Page 32 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
“Funny,” he said, pointing to the words in the text. “Judging by what Ethan said here, he didn’t agree. He was pissed. Hurt. Doesn’t exactly read like a man grateful to be free.”
Charlotte’s expression cracked for just a second, just enough to show something underneath the anger. Then she rolled her eyes and sat back in the chair.
“He would have come around,” she said. “He always did. He would’ve realized it was for the best eventually.”
She paused, then aimed another full-force glare at Emma.
“Orhe would have, if he hadn’t beenmurdered.”
Emma’s stomach twisted, but she didn’t let it show. The guilt. The anger. It all pulsed under her skin, but she locked it down.
Because right now, Charlotte might be lashing out.
But that didn’t mean she was innocent.
Ryker leaned forward again, his voice calm but pressing. “What did Ethan mean when he said,‘you think I’m the one who needs help’?”
Charlotte hesitated.
Emma saw the flicker of indecision move across her face, like she wasn’t sure if she should keep dodging or finally lay something down on the table.
Charlotte sighed and folded her arms tighter across her chest. “I was trying to convince him to see someone else. Another therapist.”
Emma blinked. That, she hadn’t expected.
Charlotte continued, her voice sharp but quieter now. “I didn’t trust Dr. Colvin. I thought she was manipulating him. Controlling him, maybe even…” She trailed off, eyes narrowing as if she was still debating how much to say.
“Having an affair with him?” Ryker offered.
Charlotte didn’t deny it.
Emma didn’t either, not out loud. Because ever since she saw those photos, she’d been thinking the same damn thing. The look on Dr. Colvin’s face in that first image had been anything but professional.
Charlotte let out a breath. “Ethan hated that I brought it up. Said I didn’t understand their work, their dynamic. We had a fight about it. One of the worst ones we ever had.”
Emma said nothing, but her thoughts were already spinning. Is that why Ethan’s setting her up now? she wondered. If he’s alive, if he’s really behind all this, maybe it’s payback for questioning him. For threatening his grip on control.
Or maybe this was just another smokescreen.
Someone else could be orchestrating it, someone with access to Ethan’s history and patterns.
Or maybe, just maybe, Charlotte was lying through her teeth. Playing the victim.
Emma reached into the folder beside her and slid out the photo of Lionel Ruiz, the most recent one they had of him, taken just after his release. His expression was cautious, worn, but there’d been hope there too. He’d finally been free.
She set the photo in front of Charlotte, keeping her voice steady. “Tell me what you know about him. About his murder.”
Charlotte’s eyes narrowed the second she saw it. “That’s the man you used to destroy Ethan’s reputation,” she snarled, her voice laced with venom. “That’sthe face they splashed all over the news while dragging Ethan through the mud.”
Emma didn’t react, but Ryker leaned forward, cool and controlled. “Ethan did that on his own. Ruiz was wrongfully convicted. You don’t get to rewrite the facts just because they’re inconvenient.”
Charlotte’s temper flared visibly, her shoulders squared, her jaw locked tight. “I don’t know anything about Ruiz,” she snapped. “Didn’t care about him then, and I sure as hell don’t care now.”
Emma stared at her, the weight of Charlotte’s callousness settling heavily in the room.
Because whether Charlotte was involved or not, someonehad cared enough to make Ruiz suffer. And now, he was dead. And Charlotte, guilty or not, was more invested in protecting Ethan’s legacy than mourning a man who’d been killed for it.
Charlotte’s glare was still sharp when the chime of a text broke the tension. She flinched, just slightly, startled by the sound. Her hand was still wrapped around her phone, and she lowered her gaze to the screen.
