Page 61 of Outlaw Ridge: Ryker
She lowered her binoculars and exchanged a glance with Ryker. “Doesn’t mean he’s not watching.”
“Agreed,” he said, taking out his earbud communicators and sliding them in place. Emma did the same and then tapped hers once to confirm the connection. A soft click answered from Ryker’s end.
They both reached for their guns at the sound, and it took Emma a moment to realize it wasn’t a threat. It was the buzz of a drone whispered overhead. It hovered into position above the clearing. Searching. Helping them pinpoint Ethan’s exact location before Ryker and she had to go into those woods.
Emma checked her watch again. Jesse and Hayes would be arriving any minute, parking out of sight per the plan. But for now, it was just her, Ryker, and the trees.
The trap had been set. They were already in it. Now they just had to wait to see how it would spring.
Ryker’s phone buzzed quietly with the incoming drone feed. He angled the screen so they could both see, the image jittering slightly before stabilizing into a bird’s-eye view of the clearing and surrounding woods.
Emma leaned in, eyes scanning the black-and-white footage as the drone swept over the area directly around them. Snow-covered branches. Stillness. Nothing.
The drone adjusted, angling farther west, deeper into the tree line.
Still nothing.
Emma’s chest tightened. “He could be trying to rattle us. Send us on a wild goose chase.”
Ryker didn’t answer, but the tension in his jaw said he was thinking the same.
Then another thought struck her, colder, sharper. “What if this isn’t about us?” she said, her voice not much more thana whisper. “What if he’s using this as a distraction to get to Charlotte?”
Ryker’s eyes flicked toward her, surprise and understanding flaring at the same time.
“He was willing to kill her at the house with that grenade,” she added. “He might want her gone.”
Emma pulled out her phone and quickly typed a message to Hallie:What if Ethan’s using this to get to Charlotte? Double-check her location. Confirm protection.
She hit send. Before she could lower the phone, the drone feed shifted again, and this time, the image jolted.
Twenty yards into the woods, just beyond a narrow ridgeline, a figure crouched behind the trunk of a wide oak. Dark clothing, snow dusted over his shoulders. The unmistakable glint of a weapon angled across his body.
Ryker zoomed in on the screen.
“Ethan,” he said flatly.
Emma’s pulse kicked up. She didn’t need to see his face to know. The stance. The build. The way he held the weapon like it was part of him.
The drone continued its slow sweep, the image shifting as it circled from one quadrant of the woods to the next. Emma barely breathed, her eyes locked on the screen. Snow whispered across the frozen ground, but even the wind seemed to quiet as the feed tilted to the right.
Then, movement.
Ryker tapped the screen to zoom again, just as the figures came into view.
Two of them. Kneeling.
Even though she had expected to see the hostages, it still gave Emma a jolt. The two were gagged. Hands tied behind their backs. They were positioned close to a fallen log, half-hidden beneath a light scattering of snow and pine needles. Oneshivered visibly. The other tilted her head slightly, as if listening for help.
But it wasn’t Veronica Harper and her housekeeper, Marta.
No.
Emma stared, stunned, her brain taking too long to make sense of what she was seeing. “That’s…” she whispered.
“Dr. Colvin,” Ryker finished, his voice tight. “And Janette.”
The realization hit hard and fast.
