56. Dominic
CHAPTER 56
Dominic
THE BASTARD CHEATED
PRESENT
M orales waves me over the second I enter the station.
“Guess what! Guess what! Guess What!”
She’s been keeping things professional lately, so seeing her act this friendly throws me for a loop.
“What is it?”
“Well,” she starts, practically bouncing. “I’ve been trying to prove myself to Vorheis—prove that I’m good enough to make detective. And before his shift ended today, he asked me if I’d thought about taking the exam!”
“That’s great,” I tell her.
As much as she’s annoyed me and crossed a few lines, I’m genuinely happy for her. At the end of the day, she’s good at what she does, and deserves to be recognized for it.
Her smile evens out, turning serious. “I owe you an apology. You and Elyse. I know I said and did things that probably made you think I was a little nuts.” She laughs, nervously. “It’s just hard to meet a nice guy, and you’re a nice guy. ”
I nod, feeling my face heat. “Well—uh. Thanks.” Awkwardness prickles beneath my skin. “There’re plenty of nice guys out there. You’ll meet the right one.”
She tosses her head back, laughing. “God, you should see the look on your face. Relax, Alvarez. You’re just pretty to look at. And just so you know, I did meet someone. It’s only been a few weeks, but I have a good feeling about him.”
The tension in my shoulders eases, but before I can respond, the sound of the station door opening catches my attention. A woman walks in, her steps hurried. At first glance, she looks vaguely familiar, but it only takes me a second to place her; Claire. Ryker’s wife.
“Is Ryker here?” she asks, her voice edged with unease as she glances around the room, rubbing at her rounded stomach. It’s obvious she’s been crying—her face is puffy, green eyes shiny and red.
“No,” Morales says, standing up. “He left about an hour ago. Something wrong?”
Claire’s face crumbles, and she takes a shaky breath before blurting out, “I need to find him, now!”
Morales gestures for her to take a seat, but Claire shakes her head, refusing. “We can have someone radio him. Are you feeling alright? Is it the baby?”
Claire looks at her confused. “I’m fine. The baby is fine. It’s him, he’s the problem.”
Despite how upset she is, Claire looks great. She looks healthy. I know looks can be deceiving, but with how long Ryker was out because of her health, I was expecting her to look sick. She doesn’t.
“Ryker’s mentioned you’ve had a tough pregnancy,” I say.
Her glassy eyes meet mine, her expression pinched. “What are you talking about?” She rubs her stomach. “I mean it’s no walk in the park, but I’ve been managing it fine. What has he been saying? ”
Morales’s gaze flicks to mine before flashing Claire a polite smile. “He said you have HG and had been hospitalized.”
Claire shakes her head, laughing in disbelief. “He’s lost it,” she says under her breath. “No, I don’t have that. I don’t know why he would say that.”
Why would Ryker lie and say his pregnant wife is sick?
“We’ve been in mediation for weeks,” Claire continues. “I thought it was going fine, and that he would sign the divorce papers willingly. I was wrong. I just found out now he’s trying to prove I’m unfit and wants to fight me for full custody.”
My stomach starts to twist. “Did you say divorce?”
She nods, wiping away the last of her tears.
“Yeah, the bastard cheated on me.”
My breath stills as my gaze collides with Morales’s, both of us caught off-guard. Divorce? Ryker hadn’t said a word about it.
“Divorce?” Morales echoes, as if the word is foreign.
“Yes,” Claire snaps. Have you two met his little girlfriend? Victoria? I should’ve noticed the signs earlier.”
The name lands like a wrecking ball. My muscles tense, and I see Morales freeze beside me.
“Victoria?” Morales asks carefully. “Victoria Delmar?”
Claire blinks, clearly confused by her reaction. “I don’t know her last name. She’s got dark brown hair, tall, pretty, younger…”
Morales reaches for her tablet, pulling up a photo of Victoria Delmar from the case file. She turns the screen toward Claire. “Is this her?”
Her eyes widen, and she nods, her hand flying to her mouth. “Yes, that’s her. That’s Victoria. The woman he was cheating on me with.”
My stomach sinks. Morales shoots me a glance, and I can see the same dawning realization in her eyes.
“Claire,” I start, almost unable to continue because I’m in such disbelief. “Victoria isn’t Ryker’s girlfriend. She’s missing. Or, she was. Her body was found a few weeks ago. She was murdered.”
Claire gasps, staggering back slightly before catching herself on the edge of the desk. “Oh my God,” she whispers. “I had no idea. I’ve been staying with my parents in Seattle. I didn’t hear anything about her being missing.”
She turns to me, her eyes round and questioning. “You don’t think he…You don’t think Ryker…He would never—he’s not like that. I mean, he’s a cheater, but he’s not a…”
The unsaid words hang in the air like a dark cloud. My instincts scream at me, the bad feeling in my gut turning into a full-blown storm.
“We don’t know anything yet,” Morales says carefully. “But we’re going to find out.”
I can barely hear her over the pounding in my ears. My thoughts are racing, pieces clicking into place that I hadn’t thought to connect before. Ryker’s disinterest in calling in the feds when we’re clearly not equipped to handle the investigation properly, his insistence that it didn’t look like a setup.Thinking back on our conversation about Ellie, him telling me I was on borrowed time. It always bothered me that he wasn’t quiet about his attraction to her, as if I’m not aware of how badly he wanted her in high school.
Ellie, home and alone, immediately comes to mind.
I look between Claire and the photo of Victoria—same type, dark brown hair, fair skinned, and green eyes…
Fuck!
I grab my phone, dialing Ellie’s number as fast as my fingers can move. The line rings once, twice, three times before going to voicemail.
“Ellie, it’s me,” I say, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. “Call me back as soon as you get this, okay? It’s important. ”
I hang up and immediately redial. This time, the call doesn’t even ring. It goes straight to voicemail.
“She’s not answering.” Consuming panic takes hold of me as I try to rein in my thoughts. “Something’s wrong.”
Quickly, I pull up the live footage from the security cameras and they’re all black.
The security cameras I installed wererecommended by Ryker.
Fuck!
I call Gerard, and he answers on the second ring. “Hello,” he says, sounding groggy.
“How’s Ellie? Is she okay?”
He’s silent for a beat. “I called in. Came down with something nasty. Sheriff told me he’d fill in for me. Kind of surprised he’d take on such a menial task, but who am I to judge, right?”
I hang up, not bothering to respond.
“It’s Ryker. He has her, and I fucking know it.” I look to Claire. “Is there anywhere you can think of he would go if he didn’t want to be found? Even if it seems insignificant.”
Claire’s chest heaves in quickened breaths. “He—He,” she stammers. “He used to meet up with Victoria at some hunting cabin off the highway between Badger Canyon and Red Mountain. I followed him there once.”
While Claire writes down a description of the location, Morales is already grabbing her keys and a jacket.
“Let’s go,” Morales calls out.
Before leaving, I spare a parting glance at Claire. “Go somewhere safe and call your lawyer.”
She stares at us, openmouthed.
There’s no time to explain further, we can’t waste another second.
I follow Morales, my heart pounding as we rush out of the station and into the night. The car ride to Ellie’s house feels like an eternity, even though Morales is driving at full speed with the lights flashing and sirens blasting.
“We’ve got to be wrong,” I say, though it sounds more like I’m trying to convince myself. “Ryker wouldn’t?—”
“Wouldn’t he?” Morales cuts me off. “His wife just told us he’s been lying about their marriage, cheating on her, and now the woman he was cheating with is dead. You really think that’s a coincidence? There are no coincidences.”
I grit my teeth, my fists clenching in my lap. “I don’t know. I just know we need to get to Ellie. Now.”
When we pull up to her house, the lights are still on, the energy pulsing in the air unsettling. The door is closed, but it’s not locked.
I push it open, my voice ringing out. “Ellie!”
Silence. The kind of silence that feels like an empty void.
My hand instinctively moves to my hip, fingers curling around the grip of my service weapon. I don’t draw it yet, but I’m not about to walk in unprepared.
Stepping inside, my heart hammers as I take in the scene. Her laptop is still on the dining table, a colorful sketch beside it. The music is playing quietly, but there’s no sign of her.
I draw my gun, holding it low as my eyes dart around. With careful steps, I clear the kitchen and living room while Morales takes the hallway and starts making her way upstairs. We move in calculated motions, wordlessly clearing every room of the house until we meet back on the main level in the kitchen.
“She’s not here. Her car’s still here, though.”
My vision goes black for a second and my hands begin to shake. I glance at the table again, my eyes catching on Ellie’s sketch. There’s a harsh line across it, as if something—or someone spooked her.
I’m done ignoring the signs that have been screaming at me something wasn’t right. Ryker is looking more suspicious with each passing second and Ellie is missing.
“We need to get an APB on Ryker.”
Morales shoots me a look. We both know the consequences of raising the alarm on the sheriff. If we’re wrong, it’s career ending.
Morales nods after a beat before reaching for her radio.
I scrub a hand over my face, trying to get a grip on the crippling fear that’s about to suffocate me. I can’t lose it. Not now.
We didn’t come this far for it to end this way.
“We’re going to that cabin. If they’re not there, I’m burning down the whole fucking county until I find her.”
Morales starts the engine. “And if it’s him, then what?”
“Then I kill him.”