Page 103 of No Headlines Please

Finally, he asked the question I'd been waiting for. "Are you sure this is bad news?"

I let out a scoff. "It is to me. I promised to keep eyes on him."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, losing him wasn't part of the deal." What I didn't say was that the other part of the deal, finding Tessa's sister, had gone even more off the rails.

Yes, I'd found her.

And no, I hadn't told him.

But I had my reasons. Something still wasn't ringing true. For the thousandth time, I recalled Ryder's claim that Delaney had been missing.

She wasn't. Or at least, she hadn't been missing in the way Ryder had described.

Until I knew what that meant, I wasn't so eager to show my hand.

Did this make me a shitty friend?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I was still trying to decide when Ryder asked, "So, what's next?"

I forced my attention back to where it belonged. "We'll continue to track it, watch his place in Chicago and other places he hangs out. Unless he's Hoffa, he'll surface eventually."

Alive, dead, or somewhere in between, he'd turn up one way or another.

The situation was ironic, really, considering that Carver had originally asked for my help in finding Tessa. Instead, I'd been helping Ryder keep Tessa safe.

Ryder was a friend. Carver wasn't. Simple as that.

On the phone, Ryder scoffed. "If you ask me, the Hoffa thing doesn't sound so bad."

No shit. Still, I wondered if he'd say it. "Meaning?"

Ryder paused for a long moment. "I'm just saying, I wouldn't be too disappointed if Carver never shows up."

Was that a hint?

Even without the Sloane thing, my reputation was dark enough that the comment sounded suspiciously like a request.

I stared out the window. The city stretched beneath me as I considered the benefits of solving the problem permanently. With my contacts, it would be laughably easy – a fact that wasn't exactly comforting.

Fuck Ryder Vaughn.

Favor or not, it wasn't my job to make his problems go away. But would he actually say it?

I didn't laugh as I said, "I can make that happen."

The line went quiet.

I'd intended it as a joke – or hell, maybe a test – but the thought still lingered. What would I do if someone I cared about were threatened?

Nothing good, that's for sure.

But then, Ryder laughed, breaking the spell. It wasn't his normal laugh. It was hard at the edges, like none of this was funny.