Missing

Hunter's back is turned when Katie enters the holding cell and he whirls around, a little surprised it was her and not somebody else. "Uh...morning."

Eying the sandwich and water, his stomach growls again. He wouldn't refuse food. At least it would satisfy his appetite and help his mouth taste better too. Wandering to the extra chair, he rolls his eyes at her comment about complying. Did she think he was some thug who would only talk while under Chinese torture? He swivels the chair around and straddles it backwards, going for the sandwich first. "Thanks for not wanting me to starve. I really didn't want to die that way."

Unwrapping the food, he prepares for questions about last night - who his friends were, what they'd been up to, and if they'd done the same things at other places. As he takes a bite of sandwich though, Katie's question catches him off guard. His eyebrow quirks and he chews slowly, just staring across at her for several long moments.

"Ryan McKade, huh?" He'd been arrested by the Elite instead of the city cops. He'd been held much longer than expected. Now he was being questioned about something that had absolutely nothing to do with the night before. Was there something he didn't know?

Swallowing his bite, he nods. Picking out a little piece of ham that was ready to fall from the sandwich, he nibbles on it then looks at Katie again. His suspicions were rising, but his curiosity kept him from being belligerent. "Well, I would probably say I race against her." He flashes her a wry grin, his eyes no longer glazed over as they'd been the night before.

Unscrewing the cap on the bottle of water, he takes a long swig. "Quite honestly though... I have absolutely no idea why you're asking me about her. As far as I know, I was arrested for disturbing the peace last night. A few spots are foggy, but I don't remember Ryan being in the mix. What am I missing here?"


Eric chuckles at Stacy's comment about going fast. She was never going to let him live that down... not that he minded. It was rather funny now.

Her question slowly turns his smile into more of a pensive expression as his mind relives the past. "Hmm..." He sighs deeply, letting his eyes wander to the dark hayloft ceiling. "It was an accident during a race - my horse stumbled. Nobody ever figured out exactly what happened but my mount broke her leg and had to be put down. Me... I remember seeing the track, and it was like I was flying in slow motion towards the dirt."

He hadn't thought about this in quite a while, and only now realized that it was a little harder to talk about it than he would have guessed. His eyes remain on the rafters. "The only thing I remember after that is waking up in the hospital. I had a broken leg, fractured arm and neck... mostly though it was a bad hit to the head that took me down." He sighs again. "They figured I got hit in the head with a hoof. It was bad enough that I lost some memory, some motor skills, and I had to relearn things like how to read and write and do math. My balance was thrown way off kilter too, and there was no way I could race again. So... I started driving truck, and... I guess... I never stopped."

Finally letting his eyes come back down to Stacy, he turns his head, still resting back against the hay. He wasn't smiling now. "I miss racing... a lot. I'm too old now anyway, but it was fun while it lasted. Mick and I rode together most races. We were an unstoppable pair and were known for tying our races on purpose. We always had a bandanna that we'd hold between us right when we got to the finish line, so we were both winners. After my accident though... he raced for a while til life got rough but I never set foot on a track again."

He shrugs. "But... I managed to learn and function again... I was eventually able to get back in the saddle... and... here I am."

Maybe all that was more than Stacy had wanted to hear. But Eric wasn't embarrassed. On the contrary, he felt... peaceful. Talking to Stacy, he just didn't have to worry about what she might think or say, and he didn't feel awkward sharing about himself. A new grin emerges. "That's the short version."