Page 22 of When the Silence Breaks

“And if they were coming after me? You don’t have an alarm system, and the intruder probably knows that. He could be back.”

“Then we’ll be waiting.” Ryder hitched a half grin as if he looked forward to it.

Time to put space between them, but ... she couldn’t move. This man ... something about him drew her in. “You’d use me as bait?”

“Do you have a better plan?”

Actually, she liked his idea, but she wouldn’t let him know that. He stepped closer and she couldn’t breathe. Since he was a whole head taller, she stared up into his gray eyes. Eyes that searched her soul to find her secrets, and that scared her. But something about him pulled at her, and she had to fight not to step even closer and right into his arms. And suddenly, she longed to know what that felt like again.

It had been four years since her husband died. Four very long years.

“Honestly,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to matter where we stay tonight, if he’s coming for you, he’ll find you. At least this way, we’re on home turf.”

“I didn’t say I agreed to stay.”

“And you are free to leave.”

Ryder Goodwin didn’t pull any punches. He didn’t have to. He could read people.

She lifted her face in frustration as she stepped back, puttingmuch-needed space between them. “Where’s the guest room again?”

His grin caught her off guard. “Down the hall, second door on the left. I’ll grab your backpack from the truck. Hold on.”

Ryder disappeared and left Sarah staring after him.What have I gotten myself into?She’d wanted none of this, but it was the path that lay before her. He returned and set her backpack on the counter.

“Thanks.” She grabbed her pack.

“I’ll call the sheriff and ask about Mom,” he said. “Make sure she’s okay and tell him about tonight too.”

“Should I bother going to sleep?”

“He’ll pay me a personal visit in the morning. I’ll show him the shop. The guy was wearing gloves, so no prints.”

“I noticed. And ... by the way, nice house for a single guy.” She almost winked and now wished she could take those words back. She left him and headed down the hall to the guest bedroom.

She found a cozy room decorated in lavenders and greens with a matching quilt on the bed. Must be Dinah’s doing because the rest of the home’s living space was decorated by Bachelor Pads R Us.

How often did he have guests anyway? Friends or relatives? He had two siblings—Holt and Lainey. Holt was a fed, and Lainey a seismologist.

Sarah stepped into the bathroom and found it stocked with towels and all the essentials to take yet another shower and wash off the grime of the last three hours. It was already well past her bedtime, and she was exhausted.

The hot water didn’t wash away the fact that she knew entirely too much information about Ryder. More than she should. Stuff that wasn’t on the website. She had to act like sheknew nothing and ask normal questions. She’d been trained to do just that, but it felt disingenuous to keep all that to herself.

Still, she was obligated to keep those secrets.

In her backpack she searched for nightwear. Then again, what if that guy came back? Did she want to chase him in her panda bear sweats and T-shirt—a Christmas gift from Tessa and Aaron?

Whatever. Panda-wear it was, and she’d sleep with her Sig. If she slept at all.

An envelope fell out of her pack and slipped to the rug. She picked it up. “Where did you come from?”

I think I know.Maybe she had it wrong, but could the intruder have come inside to slip her the note, then ended up sticking it in the pack in the truck? One way to find out.

She quickly opened the paper.

Mercy Ridge City Park.

MH