Page 25 of All the Missing Pieces

But the door to my narrow closet was slightly ajar. I let my bag fall to the ground so I was ready to fight. Stepping into the van, my pulse thrummed in my neck. I held my breath and counted to three.

One.

Two.

Three.

I jerked open the closet. A figure flashed in my vision, and then something hit me full force, and I was falling.

10

RIDLEY

I hitthe floor of the van with anoomph, and my head slammed back against it. The force had pain flaring bright as light danced in my vision. Then a loud and panickedmeowsounded in my ear.

My eyelids fluttered, my surroundings coming into focus again. The van. The open closet. And lots of fur. I hadn’t been taken out by an intruder. I’d been taken out by my three-legged cat.

“Tater,” I muttered.

She meowed again, settling into pissed-off chatter. I stayed lying on the floor of my van for a moment, my head aching. My hand sifted through Tater’s fur, trying to calm her. The chattering eased, and she started to purr, but it only took a few seconds before she bit my hand.

The bites were never hard, exactly. It was her way of showing affection. But hertooth hugscould still draw blood on occasion.

I let her bite away as I nuzzled her to me. “I love you too.”

The purring was back.

Slowly, I pushed to my feet, setting Tater down and surveying the van. It hadn’t been ransacked. All my valuables were still in place. No one had made it inside.

But someone had tried.

That had a chill running through me. It must have been someone simply passing through the campsite, seeing what valuables they could find within easy reach. Because no one knew where I was staying. And the locals had just found out I was here. There wasn’t time for sabotage.

I still hated the idea of someone trying to break into my haven. Pushing to my feet, my head thrummed. I needed some Tylenol stat.

Tater made a sound of protest as I moved.

“It’s okay. You can come with me.”

There was an excited meow this time as she bounded out of the van after me. I’d had Tater since she was a kitten. When her leg had been damaged in the birthing process, her owner had dumped her at a local shelter. Something about the determined, little, three-legged creature had called to me, and we’d been together ever since.

Because I’d had her since she was so young, taking her wherever I went, Tater was used to following me in the outdoors. The only issues arose when she spotted a dog. She was not a fan and would climb me like a tree until she was perched on my shoulder like a parrot, leaving claw marks in her wake.

But as the sun dipped toward the horizon, Tater stayed close. I made quick work of locking up my bike and let my gaze scan my surroundings as I went. Nothing out of place. But that didn’t mean someone wasn’t there.

A video call alert came from inside the van, and I whistled for Tater to follow me. She easily jumped up into the vehicle, and I shut the door behind her, locking it. As I hurried toward my computer, I saw the incoming video alert. I groaned as I took in Baker’s name. Not exactly something that would help my headache.

Sliding quickly onto the chair at my desk, I hitaccept. I'd expected just Baker, but instead it was a group call with him and Sully. They appeared onscreen, Baker with LA behind him, and Sully with New York as his backdrop, so in opposition to my current setting. I forced a smile, trying to shake off the events of the afternoon. “Hey. What’s up?”

Baker frowned at me. “What’s going on with your hair?”

My gaze flew to the rectangle on the screen that showed my face. My long blond locks had formed a sort of rat’s nest. I felt atop my head, wincing as I hit the tender spot where I’d clocked myself. “Was just out on my bike. That’s all.”

Tater jumped up onto my desk, meowing at Baker in an accusatory tone.

Sully leaned toward the camera, squinting. “You okay, Ridley?”

“Just dandy,” I lied and had a feeling Sully could read it.

---