🗝️Detective Ryker Viltarin must uncover dark secrets before he loses not only his heart but also his life.🗝️
You're on your own, far from home
The wind is blowing in the top of the pines
A gloomy sky where the sun never shines
Deep...
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'Oh no .... No, no, no!'
Ryker's mind was racing. He barely heard the patter of children's footsteps as Liam disappeared from his field of vision and went off searching for treasure. The small red box in Eve's hands caught his gaze and made him gasp heavily. He could feel his hands getting damp. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead as the color drained from his face.
'What the hell! I'm going to rip his head off!'
He forced himself to take a deep breath before reaching for the wrapping of the surprising gift to take it. He struggled to keep an expressionless face as he turned the box in his hand and examined it more closely.
The box felt rough in his hands, worn. The darker, dented corners confirmed the first impression. But it wasn't this that sent a shiver down his spine and fueled his panic after his initial curiosity.
"Ray?" he heard Riona's voice, looking at him curiously. "Are you okay?"
Blinking, he lifted his head and looked at the young heiress of the cottage. He hadn't even noticed her following his movements as he turned the box in his hands. Riona's question had also drawn Eve's attention, and both women were now giving him a strange look.
His gaze slid back and forth between the cousins for a heartbeat before a slight smile came to his lips.
"Yes, don't worry," he assured them. "The box just seemed strange to me, too. But I'm sure it's nothing."
However, he kept his concerns and his following thoughts to himself: the package must have been left at the back door while he and Liam had gone out the front door. It seemed deliberate to put it at the back, where Riona and he weren't constantly running in and out. That was no accident. It was planned and thought out.
In front of him, Riona and Eve exchanged a look that even he couldn't interpret. They didn't seem to know anything about the package or its contents - luckily for him.
"Well," he started and felt his smile slip a little. "We don't need them now, do we? I'll throw them in the bin."
He turned away almost a little too hastily, directing his steps away from the kitchen and the two women, whose glances he felt at his back for a moment before the door slammed again behind him.
