Chapter Thirty-Two - Rachel
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Rachel
Present
Seven days.
It’s been seven days since anyone has seen or heard from Ryder.
Seven days since the fight that left me heartbroken and so angry that I was too blind to notice that something was very wrong.
It’s three in the morning, and I’m sitting at a conference table surrounded by the Sacramento capos, Moreno, Elli, Donovan, Kade, and Alec.
I half-expected Elli’s oldest brother, Damon, to come since he still lives in Los Angeles and seems to be close with Moreno, but Elli explained that he went back home to Chicago during the capo conference and will stay until we figure things out.
I took Lyla to my parents’ house immediately after hanging up with Elli. Whatever storm is about to hit, I want to keep my daughter as far away from it as possible.
The LA capos stopped by the house as soon as they got into town an hour ago, and after a quick inspection of the pool house, we all came to this base for an emergency meeting.
I’m still surprised I’m here at all—that Moreno didn’t just take my statement and shoo me off, but I’m glad he didn’t. I can’t just sit at home and wonder if Ryder is dead or alive. I need to do something.
Elli had one of the soldiers fetch coffee for everyone, and though I cradle mine between my shaking hands, I don’t need the caffeine to stay awake.
I was barely sleeping when I thought Ryder was an asshole ignoring me.
Now that I know he’s missing and could very well be hurt—or worse—just the idea of sleep sounds like torture.
“Rachel, tell us absolutely everything that happened the last time you saw Ryder,” Moreno orders in a detached tone that makes me wonder if he feels any emotion at all toward his oldest friend’s disappearance.
I tell them about my fight with Ryder—how I had my work retreat scheduled, how Ryder got the call to go to LA, and how I watched him pack his car and drive away.
No one says anything for a long moment. The only sounds in the room are Kade’s fingers against the keys of his laptop, and the scribbling pens as Donovan and Harris take notes.
Alec lays a supportive hand on my shoulder from where he sits beside me, and Elli takes one of my hands in hers from my other side.
Moreno’s brows pinch together. “You saw him leave?”
You watched him leave so easily when you were pathetically waiting for him to come back.
I fiddle with the charm around my neck and nod.
“What time was your fight?” he asks.
“I’m not exactly sure. Just after eight, maybe?”
He pulls out his phone, turning to show everyone a call log timed at eight-thirty. “Ryder called me after that fight and declined the invitation.”
He did what?
“Why would he leave if he already declined the invitation?” Elli asks, and everyone seems to consider that.
But I can’t stop wondering why he would have declined the invitation in the first place. He was dead-set on going to that conference when he walked out on me.
What changed his mind?
“Are you sure he wasn’t already driving when he called you?” The question comes from Harris.
“Positive. I would’ve heard it.”
Kade looks up at me from his screen. “And you watched him pack up the car to leave?”
I nod. “The car was pulled right up to the pool house while he packed it.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Moreno says, and we all look at him. “Ryder packs light when he travels. Why would he have needed to pull the car up?”
No one says anything, and the silence—the utter lack of answers—makes me so sick I’m sure I’d throw up if there was anything in my stomach.
Donovan perks up first. “You said you saw the car in front of the pool house, but did you ever actually see Ryder?”
I open my mouth to tell him I did but freeze.
Did I?
I flash through the memories from a week ago. I’d had puffy eyes and a sore throat from my crying fit and had stared out the window at his car in front of the pool house. I’d seen movement—someone lifting things into the trunk—but the full figure never came into view.
It could’ve been anyone.
“Oh my gosh,” I say with a shaky breath. “No, I didn’t.”
He nods. “So, someone else could’ve been doing the driving.”
“But how would they have got to my house? I didn’t see any other cars.”
It’s Alec who answers with a shrug. “There are a million different possibilities. Someone could’ve used a ride-share app for all we know.”
“Have we tracked his car?” Elli asks.
Kade nods. “Traced it as soon as we found out he was missing. It’s abandoned in a grocery store parking lot, which, coincidentally, doesn’t have working security cameras. We’ll head over there to check for clues soon, but whoever did this was careful to stay hidden.”
Donovan looks up from his notes to the Sacramento capos with cold cruelty. “I want to know how the hell none of you noticed that Ryder hadn’t been to the base in a week?”
Everyone looks at the three capos.
“We never see Ryder,” Harris answers with a wince. “He never comes to the base during the day. He comes exclusively through the night.”
“Why?” Moreno asks.
“Lyla,” I answer, realizing the weight of what Ryder sacrificed for me. “He watched her during the day so I could go to work, then went to the base every night.”
Harris nods in confirmation.
I meet Briggs’ eye for a moment, and my stomach roils at the brief flicker of smugness there. It’s gone before I can even be sure I saw it, and he’s back to his usual scowl.
Could he be behind this?
He could be the one stealing from the base and did something to Ryder when he realized we were onto him. I’ve always felt off around him—like he was out to get Ryder, and maybe he is. Maybe I was right all along.
I don’t realize I’ve tensed until Elli squeezes my hand reassuringly—at least, I think it’s reassurance until I look at her. When our gazes lock, she doesn’t look at me like she feels sorry for me, she looks at me like she’s searching for something.
I lift a brow in silent question, but her face goes neutral in the blink of an eye. Before I can figure out what the heck just happened, she stands, lifting our cups of coffee. “Rachel and I are going to get refills,” she declares as if my cup isn’t still completely full. “We’ll be back.”
Moreno sends her a look that she doesn’t acknowledge because she’s too busy gesturing for me to follow her. I don’t argue.
There’s a soldier outside the door standing guard, and she smiles at him. “Show us to the kitchen, please.”
We walk in silence until we reach an empty industrial kitchen. Elli sets our coffees down, thanks the soldier, and waits until he’s gone before finally turning to me.
“What’s going on?” she asks in a hushed voice.
“What do you mean?”
She studies me for a long moment like I’m a puzzle she can’t solve. “There’s more, isn’t there? There’s something else going on that you didn’t tell everyone.”
My heartbeats are suddenly so much louder than they were a second ago, pounding in my ears like they’ll tell the truth for me, but I can’t do that.
Ryder made me promise I wouldn’t tell them what I knew, no matter what. It would put his standing with the family on shaky ground and could put Lyla in danger.
What if I tell them what I know, and they think Ryder stole from the base? What if they think he ran off because he was worried about being discovered? What if they declare him a traitor and stop looking for him?
I can’t risk that.
“I have no idea what you’re—”
Elli places her hands on my shoulders, leveling me with a look that screams the urgency of our situation. “Ryder called me two weeks ago asking for tracking software because he thought he was being framed for embezzling.” Her stare bores into mine. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
I press my lips in a hard line. I can’t expose this investigation when it could make the situation so much worse. I can’t find Ryder without their help.
“Rachel, please,” Elli’s voice is pleading now. “You need to tell me what you know. If I know what’s going on, I can help, but keeping this a secret isn’t helping anyone, especially Ryder.”
I’m damned if I do, and I’m damned if I don’t.
If I keep this secret, I keep Ryder in good standing with the Morenos and guarantee their help to find him, but I could also deprive everyone of key information that could lead right to him. On the other hand, if I tell them, they might not believe Ryder is worth saving.
Can I risk that?
And, more importantly, do I even have a choice anymore?
I take a deep breath and steady my voice. “It wasn’t him, Elli. I swear it wasn’t, but what if they think it was?”
She shakes her head, visibly relieved by my minimal confession. “No one is going to think—”
“Moreno already doesn’t trust Ryder. What if he thinks Ryder took the money and left?”
“Joshua might be working through his anger, but deep down, he knows Ryder wouldn’t hurt this family. We need to tell him.”
“Tell me what?” The stern voice snaps from behind us. My body goes rigid, and I close my eyes, briefly catching Elli’s apologetic stare before I do.
“I suggest one of you starts talking,” he says, and I slowly turn to find his cold eyes darting between Elli and me.
I swallow hard, thinking through any possible way to get out of this, but there isn’t one. I glance down the long hallway, where anyone can just walk in.
“Not here,” I whisper, dropping my head in defeat.
Elli takes my hand, and we follow Moreno to a private room across the hall.
As soon as we walk into the room, I know whose office it is.
His bergamot scent hits my nostrils like a drug I can’t get enough of, and it makes me almost physically ill to know the man to whom this scent clings might not be alive right now.
Moreno takes a seat in Ryder’s chair, and Elli and I sit on the couch against the wall.
“Start talking,” he orders. All the ice in his tone is directed at me and me alone.
I don’t—not right away. I take a few deep breaths and think very carefully about how I should handle this situation.