Page 26 of Redemption

Ryder crossed his arms and let her think in silence. She took a deep breath and made crisscross lines in the gravy remnants.

“You don’t have to tell anyone what happened to you,” he finally said.

“Oh,” she chortled. “Where I come from, everyone’s business is your business, and vice versa.”

“Small town?”

“Not that small, but maybe small-minded?”

“Maybe you aren’t giving them the chance. I’m sure they’d rather have you come home.” He paused. “I’d rather have you come home.”

Her heart skipped a beat, and she tilted her head, holding the fork still, trying to understand why he said things like that. “Sure. They’d love me to come home. I probably meant something to them.”

“Did you mean something to somebody?”

It felt like a loaded question. The way his eyes held hers said itwasa loaded question. And maybe that made sense, why he thought she didn’t want to go home: that she’d been raped and couldn’t face her boyfriend or husband. “No. Not like that.”

Ryder nodded, not responding, and grabbed his beer, downing another long pull.

“What do you do? For Delta? Something specific when you’re not sitting in kitchens at two a.m. with random women?”

“We’re a ghost team. We disappear.”

“What does that mean?”

“We surface to do our job and go dark again.”

Her chest squeezed, and she couldn’t understand the meaning behind what he explained, but the tone of his voice urged her to push. “How’s this job going? Never-ending, I guess.”

“Job’s over.” He lifted a shoulder. “Everyone’s home.”

“Except you.”

He rolled the bottle between his hands. “Actually, I had a job and came back here. It was a quick one. In and out. Nothing too messy, except Colin. He got messy. But for now, we’re all dark again.”

She bit her lip.

“You could go home whenever you want. Delta, for all its bravado and badassery, has a soft center. Until you’re ready, you can stay where you are.”

“Right.” She worked over what he said. “What does that mean? You’re dark?”

He lifted a shoulder and winked. “We’re a ghost team. You never saw me. I wasn’t here.”

“Boo,” she whispered and laughed quietly.

“Boo,” he chuckled and quickly drained his beer.

If he was dark, he was here on his own accord or maybe doing a favor for Mia? What did that mean? “Why are you here if you’re not on the job anymore?”

“I already explained that, Victoria.” He stood and picked up his plate. “You done?”

She nodded and watched as Ryder collected her plate, testing her beer and finding it not empty. He left her bottle, gathered the silverware, and dumped it in the sink then returned with fresh beer for himself.

“I’m sorry if I gave you the impression I’m something that I’m not.” She toyed with her beer, hating that she could disappoint him.

“Are you tired?”

“Um, no. Not really.”

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