Page 36 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
Ryker didn’t move. His voice came flat, even. “You became lovers.”
“I won’t comment on that,” she said, coolly.
Which, to Ryker, was all the confirmation he needed.
He tapped the photo in the center, the one where she was staring at Ethan like he was the only man in the room.
“Good thing pictures don’t need your comment,” he said. “This one right here? It’s worth a whole damn affidavit.”
Emma reached into the folder and pulled out a different photo. “We’re not here to ruin reputations, Dr. Colvin,” Emma said. “We’re here to find answers.”
She laid the image face-up on the table.
It was a crime scene photo, harsh, graphic. A close-up of what was left of Lionel Ruiz. Burned flesh. Bone fragments. The kind of image that clung to the backs of your eyes no matter how many times you blinked.
Dr. Colvin gasped, her hand instinctively lifting to her mouth. “My God,” she whispered.
Ryker didn’t flinch. “Do you believe Ethan could’ve done that?”
Dr. Colvin looked between them, clearly rattled for the first time. “You think he’s capable of something like that?”
“We think he’s a suspect,” Emma said carefully. “And we think he may be alive.”
The words hung in the room like a fog, thick and suffocating. Dr. Colvin shook her head slowly, but there was doubt behind her eyes now. Or maybe fear.
Ryker didn’t press the accusation that he was holding close, but it was simmering there all right. Because if she loved Ethan, and that other photo from the reception said she had, then she could be more than just a grieving former lover.
She could behelpinghim.
Or worse…avenginghim.
Dr. Colvin cleared her throat, as if trying to swallow the horror still lingering after the photo. Her hands had folded tightly on the table again, but her voice was steady when she finally spoke.
“I’m not sure if Ethan is alive,” she said, her gaze drifting from the image to the two of them. “I don’tbelievehe is. If he were… he would have gotten in touch with me.”
Ryker didn’t say anything, but the thought twisted through him like a knot.That’s almost exactly what Charlotte said.Word for word.
But he wasn’t convinced Ethan would’ve contacted either of them. If he’d truly meant to disappear, if he’d burned his life to the ground before vanishing, why drag anyone from his past into the light now?
Unless, of course, that was the plan all along.
Emma leaned in slightly, her tone low and direct. “If Ethan murdered someone, we need to find him before he kills again. But if he didn’t, if he’s still out there, he could be a target. Someone may be trying to draw him out.”
Ryker decided that targeting and drawing him out was a smart angle. He didn’t necessarilybelieveit, but it was good leverage. And judging by the way Dr. Colvin’s posture stiffened, it landed right where it needed to.
Her eyes widened just a fraction. “You think… someone’s trying to kill him?”
Emma didn’t answer immediately, letting the silence work for her. And it did. Because Dr. Colvin’s lips parted, and then, quietly, she started talking.
“Ethan always said he had enemies,” the doctor said, eyes flicking between them. “Fellow cops who resented his success. People he’d arrested. People who felt like he’d taken something from them.”
She paused, then looked directly at Emma.
“You,” Colvin added, evenly. “He believed you were using him. That you were only with him to get ahead at Austin PD. That once you’d advanced far enough, you’d leave him behind.”
Emma didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink. Her expression remained unreadable, her hands steady on the table.
But Ryker? He felt the muscle in his jaw tighten.
