Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Tiny stood quietly outside the hospital room, leaning against the wall. He wanted to be nearby in case Henley or Ryleigh needed anything. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but he couldn’t pry himself away now if his life depended on it.
Hearing Henley’s support for Ryleigh made him feel even more guilty than he did already. She didn’t sound in the least worried about what Ryleigh could do, about the hacking. And her words about how she thought Ryleigh was good to the core…
She was right.
With that knowledge slowly sinking in, Tiny needed to hear the story about how Ryleigh had found Jasna as much as Henley did. He’d gone over the incident in his head again and again, and because he wasn’t some computer genius, he couldn’t figure it out. How she’d discovered where Jasna was, who had taken her.
He held his breath as Ryleigh began speaking.
“As you know, we were in my car when you got the call that Jasna was missing,” Ryleigh said. “You mentioned Christian Dekker’s name. So after I dropped you and the others off at The Refuge, I went back to my apartment and immediately started looking into him.”
“Looking into him?” Henley asked.
“Yeah, hacking into the police database and seeing if he had any kind of record, first of all.”
“He was a minor,” Henley said, sounding confused.
“And?”
There was silence in the room for a beat, then Henley snort-chuckled. “Right, sorry. Continue.”
“There had been some complaints against him, but nothing that the cops could arrest him for. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but…what I do isn’t exactly a secret anymore. I also read your reports on him, and your boss’s thoughts on him too. Read all the things his parents had said when they were in therapy. I realized that you had a very good reason to be worried about him. To think he might be behind Jasna’s disappearance. So I tracked his phone.
“And before you ask, yes, I thought about calling the police, but they need probable cause and a search warrant. By the time they got all that, Jas could’ve been hurt, or worse. So I did what I do best, and I found him. Discovered he was at that cabin out in the middle of the woods. And I went to check it out.”
“Ry! That wasn’t smart or safe!” Henley exclaimed.
Tiny agreed. His fists clenched, and it took all the control he had to not burst into the room and…he wasn’t sure what. He wasn’t mad at Ryleigh, per se, but he couldn’t believe she could be so stupid! To take such reckless risks …
Ryleigh didn’t respond for a long moment, and Tiny wished he could see her face. She sucked at hiding her emotions, and if he could see her, he’d have a better idea of what she was thinking.
“Oh, Ry,” Henley finally said, her tone full of emotion. “Hasn’t anyone worried about your safety before?”
“No.” Her tone was flat. Matter-of-fact.
He took a deep breath, and his anger faded into sorrow. He felt bad for Ryleigh. She’d obviously never had anyone care about her. Not as a daughter, a friend, or anything else. His heart hurt for her…doubly so after the way he’d treated her.
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter how unsafe it was, because if there was even the slightest chance he had Jasna, I had to find out. The cabin looked pretty deserted, and it was in the middle of nowhere. There weren’t any neighbors to come running if I screamed for help or anything. There was a car parked outside, and the license plate matched the numbers I saw in Christian’s files, so I knew he was there. And there was only one reason he would be at a place like that…and it wasn’t good. I didn’t know what to do,” Ryleigh said in a shaky tone that made Tiny once again want to burst into the room and comfort her.
“I’m not a commando. I’m a computer nerd; good with my fingers on a keyboard, not so good when it comes to fighting.”
“You don’t like conflict,” Henley said.
Tiny blinked out in the hall. It was such a simple statement, but now that he thought about it, Henley was absolutely right.
“I hate it,” Ry agreed. “I couldn’t ever do anything right growing up. I got yelled at…a lot. Told I was stupid for the ti niest mistakes. And every time I made one of those mistakes, I was punished by having food withheld, my electronics taken away, wasn’t allowed to go to school. I had to redo whatever I’d messed up until it was done correctly.”
“Like what?” Henley asked.
There was a brief pause. “Once, after I’d hacked into the state’s treasury database to change tax information for my dad—and I messed up—the cops came to the house. My dad threw me under the bus, ranted and raved about ‘kids these days,’ and he let the police take me to the station. I truly thought I was going to be put in jail, and I was terrified. When they finally took me home, after spending hours telling me about all the awful things that could happen to me if I ever did anything like that again, I was a complete mess.”
“How old were you?” Henley asked gently.
“Eleven.”
Tiny’s jaw dropped in a silent gasp. Eleven? She’d hacked into a state database—on her father’s orders, from the sounds of it—when she was eleven ? What the hell?
“That’s really young.” Henley’s tone was even, and Tiny couldn’t help but be in awe of her skills. She was a talented psychologist, and it was obvious why she was so popular at The Refuge with the guests.
Ryleigh didn’t respond, but Tiny could imagine she’d probably shrugged off Henley’s comment before she continued. “Anyway, as I was standing in the trees, staring at the cabin, wondering if I should call Tonka, or maybe Tiny, Christian came out of the house. By himself.”
Tiny couldn’t help but feel good deep down that she’d wanted to call him for help. Ryleigh seemed so self- assured. So confident. But to know when push came to shove, she’d thought about reaching out to him for help, made satisfaction bloom deep in his chest.
“I watched him leave and was itching to find out where he was going, but I needed to know if your hunch that he’d taken Jasna was correct. I waited until he was gone, then carefully approached the house and looked in a window. Jas was there, asleep on the floor. I mean, I figured she probably wasn’t actually asleep. She wasn’t moving. I didn’t see any blood or anything, so I hoped that was a good sign. I took a moment to go online and check to see where Christian was—I’d sent a link to myself before I left my apartment, with his cell phone trace. I saw he was still headed toward town, and I figured I had enough time to get Jas out of that cabin.
“I went inside and was able to rouse her enough to get her off the floor. I got her to my car and drove away from that cabin like a bat out of hell. I was on my way to The Refuge, but I pulled over before I got there. I checked where Christian was again, and saw he was at that fast food place. The bastard had kidnapped a young girl and was getting a burger ? It disgusted me. I called the cops through their tip-finder line and told them where they could find him. I knew the police were looking for him; I’d heard them talking on an emergency scanner app I have…which is completely legal, by the way. Anyone can download it and listen.”
“I’m not judging you, Ry. Not even a little. How could you even think that after all you’ve done for me and my family?” Henley asked.
“I just…I know what I do isn’t legal. But it’s been a lo ng time since I’ve done anything that would hurt someone else,” Ryleigh admitted quietly.
Tiny thought about that for a moment, and while he didn’t know exactly what it was she did on her computer, since she’d admitted that she wasn’t who everyone thought she was, the things she’d done had been nothing but helpful. Yes, she’d hacked into places she shouldn’t have, but she’d done so because she was trying to find Lara. Then Stone.
“We’re lucky to have you on our side,” Henley said gently.
He heard a sniff, then Ryleigh was speaking again. “Anyway, I told the cops where Christian was, and where the house in the woods was located, just in case they didn’t act on my intel soon enough to get him while he was still in Los Alamos. I got back on the road to bring Jas to The Refuge, but I realized how many questions there’d be for me if I did that. I love The Refuge. Actually liked my job. I knew if I just waltzed into the lodge with Jasna, everyone would have questions and I’d have to leave. And I know it was really selfish of me, but…I decided to leave her in one of the bunkers, then anonymously text Tonka where she was, so he could go get her.”
“Ah yes…the bunkers,” Henley said.
Tiny pressed his lips together. He was aware Tonka had told his wife about their hidden bunkers on The Refuge property. He’d even brought her to the one Jasna had been put in for safekeeping, so she could see it for herself. For closure. Alaska also knew about them, because Brick had stashed her in one before going hunting for the asshole who’d been trying to kidnap her again. They weren’t quite the secret they used to be, that was for sure .
“You know about them?” Ryleigh asked. “They’re not common knowledge.”
“I know about them,” Henley confirmed. “But not where they’re all located. Can you tell me more about them?”
“No, I can’t,” Ryleigh said somewhat firmly. “It’s not my secret to tell. I’m sorry.”
Ryleigh had managed to surprise Tiny once more. The woman obviously knew a lot of information about many different things, including The Refuge, and probably the men who owned the place. But the fact that she wasn’t going about disclosing that information willy-nilly impressed him. He still wasn’t comfortable with the level of knowledge she possessed, and he wondered what else she was keeping a secret, but he had to admit that she’d surprised him by not telling Henley everything she knew about the bunkers.
“It’s okay. So you brought Jasna back to The Refuge?”
“Yeah. She didn’t seem to be having any trouble breathing, and I couldn’t find any injuries on her. I didn’t think it would take Tonka long to get to her, so I figured it would be okay to leave her alone for a little while. I made sure she was safe where I left her and went back to my car. On my way back to Los Alamos, I listened to what was happening at the cabin on the scanner, then sent Tonka the text letting him know where he could find Jasna.”
“And you went home,” Henley said flatly.
“Yeah.”
“By yourself.”
“Uh…yeah?”
“Oh, Ry,” Henley said, once more in a heartbroken tone .
Tiny felt the same way. He’d known what Ryleigh had done for a while now, but hearing it from her own lips put everything in a new light. She hadn’t sought out approval for her actions. Hadn’t wanted any kind of thanks or kudos. She’d saved Jasna’s life, stolen her right out from under a killer’s nose, then went back to her apartment, alone, and kept quiet about the whole thing.
“And Reese?”
“What about her?” Ryleigh asked.
“You tracked her and told the guys where she was, then went on with your days as if nothing happened?”
“It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Not a big deal? Ry, it’s a huge deal. You saved her life too! Who else have you saved over the years and refused to take credit for? How many other people have you been a guardian angel for, and they don’t even know?”
Tiny understood Henley’s bewilderment. He felt the same way. He’d thought the worst of Ryleigh, and he was just now beginning to grasp how solitary her life had been.
“Not enough,” was her response. “I’ve done bad things. Used my skills to destroy people’s lives.”
Tiny’s brow furrowed. The Ryleigh he knew wasn’t a bad person. But then again, it was becoming more and more obvious that he didn’t really know Ryleigh at all.
“Bullshit!” Henley exclaimed heatedly.
“I have,” she insisted.
“Well, if that’s true, then you didn’t want to. Someone made you.”
And just like that, clarity hit.
Her talk of being scared, of needing to protect The Refuge and everyone who lived there, of “fixing” things, her claim that she’d done things to help The Refuge prosper, and “people” who would like to see the place crash and burn because it meant something to her…it all made a little more sense now.
There was someone out there who hated Ryleigh. Enough to want to hurt her…maybe even anyone and anything she showed an interest in.
He’d suspected for a while she’d been hiding. Running. Though for how long was anyone’s guess. And given the things she’d let slip in the last few days…it sounded like whatever or whoever she was hiding from had most likely found her.
She’d protected Jasna, and Reese, and exhausted herself trying to find Stone. There had to have been an immense amount of pressure on Ryleigh’s slender shoulders—and what had Tiny done? Made it worse. Given her the cold shoulder, treated her as if she was a pariah.
And yet she’d stayed. Because she was continuing to protect them. All of them.
He felt like shit.
Having some insight into her actions didn’t make his distrust of her disappear, but it put a large dent in the shield he’d wrapped around his heart for sure.
“W-What? Why would you say that?” Ryleigh asked.
“I’ve spent my life studying the human psyche,” Henley told her. “The hows and whys behind people’s actions. You’re a good person, Ry. Down to your little toes. If you did bad things in the past, it wasn’t because that’s who you are—it was because you had no choice. I wish I’d known it was you who’d helped Jas back when it happened. I wouldn’t have let you sit in your apartment by yourself after that ordeal. I’m kind of mad at you for doing that. But…I understand. You were doing what you thought was ri ght. Well, I hope you understand that you’re a part of us now. The Refuge. You’re our friend. And I have never felt more sure in the decision to name my daughter after you than I am now.”
“Henley,” Ryleigh protested in a watery tone.
Tiny took a deep breath and pushed off the wall he’d been leaning against. He quietly walked away from the hospital room, needing some air. He didn’t feel bad about eavesdropping. Ryleigh had shields thicker than his had ever been. The thought of why she had them made Tiny want to rage. But he couldn’t do anything to help her until she opened up about her past.
Someone was out there, threatening her. He had no doubt about that. And not only threatening her , but The Refuge too.
She’d said it herself, she didn’t feel as if she could leave now, because whoever was out there knew how important The Refuge was to her. That alone told Tiny that she was a good person. Anyone else would’ve fled long before now to save their own skin. But not Ryleigh.
He felt horrible for the way he’d treated her. As if she was a criminal. Someone who had to be watched twenty-four/seven. And all along, she’d had nothing but the best of intentions for his friends and his home.
Did she still break the law with the things she did online? Undoubtably, yes. But now that he thought about it, Tiny wondered what else she’d done to help The Refuge. She’d all but admitted there was more the other night, when she’d blurted out those things she probably never meant to say. Something about how she hadn’t worked so hard to make the place prosper, only to see it get hurt now .
The thought that Ryleigh could be a modern-day Robin Hood made him even more ashamed. Not that The Refuge needed charity, they were definitely doing all right. But even as he had the thought, Tiny had to admit that the last year had been their best yet. They’d expanded, bought a helicopter, had more business than they could handle…he had to wonder if that was at least partly due to Ryleigh and her computer skills.
The doors to the small hospital opened automatically as Tiny approached, but he barely noticed as he took a deep breath as soon as he was outside. He headed for a bench situated in a small green space near the entrance, and sat. He leaned over and rested his elbows on his knees as he stared at the ground.
Thoughts swirled through his head. Everything he’d heard Ryleigh telling Henley, things that had happened at The Refuge over the last several months, things he’d said to Ryleigh, knowing they would hurt her.
He’d been such an ass. He’d be the first to admit that. But Ryleigh had gotten under his skin even before they knew who she really was…and he didn’t like it. So he’d used her admission as an excuse to distance himself. To bolster the shields he kept around his heart.
As brave as Ryleigh was—she’d been willing to go toe-to-toe with a killer , for God’s sake—she was also reckless in a lot of ways. And na?ve…
It hadn’t escaped Tiny’s notice that she liked him. The side glances, the way her cheeks heated when he caught her staring at him. But that was before .
Before she’d admitted she’d been lying to everyone.
Since then, there’d been no more glances. No more blushing. Just a lot of wary expressions, a lot of nervousness, and as much avoidance as she could manage. Which wasn’t much, considering he rarely let her out of his sight. But she hadn’t left. She’d stayed to do whatever she could to help find Owl, Lara, and Stone. And when Lara and Owl had returned, she’d continued to take whatever Tiny dished out, because Stone was still missing. And she’d worked tirelessly to help find him.
Tiny sat back on the wooden bench and stared into space, remembering the past. Another woman who’d lied to him. But Sonja hadn’t been anything like Ryleigh, who wore her every emotion on her face. No. Sonja was an amazing actress. Sure had him fooled. He’d thought they were soul mates. The day she’d accepted his proposal had been the happiest day of his life. Didn’t have the slightest doubt of her love for him. He’d gone on missions secure in the knowledge that his fiancée was waiting for him at home, as worried about him as he was her.
The reality would make an excellent true crime show. Betrayal, a lover’s triangle, a fiancée who secretly hated her soon-to-be husband. Who didn’t want to be a Navy wife. She’d convinced her lover that Tiny was abusing her. That he’d never let her go. She’d claimed she was scared of him…and that the only way they could be together was to kill him.
And the stupid kid bought her lies hook, line, and sinker.
Then again, Tiny’d had no idea she was anything other than the loving fiancée who’d seemed so happy to see him every time he’d returned from a dangerous mission.
She and her lover were so dumb, even if they’d succeeded in killing him while he slept, they wouldn’t have gotten away with it. The texts they’d sent back and forth, the internet searches she’d done, the receipts from the hotel trysts…they would’ve been caught within days of his death.
But they’d failed to kill him, obviously. Sonja had plunged a knife into his chest and miraculously missed hitting anything vital—like his heart, which she’d been aiming for.
The fight afterward had been swift, brutal, and over very quickly. Tiny had knocked out his fiancée with one punch, and it didn’t take much more to subdue her lover, who’d been waiting next to the bed to help finish him off after she’d made the first strike.
But now that he’d had some time and distance, and he was actually allowing himself to think about what had happened, Tiny realized he was more embarrassed that he hadn’t known his fiancée was cheating on him and plotting his death, than hurting over her betrayal. If she’d broken things off with him to be with that other man, he wouldn’t have been happy, but he would’ve let her go. Would’ve moved on fairly quickly.
Instead, she’d left him with the inability to trust. He hadn’t slept next to a woman since that night. Hadn’t trusted anyone enough to be that vulnerable again.
Yes, Ryleigh slept in his house, but always in another room, and his door was always closed. He’d been a light sleeper all his life, but he was even more so now. The smallest creak of the floorboards had his eyes flying open and Tiny racing out of his bedroom to see what Ryleigh was doing. She was always surprised by his appearance. No matter how quiet she tried to be, he still heard her.
Sonja had done that to him, and he resented her for it.
She and her lover were still behind bars, but they wouldn’t be forever. He’d vowed to be there for every one of their parole hearings, to make sure they stayed locked up for as long as possible. But now that he was settled at The Refuge…he found his need for revenge had dried up, at least.
Besides, he had something more important to concentrate on now.
Ryleigh.
Did he trust her? No, not really. But now that he understood there was more behind her actions than duplicitous intentions, Tiny found himself not quite as distrustful as he used to be.
“Everything okay?” Tonka asked as he approached the hospital. He had a fast-food bag in one hand and was holding Jasna’s hand with the other.
“Yeah,” Tiny said as he stood.
“Ry still in there talking with Henley?”
Tiny nodded.
“You think it’s safe to interrupt them?” Tonka asked. “Want to get these tots to her while they’re still semi-warm. Then get Jas back to The Refuge so we can check on all the animals.”
“You coming back here after?” Tiny asked, already knowing the answer.
“Of course.”
“Me too?” Jasna asked. “I don’t want to miss anything!”
Tonka chuckled. “You aren’t going to miss anything but crying and pooping.”
“Ew, gross. Don’t say poop,” Jasna complained with a grimace.
Tiny and Tonka both chuckled .
“You can muck out a barn without blinking, but talking about your sister pooping grosses you out?”
“Seriously, stop!” Jasna demanded.
Tonka was smiling so big, Tiny couldn’t help but stare at him in wonder. Tonka had always been the reticent one. But ever since marrying Henley, he’d definitely opened up. Still, he didn’t think he’d ever seen his friend so…carefree.
“All right. Come on, let’s go see your mom and sister. Then we’ll get some stuff done back at the barn, make sure you’re all settled with Alaska and Brick.”
“And you’ll have more pictures for me so I can show them to my friends at school next week, right?” Jasna asked.
“Of course. Come on, let’s go give these tots to your mom.”
Tiny followed the duo back into the hospital and down the hall toward Henley’s room. When they entered, Ryleigh and Henley were laughing about something.
“Yay! Tots!” Henley exclaimed when she saw her husband.
“Trade ya, Elizabeth for a large tater tot,” Tonka told her with a grin.
“Deal. Gimme!”
Everyone laughed.
The sight of the teeny little baby in Tonka’s arms made Tiny’s heart skip a beat. It wasn’t as if he’d thought about having children very often. He wasn’t even sure if he ever wanted any, but seeing his friend so besotted, so happy, made him feel all mushy inside.
“I’m gonna go,” Ryleigh told Henley.
“All right. Thanks for the talk. You belong here, Ry. Who else will teach Elizabeth how to be a computer genius like you?”
Ryleigh gave her a small smile, then an awkward wave—which Tiny found adorable—and headed for the door.
Since she’d arrived at the hospital with their friends, who’d already left, he quickly said his goodbyes as well and hurried to catch up with Ryleigh.
“What’s the rush?” he asked as he came up next to her.
“Oh…you didn’t have to leave just because I did,” Ryleigh said.
Tiny frowned. “You need a ride,” he told her, something she obviously knew.
“Yeah, but I was going to catch an Uber back to The Refuge.”
“Absolutely not,” he said with a shake of his head.
It was Ryleigh’s turn to frown. “I know you don’t trust me even a little, but I already told you that I’m not leaving yet. You don’t have to worry that I’ll hire a taxi to drive me to the airport or anything.”
Tiny sighed. “I wasn’t worried about that. But we’re going to the same place. I can take you home.”
“You aren’t responsible for me,” she countered.
“And you aren’t responsible for everyone who lives and works at The Refuge, or what happens there either,” Tiny blurted.
Ryleigh stopped in her tracks in the middle of the hallway and stared at him. “What?”
“You heard me. You worked your ass off to find Stone, but he’s back now. Everything’s good. You can stop worrying so much.”
To his surprise, Ryleigh laughed. But it wasn’t a humorous sound. “Right,” she said cynically, then started walking toward the exit once more.
Tiny ground his teeth together. He hated that she was still keeping secrets from him. “I’m not your enemy,” he told her as they walked.
“Could’a fooled me.”
As soon as they stepped outside, Tiny stopped her by gently grabbing her arm. She looked at him in surprise.
“I realize I’ve been an ass, and I’m trying to apologize. I’d like to start over.”
Ryleigh stared at him with an expression he couldn’t interpret.
“Start over? New leaf? Whatever you want to call it. No more hovering over you while you work. No more insisting to know where you are and who you’re with or who you’re talking to. I want to go back to how things were when you first started working at The Refuge.”
“Really?” she asked skeptically.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because.”
“That’s not an answer,” she said, one brow hitching up.
Tiny shrugged.
She sighed, looking away. “All right.”
Tiny felt as if he’d hit the lottery. It was a start.
“Are you tired?” he asked as they started walking toward the parking lot. He was surprised how hard it was to drop his hand from her arm.
“Exhausted.”
“Me too. I thought I’d make hamburgers for dinner instead of going to the lodge. That work for you? ”
She looked at him a little suspiciously this time, but nodded.
They were silent as they climbed into his car and headed back toward The Refuge. But it was a comfortable silence, not like the ones fraught with underlying tension that they’d suffered through for the last few months.
Tiny had no idea where this new start would take them, but he was determined to discover all of Ryleigh’s secrets. Not because he thought she’d use them against him or his friends, but because he had a feeling if he didn’t, she’d disappear into thin air…and if that happened, no one would ever find her again. Not if she didn’t want to be found.