Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ry thought her heart was going to beat out of her chest. She was terrified. And pissed. It was a weird combination. Never in a million years had she imagined her father doing what he was right now. If she had, she would’ve left The Refuge, no matter what the consequences. But it was too late for that.
She was locked in a battle of wits with a man who’d never loved her. Had never seen her as anything but a means to an end. Even this game was a setup. He didn’t care if Albuquerque lost all its power or not. He just wanted money. As it always did with Harold Lodge, everything came down to money.
He was here. She knew it in her bones. He wanted to see her lose. Wanted to see her cry, beg, promise to do whatever he wanted. He was arrogant enough to want to see her pay for her supposed sins against him in person. That would be his downfall. She hoped.
The door to the lodge opened, and she flinched. But she didn’t miss the way Tiny immediately turned and put himself between her and whatever new threat had entered the building. She hated and loved that he’d done that at the same time.
But the person who entered wasn’t her father. Or some other corrupt former military commando come to kill them.
It was Tiny’s friend. Wolf.
“Easy, it’s just me,” he said, lifting his hands, showing he was unarmed.
Ry wanted to laugh. Even though the man was long since retired, she didn’t think he’d ever be the kind of guy anyone didn’t assume was a threat. Yes, earlier, when he was relaxed and happy, he’d looked pretty mild-mannered. But now? He oozed a kind of menace that she’d only witnessed in Tiny and the other Refuge owners, when one of their own had been threatened. The menace that seemed to fill the room after the cabins exploded.
It had felt overwhelming then, almost choking her with its intensity. But now she welcomed it. Embraced it.
Her dad thought she was helpless. A sitting duck. Didn’t respect Tiny or anyone who lived at or came to The Refuge. Thought anyone who couldn’t handle “a little adversity”—his term for PTSD—was a wuss. This coming from a man who’d spent his life hiding behind a computer, sitting on his ass in his house.
Harold Lodge was a pathetic human being. And Ry believed in karma. Sometimes it took its sweet time making people pay for their evil deeds, but eventually they got what was coming to them. And she fervently prayed that today was the day her father would come face-to-face with karma itself.
But she couldn’t stop working while she waited for that to happen. She had to continue with his sick mind games. Continue to read his taunts that popped up on the screen between the lines of code as they went back and forth. Her dad taking advantage of the power grid’s security system, and her patching holes as fast as he opened them. Eventually he’d run out of holes to poke, and she’d win.
But then what? Ry had no doubt he had something planned.
As he’d said, he held all the cards. As long as he had a detonator for the bunkers, as long as he controlled who lived and who died in a fiery blast, he had the upper hand. They both knew it.
“Wolf, what the hell are you doing here?” Tiny asked.
“If you think I’m going to sit my ass in a bunker while you have all the fun, you’re not the SEAL I thought you were.”
Ry wanted to roll her eyes. Fun? Wolf thought this was fun ? But then she shook her head. Of course he didn’t. It was just a phrase. She was actually glad he was here. Not for her sake, but Tiny’s. He wouldn’t let the man she loved take any insane risks. He’d have his back, while Tiny had hers. After all, he’d been a SEAL too. They could work together.
“What’s the situation?” Wolf asked.
“Not good,” Tiny admitted. And the fact that he didn’t sugarcoat anything made Ry respect him more. He quickly explained what was happening. Ry kept sneaking glances at the older man, and wasn’t surprised at the way he frowned and looked extremely concerned. His wife was in one of the bunkers. He had every right to be worried.
“I have a friend, he was on my team,” Wolf said. “He’s an ordnance expert. Maybe I can call him. Go out to one of the bunkers and have him talk me through how to disarm it.”
Ry wasn’t so sure that would work. But she wasn’t sure it wouldn’t . She was completely conflicted. She wanted to get everyone out of those damn bunkers, right this second, but not if it meant causing all those bombs to go off—and her gut told her that Harold wasn’t bluffing.
“If you want to do something,” she blurted, “take Tiny and go find my asshole of a father. He’s here somewhere. Watching. Waiting for the right time to blow us all to pieces. Find him and kill him before he has a chance to do the same to us.”
She couldn’t believe she’d just said that, had encouraged anyone to kill another person. But enough was enough. Her father was an evil man. He had to be stopped. Even if she agreed and somehow found ten million dollars to give him, he wouldn’t go away. He’d come back. Wanting more. Blackmailing her, threatening her friends, doing anything necessary to get his way. The only way to make him stop, was permanently .
She was probably going to go to Hell for wishing for the death of her father, but at this point, Ry didn’t care. As long as Tiny was safe. The Refuge was safe. She’d take whatever punishment she earned if the people she loved were protected.
“That won’t be necessary, daughter dear. I’m right here.”
Ry froze and her hands dropped from the keyboard.
Her father stepped out of the kitchen with a shit-eating grin on his face.
Her mouth fell open. She couldn’t believe he was stupid enough to show himself willingly. Here . With Tiny and Wolf by her side.
He was as good as dead, he just didn’t know?—
Suddenly, Wolf moved…
Turning and running straight for the front door.
Ry watched in stunned disbelief. He was literally running away! So much for her thought that he was a big bad SEAL.
Her father laughed hysterically as the door swung shut behind Wolf. “He’s not going to be able to save his precious wife. I’m in control here.”
Tiny shifted and sidestepped out from behind the reception desk.
“No, don’t,” Ry whispered.
He didn’t listen. He stepped out in full view of her father, who wasn’t holding a gun, but she still didn’t trust him. Not in the least.
“So, you’re the man who finally made my daughter a real woman, huh?”
The question was rude and crude, but Ry wasn’t surprised.
“You have a choice, Ryleigh,” her dad said, almost conversationally.
Ry could feel her hands shaking, but she forced herself to look at the man who, before last week, she hadn’t seen for years. The man who’d done his best to make her exactly like him. Amoral. Evil. With no thought for anyone other than himself.
“Don’t you want to know what the choice is?” her dad asked, clearly enjoying himself. He obviously thought he had the upper hand, but Ry would literally bet on Tiny any day of the week. She had no idea what he could do, but there was no chance at all that he’d simply stand there doing nothing for long.
“What?” she finally asked, knowing if she didn’t, her father would likely start yelling.
“You can save yourself—or your friends,” he said almost gleefully. “These detonators in my hands are remotely connected to two different series of bombs I’ve placed around this godforsaken place. When one goes off, it’ll set the next one off, and so on. You can save yourself and your fuck toy, and I’ll take out all the bunkers with the press of a button. Or you can choose the people out in those good-for-nothing bunkers—why anyone thought they’d be safe is beyond me—and I’ll blow up this lodge with you in it. And that fancy new hangar. And the barn with those adorable… barf! …animals.”
Ry blinked at him once. Twice. Then she couldn’t help it—she laughed.
And once she started, she couldn’t stop.
She probably looked and sounded like a lunatic, but she didn’t care. Her father was delusional. Ridiculous. And so stupid .
“What are you laughing at? Stop! I mean it, stop it right now !” her dad yelled.
“Ryleigh,” Tiny said in a low voice.
She didn’t risk looking over at the man she loved more than anything else in the world. If she did, she’d probably fall into a heap on the floor. She was barely hanging on by a thread as it was. She couldn’t believe her father, a man she’d once looked up to—a long, long time ago, before she’d realized he was a piece of shit—was threatening to blow up not only her, but dozens of innocent people. He was so much worse than she’d ever imagined, it was impossible to wrap her brain around.
“I’d give you all the money in the world if I could,” she told her dad when she could speak again. She didn’t recognize her own voice. She’d never talked back to him like this. But she was done cowering. Done doing everything he demanded simply because she was scared. “But I can’t. It’s gone. All of it. Every dime.”
“What?” Harold asked. “No, it’s not . I know you have it hidden away. Just like I taught you. Transfer it back to me, now!”
“I’ve given it away. To charities all over the country and the world. A little at a time. I gave it back to the people you stole it from. Veterans groups, homeless organizations, orphans, animals…you name the charity and I supported it. All the money you stole from hardworking and innocent people, from fledgling businesses that didn’t have security on their accounts, even the cash you were so proud of taking from our government…it’s gone. Like the wind. Given back to those who deserve it. And you know what? It felt amazing . So much better than stealing it in the first place.”
“You’re lying. You bitch, you’re lying !” Harold shouted.
“I’ve even given a big chunk of it to The Refuge. The very buildings you’re threatening to blow up were built with that money. The hangar? Built with donations. The cabins you already blew up? They’ll be rebuilt with the money I donated.”
“No! No, no, no!” Her dad screamed, his face turning dark red. “That’s my money! I stole it fair and square!”
“Wrong!” Ry yelled back, feeling more and more confident. “You didn’t steal shit! You made me steal it. I was a kid! All I wanted was your love, and I did everything you ever asked in the hopes you’d even so much as smile at me. Tell me ‘good job.’ Tell me that you loved me! But instead, you belittled me, told me I was worthless. That I wasn’t fast enough. Wasn’t sneaky enough. Wasn’t good enough. So I worked harder. Learned as much as I could, so you’d maybe love me one day. But nothing was ever enough.
“The laughable thing is, if you’d shown me even a scrap of affection? I probably would’ve become just like you. I’d still be at your side today, stealing money. But because you were so cold, so heartless, you’re responsible for everything I did. For me leaving—and taking that money with me.”
It was as if she and her dad were the only two people in the world. Glaring at each other. She didn’t feel intimidated, like she usually did in her father’s presence. Didn’t flinch. She kept her chin up as she told her father the things she’d always wanted to say, but never had the guts to voice.
“I never loved you,” her dad barked. “Never wanted kids. Your mother was even more worthless than you. Gave me two ungrateful brats and beyond that, was barely useful for getting my rocks off. I kept her around until you were old enough to take care of yourself, then she was fucking gone.”
“I was five !” Ry screamed. “I couldn’t take care of myself! I needed my mom. My dad !”
“You act like you’re so much better than me,” Harold sneered. “But as you just pointed out, it was you who stole that money. You were the one who hacked into the coffers of the very charities you pretend to support now. And you loved it! I watched you, daughter dear, you got off on sneaking around online and taking what didn’t belong to you. That’s why I wanted you back, working at my side. You’re good at what you do because you love the power that comes with it! I might be wanted by the FBI, but you’re just as bad as me. Worse !
“You’ve got everyone snowed. Everyone here thinks you’re so sweet and kind. You’re actually a viper in a pit of cuddly kittens. They have no idea how dangerous you are. But one day they’ll figure it out, and you’ll be gone. Kicked in the face. All these people you’re protecting, they’ll turn their backs on you faster than you can blink. You’re stupid . You’ve always been stupid. And because of you, all of this is gonna be gone. POOF! Gone with one goddamn press of the button on these detonators!”
At any other time, his words would’ve crushed Ry. She would’ve taken them to heart. Internalized them. Believed what he said. But she stood tall and proud. He was wrong. About her, about her friends. And about what was going to happen here.
Because what she knew, and her father didn’t, was that Wolf hadn’t run away from the lodge in fear…he wasn’t running to a bunker to try to save his wife.
He’d circled around the lodge and was now—even as her dad ranted and raved, completely focused on trying to belittle and demoralize her—stealthily moving out of the kitchen.
“You think I won’t do it?” her dad yelled. “I will! I’ll blow this entire place sky-high! It’ll fucking rain body parts! And it’ll be your fault. All your fault! I’ll give you one more chance to give me my money. Ten seconds, Ryleigh. Put your fingers on that keyboard and give me my money. Otherwise… KABOOM! ”
Ry wasn’t sure how he thought he’d blow her up, and not himself in the process, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t going to get a chance to press the buttons on the detonators. She had no doubt of that.
As soon as she had the thought, Wolf made his move.
He lunged at her father and wrapped a muscular arm around his neck.
It was almost comical the way his eyes widened, how fast he dropped the detonators to grab Wolf’s arm, trying to dislodge it from around his neck so he could breathe.
Ry winced as the plastic devices bounced on the hardwood floor of the lodge. She held her breath, half expecting to hear the horrifying sound of bombs exploding out in the forest. But nothing happened, allowing her to breathe once again.
Tiny leaped forward and grabbed the detonators as Wolf held her dad, but Harold Lodge apparently wasn’t going down without a fight. As Ry watched from her safe spot behind the reception desk, Harold pulled out a knife from somewhere.
“Wolf! Knife!” she yelled—but it was too late. Her dad managed to plunge the blade into Wolf’s thigh. In the next instant, the floor beneath them was slippery from what she assumed was blood coming from the wound in his leg.
Still, Wolf didn’t let go of her dad. Instead, his hold around his neck tightened, her father’s face turning almost purple.
Tiny quickly placed the detonators on a table and joined the fray.
Now Ry was scared. Her heart was in her throat as she watched her dad battle for his life. He wasn’t an accomplished fighter, not like the two former SEALs he was grappling with, but he was desperate…and he still had a solid grip on the knife.
The fight was surprisingly quiet, the only sound grunts as her father fought to get free. The men slipped in the blood on the floor, struggling for balance. Ry saw a flash of the knife, then all three men went down, hard .
She ran out from behind the reception desk, ready to…what? Help? There wasn’t anything she could do other than get in the way. But the urge to do something was overwhelming.
Then Tiny straightened to his knees. Wolf did the same.
Her father remained flat on the floor. Unmoving.
Tiny stood, holding a hand out for Wolf, who took it and got to his feet as well.
Looking back down at her father, Ry saw the knife he’d used to stab Wolf, sticking out of his neck. Blood rapidly pooling around his unmoving body.
She should’ve been shocked. Horrified. Instead, she felt numb.
“Sit,” Tiny ordered Wolf, reaching for his arm.
But Wolf shook his head. “I’m good. Didn’t get an artery. Hurts like a bitch, but I’ve had worse. We need to figure out how to disarm the bunker bombs.”
Ry blinked. How could she have forgotten? Just because her father was dead didn’t mean they were in the clear. It was possible that, as he’d threatened, he had bombs planted all over The Refuge, and if they didn’t figure out how to disarm them, he could still win. Which was unacceptable.
Turning, Ry raced back to her laptop behind the reception desk .
“Ryleigh?” Tiny asked.
“Bring the detonators over here,” she ordered, her voice shaking. “He said they were connected. That if one went off, they’d all explode,” she muttered. “So we need to figure out which was placed first. Maybe if we can disarm that one, the others will all go offline too.”
“Breathe, Ryleigh,” Tiny ordered.
She jerked, not realizing he’d come up next to her. He placed one hand on her hip, and his touch grounded her. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax. The bombs hadn’t gone off yet, she still had a chance to save everyone.
The thought of her friends dying because of her father was abhorrent…the kids, Brick’s mom. The dogs. All of them could be gone in a flash if she didn’t concentrate and do what she did best.
Her father wasn’t wrong. She had broken the law. Had stolen money. But she’d worked her ass off in the last decade to repent, to give back. She wasn’t sure a court of law would care that she hadn’t wanted to take that money, that she’d been trying to earn the love of a man who wasn’t capable of caring about anyone other than himself, but she’d be damned if she let dozens of innocents pay for her sins.
She pulled up the surveillance cameras once again. It was an impossible task. To scroll through hours of video to try to find the men her father had hired to set the explosives. She wasn’t even sure which camera to watch. Which of the bunkers was the first, let alone which day they’d been rigged to blow.
“Which one do you think it is, Ryleigh?” Tiny asked calmly from her side .
Ry’s breaths came out in pants now. She couldn’t do this. “I don’t know,” she said, sounding pathetic and defeated even to her own ears. “I don’t know!” she repeated as she looked up at Tiny.
“Yes, you do. You can do this. I trust you, Ryleigh.”
His trust was everything. This was a man who’d been broken by a woman’s betrayal. Had spent years of his life keeping everyone at arm’s length. Who couldn’t even stand to fall asleep next to anyone for fear they’d try to kill him while he rested. And yet, he’d moved her into his cabin. Had slept like a baby with her in his arms. He not only trusted her, he loved her.
Her .
She’d found what she’d spent her life craving. Love. And it wasn’t just Tiny’s love. It was everyone’s love. Brick, Alaska, Tonka, Henley, Spike, Reese, Pipe, Cora, Owl, Lara, Stone, and Maisy. And everyone else who worked here at The Refuge. She wasn’t going to let them down. No way.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. Then another. Her hands still shook, but she felt much more centered. She thought about the bunkers. The first time she’d learned about them. And the first time she’d used them…
“Bunker 103,” she said, more to herself than anyone else. “I think he somehow knew that’s where I took Jasna. If he found that archived footage, he would have picked it on purpose. It’s the only bunker I have a connection to.”
“Caroline’s in 103,” Wolf said, his voice cracking.
Determination welled up inside Ry.
“Can you disarm it remotely?” Tiny asked, holding one of the detonators. “Using one of these? ”
Ry took it from him and turned the small device over in her hands. She was afraid to take it apart, even though that had originally been her plan. See if there was a microchip inside she could plug into her computer that she could deprogram. But the thought of making even the tiniest misstep made her want to throw up. This wasn’t a computer game. This was real life. And real live humans would die if she messed up.
She reluctantly shook her head.
“Right, so we go to the source then,” Wolf said, sounding like the take-charge Navy SEAL he was.
“The bunker,” Tiny agreed.
“I’ll call Dude on our way. He’ll know how to disarm it and make sure the connection to the others is broken. There’s no way your father found anyone better than Dude.”
“I should check the videos…see if that really was the first bomb placed,” Ry protested.
“No time,” Tiny told her with a shake of his head. “You stay here.”
She snorted. “Not happening. One, you aren’t leaving me here with a dead body. With my luck, my father will come back to life and sneak up behind me, or his evil soul will possess me and you’ll have a girlfriend whose head spins around at odd times. I’m coming too.”
Tiny’s lips didn’t inch up even a fraction. “I want you safe.”
“And I want my friends to not be blown up!” she cried almost hysterically. “Please, Tiny. Don’t leave me here. I’m safest by your side. That’s it. Nowhere else.”
He stared at her for a second or two, then nodded.
The relief that flooded through Ry made her light- headed, but she didn’t hesitate for a moment when Tiny turned toward the door. While they’d been talking, Wolf had made a makeshift bandage out of a couple of cloth napkins sitting on tables around the room. He limped toward the door with Tiny and Ry at his back, his phone to his ear.
This had to work. It had to. Wolf’s buddy had to come through. If not, Ry wouldn’t be able to forgive herself, ever. No matter what Tiny or anyone else said, she’d brought this threat to The Refuge. It was her father, her baggage that had brought them to this point. She needed to be there…either when everything was literally blown to bits, or to see years of running and fear come to an end.
Either way, the next few minutes would change her life once and for all.