Page 59 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
The foyer was pristine white marble, or it had been. Now it was streaked in crimson. Blood. A lot of it. There were smears across the floor, like someone had been dragged or stumbled, maybe both.
Emma came in right behind him, and they exchanged a grim glance. Behind them, the county deputies drew their sidearms without a word, eyes scanning the space like seasoned pros.
“Law enforcement. Anyone here?” Ryker called out.
Silence.
He moved forward, following the trail of blood as it led into the main hallway and opened up into the living room, ornate, grand, and chillingly quiet.
No body.
But therewassomething.
On the antique coffee table, scrawled in what looked like blood, were ten jagged words:Emma. Ryker. I have two. You can only save one.
Beneath it, written in a steadier hand, calmer, colder, was a set of coordinates and a time:One hour. Pick who lives. Come alone or they both die.
Emma stood beside him, unmoving, her face like stone. But Ryker felt the shift in the air, the sharp drop in temperature that had nothing to do with the winter air pouring through the bashed open door.
Ethan wasn’t just taunting them now.
He was forcing them tochoose.And someone’s life would end depending on what road they took next.
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Chapter Fifteen
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The coordinates glowed cold and steady on Ryker’s phone screen, the numbers digging into Emma’s nerves like a splinter she couldn’t pull out. She watched his jaw tighten as he stared at them, standing motionless in the middle of Veronica Harper’s ornate, blood-streaked living room.
“In the woods,” Ryker said, his voice low. “It’s a trap. He wants to lure us in and kill us.”
Emma didn’t argue. She met his eyes. “I know.”
She didn’t need to say anything more. Of course it was a trap. That’s what Ethan did, he pulled strings, made people dance, then watched them fall. But walking away wasn’t an option.
“Wehaveto go,” she said.
Ryker’s gaze held hers a beat longer before he gave a short nod. “Yeah. But I’d like to do more than just walk into it.”
Emma exhaled. “Then let’s come up with something smarter.”
From behind them, Deputy Hank Colburn stepped into the room. “We’ll ride with you if you want extra guns.”
Emma turned to him and shook her head. “No. Stay here. Go room by room and sweep the place in case there’s actually someone here, someone who needs help. Someone could be injured.”
While Colburn nodded and disappeared down the hall, Ryker pulled out his phone and started dialing. “I’ll get Outlaw Ridge PD to send a team. They can park outside the drop zone. Stay out of sight until we call them in.”
Emma glanced at the note again, her stomach tight. Two hostages. One choice. She hoped Veronica and the housekeeper were still alive. She hoped Ethan hadn’t already decided who died.
Ryker ended the call, slid his phone away, and looked at her. “Hayes and Jesse will head to the drop. And they’ll bring a drone with them.”
Good. They were going into the woods. Into Ethan’s game.
But they wouldn’t do it on his terms.
Emma followed Ryker out to the cruiser, the cold biting at her exposed skin as the wind kicked up around them. The sky was still gray, snow flurries dancing through the bare branches like drifting ash. This wasn’t just another callout, it felt like they were heading into a war zone.
