Chapter 35

The sound of laughter cut through the clank of glasses and the crush of peanut shells under foot, mingling with the crooning sound of music sung in a Slovak language she didn’t speak as Jo tried not to breathe in the smoky air. Crossing the bar wasn’t as difficult this time since this establishment wasn’t as crowded as the one she’d first met Ryker in, and the lights were up, perhaps in an attempt to allow patrons to spot pointy teeth before they became a problem. Or maybe it was the fact that this tavern was attached to a hotel, unlike the seedy back alley haunt Ryker normally played cards in. Either way, she wasn’t impressed with his ability to pick watering holes and would’ve just as soon left him behind when her team pulled out of town. But she’d more or less made a promise she would look after him, and even though he’d been the one to take off without telling them where he was going, she still felt the pull of obligatio