“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 thrilledto 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 activitiesprovide. “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.”
