Chapter 20
Chapter
Twenty
Nell sat beside Ryder at the dining table while he finished sending the drone footage to Axel. His shoulder was bandaged and dirt streaked his bare feet and calves from the run through the brush. He shifted in the chair and pressed one hand against his ribs.
“Dom wants the full team on a video call tomorrow night. He wants you there also.”
“Okay.”
He looked down at his legs. “I need a shower.”
“Yeah.”
Ryder got clean clothes from his suitcase and went into the bathroom. A moment later, water started behind the closed door. Nell put away the first-aid supplies, threw out the used gauze, and carried the cold pack back to the freezer.
For the past hour, practical work had kept her fear contained.
She had cleaned Ryder’s cut, iced his swollen arm, listened while he gave Dom the full account, and made sure Axel received everything the drone had saved.
As long as there was something she could do, she didn’t have to think about what might have happened.
Now there was nothing left to do. She changed into a soft shirt and shorts and sat on the edge of the bed while the shower ran. The fear she had kept pushed aside all evening came back hard enough to make her stomach hurt. Ryder could have died.
The bathroom door opened. He came into the bedroom in clean shorts, his hair damp from the shower. The bandage on his shoulder stood out against his skin, and a bruise had darkened along his ribs.
“Come lie down,” Nell said.
Ryder eased onto the mattress. Nell climbed in beside him, careful of his injured shoulder, and rested one hand against his chest.
“When you came through the door covered in blood, I was terrified.”
Ryder turned his head toward her. “Nell?—”
She swallowed. “You followed that SUV alone. Those men found you before you made it back to the truck, and if you hadn’t been able to shift...”
She couldn’t finish the sentence without seeing the empty hours that might have followed. Ryder not answering his phone. Dom trying to find him. Nell waiting in this apartment without knowing why he had never come back.
“I could have lost you.”
Ryder covered her hand with his. “I know.”
“I don’t ever want to find out what that feels like.”
“Neither do I.” His thumb moved across her knuckles. “Following them alone was a mistake. I should have called Dom before I went after the SUV. I won’t do that again.”
Ryder slid one hand behind her neck and kissed her. She kept her weight away from his bruised ribs and injured shoulder. When they separated, she stayed close enough that their foreheads touched.
Ryder brushed his thumb beneath her eye. “I want a life with you. I don’t know how any of it works out in the end. I just know I want us figuring it out together.”
“That’s what I want too.”
Her phone vibrated on the bedside table. Tessa Ward’s name lit the screen, and Nell reached for the phone.
I need to tell you what happened with the files. The ones I uploaded were replacements. I was instructed to use versions from a restricted folder after your request came in. I copied some of the originals before they were replaced.
A second message arrived before Nell finished reading.
My boss ordered the remaining archive material and backups removed or destroyed. I need to see you.
Nell sat up. “It’s Tessa Ward, my Northline contact.”
She handed Ryder the phone. “Do you know who her boss is?” he asked.
“No, but she could be in danger.”
“Don’t answer yet. Send it to Dom.”
Nell forwarded Tessa’s messages to him and added a note. Tessa Ward is my original contact from Northline. I haven’t answered her. I’m not sure what to do.
She hit send.