Page 47 of Riding Danger

Keith chose that moment to enter the argument. “You two seem to argue like she’s spread for you already.” The man’s comments made my hands clenched into fists once more. “Tell me, is she as dead in bed as my brother described?”

The punch came out of nowhere. One minute Keith was standing upright, the next he was on the floor and Theo was shaking out his hand. A minute later all hell broke loose.

Charles stood and aimed his fist at Theo, but Jason got to him before I could. Keith was thrown in my direction. He aimed a fist at my face. That was not going to happen. I ducked and landed a left hook to the man’s eye.

After that it was hard to tell whose fist landed where. Maggie shouted at all of us, but we ignored her. That was until we heard the sirens.

21

SHILOH

Lilly chose to take the drive back to Marina De Ferrier as a chance to dissect my pseudo-relationship.

“So, you don’t trust him?” She didn’t hide the fact she thought I was being an idiot. “Despite the fact he was in the dark about his kid. Has he given you any indication he doesn’t intend on settling in Marina DeFerrier?”

“No. I mean, he bought a house and sold his condo in L.A.”

“Then what’s the problem, Shi?” She frowned over at me before turning her attention back to the road. “Your biggest priority is family, what about this man has you spooked?”

“He’s not reliable.” That sounded a lot worse than it actually was. “I mean, he has contractual obligations and tours that will take him out of town. Then there’s the smaller stuff.”

“Smaller stuff, like what?”

“I like things done in a certain order. And he messes with that.”

Lilly took a deep breath and smiled. “Did you know that the last time Oliver was on time for anything was the little gathering they had on base when he left the Navy. I mean, he’ll sometimesmake a meeting just in time, but the man has not been early for anything in more than a decade.”

That didn’t seem right. Lilly was punctual. Pathologically so. “How do you put up with it?”

I mean, Ryder deciding to abandon the no takeout rule on a school night when we’re at his house, still had me on edge.

“Because I could not imagine being with anyone, except him” She raised a brow. “And the idea of being with someone just like me, would make for a very boring life.” There’s a slight smirk as she turned to me. “It's not the kind of relationship that instigates sex in a gym used by all your friends and family.”

My mouth dropped open. “How do you know about that?”

She rolled her eyes. “Come on. Surely you realize that ninety percent of the gossip in this town is shared by Tiffany.”

That was true. And Tiffany was the Salinger Security receptionist.

Lilly’s phone blaring through the car’s speakers, thankfully, cut that conversation short. She gave the dashboard a quick look before pressing the answer button. “Agent Newton?”

“Sorry. I know you’re on your way home.” Agent Newton did not sound sorry. “I just got a call from the coroner.”

“Now?” I didn’t think the ME would work this late.

“He owes me a favor. I called it in to get a rush on this.”

Lilly shook her head indicating I needed to be quiet. “What did he find?”

“There are no markings on the back.”

“What?”

“What?”

Agent Newton took a moment before continuing. “Everything at the scene was exactly the same. Including the parts that were never fed to the press. The only thing missing was the markings.”

“Which was also never released to the press.” I had been following the case from the time it hit the Salinger Security radar. Not that anyone knew that.

---