I tried for a joke. "You didn't kill him, did you?"
He gave me a long, penetrating look. "Is that a serious question?"
I hesitated, unsure if I was serious or not. "No comment?"
This made him laugh, the sound warm in the quiet night. "Nah. The guy's alive, but let's just say he's not conninganyoneanymore."
"But you thoughtIwas conning you?"
"No." He exhaled slowly. "I thought you were desperate."
"Yeah, but…desperate enough to con you?"
"Notme," he said. "A local – or some other regular person who didn't know better. Youdoknow that if this were about jewels or money, I would've given you anything you asked."
It was so sweet, but I just had to say, "But you should've told me – or at least asked."
His voice softened in the fading light. "I know. But you want the truth?"
I nodded.
"I didn't trust myself."
"You mean…to not lose your temper or something?"
"No. To not stay with you, no matter what you said." He shook his head. "So I stuck with what I knew."
"Which was…?"
"That I'd fallen for someone capable of doing the same bullshit that ruined my mom. I thought I was losing it." His eyes held mine. "But instead, I lost you."
My heart ached for him – not the man he was now, but the younger version he'd been. I smiled. "But not permanently. And that's what really counts, right?"
"Yeah, but I was still an ass."
"Well, we're all assessometimes," I said. "So back to that guy, is he in prison or something?"
"Nope. But he's not so pretty. Or rich. Or untouchable."
This reminded me of another question, one I was almost afraid to ask. "What about Evan Carver?"
"What about him?"
"Did you have anything to do with that?"
"You mean his death?"
I shrugged. "I guess so." During the past few weeks, every leaked detail made it sound even more fishy. The official cause of death was alcohol poisoning, which didn't quite jive with the ransacked state of his condo. "It just seems a little off, that's all."
Ryder replied, "Got that right."
"Soyou'resuspicious, too?"
"I wouldn't gothatfar." The porch swing creaked softly as Ryder let it sway. "It's hard to be suspicious when you know what happened."
What?I braced my feet on the porch, and the swinging stopped. "So youdoknow what happened?"
Ryder didn't hesitate. "Yup."
