Page 62 of Deserving Ryleigh
“Tiny?” she asked nervously when he pulled back.
“He agreed to the meet. Tonight. In town at the green chile festival. We have shit we need to get done.Fast.”
Her eyes widened, and Tiny saw the moment panic struck.
“Tonight? Holy crap, we can’t set this up that fast!”
“Yes, we can. It’s not ideal, but we have no choice. You were right. He wants his money, but he’s more concerned about getting you back under his thumb.”
“What’d he say?”
“That if you agreed to work with him again for five years, he’d back off and leave us alone.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m never,evergoing to work with or for him again. No way in hell!” Ryleigh spat.
“Shhhh, I know. And I have an idea he’d make you disappear for good if youdidgo with him. Not gonna happen. Meeting in town isn’t ideal, as there will be a lot of civilians around, but he probably thinks you’ll be more compliant in a crowd, that you won’t want to cause a scene or get anyone else hurt. I’m also sure he thinks he can slip away easier with a lot of people about…but that also means the guys and I can blend in. Not sure we have time to get the FBI here, but we’ll get with the cops in Los Alamos. Set up some cameras. We’re going to get him, Ryleigh.”
He saw her swallow hard, then nod. Tiny still had his hands on her face, and he said in a gentler tone, “We can still call this off if you want. I can message him back andsay that you changed your mind. We can figure something else out.”
Her shoulders straightened, even as her hands shook. “And have him cancel a year’s worth of reservations? No. This needs to end. I need to see him. Need to watch him go down. Heisgoing down, right?” she asked in a softer tone.
“He’s going down,” Tiny assured her.
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
“The one thing I’mabsolutelysure about is that we’re going to get this asshole. He won’t be able to steal anyone else’s money or ruin anyone else’s life.”
“He’ll be watching for cops,” Ryleigh warned.
Tiny was once more very impressed with this woman. She had to be stressed to the max, and yet she was still able to think like a soldier.
“I know. But the question is…will he be watching the skies?”
Tiny saw the moment it dawned on her what his plan was.
“No, I don’t think he will be. But…crap, Tiny, we don’t have much time.”
“Right,” he said. “Call Alaska, let her know what’s happening. I’ll get with the others. This is gonna be over tonight, sweetheart.”
“I hope so,” Ryleigh whispered.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ry was nervous. No, she was scared to death. It had been years since she’d seen her father, and now here she was. Standing in a crowded festival in Los Alamos, waiting for him to arrive. She never liked the idea of her dad getting anywhere near The Refuge, and was relieved he chose the small town nearby. It still felt as if he was still too close to the one place she truly felt safe, but stepping foot on The Refuge property, he would’ve defiled it simply by his presence.
When she left The Refuge with Tiny earlier, she’d taken careful note of every detail…just in case. She’d heard Melba mooing in the barn, not happy she’d been brought into her stall early as a precaution, just in case her dad decided to make an unexpected appearance after all. The goats were probably eating their way out of their stalls already. The wind had blown gently through the trees, and the birds chirped merrily overhead.
It felt so surreal that things at The Refuge were asnormal as possible, when there was every possibility this meeting could go sideways and she’d never return.
Now, surrounded by so many people, she was damp with sweat, both from running around earlier, trying to get everything in place before going to meet her father, and from nervous energy.
The women and children were holed up in Alaska’s cabin back at The Refuge, with Robert standing guard. The older man had volunteered, and when he’d brandished two of his cleavers from the kitchen, Ry wanted to cry. Everyone had been so supportive…and she was the one to bring this threat down upon them in the first place.
But no one saw it that way, which was baffling. If it hadn’t been for her, there wouldn’t be any cancelations, and none of the other shit that had happened in the last few weeks would’ve happened.
