Chapter 37
Tucker
“You okay?” Trevor studies me across the meeting room, looking just as upset as I am.
It’s been a week since William showed up at McKinley Security Systems. A week of nightmares. A week of holding Ruth so close she almost can’t breathe.
And a week of trying to figure out who the fuck let him in and why Ruth was mysteriously summoned to meet him.
Which is why we’re here today. Because I’m afraid we figured it out.
My stomach threatens to revolt as we wait for the security guard Titus’s team has narrowed their investigation down to. They were able to find the security footage of the time the phone call was made to Ruth, and lined it up with one specific person.
And if they’re correct, Ruth is going to be devastated.
Ray is wearing an easy smile as he comes into the room, taking the seat Trevor gestures to. His movements are smooth and relaxed as he sits down, leaning back before crossing an ankle over his knee. For a second, I have hope this is all a misunderstanding. That it wasn’t really him who set Ruth up.
But then I see the way his hands shake when he reaches for the cup of coffee Toby poured him, and my heart sinks.
We came into this with a plan of how to handle this conversation, but I don’t even remember what it was anymore. There’s only one question I want an answer to, and I ask it. “Why did you do it, Ray?”
His smile remains, but it’s forced now as he fights to keep it in place. “What do you mean?” He tries to sound casual, but fails.
“I mean, why did you let William Sheppard in the building?” I lean forward, doing nothing to hide the rage I’m carrying when I ask, “And why the fuck did you call Ruth to the lobby?”
Ray is still fucking smiling, but there’s tension in his body. Like he wants to run but knows he can’t. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. No one let that guy in. He must have had a badge.”
“That’s impossible. All our badges are linked to the employee they belong to. If someone lost theirs, we would’ve known. They wouldn’t have been able to get in the building. Not until they had another one—” Titus’s eyes narrow as he finishes. “Had another one made by security.”
Realization settles around me. It’s cold and sharp. “You made him a card.” My eyes move to Trevor. “Did we ever confirm where the card Dan used to get into the supply room came from?” At the time, we suspected he’d done it on his own. Used a duplicator to make a copy of the one he swiped off Maren.
But now…
“You son of a bitch.” Trevor’s on his feet in the blink of an eye. Thankfully Walker stands between him and Ray, making sure no more blood gets spilled on company property.
Ray stumbles to his own feet, backing toward the door. “It’s not like that.” His eyes are wild as they scan the room, the smile slipping from his face for the first time. “I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
“It might technically be true that you didn’t know the specifics of what was going to happen, but there’s no way you could’ve believed what you did was harmless.” I can’t even make sense of what would possess him to do this.
Ray seems to sag, his head dropping. “I didn’t want anybody to get hurt.”
“Lots of people got hurt, Ray.” Trevor is livid, a vein in his forehead throbbing with every word he screams. “Mariah and Maren were almost blown up, for Christ’s sake. Ruth and Tucker were almost shot.”
Ray’s eyes lift, and I see something strange in his gaze.
A hardness that wasn’t there before. “I’m not talking about the people here.
” He stands a little taller, chin lifting.
“They threatened my family. Told me they’d hurt my wife and kids if I didn’t make those badges and call Miss Wagner to the desk.
” He sniffs, still looking defiant. “I was right there. I didn’t think he could hurt her with me so close. ”
What the fuck is he saying? “The same person had you make both cards?”
Ray shakes his head. “They were different. The second one said he’d heard about me helping his friend. Said his friend told them where my wife works and the path my daughter runs through the park every morning.”
I think back to the list Heidi gave us. How many men were hiring the same group of criminals to do their bidding. It’s disgusting, but also a big fucking pain in the ass right now when we’re trying to get to the bottom of what the hell is going on.
“The first guy I talked to asked me to do one other thing for him.” Ray’s eyes flick to where Toby sits next to me. “Wanted to know what time the two of you left that day you got hit.”
I’m normally thrilled to get home to Ruth and Birdie, but today my feet are heavy as I walk through the garage and in the door. I don’t want to have to tell Ruth her favorite security guard was also the one responsible for William entering the building.
Technically, I still don’t know the full story.
Ray is taking a little time to hang out with the boys from Alaskan Security so they can get as much information out of him as possible.
Honestly, I would love to put this off until I can give Ruth all the answers, but I held back on her once before and it led to the longest three fucking weeks of my life.
And I’m not making that mistake again.
I find Ruth sitting at the island, working on her computer.
I was able to convince her to stay home until we knew more about what happened, so she’s been doing as much as she can for Trevor from here.
I know she’s champing at the bit to get back to the office, and at the very least, what we discovered today will make me feel a little better about her being back.
I just hope to God Ray was the only one betraying us.
Ruth closes her laptop, spinning on the stool to face me. A wince pinches her pretty face. “That bad?”
I nod. “That bad.”
She slides out of her seat, following me into the great room. I drop to the sofa, pulling her into my lap because I’m still having a hell of a hard time dealing with how close I came to losing her.
How close we both came to leaving Birdie behind.
“It was Ray.” I dive straight in. “He was also responsible for some of the other things that have happened.”
Ruth’s eyes snap to my face. “Are you sure?”
“He confessed. Claimed his family was being threatened.” And part of me wants to believe him.
It’s easier to accept a man doing whatever it takes to protect his family than someone betraying mine for whatever payment those sorts of activities provide.
“The team from Alaskan Security is talking to him. Hopefully we’ll find out more. ”
“I want to be mad, but if they really were threatening his wife and kids, I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing.” Ruth cuddles close to me. “It does kinda make me extorting you for money so I could move seem a little less awful though.”
“You extorting me for money was the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Ruthless.” I close my eyes, pressing my nose against her hair and breathing deep. “I can’t imagine what my life would have been like if you never came to my house that day.”
“There would be way fewer toys in your house, that’s for sure.” She sits up, meeting my eyes as the oven starts beeping. “And you wouldn’t come home to freshly baked bananas foster bread.”
That has my brows lifting. “I finally get to try your mom’s famous bananas foster bread?” I tip my head. “I was starting to think it was actually a myth.”
Ruth scoffs. “Excuse me. I’ve had a lot going on.” She slides off my lap, catching one of my hands as she goes and using the grip to haul me up after her. “I started a new job. Attempted to take down a senator. Got shot at…”
I grip her hand tighter at the reminder. “Maybe don’t list all those off for a while. I don’t have an appointment with Bert for a couple weeks.”
“Then let’s just say I’ve had other things taking up my time.” She drags me into the kitchen, pulling two loaf pans from the oven.
I was so distracted by the terrible news I had to give her, I hadn’t even noticed the sweet scent permeating the air. But now that I have, my mouth is watering. “It was probably smart to make two loaves.”
“One of these is for your mother to try. She asked me about it a couple weeks ago, so I thought I’d make her one.
” Ruth tips each loaf out onto a cooling rack then spreads some sort of sticky syrup stuff over the top.
“I figured I owe her for helping convince the other women to take William on.” Her lip curls. “Even if it ended up not mattering.”
With William out of the way, the path to me adopting Birdie is clear and should hopefully be a pretty straightforward process.
The path to getting Ruth to marry me isn’t quite as easy to navigate. Especially now that we know Ray is responsible for at least part of what’s happened. It seems like every time I start to think I can present her with the ring burning a hole in my metaphorical pocket, yet another shoe drops.
Then I think about the way Titus first proposed to Mariah. How he proposed the second time. That Brooke was actually the one to propose to Toby, and she did it while he was laying in a hospital bed.
And I think maybe the imperfectness of it is what makes it special. So now I have to think of the most imperfect time to propose.
“Here you go.” Ruth cuts off a steaming slice of bread, sliding it onto a plate before holding it out. “If you hate it, you should probably lie.”
“I’m not a great liar.” I use the fork she hands over to break off a chunk so I can blow on it.
“That’s not true.” Ruth crosses her arms, looking smug. Like she believes she’s about to win this disagreement. “You were great at convincing your mom you loved me.”
I take a bite of what is definitely the best banana bread I’ve ever had, giving her a smirk as I swallow it down. “That’s because I wasn’t lying.”