🗝️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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Ryker had to force himself to be the first to set foot in the familiar home. Anxiety and fear made his movements as heavy as lead. Although the cottage immediately welcomed him with the cosy, woody, sweet scent of the two women's perfumes, it only worsened the knot in his stomach.
Ryker moved forward, casting a watchful glance over the kitchen and the visible area, and immediately, his heart went cold. A chair at the kitchen table had been knocked over, and he recognised reddish-brown stains on the back. The realisation didn't hit his head fast enough when Dylan's voice rose: "Ray."
Dylan's tone made him shudder before he turned halfway around. Dylan had wanted to close the door behind them, but now he pointed his chin at the white that Ryker had newly painted only a few days ago. There were smeared, bloody prints on it, and they stained the colour inside the door. The brass handle of the door was smeared, too, and Dylan stared at the palm of his hand with a hard expression. He must have reached into it and noticed it that way.
Ryker's throat closed up so much that he could hardly breathe.
"This can't be happening..." he whispered so softly that only Dylan might have understood him. Both men looked at each other as Ryker's eyes fell to the floor. Drops traced a trail across the wooden floor. Some of them were so tiny that they were hardly visible from a standing position. Others were larger...
Dylan took a big step forward, and Ryker managed to grab and stop him from rushing off.
"Let go of me!" Dylan hissed through gritted teeth, and Ryker only grabbed him tighter. "Eve might be hurt! And Liam...!"
"That's why you can't rush headlong now!" Ryker hissed back. Again, his gaze followed the trail. What had happened? Had the bastard attacked Eve and Liam? Was Riona hurt or Edana? Had he fled afterwards and left the tracks or...
"We have to go and see. Come on!"
Careful to avoid the creaking floorboards, he put one foot in front of the other. Dylan followed like a shadow. His comrade tried to place his feet exactly where Ryker had stepped before.
They crept into the house meter by meter. The men were tense as they paused briefly, taking cover behind the kitchen counter and listening.
