Ryker’s Justice Read Online Free

but instead
he and Nicole joined both Cockrells at a six-seat
round table. No other guests were staying at the inn so he figured they couldn’t
refuse without offense. They dined family style, passing dishes and filling
plates with light, comfortable conversation. The pot roast turned out to be the
most tender he’d ever eaten and the rest of the meal matched in quality.
    “So
what do you think of the high school football team this year?” Rick said after
they’d shared a brief grace. “Last year they made it to districts but a lot of
the best players graduated, or so I hear.”
    “I
haven’t really been following them,” Jude said. His mind had been on other
matters. “Maybe I should go to a game. After all, I used to play for the
Hawks.”
    Rick
leaned forward, fork in hand. “I’d heard that. Fullback, weren’t you?”
    “Yeah,
most of the time, but I played kicker and wide receiver positions too.”
    “Went
to State your senior year, I hear, and took the championship.”
    They
had, and it’d been a rough game, battled in drizzling rain. Jude had suffered
multiple bruises, a cracked rib, and ended up with pneumonia a week later, but
it’d been a glorious victory. “Oh yeah, we did,” he said.
    “They
still talk about the victory down at the feed mill and convenience store,” Rick
said with a gleam in his eyes. “Didn’t you get hurt?”
    “Sick,
too,” Jude replied. “But the pain was worth the gain.”
    Both
men laughed but the women frowned. “I remember,” Mary said. “How long ago was
it, anyway? Eight, ten years ago?”
    He
had no need to count, he knew. “Seventeen years ago,” Jude said. He’d been a
senior, then tried college for two years before he
abandoned the effort for the Navy. “It’s been a long time. I’ve been around the
world and back since then.”
    Nicole
broke her silence of several minutes. “Weren’t you in the service, Jude?”
    “Yes,
I was--in the Navy,” he said. “How’d you know?”
    Mary
answered before Nicole could open her mouth. “Word gets around. You’re kinda famous around here. People never forgot you, and when
you came home they talked about it.”
    “I
don’t know why they would,” he said. Mary’s comments made him self-conscious,
the way he’d been when he went to school with holes in the soles of his shoes
or a torn shirt. “It’s not that big of a deal, not really. I decided to come
home for a while.”
    Rick
reached for a hot roll and buttered it. “I hope you’re planning to stay, Jude.
You’re a right fair handyman and Mary likes you.”
    The
roast, potatoes, gravy, lima beans, and hot rolls became a heavy lump in his
stomach. If he’d come home for kicks or to settle down, he probably wouldn’t
mind but since he came with an agenda, Jude preferred not to talk about his
plans. His execution of duty hinged on keeping a low profile so if anyone
decided he returned with a purpose, it could turn bad with speed. He enjoyed
being back but he figured after he’d finished the investigation, he would
return to the wider world, far afield. Jude hadn’t thought about it much, but
for the first time he realized he liked it here, more than he had guessed. On
some deep level he ached to stay. As he sought something to say to shift the
topic, Nicole spoke up.
    “I
like you, too.” Her husky voice sent shivers down his spine--because he
believed she meant it. After their earlier conversation, he wanted her. His
cock hardened beneath the table and he imagined, for a brief moment, taking
Nicole on top of it. “I’m delighted you returned or I wouldn’t have met you. I
like the Ozarks, especially this small corner of it.”
    Their
eyes met, charged as lightning. “I like it myself,” Jude said. Relief eased his
tight gut and he reached for another slice of meat. “River’s beautiful. Have
you been on a float trip yet?”
    “No,
but I’d like to experience one. I’ve watched them pass by from my window.”
    Images
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