Chapter 19 - The Accident

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Yawning, Ryker entered the kitchen of Pineview Cottage the following day

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

Yawning, Ryker entered the kitchen of Pineview Cottage the following day.

Dark shadows under his eyes bore witness to a sleepless night, as many thoughts and questions had kept him awake.

He kept seeing the boy's arm and Evelyn's burnt face. But he couldn't get Dylan's worried voice out of his head either. His former comrade had been desperate. Ryker was sure of that. Was Eve playing a trick on him and everyone else? Was all her concern for Liam and her motherly manner just a mask hiding the distorted face of a mentally disturbed person?

These questions tormented him all night. He tossed and turned in frustration. Nothing had helped. It was a miracle that he had even managed to peel himself into his shirt and jeans and not stand half-naked in front of Eve.

The young mother's gaze briefly fell on him; then, she handed him the steaming cup of coffee. Black with maple syrup, just the way he liked it best. But Eve added a few drops of milk and strangely managed to make it taste even better, which made him smile slightly.

"Thank you," he murmured in a tired but good-natured tone. "And good morning."

Sipping lightly from the rim of his coffee cup, he sat down at his place at the table, where a quark pocket and a freshly baked roll were already waiting for him.

Ryker nibbled on his breakfast more than he ate properly. It was always delicious, but he wasn't hungry today. He finally got up after a few minutes. He only had the remains of the pastry left in his mouth when he apologized with a casual wave. He needed to distract himself and... distance himself.

The detective didn't need to wonder if Mad had managed to get the files. Mad always managed it. He just had to steal away and print them out. So why... did the thought of it make him so nervous?

'Stupid bollocks. Just get it over with. The sooner you get started on the roof, the sooner you'll be done and can go into town to print the file.'

But the roof soon threw a spanner in the works. It wasn't long before he realized the damage was worse than he had initially thought. The roof had probably been damaged before, and the last storm hadn't just loosened individual shingles.

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