Reaper kept Ginny by his side when she started to excitedly run toward her brother. “Stay here.”
“He’s my brother …,” Ginny appealed. Then, at his stern look, she nodded her understanding.
As Ginny’s brother stepped out into the light, Reaper felt his blood go cold in recognition. Silas was the stranger whose off-handed remarks had put him in the direction of the isolated homes outside of town being used as stash houses for drugs. It was also how he had found out Memphis was using, setting off a chain reaction that stole nearly ten years of his life.
“That’s not much of a welcome, Ginny,” her brother reprimanded her.
Despondently, Ginny quit trying to get away from Reaper. “I can’t get closer. We both may have been exposed.”
“I’m also trying to protect you,” Reaper told her. “Just because the CDC doesn’t believe there haven’t been any cases in the US, doesn’t mean there haven’t been. Silas could be a carrier, with no signs or symptoms yet.” The turmoil of Ginny’s unexpected visitor had him coming off harsh, as memories of the easygoing man he used to be tried to invade the disconsolate one he had become.
“Silas wouldn’t be here if there was a chance he was contagious,” Ginny assured him.
Reaper didn’t allow his hold to slacken at her assurance. Ginny was letting her emotions rule her, not caution. He wanted to shake some sense into her. She was the type of person who led with her heart and worried about consequences later. It was a deadly combination, and until Viper found someone else to watch her, he was the only one who was standing between her and tragedy. He didn’t believe the virus was in Kentucky so far, but neither was he sure that her family could be trusted with Ginny’s safety. He’d rather come across as being paranoid about the outbreak than make her angry that he didn’t trust her brother.
“Silas, this is Gavin. He’s a friend of mine.”
Friends? Reaper didn’t correct Ginny, letting it ride. Maybe in another lifetime they could have been friends, but not in this one.
“We’ve met.” Silas took another step under the light hanging on the side of the building.
Ginny looked up at Reaper in surprise. “You’ve met my brother?”
“I didn’t know he was your brother. It was a long time ago. We met at the diner,” Reaper roughly supplied the information.
“Been a long time.” Silas nodded at him. “Good to see you again. Haven’t seen much of you since you’ve come back to town.”
“You knew I had been kidnapped? I haven’t seen you, either,” Reaper said flatly. “Surprising in such a small town.”
Silas gave a laconic shrug. “Don’t get out much. This is the first time I’ve been out of my house since I quit my job. I heard a Last Rider went back with Ginny; didn’t know you were the one called Reaper. Everyone in four states knew you were missing back then. You were kidnapped.” The way he stated it could have come across as a statement of fact or a question.
Silas’s reply and expressionless face sent his bullshit meter rising. Viper had been able to keep the details of his kidnapping out of the media, yet Reaper wasn’t naïve enough to think that a slip from anyone from The Last Riders, Predators, or the hospitals he had been in would provide a leak that would allow the whole truth to come out.
“How’d you know a Last Rider went with her if you haven’t been in town?”
“Just because I don’t come to town doesn’t mean I’m can’t pick up a phone.”
“Silas’s mother is a little bit of a gossip,” Ginny explained.
“Not much in town gets past her ears.”
Reaper found it pretty damn cagey. Silas’s noncommittal response didn’t provide the answer from where he had gained his knowledge.
Silas’s gaze went to both of them. “You both look like you could use a good meal and some rest.”
“We could. Ginny can call you when she wakes.”
“My sister is coming home with me. Ezra and Fynn are keeping a big kettle of stew and cornbread warm. Plenty for you too. The boys are making a spare bed for you in case you decide to stay.”
“We’re staying at the hotel,” Reaper shut the offer down.
“Silas … we could be contagious.”
Ginny’s attempt at trying to ease the terse situation didn’t help. The two men were engaging in a battle