Harlequin Love Inspired June 2019, Box Set 2 of 2 by Brenda Minton

Author:Brenda Minton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2019-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

“Listen,” Ryder said. “I’m going to put on warmer clothes. There’s a chair in that corner. Have a seat. Back in a few.”

Jeri wandered over to the chair as he left the room, fighting with herself. Deciding that Ryder was no killer was one thing; considering him as a business partner was something else entirely. Her mother would likely never speak to her again if she made such an arrangement with him. But then, her mother wasn’t going to be pleased with Jeri’s conclusions, anyway. Still, how could she go into business with the man responsible—even indirectly—for her brother’s death?

His cell phone lay on the padded arm of the chair, just begging to be picked up. Grimacing, Jeri briefly closed her eyes. She did not want to touch that thing. She wanted, surprisingly, to simply drop this whole quest, but then she thought of her mother. Her mom was all she had left. Jeri couldn’t lose her, too. Besides, if Ryder didn’t intentionally hurt Bryan, nothing and no one was going to prove he had.

Groaning inwardly, Jeri snatched up the little phone and dropped down onto the cushioned seat of the armchair. To her shock, the phone wasn’t even locked. Who didn’t lock their phones these days? Maybe this was a sign that she should keep digging.

Quickly she scrolled through his contacts. He didn’t have many, and he’d nicknamed them with monikers like Trainer, Dietician, Instructor, Medic. She shared any that seemed appropriate with her private investigator, sending the contacts directly from Ryder’s phone. One or more of them might have been present that fateful day, or maybe they’d heard something that could be followed up. She went on to the photos, hoping to find an unedited video of that sparring match. If she could just see the full video, she might be able to put this whole ordeal to rest.

A door opened somewhere in the back of the small building, and footsteps sounded on the bare floor. She dropped the phone right back where she’d found it. Grabbing a framed photo on a shelf in the bookcase behind the chair, she pretended to study it.

“That’s my family when I was tiny,” Ryder said as soon as he entered the room, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

Frowning, she glanced between him and the photo. She saw an attractive couple standing in front of a small, nondescript house with two little boys and a dog. Thinking that one of the brothers was absent, she said, “I guess the youngest one is you.”

Grinning, he walked over and tapped the photo of the woman’s abdomen. “That’s me right there.” Jeri raised her eyebrows, and Ryder laughed. “That was taken in August. I was born the following February.”

“The second,” she added reflexively.

This time, his eyebrows went up.

“Uh, it’s been discussed,” she muttered. This wasn’t the first time she’d made the mistake of revealing that she knew his birthdate.

His smile flattened. “I hope the family isn’t planning anything major.”

“I’m not sure what they’re planning,” Jeri admitted.

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