Page 61 of When the Silence Breaks

Her heart ached at the thought of Tessa and Jeremy and her brother, Aaron. If only she had a moment to just cry through it all. Let the anguish out. But not with Ryder standing a few paces away, though he’d given her space. Checking up on her because he didn’t trust her? No. He wasn’t that kind of guy, from what she’d seen so far. He was more likely protecting her.

She wanted—needed—to call Tessa and check on her family. To actually hear their voices rather than read a simple text, but it was too risky, especially after they’d spent far too many minutes connected to Wi-Fi via his device. She wasn’t one for tears, and maybe that had been trained out of her, but tears escaped anyway, and she let them stream until she had no more, then swiped them away.

For Aaron. She had to finish this.

She hiked over to where Ryder leaned against a tree. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“All things considered, I’ve been better. Aren’t you cold out here?”

“Sure. But the cold air helps me think.” And ... okay ... time to talk about her plan. Ryder stared out at the lake, waiting. She owed him.

“Does he know the danger?”Malcolm had asked.

“Sarah,” Ryder said. “Who do you work for now? Who did you work for before?”

“I ... I thought you wanted to hear my plan.”

“I do, but why don’t you answer those questions first?” His question had a bite to it.

And here she thought she would get away with not telling him everything. “Really, Ryder? You want to talk about that now?”

“I think now is the perfect time. Nothing standing between us except a vial filled with poison.”

“I thought you would have figured it out on your own.” She’d hoped as much.

“What, that you worked for the government? You were a fed? Sure, I know you worked for a three-letter agency.”

Ryder closed the distance. He was in her space now. “I think we’ve been through enough together, you owe me an explanation. You owe me the truth.”

“You act like my previous job has anything to do with this.”

He was granite, staring down at her. He was right. She owed him. She didn’t want to hold back from him. “I’ve only been keeping to my obligations, Ryder. I’m sure there are missions you participated in...”

Oops. Was she supposed to know he was a Navy SEAL? She’d already brought that up.

His features shifted.

“I mean, it’s on your website.” Wasn’t it?

“It’s not, actually.”

Now she’d done it. “Well, the information is somewhere. Why would you keep your experience a secret? I picked you for the job. I looked into your background.”

“I didn’t have the same luxury,” he said.

“You didn’t even do a Google search?”

He shook his head.

“Well, that isn’t my fault.”

“I’m waiting.”

He wasn’t giving up, was he?

“I’m never supposed to reveal any of this, do you understand?” She hadn’t been Sarah Frasier in years. Fear gripped her chest, but with Aaron’s death and now a possible operation happening here on this soil, everything had changed. “I was ... a CIA operations officer, working under a non-official cover, or NOC. Officially I worked for an NGO. My role was completely secret, even diplomats weren’t aware. That’s all I can say and, really, shouldn’t have said that. You tell anyone, and I could get in big trouble.”

He might have been unmoving granite before, but now he was stone-cold.