“Not bad. Guess I’ve gotten a little soft since leaving the Army.”
Ray choked out a hard laugh. “Really? Because from where I’m standing, that sounds like you were anything butsoft.”
“Yeah, well, he still got away,” I huffed out. “There are plenty of men who don’t think women should be in the military because we aren’t as strong or as bulky as men, and I kind of just proved their point.”
“I disagree,” Ray said immediately. “What you lack in size, you more than make up for in quick thinking, tactical calculation, and resourcefulness.”
“Not to mention women have the element of surprise since most people think you can’t do the job,” Vince said from the doorway, a grin tugging at his mouth.“You just proved that point, little miss renegade.”
I rolled my eyes at that nonsense nickname, causing him to laugh and turn away from the door.
“I’m gonna wait for the cops outside.” Vince departed swiftly, leaving Ray and me alone in the office.
“Personally, I think it’s awesome that you’re a badass,” Ray added. “And sexy, too.”
“Good. I guess I’ll let you stick around, then,” I replied, smirking.
TWENTY-ONE
RAY
The next hour lasted forever, or at least it felt that way.
Once the dust settled, Tammy had been confused as hell, wanting to know why I’d come back and why so many others just happened to be there.
I’d actually never left town, and Delia had never gone home after her shift, but that was all part of the plan.
Once the police came and arrested Diego, interviewed everyone, and gathered all their evidence, we all went back into the pub to clean up.
There had been quite a scuffle in the kitchen, causing a huge mess.
“While we clean, one of you needs to start talking,” Tammy said, pointing at no one in particular. “Because I get the distinct feeling I was the only one left out of this entire secret plan.”
That wasn’t entirely true, but we had left her out of the loop on some stuff.
Corey, Delia, Vince, and Archer were all there, having assisted in making sure the plan went off without a hitch tonight.
“After I interviewed everyone, there were certain things that didn’t quite add up,” I told her. “Donald was naturally at the topof my list, but he didn’t seem intelligent enough to pull this off. I also had my suspicions about Corey, but his alibis checked out.”
I chose not to share any more about his undercover work since he was still knee deep in that mission.
“So when did you suspect Diego?” Tammy asked.
“Whenever he got dinner at the bar during his shift, he always talked about sports and betting with some of the other customers,” I answered. “At first, I thought it was just to make conversation with some of them who had engaged him, but Delia here noticed that on the nights you and I weren’t there, Diego wasinitiatingthe conversations on his own.”
Tammy’s gaze moved back and forth between Delia and me, and I knew she was trying to piece everything together.
“So, I started to ask him about that one night, and he knew way more than someone who was just making casual conversation about it,” I explained.
“Gambling debt,” Tammy surmised, and I nodded. “How much?”
“A lot,” I answered.
I’d asked myself that same question, which had prompted me to call in my favor from Corey.
Through some confidential informants, he’d found out that Diego had racked up nearly forty thousand in debt six months ago. Word on the street was that in the last two weeks, that debt had been mostly paid off, minus the last ten grand, which he’d likely hoped to steal tonight.
“You two thwarted his plans to get his second stash when you werenappingon the office couch a few weeks ago,” Archer said, his tone dry but with a bit of sarcasm. “The man he owed the money to was not thrilled that he had to wait, which prompted him to think outside the box.”
