Page 41 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
Emma crouched with him, every muscle on edge as he reached out and carefully peeled the rubbery face away from the man’s features.
A moment of breathless stillness passed.
The man beneath was in his early thirties, maybe. Clean-shaven. No obvious signs of trauma beyond the bullet wound that mirrored the hole in the mask. He had a strong jaw, short dark hair, close to Ryker’s color and cut. But Emma didn’t recognize him.
Neither did Hayes or Jesse, judging by their silence.
“No ID?” Jesse asked, stepping closer.
He crouched down beside the body, his gloved hands moving with practiced care as he patted down each pocket. A beat passed. Then he stood, shaking his head.
“Nothing.”
Silence settled again, thick with the weight of the scene, until a sharppingcut through it.
Emma flinched, her eyes snapping to the sound.
It came from a phone, small, black, tucked between the dead man’s boots like someone had placed it there on purpose. The screen lit up with a new message. No contact name. Just Unknown Number across the top.
None of them touched the phone, but she had no trouble seeing the words that made Emma’s breath stop cold.
Emma, he’s next. Soon, you’ll find Ryker’s body beneath one of these tarps.
It hit her like a punch to the chest. Her stomach twisted, a cold, bitter knot forming beneath her ribs. The threat had always felt personal, but this was something else entirely. Now Ryker wasn’t just caught in the crossfire.He was the target.
She looked at him, heart in her throat. He hadn’t seen the message yet, but she knew the apology was written all over her face.
He met her gaze, calm despite the weight of what she wasn’t saying. He leaned slightly closer to see the screen, then let out a low breath and shrugged.
“It’s bullshit,” Ryker said, his voice rough. “They fired shots at both of us. Webothcould’ve been blown up at the oil field. I’ve been a target since the start of this, same as you.”
His words were steady, but they didn’t erase the chill that clung to her.
Because no matter how logical it sounded, the idea of Ryker under one of those tarps,gone, sickened her.
The phone made that pinging sound again, and a second message flashed across the screen.
And her blood turned to ice.
Want to save him, Emma?
All you have to do is die.
That’s it. Die and your lover boy will live.
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Chapter Ten
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Ryker watched as Emma’s eyes stayed locked on the phone. As if the words might burn a hole straight through it. She wasn’t saying anything, but he could see the shift in her, the tension in her shoulders, the rigid line of her jaw.
The second message had gutted her.
And she was trying like hell not to show it.
He waited until Hayes and Jesse had stepped away to start roping off the area, their voices fading behind the crackle of the radio. Then he moved in closer, just enough for her to hear him.
