Chapter 35
Tucker
Iwas looking forward to having Ruth to myself at lunch. Enjoying the seclusion of my office, grateful I was wise enough to have the forethought to soundproof it. Because I sure don’t want to catch the shit from my employees that Brooke catches from Maren.
But instead of showing Ruth, once again, how very fucking grateful I am that she’s here in Wyoming, I’m staring down the reality of yet another threat we’re facing.
William hasn’t said or done shit since my attorney sent him that notice, but I know it’s only a matter of time. I fully believe he’ll go down, I just don’t know that I believe it will be easily.
Or quietly.
So when Heidi looks straight at the camera feed and says, “The dead Dans definitely weren’t working alone,” I want to throw shit.
It’s a suspicion we were all treating as truth, but hearing Heidi confirm it is a blow. One that hits me harder than I was expecting.
Reaching out, I hook an arm around the chair next to me, dragging Ruth closer to my side.
Like I need to protect her even now. And maybe I do.
Look what happened with Mariah and Maren.
I want to believe we’ve successfully locked this place down, but I can’t know that for sure.
There’s always the chance someone could get past all our security measures and try to hurt a person I love.
Ruth’s eyes snap my way, her hand coming to rest on my thigh before even I know I’m beginning to spiral.
It happens so fast, I don’t even know how she can tell it’s coming.
But I’m grateful she does. The feel of her hand warming my body gives me something else to focus on. Something tangible. Something real.
Maybe the realist thing I’ve ever experienced.
“I think we all assumed that.” Tobias crosses both arms over his chest, leaning back in his seat. “Hopefully you aren’t just going to tell us more things we already suspected, and you’ve actually found a verifiable connection between them.”
Heidi slumps down, her lower lip poking out.
“You’re taking all the fun out of this, you know that, right?
” She sighs. “I did find a connection between bomby dead Dan and crashy dead Dan besides the fact that they both shared an alias.” She focuses on Brooke, expression apologetic.
“Unfortunately, that connection doesn’t seem to involve any ex-fiancés we were all really hoping to get rid of.
” Heidi perks up a little. “However, I do have an alert that lets me know any time Matt’s name is mentioned online, and it seems like he hasn’t learned his lesson about drinking and driving, because his license was just suspended. So there’s that.”
It’s not nearly enough. Part of me was really hoping Brooke’s ex-fiancé would be involved in a way that might result in him being locked up. At the very least, I was gunning for him to get the ass kicking he deserves. I know my mom gave him a nasty concussion, but I still feel like he got off easy.
“Back to the dead Dans.” Walker circles Heidi back to the reason we’re here. “What connection did you find?”
“Well…” Heidi glances at Pierce. “Do you want to take over?”
He shakes his head, holding one hand in her direction, palm up. “Please continue. You're much more entertaining than I could ever be.”
I huff out as much of a laugh as I can manage, because at least Pierce knows what he is and what he isn’t. And he isn’t even close to being entertaining.
“Thank you for that.” Heidi gives him a little pat on the shoulder. “I genuinely appreciate it.”
Trevor sighs loudly, head dropping back as his eyes roll toward the ceiling.
I understand his frustration—we all want to know what’s going on—but Heidi is the best at what she does and that makes me more than willing to follow all the little discussional detours she makes.
It keeps conversations from getting boring and helps break up the bad news, which seems to make it easier for me to digest.
Turning back to the camera feed, Heidi begins to explain.
“One of our teams has discovered a human trafficking ring in Nashville. Initially, we believed it was a localized organization, but the deeper we dig, the farther it goes.” The screen in front of us splits, displaying Heidi on one side and her computer monitor on the other.
“In the beginning, we were able to identify a group of politicians and wealthy businessmen who we thought were at the center of the group.” A series of names and faces flash in quick succession.
“I’m sending all the information I have to Titus so you can look through everything at your leisure and let me know if you find relevant information or someone you recognize. ”
Once the names and faces are finished playing, a map of Tennessee replaces them.
A red dot is centered over Nashville. “This is where we first discovered what was happening. A woman divorced her politician husband and downloaded the contents of his computer before leaving. Obviously he wasn’t thrilled at her having that information, and began threatening her life, so she hired us.
” Heidi’s skin pales. “When I saw what was on the flash drive, I understood why he was willing to go to any lengths to keep it from getting out.”
I’m stunned. Just when I think I know about the worst the world has to offer, it goes and surprises me.
I hate that this is happening. It’s disgusting.
Everyone involved deserves to suffer in the worst possible manner.
But I don’t understand how this is connected to what happened to us.
Tennessee is half a country away from where we are now.
“Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t nearly as smart as he believed himself to be, and no one has seen or heard from him in quite some time.” Heidi’s voice takes on a strange edge that makes me wonder exactly why no one has seen or heard from their client’s ex-husband.
Hopefully it’s because he’s dead and no one will have to worry about him hurting anyone else.
It might be morally reprehensible for me to feel that way, but I do.
Some people deserve to die. And men like that being the ones to lose their lives makes a whole lot more sense to me than someone like Kara losing theirs.
“Thanks to the information on the flash drive, and additional intelligence we were able to acquire, we tracked down a number of other involved parties and ensured they would no longer be participating in any more heinous activities.” Heidi’s chin lifts, and she almost looks proud.
Oh yeah. That dude’s dead.
“This is all very fucked-up, and if you ever need our assistance taking these men down, don’t hesitate to ask.” Titus leans forward in his chair. “But why do you think it’s connected to us?”
“Because we figured out dead Dan’s real name.” A slow smile twists Heidi’s lips. “Spoiler alert, it’s not dead Dan.”
That has me scooting forward in my seat. “Which dead Dan?”
“Both, actually.” Pierce is the one who answers me. “That’s why Heidi gave you the background information on what we discovered in Tennessee.” His jaw ticks, nostrils flaring the tiniest bit. “Because we were able to conclude both of them were involved in that as well.”
I drop back in my chair, any excitement I felt over possibly getting some answers gone like the wind. “They’re both part of a human trafficking ring in Tennessee?” I shake my head. “How could that have anything to do with us?”
“It doesn’t.” Heidi still seems excited, which I don’t get. “And that actually tells us a lot.”
Trevor snorts. “Finding out the shit they’re in has nothing to do with us tells you a lot?”
“Of course it does, dick.” Heidi doesn’t hesitate to put Trevor in his place, and despite the seriousness of the conversation, I snicker a little.
“It means we don’t have to look at any of that shit as we’re digging through their backgrounds.
That reduces the amount of data I have to scour exponentially. ”
“Were they doing a lot of other bad things?” Ruth poses this question, dragging everyone’s eyes to where she sits.
I didn’t have to argue for her to be here today.
Didn’t have to fight for her to occupy a place at the family table.
Because everyone here already considers her one of us.
The intense way she’s listening to Heidi’s every word and is now participating in the conversation proves—at least on some level—Ruth also considers herself a part of our family.
Heidi huffs out an unamused laugh, eyes widening. “Oh yeah.” Her nose wrinkles as she tips her head. “They were doing all sorts of shady shit. Dealing in drugs. Serving as hitmen and hired muscle. And they worked all across the country. Not just in your area.”
My brows pinch together. “So anyone could have hired them to do this?”
“Technically, yes.” Heidi changes her screen, displaying a list of names.
“But they would have to be able to afford it, and not everyone can drop that kind of untraceable cash.” She slowly scrolls through the names.
“So far I’ve been able to link them with every man here.
I can’t prove the men actually hired them, but I can prove they interacted digitally. ”
I’m back to sitting up straight, eyes trying to decipher each name as it passes. “Are you sending us that list?”
“Of course I am.” Heidi smirks. “I’m good at what I do, but so is your brother’s team, and I’d love for them to take a crack at this shit.”
Ruth shifts in her chair, the lunch I sat in front of her shoved to one side, forgotten completely. “Does that happen a lot? People hiring men like this to do bad things?”
“All the fucking time.” Heidi’s face twists into a scowl. “Men who don’t want to get their hands dirty will pay an extraordinary amount of money for someone else to clean up their messes.”
Ruth’s skin is pale, her hands gripping the arms of the chair so tightly her knuckles have turned white. Suddenly, she’s on her feet, racing out of the room.
Heidi looks around before focusing on me. “Is Ruth okay?” She huffs out a breath, brows lifting at me. “Did you knock that poor woman up already?”
“No, and no.” Probably. “I’ll call you later.”
I’m on my feet before Heidi can respond, racing out of the room to find Ruth.
I know why she ran, and I get it. But if I’ve learned nothing else in life, it’s that you can’t run from the shit that scares you.
You can’t hide from the things that hurt.
You have to tackle them head on. Whether you like it or not.
Luckily, Ruth and I no longer have to do that alone.
I find Ruth exactly where I expected she would be, sitting on the couch in my office, head in her hands. When I close the door behind me, her eyes lift to find mine.
“William is going to be on that list, isn’t he? He hired a man just like the ones Heidi’s talking about to scare me.”
“Even if he’s not on that list, I think chances are good he’s on a list.” I won’t lie to her about this, however I do want to put it into perspective. “But, if he is on that list, it gives us even more ammunition against him.”
Ruth slumps a little as I come to kneel in front of her. Her eyes drop mine to fix on where her hands are now twisting in her lap. “I still feel so stupid for ever believing anything he said.”
“Some people are very good liars.” I reach up, pushing back her dark hair. “They will smile right in your face while they wait to stab you in the back.”
It’s what happened to Trevor with Dan. The guy was so fucking nice to everybody, and the whole time he was planning to take us down.
“But I can’t just blow William up.” She huffs out a breath. “Unfortunately.”
“I guess you’ll have to settle for metaphorically blowing him up.
” That’s the goal. To come at him with so many explosives he’ll do anything to avoid detonation.
“And once that’s done, we can file the paperwork to make Birdie mine.
Then you never have to worry about him again because he won’t have a claim to make on her. ”
Ruth’s eyes widen. “You want to adopt her?”
“Absolutely I want to adopt her.” I smile just thinking about it. “She’s a Bradshaw whether she likes it or not. Might as well make it official.”
Birdie isn’t the only one I plan to make a Bradshaw, but that will have to wait.
I want Ruth to enjoy an engagement and wedding without the threat of William hanging over her head.
Ideally, I would love to enjoy an engagement and wedding without the threat of the dead Dans hanging over mine, but I’m willing to get past that if it means I can call Ruth my wife.
Ruth’s chin barely wobbles as she gives me the sweet smile she reserves for special occasions. “I really freaking love you.”
I lean in, claiming her mouth in a quick kiss.
“Give me five minutes and I’ll give you a reason to love me even more.
” She’s wearing a pretty plum colored dress that offers an amount of access I simply can’t ignore.
I’ve known since I saw her come down the stairs this morning that my face was going to end up between her thighs before the end of the workday.
Running both hands down the satiny skin of her legs, I hook my hands around her ankles, planning to bring them over my shoulders.
That’s when I angle a brow.
She’s barefoot.
“I wasn’t exaggerating.” She wiggles her reddened toes. “Those shoes really are terrible.”
“That’s awful.” Resuming my plan, I shift her body, holding the tempting backs of her knees as I spread her wide. Wedging my shoulders against the back of her thighs to keep her in place as I lean forward, I tug her panties to one side. “Let me make you feel better.”