by Mia Taylor
He laughed at his own gullibility.
“Anyway, my mother didn’t want me to have any part of the family business and she did her best to shield me from it. She may have gotten her wish if I hadn’t proven to be such a freak.”
“You’re not a freak!” Rui cried, shocked at his assessment. He gave her a wry smile.
“You have no idea,” he sighed. “Healing is not all I do.”
“I know,” she replied, turning to face him fully in her seat. “I saw you… changing when you ran from the hospital. Why does it happen?”
His laugh was mirthless, short.
“If I knew, I’d have a better idea of how to stop it,” he replied tensely. “And I wouldn’t be a freak.”
“Stop saying that!” She reached forward and grabbed his hand. “I can’t imagine that any of this is easy for you, Ryker, but you have a special talent, one that no one else in this world has! Imagine the good you could do if we can harness your—”
“You sound like my father.”
There was nothing complimentary in the statement and Rui clamped her mouth shut, stung by the statement.
“My dad thought that my abilities were useful, too. So useful, in fact, I became an unwitting soldier to the family before I even knew what was going on.”
Rui gaped at him.
“Your father exploited your abilities?” she gasped. “Th-that’s awful!”
He frowned.
“He didn’t see it as exploitation, I’m sure. He was only thinking of ways to better the family. He loved me…”
The way Ryker said it, Rui had doubts that he believed it at the moment, but she didn’t push the issue.
What kind of man exposes his own son’s vulnerabilities for his own gain?
“Anyway, I have no idea why I am the way I am. My dad never investigated it and I think I told you that I was adopted.”
“Maybe your real parents have the same abilities,” Rui said softly. “Haven’t you ever wanted to know who they were? To find out why you’re this way?”
He shrugged but his flippant nature wasn’t fooling her. She knew him well enough to know when something troubled him and it was unfathomable to believe that he didn’t mind he had been used.
“None of that matters now anyway,” Ryker concluded. “What matters is that I am being targeted.”
“Yes, that,” Rui agreed, a knot reforming in her stomach. “Who is after you?”
Ryker grunted.
“Only about a hundred people I can think of off the top of my head.”
She stared at him aghast.
“Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I wish I were.”
They drove silently for several minutes until Rui couldn’t handle the quiet anymore.
“Ryker, you can’t live like this—we can’t live like this!”
A brief but tired smile touched his lips.
“You’re still willing to stay with me after all this?”
Rui bit on her lower lip and turned away.
You should be running, screaming from here. You have a career to think about, a life…
But what life had she really had before Ryker? She’d worked eighty hours a week only to stumble home and sleep in a cold, messy apartment. Her entire life had consisted of taking care of other people in pain, ignoring her own.
Ryker laughed coldly.
“I guess I have my answer,” he snickered. “I’ll get you back to Miami as soon as I know you’re not in any danger.”
“I am not going anywhere without you,” she told him quickly. “My life is with you now, no matter what.”
The expression on his face told her that he wasn’t convinced but he didn’t comment. They lapsed into their own thoughts but when Rui reached for his hand, he accepted it eagerly and permitted her to twine her fingers through his.
They were in Naples in just over two hours, pulling off the interstate into a beach neighborhood with houses scattered miles apart.
“We’ll be safe here for a while,” Ryker explained, stopping the car in front of a fully gated property. “There’s only a few people who know I have this place and I doubt this is the first place they’ll look for me.”
Rui nodded as he punched in a code through a keypad, causing the gate to fall away. She gasped at the sprawling property before them.
“Wow,” she muttered. “What is this place?”
“Summerhouse,” Ryker replied and Rui shook her head. Between the three-storey condo in Miami Beach and the colonial-style beach house, Rui wondered if she would ever get accustomed to the opulence which Ryker seemed to find commonplace.
“How many more places do you have?”
Ryker shrugged, appearing embarrassed.
“A couple,” he replied evasively, sensing her awe. “It kinda comes with the territory.”
Rui felt a rush of unease.
This is all paid for by blood money. I shouldn’t be enthralled by this. It’s awful.
And yet, she couldn’t help her eyes from growing wider with each step they took after parking and climbing the steps toward the house.
“We’re going to have to go out for stuff. The house has been closed up for a couple months,” Ryker warned her. “But we’re going to have to use your credit cards. I can’t risk being tracked here, at least not for a few days until I can sort out what’s happening… and who I can trust.”
“The cops will be looking for you,” Rui agreed, worry furrowing her brow. “But they might be looking for me, too, Ryker. I took your stuff, remember?”
He nodded.
“I remember, but I would rather have the cops find us than whoever else is looking for us.”
They stared at one another for a moment, the gravity of their situation weighing on them as heavy as the clouds which seemed to have followed them across the state.
“Are you sure you’re still with me, Rui?” Ryker asked, the question a low, sad growl. “Because I understand if you’re not.”
She pursed her lips together and stared up at him with serious eyes. She knew the direness of what he was asking. He was entrusting her with information that could potentially lead to her own demise. If she agreed to stay with him, there was no telling what life would have in store for her from that minute on. As their eyes locked, Rui knew the decision was easy.
“I am with you,” she promised. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Chapter Ten
Daunting Deja Vu
They spent an hour uncovering the furniture in the house, making little conversation, but there was a different feeling between them now, one which was not cloaked in uncertainty and concern.
It went against everything he had learned since childhood about trusting outsiders and giving himself unadulterated to another, but Ryker knew he had never been more connected to another person than he was to Rui.
He loathed that he had dragged her, unwittingly, into his messed-up life, but it was too late for regrets now. They had only each other and there was nothing they could do but embrace the fact that they had that if nothing else to hold onto.
He caught Rui staring at him, her expression a combination of awe and worry, and he silently wished she would stop gazing at him in such a way.
She’s looking at me like I’m some supervillain or something.
But he knew that wasn’t the case either. Rui was simply trying to process everything she’d learned in such a short time and he couldn’t blame her for being overwhelmed.
I’m overwhelmed and this is my life.
“It’s worse than I thought here,” he told her after they opened the house and started the air conditioning, hoping to alleviate some of the dust which had settled since anyone had last been there. “We have nothing at all to eat here. We have to go to town.”
She nodded, glancing out the windows at the dark night.
“What are we going to find open at this hour? We should probably wait until morning. It’s only a couple hours from now.”
“No,” Ryker said firmly. “I want to go when we’re least likely to see other people. There’s a twenty-four-hour Walmart in Naples. We can get whatever we need there.”
She shrugged and nodded agreeably.
“I hadn’t thought about running into people,” she admitted and Ryker smiled wryly.
“Occupational hazard,” he replied. Instantly he regretted saying it, her face crumbling at the reminder.
“Come on,” he sighed.
They were in town in less than fifteen minutes, the Walmart parking lot almost deserted but for the cars which Ryker assumed belonged to the employees. It was almost five a.m. when they entered the building.
“We’ll do a big shop…” he trailed off and glanced at her, embarrassed. “Assuming you have enough money for one.”
Rui’s face puckered into a scowl.
“I am a doctor,” she reminded him stiffly. “I think I can afford it.”
More humiliation colored his face.
“Of course.”
She’s a doctor. A beautiful, generous, hard-working doctor. I’m a white-collar criminal and a freak of nature. What the hell does she see in me?
They grabbed two carts and made their way through the aisles, grabbing whatever caught their attention. When Ryker looked over his shoulder at Rui, he saw a strange smile on her face.
“What are you grinning about?” he asked and she blushed.
“It’s so stupid,” she laughed. “But I’m trying to think of the last time I went grocery shopping—like, really went grocery shopping.”
“What do you do for food?” he chuckled. “Order in?”
She shook her head, her long strands falling sweetly over her face and Ryker had never seen her look more innocent than at that moment.
“I’m never home,” she replied. “If I’m not at the hospital, I’m sleeping. There’s coffee and maybe a half a loaf of bread that’s probably gone bad at my place. I grab things from the corner store on a whim, but to use a cart…”
She snickered again.
“Well, I’m glad I can introduce you to the luxuries in life like shopping at Walmart,” Ryker commented dryly. “Maybe if you’re really good, I’ll take you to Walgreens next.”
“Ooh! Sounds exciting.”
They continued through the aisles and Ryker could see she was genuinely enjoying herself, despite the tediousness of the task.
She’s something else.
“I can’t fit another thing in my cart,” Rui complained. “And your stuff is ready to topple over. I know I said I could afford it, but…”
She smiled to show she was joking.
“You’re right,” Ryker agreed, gesturing toward the cash registers. “Come on. Most of this stuff is going to go to waste anyway. We’re not going to be here long.”
He didn’t miss the almost wistful expression which touched her face but he didn’t ask her about it. Ryker was sure he knew what she was thinking.
How bad would it be to stay in Naples and forget about the rest of the world permanently?
If only it were that simple.
They made their way to the only open cash and began to load things on the conveyer belt, chattering quietly about the ridiculous items they had selected.
“Goldfish crackers?” Ryker teased. “Do you have a toddler you didn’t tell me about?”
“Are you kidding? These things are energy in a fun shape!”
It wasn’t until the belt was fully loaded did Ryker realize that the cashier had not started ringing their purchases through.
He looked at the white-haired older woman and for a strange second his stomach lurched. He was instantly unsettled, but why, he couldn’t say.
“Is something wrong?” Rui called as Ryker and the cashier stood staring at one another. “Don’t tell me you’re closed.”
She looked at the belt in exasperation, half of their purchases already laid out.
“N-no,” the woman choked, wrenching her eyes away from Ryker’s face. “I-I’m sorry.”
Instantly, she started pulling the merchandise toward her, ringing them through, but Ryker could feel her watching him through her peripheral vision.
Do I know her?
She seemed intensely familiar but at the same time, he was sure he didn’t know her.
Does she recognize me from the news or something?
He had been meaning to check the media for word on what had happened in his parking garage.
Not that I expect the police are investing too much manpower in learning who shot me.
“Do you know her?” Rui whispered in his ear and Ryker shook his head.
“I don’t think so.”
Yet even as he said it, he felt like he was lying, like his subconscious was trying to tell him something his conscious mind couldn’t begin to understand.
Rui continued to place the purchases on the conveyer belt and Ryker moved the first empty cart toward the bagged items, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was missing something.
Abruptly, the cashier lifted her head and she stared at him, almost startling Ryker with her directness.
“What’s your name?” she asked, her voice hoarse. The question caught him off-guard and he shot Rui a nervous look, trying to mask his sudden concern.
“Joe,” he replied quickly. “Why do you ask?”
The older lady’s face flushed with embarrassment and she looked away, shaking her head.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I-I thought I knew you from somewhere.”
Ryker swallowed the urge to tell her that he felt exactly the same. He had no idea who she was but given their circumstances, he had no reason to engage with this woman.
It’s not like we went to high school together.
The cashier finished totalling their purchases without another word until it came time to declare the total.
“Three hundred and seven oh six,” she murmured, keeping her eyes trained on Rui.
The young doctor reached into her purse and withdrew her Visa, again casting Ryker an uneasy look.
If the cops are tracking her credit card, they won’t easily find the villa. It’s under the name of a protected company. It will take days for them to figure out where we are and by then, I’ll have a handle on this mess and we’ll be back in Miami. If we just lay low at the villa, they won’t find us.
At least that was his hope, but even if they did, he meant what he had said to Rui—it was much better to deal with the cops than it was the family.
And if it comes to that, I better pray that the cops aren’t leaking to whoever is trying to kill me.
“Ready, babe?”
Ryker looked at Rui who had joined his side and nodded. He peered at the cashier one last time but she seemed to be purposely avoiding eye contact with him.
This is going to drive me crazy for days, he realized. But I’m going to wake up at three a.m. and remember she was my mom’s Avon lady or something.
“You okay?” Rui asked when they got to the Mazda. Ryker pressed the key fob to release the trunk’s latch and he nodded.
“Yeah… that cashier, I swear I’ve seen her before, but I can’t place where.”
“Well, she was certainly staring at you like she knew you.”
Rui paused, two bags in her hand.
“You don’t think she’s going to be trouble for us, do you?”
Ryker shrugged.
“As far as I’m concerned, everyone is trouble for us right now.”
He took the bags from her and placed them in the hatch, another thought occurring to him.
“Who else knows about us?” he asked urgently. “I know that nurse saw us together… Vera?”
Rui sighed and touched his face with her open palms.
“Ryker, we have enough to worry about right now without thinking about who could know we’re together. Let’s focus on getting back to the villa and devising a game plan. Don’t worry about me for now—you’re the target. If we find out who’s afte
r you, it alleviates the threat on me too, right?”
He studied her face, wondering how she was managing to be so calm.
She’s a doctor. She knows how to keep her emotions under control.
Fleetingly, the memory of her horrified face after he’d woken up on the operating table flashed before him.
Maybe she’s not as good at hiding her feelings as she thinks.
“Yes, Boss,” he teased, lowering his head to kiss her lips gently. When they parted, she grinned at him.
“I like the sound of that. Boss.”
“Then you shall hereby be known as ‘Boss Lady,’” he teased as they parted, walking the carts back toward the drop-off.
“That has a nice ring. Maybe ‘Dr. Boss Lady?’” Rui suggested, and he snorted.
“I think you’re pushing your luck, Boss Lady.”
He slipped his hand into hers and they made their way back to the car.
“Cool name she had, though,” Rui said when they climbed into the car.
“Who?”
He backed out of the spot and headed out of the parking lot as gray began to color the horizon, dawn almost peeking through.
“The cashier.”
“She told us her name?”
“No, silly, it was on her nametag.”
“Oh. I didn’t notice.”
“I did and like I said, cool name. I’ve never heard it before.”
“Are you going to tell me or just keep me in suspense, Boss Lady?”
She giggled.
“Fallon. Her name is Fallon.”
Chapter Eleven
A Glimpse of What’s to Come
The sun rose brilliantly over Naples, the sparkling waters of the Bay twinkling like miniature diamonds against the blue.
Rui was so tired, she could barely keep her eyes open as she waited for Ryker to bring the food he had prepared onto the back veranda. He had all but thrown her out of the kitchen when she offered to help.
“The kitchen is off limits to you,” he told her firmly. “Never stand between a man and his spatula.”
He held it up for emphasis and gave her a kiss.
“Go relax by the pool. I saw you grab a crappy bathing suit from Walmart. I know you were eyeing the pool from the minute we walked in here.”