Page 84 of Deserving Maisy
The room was silent, with everyone’s attention on Tiny.
“Why should I?”
“Because you like her,” Tonka said baldly.
“No, I don’t,” Tiny disagreed.
“Riiiight. That’s why you won’t let her out of your sight,” Owl said with a sarcastic snort.
“She lied to us. Deceived us. She could literally steal us blind and we’d have no idea until it was done. She’s possibly the most dangerous person I’ve ever met in my life, simply because every time she touches a computer, she could do immeasurable amounts of damage. To The Refuge, us personally, the US. Did you know she used to hack into the president’s email for fun?”
Brick leaned forward and stared at Tiny with an intense glare. “She wouldn’t hurt us.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do, but the fact thatyourefuse to see it means you’re not willing to open your eyes and see what the hell’s right in front of your face.”
“And what’s that, Brick?” Tiny growled.
“That Ry’s scared shitless,” Brick told him.
Tiny laughed. But it wasn’t a humorous sound. “Right.”
“She is,” Brick insisted.
“The only thing she’s scared of is not being able to play with people’s lives if she gets thrown in jail.”
Stone had no idea if Tiny was trying to convince himself or them that he believed what he was saying. He didn’t know Ry all that well, she didn’t let anyone at TheRefuge get too close, but what hedidknow, he liked. Ry was kind, always willing to help out, and she didn’t like to gossip. And the fact that she apparently had the ability to get her hands on enormous amounts of money, but was still working as a housekeeper at The Refuge, said a lot about her.
“You’re being an ass,” Spike said, sounding uncharacteristically harsh. “She didn’thaveto figure out how to track Reese. And if she hadn’t, I’m not sure I would’ve gotten her back.”
“And the fact that she rescued Jasna, and didn’t ask for or want any thanks, tells me all I needed to know about her,” Tonka added.
“She found out about our bunkers!” Tiny argued. “We all agreed that we’d never tell anyone about them. And yet, she not only knew about them, but rubbed it in our faces by putting Jasna in one. Why didn’t she simply bring her back here? Why the subterfuge?”
“I’m guessing she found out about them the same way she knows everything,” Pipe said reasonably. “Because she somehow discovered the plans online somewhere. Or maybe saw a stray email back when we were having them built. I don’t know. But you know what? I don’t care that she knows. I’m glad she used her knowledge to keep Jasna safe.”
“Me too,” Tonka said, which wasn’t a surprise, given Jasna was his stepdaughter.
“What I want to know is,why,” Brick added after a moment.
“Why what?” Tiny asked.
“Why she worked here for months without letting on what she can do. The woman’s a freaking genius. Tex hasadmitted that she’s better thanhimat computer shit, and we all know that’s a huge deal. She could’ve been sipping margaritas on a beach somewhere, living off ill-gotten millions. And yet she chose to behere, in the middle-of-nowhere New Mexico, cleaning toilets and washing towels and sheets. There’s a story there…and I want to know what it is.”
Stone agreed wholeheartedly.
“Well, I don’t,” Tiny grumbled.
“If she left today, you wouldn’t care?” Brick challenged. “You wouldn’t think twice about her? Wouldn’t wonder what she was running from? And don’t roll your damn eyes at me, we all know she’s running from something. Hiding. And if we don’t do anything, she’ll be gone. Vulnerable to whoever or whatever she’s obviously afraid of. And if that happens, we’ll never find her. She’ll take a new name and be lost to us forever.” He shook his head. “Maybe you hate her, Tiny, but I don’t. I actually like her. So does Alaska. I don’t want her to leave without at least trying to find out what’s wrong, to see if we can help her.”
“Me too,” Tonka said.
“Same,” Owl agreed.
“She saved my Reese, that’s enough for me to do what I can to help her.”
Stone was on the same page as his friends. Ry was doing a hell of a lot for Maisy, without asking anything in return.
