Page 44 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
Ryker cursed under his breath, heart hammering.
It was identical to the truck Ethan had owned back when they were both still enlisted. Same frame. Same damn color.
He yanked out his radio. “This is Deputy Caldwell. Black pickup, no tags, last seen headed west off the cabin road by the creek. Put out an APB. Possibly connected to the Ross case. Use caution.”
He heard Emma’s breath hitch as she slowed beside him, eyes fixed on the road where the truck had vanished.
They stood there a moment longer, nothing but wind and the distant hum of tires left behind.
Then Ryker turned. “Let’s head back.”
They moved through the woods again, retracing their steps toward the cruiser, frustration burning low and sharp in Ryker’s gut.
So close.
They made their way back through the trees, silence settling in around them like fog. The prints they’d followed were already softening in the mud, blurred by frost and wind.
Emma walked beside him, arms tight across her chest, her brow furrowed in thought. “If that reallywasEthan,” she said,“then why not attack us? He had the drop on us. Could’ve taken a shot.”
Ryker didn’t answer right away. His mind was working through it, piece by piece. “Could be a game,” he said finally. “A sick one. Taunt us. Show us how close he can get without pulling the trigger.”
She didn’t argue. Which said enough.
They stepped out of the trees, the cruiser just ahead. Ryker’s eyes swept the area out of habit, but something made him stop cold.
Footprints.
Fresh ones.
They circled the cruiser, overlapping in places, heavy and erratic like someone had moved quickly around it.
“Get down,” Ryker snapped.
He grabbed Emma’s arm and yanked her to the ground, pulling them both behind the cover of a low rise near the shoulder of the road.
Heart pounding, he reached into his jacket and thumbed the remote key fob. And he pressed the start button.
The cruiser exploded in a burst of flame and metal, the blast knocking a wave of heat over them even from fifty feet out. The roar echoed through the trees, sending birds scattering and smoke spiraling into the morning sky.
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Chapter Eleven
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Emma sat in the cold case room, the heat from the mug barely making it through her fingers. She wasn’t much of a tea drinker, but someone, maybe Hallie, had shoved it into her hands the second they got back, and now she clung to it like it might hold her together.
The scent of mint and chamomile filled the air, subtle and clean, but it didn’t settle the sharp knot low in her stomach.
Across the room, Ryker stood with his back to her, phone to his ear, talking to Hayes. His voice was low but tense, clipped in a way that told her the call wasn’t going the way he wanted it to.
Earlier, after they’d radioed in the explosion, Hallie had dispatched a cruiser to pick them up. Jesse and Hayes had cleared the area, and the bomb squad was already en route by the time backup arrived. But the damage had been done. Their cruiser was gone. Nothing but twisted, smoldering wreckage left behind.
And Emma knew,knew, if Ryker hadn’t spotted those tracks circling the vehicle, they’d both be dead.
Blown apart.
She lifted the cup and took a small sip, trying not to let her hands shake.
