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“Sum it up for me,” he asked encouragingly, taking another small sip of his beer. “And what’s your tattoo, there?”
Raven turned her forearm to show him a small, black ‘peace’ tattoo inside her right wrist. “All the girls in my dance squad got them, like our unofficial mascot.”
“Right on,” the ex-soldier smiled. “So, you’re from Illinois?”
“Chicago was great, when it wasn’t too cold. My father is a violent asshole,” she said, immediately turning to make sure she hadn’t been overheard. “My brother, well, you know more than enough about him. I was seeing this guy and that kinda fell apart. And one day I just thought, ‘Why the hell not?’ and got in my car. A few days later I was here, giving Maggie a big hug and then wondering about this tall, handsome stranger who was watching baseball on our couch.”
“It was a much better couch with you on it,” he said and laughed, bringing a genuine happiness to Eve’s smile. Then their eyes met and the touch of awkwardness was eased away. Seconds passed. Raven fell deeply into the calm his eyes expressed; her heart fluttered and that familiar warmth spread downward. Neither felt the need to say anything.
“You wan’ ay’ cree’?” Mr. K was determined to shower these particular guests with as much hospitality as he could.
“I’m sorry?” asked Raven, finally pulling her eyes away from Ridge’s.
“Ice cream,” her date translated.
“I don’t think so, Mr. K,” she said slowly.
“Ready for the check, if you are.”
As they left, Raven felt Ridge’s hand slip into hers for the short walk to the car. “He knows how to look after his clientele,” Ridge offered. “Great curry, too, wasn’t it?”
“Best meal I’ve had in a long time,” Raven said honestly. “I hope it’s a success. If he doesn’t serve Bud on tap and there aren’t any TVs showing sports, I worry how long the local public will keep him open.”
Ridge kissed her hand. “Oh, they’re a little more sophisticated than you give them credit for,” he assured her, sliding behind the wheel and starting the huge engine. “Not much, but a little.”
Raven quizzed him about his travels in Asia on their ride back, about the temples he’d visited in Cambodia, the life-changing meditation retreat in a monastery in Laos, and the extraordinary beaches of Vietnam. “I’ve got to get there before it changes too much,” she said. “There’s so much of the world I haven’t seen.”Want to offer to squire me around, maybe as my tour-guide / travel buddy / boyfriend?For ten quiet seconds she let herself daydream of being gently taken by him while warm waves crashed around them. Soft sand under her toes, soothing water all around, this wonderfully muscular man on top of her, her slender legs wrapped around him, imagining his perfect hardness thrusting in and out...
“Chez vous, mademoiselle Raven.”Oh shit,she thought, returning to reality with a thud. Wow, even his French accent is pretty decent.“I had a really great time tonight,” he found himself being the first to say.
“Me too. It’s been a while since I went on a date. I hope I wasn’t too weird.”
Ridge chuckled once more.It’s so easy to laugh with her.“No, just weird enough.”
There were lights on inside the house. “Maggie and Wes must have wrapped up date night already,” Raven commented, just a hint of disappointment in her voice.Should I ask if we could go to his place instead?Her moral compass fell silent.What if he asks?Still nothing.What if he kisses me?
He kissed her gently on her cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow, if I may?”
Raven regained her composure and said, “Yes, you certainly may.” Ridge smiled and waved as he drove away. “Certainly,” she said again, to herself, as she found herself smiling with her first true happiness in months.
CHAPTEREIGHT
By sunrise,Hank had been awake for twenty-six hours straight and was as taut as piano wire. Nervously rubbing his eyes, he checked the clock, then one window and the other, for seemingly the thousandth time. In his haste to leave the roadside motel near Pendale, Hank had nearly forgotten his wallet and keys, and had turned out of the parking lot with literally no idea where he was going. Now, after a sleepless night, endless coffee and cans of Red Bull, and some of the darkest, most self-pitying thoughts of his life, Hank’s tired eyes were scanning the tiny apartment within the relative safety of an RV park outside of Seguin.
He knew that he couldn’t flee too far from Raven and help. Heneededto call her, once the hour was decent, and had run through the conversation a hundred times. He would apologize, blame the stress of his dangerous situation, promise never to do it again. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought of actuallyhittingher. There had been a flash of satisfaction, but then a tonnage of remorse so weighty and overwhelming that he’d considered putting his gun to his temple. But he lacked the guts even for that.
Finding himself traveling north, Hank had Googled around and found some inconspicuous places to stay, choosing the one furthest from the road and, he prayed, from trouble. If anyone found him here, he would be ready. It would be kill or be killed, he knew, and he had come prepared to fire the old revolver which he cradled on his lap as he waited out this long, terrible night. Death or jail; there was no true choice there.
He had already settled into the apartment before thought processes kicked in. How had Curt found him? Did they have someone working at the motel? That was unlikely, Hank rationalized; it was a remote and unassuming place, far from the interests of a professional drug gang. His phone, then? Cursing himself for not tossing it sooner, he simply switched it off, resolving to ditch it from his moving car once he cleared out to wherever it would be. Or maybe his car? Some kind of tracking device? He tore the vehicle apart, illuminated only by a flashlight held between his teeth, and found nothing. It was enough to send a man stark raving mad.
He rubbed his eyes again and decided to call. The worst that could happen was that Raven would refuse to pick up. No, he thought as he contemplated the near future yet again; the worst would be if she had already called the police, and they had called around the hotels and motels and... RV parks. They could be here any minute.
He shook the thought away and dialed his sister’s number. “Raven?”
“My face hurts likeshit.” Her voice was sleepy, but mostly she sounded absolutely furious.
“Sis, I’m so sorry. I really am. I’ll never forgive myself.” He waited, cringing at the thought that his sister might find forgiveness equally hard.
Raven exhaled slowly. “Where are you?”
