~RYDER~
The storm hit harder than the engine beneath me.
Rain slashed the road, headlights bouncing off the slick asphalt like fireflies in hell.
My knuckles were white on the throttle, heart pounding to the rhythm of the storm.
Every lead, every sleepless night, every damn mile...
It all brought me here.
To her.
I pulled into the diner’s back lot, the same cracked pavement where we’d kissed once under the neon lights.
The same place I’d sworn to keep her safe.
Now it looked like a crime scene waiting to happen.
A black SUV sat parked near the back door
.
Marcus’s.
I’d know that smug luxury anywhere.
I killed the engine. The silence after was deafening.
For a long second, I just stood there in the rain, helmet dangling from my fingers, chest rising and falling hard.
My re
