Page 15 of Ride With Me

“What do you think my end game is?”

“To get me safely to my hotel room and ask me for my number.” I waggle my brows as if he can see them.

“Doesn’t sound like it would be too far from the truth. Not if we were both who we really said we were.”

His eyes gleam in the dark and that unsettling feeling from before is back. The softness in his tone is gone, and the silence happening now spreads longer between us as he turns the car around. He’s not taking me to the hotel, is he?

“Are you really here on business?” His tone is clipped.

“Is there really a La Quinta nearby?”

It’s like I can hear him smiling. “No. You’ll be staying somewhere else tonight instead. Right after you take me to where you hid everything you stole from me.”

CHAPTER 3

RILEY

Of courseI’d jumped into the car belonging to the man I stole from. A serial killer might have been a better option after all. This would all have been over quicker, and I’d be certain of where my fate lies. Pointing him in the right direction doesn’t go as well as I’d hoped. Everything looks different in the dark and when I’m not solely focused on trying to find a place to hide. We must’ve been circling the woods for hours, with flashlights he plucked from his medical bag in the trunk. Brick was right about two things: he’s a doctor, and he drives a nice car.

“We’ll be out here all night long at this rate,” he growls. “Are we close yet?”

“I… We should be.”

Dragging my tired feet, I sigh, stomach knotting. He’s going to turn me in, isn’t he? What if he does that whether I find everything or not? It doesn’t matter how many times I try to backtrack, I can’t find the stack of branches I piled over the hole and every tree looks the damn same. Yawning, I rub my eyes and shine the flashlight on him without realizing.

“We’ll try again in the morning. We’ll be able to see better in the daylight, and maybe some much needed sleep will help jog your memory.”

My eyes blink rapidly. “What do you mean in the morning? Where will I stay?”

“In my guest room.”

I’d remember seeing a guest room if he had one. Was it hidden somewhere or is he fucking with me?

“Let’s get going before you pass out and I have to carry you all the way to the house.”

Too tired to argue, or run when I think he’s not looking, I follow him through the trees and back to the long dirt driveway. At least, I think it’s a driveway. Whatever the fuck it is, it’s much longer than I remember, and I nearly trip on my own feet as I’m entering the house. Grabbing on to my arm, Sam steadies me against him and that’s another thing Brick was wrong about. Not only is he not on a work trip, his name also isn’t Lance. Did he really go on a date with this man?

“This way.” He steers me toward the kitchen. “When’s the last time you’ve eaten?”

“I… Not since breakfast.” My stomach grumbles at the mention of food.

“Sit. I’ll fix you a sandwich.” He lowers me onto the chair and stares down at my hand, wearing a worried expression. “That’s a nasty cut you got there. I’m guessing that’s from the remodeling you did to my back-door window.”

I flex out my fingers, the wound opening and fleshier than I remember. “Yeah. It’s not too bad.”

“Doesn’t look that way to me. You don’t want that getting infected. How about, after we eat, I give it a look over? You might need stitches.”

“Yeah, okay.”

I don’t realize I’m as thirsty as I am hungry until he sets a water bottle in front of me. Wrapping my fingers around the plastic, I drain it in one go, my tongue and throat refreshed with every gulp.

“Someone was thirsty.” He chuckles and the nice, sweet stranger from before is back. I’m not sure he fully left but was more a mixture of two sides. The good and the... maybe not bad, but disappointed? I expected more anger than what I’ve gotten. Shouldn’t he tie me up or hit me or something? I stole from his house. Any normal person would have taken me to the police station by now, but he must really need back what I’ve taken from him first.

What happens when I find it? I’d rather not know. I can’t sit behind bars again. It’s been a long time since I have and I’m not ready to go back. That’s what will happen, won’t it? He’ll get everything back and then turn me in.

“What would you like on your sandwich?” He takes out a knife and holds a tomato still on a cutting board.

“Everything but mayonnaise.” I scrunch up my nose and he nods.

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