Page 10 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
Neither of them needed to say it.
They were going to find out if that mask hid the face of the man who had ruined everything, or if someone else had just died trying to pretend they were him.
Rustwood Road was just under three miles away, and once they were in the cruiser, Ryker drove out of the parking lot. The sleet had started, a fine, cold mist that clicked against the windshield and froze on the edges of the wipers. The sky was low and heavy, the kind of gray that pressed down like a weight.
There wasn’t much traffic on Main Street. Most people in this part of Texas knew better than to tempt fate when ice was in the forecast. This part of the state didn’t get much snow, and when it did, the roads turned slick fast and stayed that way. Folks stayed inside.
Well, apparently everyone except a killer.
Emma sat stiffly in the passenger seat, her hands knotted in her lap. Her thoughts raced faster than the cruiser, chasing possibilities she didn’t want to speak out loud yet. If the victim was wearing Ethan’s mask, what did that mean? A warning? A decoy? Or a message, one just for her?
Beside her, Ryker drove with his attention pinned to the already slick road. His jaw was tight, his gaze cutting through the sleet as if nothing would stop him.
Emma drew in a breath and let it out slowly, fogging the window with her exhale. She didn’t know what they were going to find out there.
But she knew it wouldn’t be good.
Ryker’s fingers tapped the steering wheel as they turned onto Rustwood Road, sleet hissing against the glass like static. The tires hummed over the wet asphalt, the cruiser cutting through the icy mist with quiet urgency. They were maybe five minutes out now, if that.
“We don’t have much time before we get to the scene,” he said, his voice cutting through the silence. “But how about that air clearing I mentioned?”
Emma turned her head slowly. “Now?”
He kept his eyes on the road. “No time like a sleeting drive toward a possible homicide scene to get things off your chest.”
She didn’t answer. Wasn’t sure she wanted to hear whatever he was about to say. But Ryker didn’t wait for her to agree.
“I knew Ethan was cheating,” he said.
The words landed hard, matter-of-fact, but edged with something raw.
“Back when you two were still together,” Ryker added. “I wanted to bust his balls for it, but I figured it wasn’t my place. He wasn’t just a buddy, he was your fiancé. And I figured if you didn’t know yet, you’d find out.”
Emma blinked, eyes burning.
Ryker’s admission didn’t surprise her. Not really. But hearing it confirmed by someone she trusted, someone whohadknown… that was a different kind of hurt. It clawed past the numbness and tapped into something she thought she’d buried.
She looked out the window, jaw tight. “It’s not the betrayal that gets me anymore. It’s the fact that I didn’t see it sooner.That I let myself fall for him. Let him put a ring on my finger and call it love.”
“Emma,” he muttered on a sigh.
“I feel stupid,” she snapped. “Gullible. I was a cop. I should’ve known better.”
Ryker didn’t argue. Didn’t tell her she wasn’t stupid. He just let the silence settle for a moment before speaking again.
“Total disclosure?” he went on.
She glanced at him, wary. Then, nodded, trying to steel herself up if this was more gut-twisting news.
“I was going to ask you out,” he confessed. “Before you got with Ethan. It wasn’t a bet, or a contest, or anything stupid like that. I was just a heartbeat too slow, and he asked you out first.”
Emma stared at him, the words catching her off guard. Not what she’d expected, not from Ryker, not today.
He glanced at her again. “Guess that heartbeat changed a lot of things.”
She didn’t say anything. Couldn’t, really. Because part of her wondered what might’ve been different if Ryker had been a little faster, and Ethan a lot more honest.
Ryker’s words hung in the air, heavier than the silence that followed.I was going to ask you out.Her skin prickled beneath her coat, a flicker of heat threading its way through her bloodstream like it didn’t give a damn that they were driving into a crime scene.
