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“Have you spent a lot of time in hospitals?”
Kaden easily weaved his way through the lunch-hour traffic. “Far more than I want to admit. Being a stuntman has its drawbacks.”
Lia tried to imagine a job where you routinely defied death to earn a paycheck. It was impossible. All she knew was that she was deeply relieved she hadn’t known him back then. She would have been in a constant state of panic, terrified he was going to be hurt.
“What was your worst accident?” she asked.
“I was performing a stunt for a movie in south LA. The technical director was supposed to have cleared a six-block safe zone, but somehow a car managed to get past the barriers and drove directly onto the street where I was doing my stunt. To avoid a head-on collision, I had to lay down my bike and skidded into a nearby building. I broke my leg in two places and cracked four ribs.”
She flinched. “And you continued after that?”
“For a few years.” He shrugged. “The money was good and I’ always knew my career would be short. I wanted to get a nice, fat retirement fund before I walked away.”
“Risky,” she murmured.
He sent her a quick smile. “No longer.”
“Mmm.” He might not crave the adrenaline rush of facing death, but he would never be satisfied with a normal life.
Not the sort of life she preferred.
The thought cast a sudden shadow over the sunny day.
As if sensing the change in her mood, Kaden stopped at a light and glanced in her direction.
“How are you feeling?”
“Weak but much better,” she assured him. “Did you get the cookies from my apartment?”
“The cookies and so much more,” he said.
“More? I don’t understand.”
Pressing on the gas as the light changed, Kaden returned his attention to the busy road as he quickly revealed what had happened when he went to the store to collect her belongings and the plate of cookies.
Lia remained silent as he shared information about his trip to the sheriff’s office and the confrontation with Tate Erickson. Once he finished, she stared out the front windshield, trying to digest what he told her.
It wasn’t easy.
There was a lot of information to shuffle through. The fact that Kaden now had genuine proof that the men were blackmailed by Vanna. And that they’d hidden the toxic waste being pumped into the water supply. There were also a lot of holes in the story. Gaping holes that included who killed Vanna. And why the people of Pike were currently being stalked by a crazed killer.
At last she focused on the first question that popped into her mind. “You said you went into the apartment to get my things and when you came out you discovered the files just sitting in the Jeep?”
“Yep.”
She shook her head in confusion. “How would anyone know you were going to the store at that time?”
He shrugged. “I assume they were at the hospital and followed me back to Pike.”
She grimaced, sharply reminded that whoever was responsible for the murders had to be a local. One who possibly had been in and out of the store dozens of times. The thought made her stomach twist with dread.
“And you’re sure the files were in the envelope Ryan Burke was holding when he was murdered?”
Kaden slowed as they reached the outer suburbs. The traffic was lighter, but the streets had narrowed, and there were several pedestrians scurrying from shop to shop. The frenetic days of the holiday season had well and truly arrived, sending a buzz of activity through the city.
“As sure as I can be,” he conceded.
Lia nodded. For now, she was willing to accept it was possible they came from Ryan Burke. But that only created more questions.
