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I rip it open and rush out into the hall, but before I can scream, something hard slams into the back of my head. White-hot pain shoots through my skull.
Reaching up, I touch my fingers to the back of my head, half expecting them to come back covered in blood. Then, I meet Ryker’s gaze. “It was him. José was there, too. They’re the ones who killed Mr. Prescott.” Eyes wide, I stare up at him.
His mouth is flattened into a tight line, his gaze full of fire. “You’re sure?”
I nod. “I remember that. They hit me on the back of the head. I don’t—I can’t remember what happened next, but I remember the rest so clearly. Ryker, it was him.”
Chapter 27
Ryker
“She’s sure it was him?” Zane questions through the phone.
“Positive. She saw a picture of him, and it triggered the memory from that night.”
“Any other memories? If we can find out where they held her, we might be able to pull some evidence tying him to it.”
“Not yet.” I glance into the house where she’s standing beside Presley in the living room. They’re both looking over something, and for this brief moment, my brother looks a whole lot like the boy I remember.
Unburdened.
Dahlia’s light has momentarily chased away his shadows, and it only makes me fall even harder for her.
“Listen, things have gotten…complicated with Dahlia.”
“Oh?”
“We, uh—I kissed her. I shouldn’t have, but—”
“Listen, none of us have any right to tell you that falling for someone you’re protecting is a mistake. We’re all guilty of it. And, to be honest, it only makes you fight harder when you’re emotionally involved. Having feelings isn’t a weakness, Ryker. Not in this case.”
“I don’t know. It feels risky.”
“Trust yourself.”
“Hard to say that.”
“What happened before with your brother is not going to happen again. Dahlia is not Angie, and you are not helpless.”
“Logically, I know that. But there’s this fear—”
“You have to let it go, Tank. Or it’s going to end up being the very distraction you’re so afraid of.”
Logically, I know he’s right, but there’s this part of me that refuses to let its iron grip on my past go.
“Sawyer find anything out on the lawyer?”
“He’s working on it. Guy has an iron-clad alibi for the night of Dahlia’s disappearance as well as the death of her father.”
“Someone is lying then, because he was there.”
“Oh, I believe it. But he has built a bulletproof shield around his life.”
“It’s not bulletproof. We just need to find the weak spot.”
“We’re working on it. You just focus on staying safe. There’s been a lot of movement outside of the Prescott estate.”
“Yeah, Presley has a guy watching the place, too.”
