Avenue of Thieves Read online

  “Okay,” said Lock. “But I’m done.”

  “Done? As in this gig?” asked Ty.

  “No,” said Lock. “With the whole deal. I’m finished. I’ll go find something else I can do.”

  “Come on, man,” said Ty. “Look, it’s been a rough few weeks, that’s all.”

  “No, I mean it, Ty. I’m sick of doing rich assholes’ dirty work for them. I’m out.”

  Epilogue

  Marina del Rey, California

  One month later

  Even in a crowded bar on a Friday evening, Ty knew exactly how to scope out his partner. All he had to do was find the corner table nearest to the kitchen. The corner because that meant Lock had a view of the place, and no one could sneak up on him. Near the kitchen because that offered an exit point.

  Pushing his way through the crush, Ty pulled out a chair and sat down across from Lock, who looked tanned and relaxed.

  “This how you’re going to spend retirement, huh?” said Ty. “Hanging out in bars?”

  Lock smiled. “I’m meeting Carmen and we’re going to dinner.”

  Ty nodded and the two men lapsed into silence.

  “You want a drink?” asked Lock.

  “Sure. I’ll take a beer.”

  Lock held up two fingers and signaled to a passing waitress to bring him a fresh beer and one for his buddy.

  “So how have you been?” asked Ty.

  Apart from the occasional text or email related to business, they hadn’t spoken in several weeks. Ty had figured that Lock needed space, and a chance to decompress after the mayhem back east. Lock had been lucky not to face any significant legal problems. So had Ty to a degree. Dimitri Semenov’s money had made sure of that.

  “I’m good,” said Lock. “I’m enjoying life.”

  Ty shrugged. “Yeah, good. Happy to be back in LA.”

  The waitress returned with their beers. Ty raised his and they clinked bottles.

  “So?” said Ty.

  Lock smiled. “So?”

  “Come on, Ryan. You know why I’m here.”

  Lock tilted back his beer and took a sip. “You want to know if I really meant what I said back there. About quitting.”

  “And did you?”

  Lock sighed, like he’d been anticipating this conversation, but not exactly relishing it. “Yes, I meant it. I’m done.”

  “So that’s it?”

  “Ty, come on, it’s not like you’re going to be unemployed. You still have a ton of security review work. You’ll be able to pick up other stuff too, including close protection gigs. You don’t need me.”

  “I’m not worried about me, Ryan. I’m worried about you.”

  “Well don’t be. There’s no need.”

  Ty took a long drink. He known coming here that he wasn’t going to talk Lock out of quitting. But he’d wanted to know if his partner was serious, or whether he’d just gotten caught up in the moment.

  “So what are you going to do with yourself?” Ty asked. “Take up fishing?”

  “Carmen’s office always need investigators. I might do that for a while. Or I might not. I don’t know. I’ve not really had a long break since I came out of the military.”

  Ty tilted his beer and took another drink. “You’ll be back.”

  “You think?” said Lock.

  “Come on, you’re an adrenalin junkie, just like me. You really think you’re going to get your fix chasing down people cheating their insurance or whatever it is you’ll be investigating?”

  “You want to know what it is?” asked Lock. “I’m tired of working for rich assholes who think they can behave how they want and not face the consequences because they know they can pay people like us to come along and clean up their mess.”

  “I get that,” said Ty. “I really do. I just don’t think it’s a good enough reason to walk away.”

  “And maybe I’m tired,” said Lock. “How many people can you watch get killed before you stop caring? And I don’t want to stop caring.”

  Ty watched Lock drain the last of his beer.

  “You want another?” Ty asked.

  “No, I’d better not,” said Lock, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone to read a text. “That’s Carmen, she’s outside.”

  “Okay, man,” said Ty as Lock stood up.

  “You know we can still hang, right?” said Lock.

  Ty stood, the two men embracing.

  “If you change your mind,” said Ty.

  Lock broke from Ty’s embrace and took a step back. “You’ll be the first to know.”

  “I’d better be.”

  Also by Sean Black

  The Ryan Lock & Ty Johnson series (in order)

  Lockdown (US/Canada) Lockdown (UK/ Commonwealth)

  Deadlock (US/Canada) Deadlock (UK/Commonwealth)

  Gridlock (US/Canada) Gridlock (UK/Commonwealth)

  The Devil’s Bounty (US/Canada) The Devil’s Bounty (UK/Commonwealth)

  The Innocent

  Fire Point

  The Edge of Alone

  Second Chance

  The Red Tiger

  The Deep Abiding

  Avenue of Thieves

  The Last Bodyguard (January, 2021)

  Ryan Lock Boxsets

  Ryan Lock Boxset One: Lockdown; Deadlock; Gridlock (Ryan Lock Series Boxset Book 1) - (US & Canada only)

  Ryan Lock Boxset Two: The Innocent; Fire Point; Second Chance

  Ryan Lock Boxset Three: Second Chance; Red Tiger; The Deep Abiding

  The Byron Tibor Series

  Post

  Blood Country

  Winter’s Rage

  Sign up to Sean Black’s VIP mailing list for a free e-book and updates about new releases

  Your email will be kept confidential. You will not be spammed. You can unsubscribe at any time.

  Click the link below to sign up:

  http://seanblackauthor.com/subscribe/

  About the Author

  To research his books, Sean Black has trained as a bodyguard in the UK and Eastern Europe, spent time inside America's most dangerous Supermax prison, Pelican Bay in California, undergone desert survival training in Arizona, and ventured into the tunnels under Las Vegas.

  A graduate of Oxford University, England and Columbia University in New York, Sean lives in Dublin, Ireland.

  When he’s not writing, Sean trains in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In 2019 he became the first amputee in Ireland to be awarded his blue belt. He competes regularly, including at the 2020 European Championships in Lisbon.

  His Ryan Lock and Byron Tibor thrillers have been translated into Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portugese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Contents

  About the Book

  Praise for Sean Black

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43r />
  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Epilogue

  Also by Sean Black

  About the Author