Several techs walked out carrying brown boxes of evidence. Her heart sank. Would they be able to identify the guy Ryker had kidnapped? If they did, would he tell the truth?
Snow swirled down, and she blinked it from her eyelashes. “Who called you, anyway?”
The door to her neighbor’s house opened, and Detective Norton nodded toward the porch.
“Grams?” Zara whispered.
Her grandmother gave a happy cry and rushed off the porch, her sensible galoshes scattering wet snow as she ran across the lawn. A bright pink scarf protected her white curls, and a long green coat covered her tiny body. Snow matted against her thick glasses. “Zara.” She barreled into Zara’s arms for a rose-scented hug.
Zara returned the hug, careful of her Grams’s delicate bones, and then leaned back. “I thought your trip ended next week?”
“Yes.” Grams waved red nails in the chilly air. “Florence got caught doing the nasty with that retired grocer from Missoula. Well, his wife joined us for the second part of the tour, and things just went to hell. So I came home.”
Zara snapped her head in a quick shake and held tight to the one person who’d always loved her. “Florence?”
“Yes. Those hormone pills make her horny.” Grams shook her head and looked up at Zara. “Anyway, I came over, saw the mess, and immediately called the cops.”
“I’m fine,” Zara croaked out. She had to protect this frail woman at all costs.
Grams partially turned and then fluttered her eyelashes. “I do hope you’re Ryker.”
A smile played around Ryker’s full mouth. “I am.”
“Yep. I would’ve bought new undies for you, too.” Grams smiled big.
Chapter
24
Ryker tried to ignore the elderly woman in the backseat of the truck, but it was difficult, considering her face was right next to his. She perched her hands and head over the seat like a colorful bird. He had no clue how to deal with old ladies.
“You even smell good,” she purred.
“Thanks, Mrs. Remington.”
“Call me Grams, Ryker. Everybody does.”
Grams? He shifted in his seat. What would it be like to have a Grams? Looked like he was about to find out. As a lonely and scared kid, he’d wanted family members to provide warmth. A grandmother was almost too much of a dream. “Please put your seat belt on, Mrs. Grams.” If they were in a wreck, her little bones would snap. He had to protect her now, too.
She completely ignored him and turned her head toward Zara. “You never did say who hit you, Zara. I know it wasn’t Ryker. His eyes are kind.”
“It’s a long story, Grams.” Zara’s voice remained calm with just a threat of hysteria in it. “The bad guy is long gone, I promise.”
“Humph. Well, he had better be. That wasn’t your blood in the kitchen, was it?”
Zara shook her head, obviously not sure what to say. The tension pouring from her hinted at pure panic.
Grams poked Ryker in the neck with one bony finger. “Did you do that? I mean, leave somebody’s blood in the kitchen?”
Ryker cut Zara a look, and she just shrugged. “Yes, I did.”
“I see. So somebody broke into your house, Zara, bruised you, and then Ryker made him bleed. For some reason, you two don’t want the police to know what happened.” Grams pursed her red-lipsticked mouth. “Are you wanted by the law, Ryker?”
“No, ma’am.” At least not with his current identity.
Zara sighed. “I kind of broke confidentiality with a client to help Julie, then she was murdered, and we think the guy who did it wants to talk to me for some reason.”
Grams gasped. “Julie was murdered? Oh, honey. I’m so sorry. Did her dirtbag husband do it?”
“I’m not sure,” Zara said. “If I’d kept in better touch, I might know.” Guilt infused her tone.
Grams patted Zara’s shoulder. “It takes two to keep a friendship going, and if you ask me, she was the holdout. You asked her to lunch many a time, and she didn’t come. Now I wonder why.”
“Me too,” Zara said.
Ryker turned another corner. Julie might’ve been busy, or she might’ve been a battered wife being isolated. Or perhaps…perhaps Julie had been doing drugs.
Grams perched even closer. “The guy who tried to kidnap you—did he think you saw something or knew something about Julie’s murder?” Her voice was hushed.
“Maybe. By the time we figured that out, Ryker had already beaten up and kidnapped a guy from my house, so now if we tell the police, he’ll get in trouble.” Zara hunched her shoulders.
“I see.” Grams flopped back into the rear seat. “That is a conundrum.” She squinted through her glasses, waiting until Ryker met her gaze in the rearview mirror. “Are you sure you’re not wanted by the authorities?”
His stomach rolled over. “I’m not wanted. I promise.” The old woman was damn shrewd, wasn’t she? He had to stay away from the cops.