I told Dylan where Zane is." Jodi said from the bedroom doorway.
"This is for the best." Ryanne reassured.
"In my head, I know you're right. But my heart can't just shut it off."
"It will fade." Ryanne reassured and walked over hugging her cousin.
"You haven't hugged me in years."
"That's because events like these only happen every so often and require hugs."
The next day Ryanne was up early and dressed in her white tee-shirt, light faded jeans, combat boots, and leather jacket making her way to the sheriff's office.
"Can I help you?" The receptionist asked.
"I'm just looking for Sheriff Romero." Ryanne said with a smile.
"He's in his office."
"Thank you." Ryanne said and walked on back.
She knocked on the cracked door and pushed it open.
"Knock, knock." Ryanne said with a smile.
"I thought I felt a chill roll through White Pine Bay." Alex said looking up at Ryanne.
"Now is that anyway to talk to an old friend?" Ryanne said closing the door and sitting down in a chair across from him.
"Friend, no. Business partner, yes."
"We used to be friends."
"We used to be a lot of things."
"Those were fun days." Ryanne smile.
"Are you here because of Zane?"
"My ignorant cousin who doesn't know how to handle business? Yes."
"What do you want from me?"
"I was hoping to catch up a little before we got to business but I guess not. Have you seen Zane?"
"Not since I threatened him for burning down my house."
"Yeah, I wish you would have done my job for me right then and there. Would have save me the trip."
"You know I can't."
"I know. Wishful thinking though."
"So, if you haven't seen him then I guess I'll be on my way." Ryanne said and stood up.
"Sorry I couldn't be more help."
"It's fine. However, I have one more thing." Ryanne said reaching into her back pocket and pulling out an envelope full of money.
"What's this?" Alex asked.
"Call it the natural disaster fund." Ryanne said and walked out.
Ryanne's phone began to ring and she looked down seeing the unknown number.
"Hello?" Ryanne said answering her phone.
"It's Dylan. I need your help." Dylan said.
"Meet me at the cannery." Ryanne said and hung up.
Ryanne walked up the dock and saw Remo sitting on a chair drinking a beer.
"Remo, did you give that poor boy my personal number." Ryanne said walking up.
"He was persistent once he knew I had it."
"Well, you've known me since I was five so I figured that made you family. But handing it out to a horny twenty-three-year-old.
"He's a good kid."
"Where can I find him?"
"Your uncle's old office."
"Thanks. We'll catch up before I leave." Ryanne said and walked inside.
"Hey." Ryanne said walking in.
"Hey. I really need your help. I can't go to Jodi about this, but you seem to be more objective." Dylan said.
"Okay?"
"Nick Ford asked me to kill Zane for him, and in return he'll release my brother."
"He has your brother?"
"Yeah. I went to where Zane is hiding last night and he had a bunch of guys there watching his back. I could have killed Zane and had been dead a second later."
"I'm not surprised. Zane has started a war and he won't go anywhere without his own army with the price head on his head." Ryanne said.
"I'm going to meet Nick, but there's no way I'm going to his house by myself."
"I'll go with you." Ryanne nodded.
"That was easy."
"The great thing about my position. No one will kill me. Nick may be the competitior but the last thing he wants to do is kill me. Because I am worth starting a war over."
"Ain't that the truth." Dylan said quietly as he looked her over.
"Let's get going before I punch you for that comment." Ryanne said turning and walking out through the cannery.
"Not shoot me?" Dylan smiled following her.
"You're too cute to waste a bullet on." Ryanne said waking ahead of him so he couldn't see the smile on her face.
They pulled up outside of Nick's house and Ryanne stopped Dylan from getting out of the car.
"Hold on." Ryanne said and pulled the knife with its holster out of her boot and shoving it up her shirt the rest in her bra wire in the middle of her chest.
Dylan was staring at her with a questioning look as she looked at her chest in the mirror to make sure that the knife was well hidden.
"What? Just because killing me would be the dumbest mistake of his life doesn't mean I'm going in with nothing." Ryanne justified and shook out her hair a little before getting out.
They walked through the front doors and were frisked over. They were good about checking your normal spots, but they missed the knife in her bra and let them go back to Nick's office. The large barn doors were closed behind them as they stood in front of Nick's desk.
"Zane must really be a problem if your father sent you out here, Annie." Nick said leaning back in his chair.
"Well, no one wants a war. And my cousin hasn't always been much of the management type. At least not the type us Theis's want."
"Thank you for coming down. How are you, Dylan?" Nick asked.
"I've had better days." Dylan said honestly.
"I don't doubt that. None of us wanted it to come to this. Annie's presence here in town is an obvious indicator of that. Zane Morgan did all of this. So, do you have any news for me?"
"I know where you can find Zane."
"His body?"
"Zane is still alive." Ryanne said.
Nick stood up looking between the two younger adults before him.
"I thought I made myself perfectly clear that I wanted you to kill him." Nick said to Dylan.
"You practically put a bounty on him. Jodi had to hid him away somewhere and Zane took his army with him. Everything here is about self-preservation and family. You want to preserve your business. We want to preserve ours. And Dylan wants his family. If he had killed Zane and died you would've never found him anyways." Ryanne defended Dylan's choice.
"Where is he?" Nick asked.
"He's up Cedar Canyon at the end. There's a dirt road on the left and he's at the end of that." Dylan explained.
Ryanne wanted to slap him for being so dumb. You don't tell them the location so that they don't need you. You keep the leverage to keep you alive.
"And you're positive he's there?"
"I took him groceries last night."
At this point Ryanne was mentally banging her head against a wall with how horribly this kid was negotiating for his brother's life.
"What are your thoughts on taking care of this?" Nick asked.
"You're gonna need guys. Zane isn't going down without a fight."
"What I'm hearing is that you're no longer of any use to me?"
"We'll be in the firefight if you'll allow us but Jodi will not authorize any men for me, nor do I trust any of them to not be Zane's side while he's still alive, and it would take me longer than Dylan has explained we have for me to get my men from San Diego." Ryanne said trying to smooth over what Dylan had done.
"I'm very sorry to hear that." Nick said pulling out his gun. "Let's go."
"Where?" Dylan asked.
"Outside. I don't want to get anything all over the carpets." Nick said and Dylan turned around grabbing the arm with the gun and slamming the heel of his hand into Nick's face. Nick got a hold of Dylan and kneed him in the face sending him to the ground. Ryanne grabbed the knife out of her bra and walked up behind Nick slicing his throat.
"That could have gone better." Ryanne said and grabbed Nick's gun that was discarded on the ground.
"No, no, no. How am I gonna get my brother back?" Dylan asked looking at Nick's dead body.
"We'll worry about that when we're far away from here. Come on." Ryanne pulled on Dylan's arm and they ran out the backdoors of Nick's office.
They ran out and dodged Nick's men making it off the property and running through the back woods to make it to the road.
"Come on." Ryanne said to Dylan as the road came into view.
She heard a car and looked over to see Alex in his sheriff's car driving up. He passed by the two younger adults as they reached the road and slammed on his breaks then backed up.
"Miss Theis, what are you doing?" Alex asked.
"Nick Ford tried to kill me." Ryanne said and that's all Alex needed.
"He has Norman, but I don't know where." Dylan said evenly.
"Get in the car." Alex said and Ryanne ran around to the front seat while Dylan got in the back.
Alex pulled up at Nick's house and Ryanne looked at him.
"Stay in the car." Alex said getting out.
"You know you need me if you're going in there." Ryanne protested getting out of the car after him.
"This isn't up for discussion Ryanne."
"I know, Alex. Because I'm right and you know it." Ryanne said pulling out Nick's gin and heading for the door.
"Stay here." Ryanne said to Dylan and he nodded.
Alex went through the front door and Ryanne stood behind him watching his back. They slowly made their way back to Nick's office and saw that the door had been opened and as far as they could tell Nick's men were gone. Alex looked into the office and saw Nick then looked back at Ryanne. There was no sympathy in her eyes, but he knew there wouldn't be. After all the things Ryanne had seen and done. After that day, he would be surprised if he ever saw any real emotion in her eyes.
There was a door slam upstairs and Ryanne and Alex looked up. Ryanne jerked her head in the direction of the foyer and they went back to go upstairs.
"No respect in this business is there?" Alex asked walking into another office and seeing one of Nick's men behind his desk.
Ryanne looked down at the bag full of money and jewelry while Alex grabbed the man's gun.
"You're Nick's security, right?" Ryanne asked.
The man nodded.
"And you are?" She asked feeling like she didn't need to ask.
"Ben." He said not taking his eyes off of her.
"Hello, Ben." Ryanne gave an evil smile that Alex had seen before.
"Ryanne, go downstairs." Alex said and her smile fell.
"Alex, -"
"I'm not gonna say it again." Alex said sternly and Ryanne lowered her gun and went outside with Dylan.
"What happened?" Dylan asked seeing the obvious frown on her face.
"Alex." Ryanne said sharply putting the gun under her jacket in her lower back. "I need to call my father."
Ryanne pulled out her phone and his her fahter's number.
"Ryanne, have you finished your business down there?" Wayne asked.
"Nick Ford is dead, Wayne." Ryanne said calmly.
"How did this happen?"
"He tried to kill me."
"That was his first mistake. Well, what do you think we should do?"
"Move in quickly and absorb his assets. Expand the White Pine Bay operation and be the sole suppliers up here."
"My most trusted employee is already up there. I'll send a few reinforcements to help round up Nick's old associates and try to get them to flip. We need to do this quickly before one of his men tries to make the mistake of taking on his business."
"Yes, sir."
"Call me if your original assignment progresses at all."
"Of course." Ryanne said and Wayne hung up.
"You call your father by his first name?" Dylan asked.
"He's more of my business partner than my father."
"Just the man that provided the seed?"
"No, he raised me after my mother left. Taught me everything I know. But in our business, you can't show that you care for people. Especially when you're as high up on the food chain as I am. Family may be the only people you can trust, but they're also the only people that can be used against you." Ryanne said staring at the door waiting for Alex.
"That's a sad way to go through life."
"Are you sure? Look at you." Ryanne said looking Dylan up and down as if trying to prove a point.
"I may not always get along with my family but I still care about them." Dylan said.
"That's not what I'm saying. Nick Ford wanted you to do something for him. Instead of threatening your life he went for your mother and your brother. Your mother probably came to you after Norman was taken begging for you to help her. This means that you're estranged but she's still your mother and he's still your brother and you will do anything to save him. Even kill one of the most powerful men in this whole town. Your relationships and emotions have opened you up to endangering others." Ryanne explained.
"You got all that from this afternoon?"
"Most of it. I knew you were working for Nick Ford when you came looking for Zane yesterday. I just didn't know why until today."
"How?"
"You were uncomfortable asking Jodi for Zane's location knowing that she had given you permission. That means that you were going behind her back with someone else and after visiting with Alex this morning I knew it wasn't him."
Alex came out the door and walked towards the front seat.
"I know where he is." Alex said.
"And Ben?" Ryanne asked getting in the car.
"He's taking his boss's money and getting out of here." Alex said putting the car into drive.
"I needed him, Alex."
"Then go get him."
"Stop the car and I will."
"I have a kid to save. Not like you care about that. Not like you could comprehend what it means to take care of people without managing them or manipulating them or killing them." Alex said and this shut Ryanne up.
Alex knew he had struck the only cord anyone could. Very few people knew what it was but if you hit it just right it would shut Ryanne down for hours.
Alex stopped the car off a dirt road next to a trailer. Alex checked the trailer and the other two walked closer to the trees yelling Norman's name.
"They must have heard that Nick Ford is dead. They've cleared out." Alex said walking out of the trailer.
"They're all gonna be on the run. They won't want to work for a heartless dictator." Ryanne said dryly and then continued to shout Norman's name.
All the sudden Dylan's name was being yelled and all three ran towards the sound.
"Over here." Ryanne yelled and ran towards the metal box in the ground.
Ryanne pulled on the lock and pulled out her gun aiming it at the lock. She shot it and Dylan opened the box to reveal the scared dark haired and blue eyed teenage boy inside. Ryanne stepped back while they pulled him out.
Norman was obviously suffering from exposure. He kept asking if they were really there and Dylan did everything he could to reassure him. Dylan hugged Norman and looked over his shoulder to see Ryanne standing uncomfortably off to the side looking at the brotherly exchange.
"We should go." Alex said and Dylan let go of Ryanne.
They helped him walk to the car and Ryanne opened the back seat for Norman and Dylan. They drove Dylan and Norman to the hospital and got Norman admitted. Ryanne stood there awkwardly as Alex gave any information he could to the doctor.
"Thank you for helping me, and saving my life." Dylan said rubbing the back of his neck.
"Don't mention it." Ryanne said quietly.
"Can I get you a ride home or anything? I feel like I should do something."
"No, I'll just call Remo to come get me." Ryanne said.
"Okay." Dylan said and gave a half smiled before walking back inside.
Ryanne pulled out her phone and dialed Remo's number.
"Hey, Remo. I need some help."