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“I don’t. Not yet, anyway. But why make a mark on the books that you would be showing other people?”
“I guess that’s a good point.”
Ryker mulls over what I said as he finishes up the porch step. I go through the books, separating the ones with the markings in the back from the others.
“Whose books are these?” I ask him as he puts the other screws back into the hardware bag.
“The former A--… mayors,” he says, clearing his throat.
“He was corrupt?” I guess and Ryker nods.
“Yeah, big time.”
“I’m glad that he’s gone then.”
He stands, holding the drill in one hand and the bag of supplies in the other.
“What’s next?” he asks, and once again, I’m caught off guard.
I figured that he would be heading home or something. Is he really offering to stay and help me fix up this place?
“Um, I need to fix the railing there,” I tell him and he grabs a new piece of wood and gets to work.
I felt a little silly grabbing so much lumber earlier, but I figured that I would need it at some point. Now I’m glad I did.
“Where are the bank papers?” I ask him.
“I tucked them in that last book.”
I grab that one and pull out the printed pages.
"When do you need these back? It will take me a few hours at least."
“Hours?” he asks and I nod.
“Yeah, why?”
“It’s just that we’ve been working on them for months. I think half of the accounts are missing so it’s hard to get through. You’ve already figured out more than we did.”
“I’ll see what I can do tonight.”
“Thanks.” Ryker looks sincere, his blue eyes latching onto mine. I sway closer to him, my body moving on its own, needing to be nearer for some inexplicable reason.
The moment becomes too much for him, and he clears his throat before taking a step back.
“You don’t have to help around here,” I tell Ryker, giving him an out.
"It's okay," he says, rubbing the back of his neck. His words say one thing, but his body language says another. "It's the least I can do since you're saving Griffin and me the headache of having to deal withthat,” he says, nodding to the books and papers in my lap.
He gets to work on the porch railing and I look through the bank papers.
“You’re right, there’s at least two missing bank accounts. I think he used one to take bribes, big ones if this book is to be believed, and the other to give out bribes, though those numbers are smaller.”
He straightens out the porch railing and then comes over to sit next to me. I point to the bank records.
“See this transfer here? It matches up right… here,” I say, finding the first book.
“You’re good,” Ryker says, sounding impressed.
