Chapter 11
When Toni messaged Gwen that she was taking a personal day, her secretary had been thrilled, claiming that she could handle anything and everything that came up that day. The fact that Gwen wanted her to take the day said more about Toni’s work habits than Toni cared to admit.
Gwen was in her fifties, and extremely competent. Half the time she solved problems before Toni even realized they existed. She was definitely due a raise if Toni could work it into the books. So for Gwen to be calling Toni already sent up red flags before Toni even answered the phone.
“Ms. Anderson, I’m terribly sorry to pull you from your meeting, but your father is here in the office looking for you. He says his phone died and it’s urgent that he speak with you.”
For a single second, the words sparked a flicker of hope in Toni.
Her dad was alive. She must have been wrong, must not have realized he still had a pulse!
He’d survived! He was at her office! She could go there and apologize!
Swear that she’d get him help, get him clean, and they’d find her mom and the three of them would be a family again, just like Ranger, Becks, and Loretta were!
Except…that second passed far too quickly as reality crashed back down on her, and those memories she’d fought so hard to suppress for the last day and a half came flooding back.
Her dad was dead. She’d shot him. Twice!
In the back. He was buried in an unmarked grave in some wooded area next to Becks and Ranger’s kidnappers and tormentors.
She supposed it was a good thing she was bad with directions, because she’d never be able to find those graves again without Ranger’s help.
Not like that would change the fact that he was very, very dead, though.
“Ms. Anderson?”
Gwen’s voice snapped her back to the present, and that was when Toni realized that Gwen was using her title instead of calling her “Toni”.
While some might consider it improper in a business setting, Toni felt ridiculous having Gwen call her “Ms. Anderson” all day long.
Therefore, they came up with a system, where Gwen would call Toni “Ms. Anderson” only to give Toni a head’s up about a problem client.
Gwen had worked for several law firms over the years, and she had an instinct for the troublemakers, especially the ones who did not show Gwen any respect because she was just a “lowly secretary”.
If that wasn’t troubling enough, Gwen knew damn well that Toni wasn’t at a meeting.
They’d spoken only hours ago about Toni taking a personal day, and Gwen’s memory was sharper than an elephant’s.
Which told Toni that Gwen either knew that whoever was in the office was not her father or she instinctively knew something was off about Toni’s “father”.
“Are you safe?” Toni asked, knowing Gwen would not have her on speakerphone. She normally had her headset on from the moment she entered the office to the moment she left for the night.
“Yes, thank you, Ms. Anderson. It’s good to know your meeting is wrapping up.”
Toni tried frantically to think when the last time either of her parents were at the office.
Her mom had met Gwen several times, but had her dad?
Obviously, it wasn’t her dad in the office with Gwen, but would Gwen know that?
Toni did not have any family portraits or anything personal in her office.
Regardless of Mount Grove being a relatively safe small town, she did not want anything about her home life displayed for others to see or use against her.
“I’m going to mute you, but you can make it sound like I hung up and am on my way.”
“Sounds good, Ms. Anderson. See you soon, and drive safe.”
Toni quickly muted the call as she walked into the kitchen, asking to speak to Ranger and Ghost privately.
She didn’t know what Becks knew about why Toni was staying in one of the club trailers, but she was still not willing to have this conversation in front of Becks, Loretta, or Stuart Cross.
A part of her wondered if Cross knew Charles, her dad’s sponsor, but was also not sure how to ask.
Somehow, they’d made it through the entire conversation about boundaries and rules without it being brought up that her parents were addicts, too.
Or had been, in her father’s case.
“I’ve got Gwen muted on the phone, but I’ve got a serious problem. She says my dad is at the office looking for me.”
They both quickly covered up their surprise at this news, neither man looking happy. There was a short unspoken exchange between them before Ranger nodded like something had been decided while Toni just stood there feeling all sorts of confused.
“Does Gwen know it’s not your father?” Ranger asked her, his hand reaching for the small of her back.
Toni appreciated the comforting gesture. “I don’t know. Mom’s been to my office before, but I can’t remember if my dad ever was when Gwen was there. But she’s using our code for when there’s a problem client in the lobby.”
“Does she feel she’s in danger?” Ghost asked quickly.
Toni shook her head. “I asked, and she said ‘no’. But clearly she knows something isn’t right or she wouldn’t have called me ‘Ms. Anderson’.”
“Okay, stay here,” Ranger instructed. “We’ll go and?—”
“No,” Toni interrupted, feeling almost frantic. “You can’t go to my office, Liam.”
He stared down at her, frowning. “There’s someone at your office who is creating red flags for your secretary. No way in hell are you going there.”
“I have to,” Toni insisted. “I can’t be seen publicly with the club, Liam. Eventually questions about my dad’s whereabouts are going to happen, and I can’t have it look like I have the town’s motorcycle club at my back when they do.”
“I don’t give a damn about what anyone thinks,” Ranger growled. “You are not walking into a potentially dangerous situation?—”
“Whoever is at my office came to a public location,” Toni tried to reason. “That means they don’t plan on hurting me.”
Ghost stopped Ranger from whatever argument he planned on throwing at her next. “Toni, Ranger’s right. We’re not about to let you go in there alone and unprotected. Plus, I think there’s an aspect here that neither of you have considered yet.”
Toni blinked, not understanding. “What’s that?”
Ghost’s green eyes softened slightly as he looked at her. “Clearly, someone besides the club knows you killed your father. Now, either your mother was in the house with you that night, saw what happened, and told someone else, or that someone else was the one in the house that night.”
Toni felt the heat drain from her face. “There’s a witness…” she breathed out, terror making her hand lax. She almost dropped the phone, but thankfully Ranger caught it as he pulled her into his arms.
A witness! Fuck! What was she to do now?
Calling the club had been a mistake! Now there was a witness to her crime, and she was going to go to jail!
It hadn’t seemed such a terrifying thought when the witness had potentially been her mom.
High or not, her mom would be considered a compromised witness, plus she hadn’t imagined a reality where her mom would turn her in.
Had someone else been in her house that night? Someone who wasn’t her mom? Who? Why? Like her, her parents were fairly isolated socially. But with the addition of meth being reintroduced into their lives, who knows who had been in their home or why.
“Breathe, Toni,” Ranger encouraged. “It’ll be fine, baby. Everything will be just fine.”
“I don’t want to go to prison,” she mumbled into his shirt.
“You’re not going to prison,” he promised her—though Toni didn’t think that was a promise he had the right to make. It wasn’t like he was a king and decided the punishments, or pardons, for those in the land.
“I don’t want to leave Gwen there with whomever is in your office,” Ghost said from behind her. “Let’s take one of the cages over, and see what we can figure out before you go inside.”
“She’s not going inside alone!” Ranger snapped at his friend and brother-in-law.
“I never said she was, but I do agree that you can’t be the one who goes inside with her. Let’s go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can figure this out.”
* * *
Toni was confused, but she was also trying really hard not to be rude, but she was also really, really confused. “I’m sorry, how is this a compromise?” she asked, eyes flicking back and forth between Ranger and the blind woman now standing beside him.
She’d seen Tally around, knew the woman was a chef at the diner, but that was the extent of her knowledge.
To be honest, she kind of assumed the whole “blind chef” thing was some sort of gimmick.
It also wasn’t like she ate at the diner all that often to have put that much thought into it, either.
All she knew was how much she enjoyed splurging occasionally on the cranberry pear brie panini they’d added to their menu over the past year.
Plus, they’d recently done something to their french fries to make them even more addictive.
“Just trust me,” Ranger encouraged, “Tally’s the perfect bodyguard.”
Toni tried to keep the frown off her face, assuming that Tally had some sort of vision capabilities since she was walking around with the traditional sunglasses and cane that most blind people did.