Chapter Twenty-Six - Ryder
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Ryder
We’re up the stairs and in the office as fast as possible without waking Lyla from her nap.
I settle into the chair, and my fingers fly over the keyboard.
“Anything?” Rachel asks, hovering just over my shoulder.
I grab her by the hips and pull her onto my lap. “What are you doing?” she demands, struggling to get to her feet.
I keep a firm hold on Rachel and press my lips to her temple. She presses her lips together to suppress her growing smile as she resigns herself to leaning back into my chest.
When I find the edited file, I scan it over and over and over.
“What the hell…?”
“What’s wrong?”
I shake my head, running through the numbers again for any sort of mistake on my end. “We caught someone embezzling, but it’s not on the Rohypnol records.”
“What?” Her eyes scan the computer, and I point to the receipt.
“It’s in the office supplies. Not only those but all the base’s supplies. The most mundane purchases. I never would’ve thought to look here.”
“Wait, so someone is taking from the supplies and Rohypnol?”
“Hopefully,” I answer.
“Why, hopefully?”
“Because otherwise, we have two unrelated cases, and if that’s true, then this just got a lot more complicated.”
It seems incomprehensible. If we’re right, and there really are two separate cases of embezzlement from the Sacramento base, the fact that no one has caught onto either is suspicious as hell.
“Can’t we trace this edit? Knowing where it came from is a good starting place.”
I nod, going to do just that.
“What are you going to do if it shows up at the base?”
“I’ll have to include Kade. He should be able to track any activity within the base better than I can, but I don’t think it’s being messed with there.”
“Why not?”
“Anything entered into the database on-site leaves a sort of footprint. When I looked for one attached to the Rohypnol records, I found nothing. This person could be doing a good job hiding their tracks, but it’s more likely they did it off-site. There’s more wiggle room that way.”
Rachel swings her leg around and straddles me in the desk chair. She braces her hands above my head and flashes me a sultry smile.
“You know, all this tech talk is kind of sexy.”
“You’re not allowed to talk to Kade anymore.”
She laughs. “It’s only sexy when you do it.”
“Is that right?” I ask and nip at her bottom lip to get another laugh out of her. The sound is downright addictive.
I’m about to take another hit when the IP address loads behind her, and I’m staring at the answer to what Rachel and I have been searching for.
What the… This can’t be right.
Whatever Rachel sees in my expression is enough to suck the playful mood from the room.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, turning to look between me and the computer. “What does it say?”
I pull the chair closer to the desk and reach past Rachel to rerun the test. I’m so anxious about the results that I barely notice how she wraps her arms and legs around me, gluing us together as she awaits my response.
“Ryder, what’s going on?”
The numbers come up again—exactly the same as before.
“This is our IP address,” I tell her. “According to this, the embezzling is coming from here.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“I have no idea,” I tell her honestly. “It has to be some hack or maybe a flaw in the virus I gave the capos. Someone must be disguising their IP address as ours to hide what they’re doing.”
This is bad.
If this gets out, it’ll ruin any remaining trust between Moreno and me. I’ll be declared a traitor of the family, and that’s if he lets me live long enough to explain—judging by the fact that he hasn’t looked me in the eye or even talked to me in weeks, I doubt he will.
If someone’s trying to hide what they’re doing, why not use a random IP address? Why not pick any other capo? Why me?
Because no other capo betrayed the family.
Could this be someone getting revenge?
Or, more likely, someone is setting me up to take the fall because my standing in the family is already tainted. I’m an easy target.
“What are we going to do?” Rachel’s low voice brings me back to the present, and when I look into her gaze—filled with worry and affection—I know I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her and Lyla.
Whatever’s happening, I need to handle it quickly and quietly.
“I need to make a call,” I tell her, placing another kiss on her head before gently easing her off me.
“No way,” she says, clinging tighter as I stand. “You’re not shutting down on me. Whatever is going on, we’re handling it together.”
“That’s not how this works.”
I grip her hips and push her to put space between us.
Rachel’s arms tighten in a deadly grip around my neck, and her legs wind around me like ivy.
“It is now,” she declares.
My fingers dig into her waist, but she only meets my challenging stare with the same unmovable will I’ve always admired.
“Don’t you dare shut me out of this. We got this far together. We’ll finish this together.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her no. After all, she’s already far more involved than I was ever comfortable with, and I need to get her out before it gets any worse. The more distance I can put between her and my work, the better.
“Don’t shut me out,” she whispers, and that simple, softly spoken request sinks beneath my skin and etches itself into my bones with the realization that I cannot deny her.
I can, however, protect her from getting caught in the middle of my mess.
“I need you to promise me that you will never tell anyone what you’ve learned about the family,” I tell her, infusing urgency in my tone so she understands the vital importance of this demand. “No matter what happens, you cannot tell anyone.”
“I won’t,” she says with a sincerity that can be felt. “I promise.”
Hearing her say the words gives me only a small sense of peace. It’s not even about how I’d be killed as a traitor if anyone found out how much I let her know. It’s about the danger she’d be in—by my family and our enemies.
“I don’t have the software I need on this computer to track whatever type of hack this is. I’ll need to acquire and download the software without being traced.”
“Why not go straight to Kade?”
“Because whoever did this has the ability to frame me for everything, and if they decide to do that before I can prove my innocence…”
Rachel’s eyes go wide. “Moreno would know it wasn’t you.”
“Maybe, or maybe he’ll see me as a threat that needs to be eliminated.”
It’s a black-and-white way of seeing the situation, but I’ve seen men killed for far less than what I’m facing now. I press a kiss to Rachel’s cheek in an attempt to ease her rigid posture and furrowed brow. “Besides, I don’t want this touching you or Lyla. The sooner it’s handled, the better.”
The absent look covering Rachel’s features bothers me to my core. She starts to untangle herself from me to go, but I hold her face between my hands. “We’ll figure this out, Rebel. I promise.”
I’m not sure if it’s my promise or touch that eases the wariness in her gaze, but I’m relieved to watch it melt away. I take her lips in a long kiss before guiding her back to her feet to leave.
My phone is in my hand as soon as the door closes behind Rachel.
There’s only one person who can get me what I need and keep it from Moreno.
“Hey, Rachel. What’s up?” Elli asks, a little too cheerily.
She must be with Moreno now.
“I need a favor,” I tell her. “Can you get somewhere alone?”
“Yes! Of course, I want to hear about work. Give me just a few seconds.”
She covers the microphone, but I hear her mumbling to Moreno and his grumble of a response.
“Hey, what’s up?” she asks a few moments later.
“Where did you go? If you’re near Moreno, he’s going to listen in.”
“Um, he’s not exactly in a position to follow me right now,” she admits after a beat.
I do my best to wipe that image from my memory.
“I need some software sent over to me, but I need it done off the books.”
There’s a long pause. “What exactly are you up to?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I have time.”
“Good. You’ll need it to get what I need.”
“Ryder,” her voice lowers to a whisper. “I need to know I’m not doing something that’ll betray Joshua. As much as I want to help you, I can’t do that.”
“I’m not asking you to. I think someone is trying to frame me for embezzlement. I need this software to track them down.”
“And if Joshua got word, he’d trust you even less,” she fills in.
“Exactly.”
Elli sighs. “Okay, but if he asks me about this directly, I won’t lie to him.”
“Deal.”
“So, what do you need me to do?”
“You’ll need to get into Kade’s office. He has everything I’ll need and the means to send it without being traced. Any idea if you can get in there without being noticed?”
“As a matter of fact, Joshua and Donovan are about to head to a few of the local businesses, and Kade is at the San Diego base fixing the security breach they had there. Now is as good a time as we’ll get.”
It’s good that Moreno and Donovan are out for the evening because, even with my help, it takes Elli two hours to comb everything to find what I need. Having her send the software to me through an offshore email takes even longer, but it’s worth it when my laptop chimes with the incoming email.
“Did it go through?”
“It’s here.” I lean back in my chair, relaxing for the first time in hours. “Thank you so much, Elli.”
“Of course. I’m happy to help.”
“Well, I’ll talk to you later. Enjoy your first capo conference,” I tell her and ignore the bitter sting of what has to be jealousy.
“Oh, I can’t believe I forgot to tell you! I overheard Joshua and Donovan talking a few days ago. They mentioned inviting you instead of Briggs to represent the Sacramento base.”
My limbs go frozen. “Really?”
“Joshua said he needed more time to think about it, but I think there’s a good chance he’ll agree.”
The idea of going back to LA—even just for the capo conference—feels like a weight being lifted off my chest. Being back home, seeing my family, and getting a brief glimpse at what life used to be like for me.
It’s everything.
“I’ve also been dropping hints about wanting to see you, so I’m sure that’ll help your case, too.”
I laugh at the thought of her likely poorly veiled hints and how Moreno would fight tooth and nail against them before inevitably giving in.
“Thanks for the heads up,” I tell her. “And for the software.”
“Keep me updated on everything, okay?”
“I will,” I promise her, and we end the call.
I stare at the computer screen, which now has everything I need to track down whoever wants to frame me.
I’d been ready to dive into this project only a minute ago, even if it meant not getting to the base until the late hours of the night for my routine work.
But now?
If whoever is behind this realizes I’m coming for them, they won’t hesitate to use this information against me. I suspect Moreno would believe me eventually, but anything could happen during whatever investigation would take place.
I wouldn’t get invited to the capo conference, and I sure as hell wouldn’t get my title back.
Two weeks.
That’s not a long time to push this off.
Besides, as far as Rachel and I can tell, this embezzling has been going on for years. Two more weeks won’t make a difference.
With a long sigh, I close the software, lock the computer, and leave the office.