Page 19 of Deserving Ryleigh
“Thanks, Ry. I mean it. I’m sorry if I panicked for a moment there. I just…I don’t want Henley to worry about anything, and this would definitely make her worry.”
Ry nodded—and blinked in surprise when Tonka stepped toward her and gave her a brief but tight hug. Then he gave her a chin lift and turned to leave.
“Did Tonka just chin-lift you?” Alaska asked, sounding awed.
“Yes?” Ry said, a little confused.
“And hehuggedyou. The change in him from when I first got here is like night and day. Between Henley and Jas doing their magic, the animals, and now Elizabeth, he’s a completely different person. I’m so happy for him.”
Ry nodded, but her brain was already focused on the steps she needed to take to figure out what her father had done, and how to fix it.
“Right, I can tell you’re anxious to get to work. How aboutIgo visit Robert and Luna and getyousome cookies, then bring them down to Tiny’s cabin?”
Ry would normally kill for Robert’s chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven, but even thinking about eating right now made her feel nauseous. “It’s okay. I want to figure this out. I’ll come up later and grab some.”
“Do you need any help?” Alaska offered.
“Thanks, but no, I got this.” The last thing she’d do was involve anyone else in the clusterfuck that was her life.
“Okay, but if you need anything, just yell.”
“I will.” She totally wouldn’t. Alaska didn’t need to know that.
On autopilot, Ry made her way to the front door of the lodge. She still held the letter Tonka had received, and she read it again while walking quickly toward Tiny’s cabin.
Upon entering, she went straight to the kitchen table, where she’d left her laptop. It was her baby, her most prized possession. Without it, she was nothing. A high school dropout with few discernable skills in the real world. The computer defined who she was. It wasallshe was.
With a deep breath, she opened it and put in her password. As easy as breathing, Ry put in several more passwords to access the dark web. She needed to be very careful, she didn’t like hacking into government databases. They’d gotten more sophisticated over the years about security, and the last thing she needed was to get caught.
But more than that, she had no doubt her dad was out there watching and waiting. He’d set the bait and she was responding, as he knew she would. He was probably gloating and laughing wherever he was right now. The only positive was that it wasn’t as necessary to try to hide her location anymore. Her father knew where she was, and he was fucking with her. This was simply the beginning, they both knew it. The game of cat and mouse had started.
Ry had no doubt her dad would continue to mess with The Refuge until she gave in and talked to him. Gave him back the money she’d stolen.
Gritting her teeth, Ry concentrated on the screen in front of her. He wasn’t going to win. Now that The Refuge was in his sights, he’d never stop. Even if she left, he’d continue with his games until he’d destroyed the PTSD retreat. He wouldn’t feel even an ounce of remorse either.
It was up to Ry to stop him, once and for all. She’d have to use all her skills to lock down The Refuge electronically. To safeguard the money, the various accounts, and the online footprints of employees who worked there.
But she couldn’t possibly cover everything and everyone. Her dad would always have a way of getting in, of causing havoc.
Feeling sick that she’d done this, that her presence was a threat to everyone, she took a deep breath and concentrated on the task at hand. She needed to fix Tonka’s records—allof them. Lock them down. And everyone else’s too. Because if her dad could mess with Tonka’s health insurance, he could also fuck with all the guys’ retirement accounts, benefits, and even service records.
No way would she allow that.
Three hours later, Ry sat back in the chair with a heavy sigh. She’d done it. Found where her father had messed with Tonka’s records and fixed them. The insurance claim for Elizabeth’s birth was in the works…was actually being accelerated. Tonka should receive notice that the insurance payment was being processed immediately.
“Here.”
Ry startled so badly, she would’ve knocked over theglass of water Tiny had placed next to her elbow if he hadn’t moved quickly enough to lift it out of the way.
“Easy,” he soothed.
Looking up, Ry blinked in confusion. She didn’t even remember Tiny coming back. Had no idea how long he’d been there.
“You were concentrating so hard, you didn’t hear me come in,” he said, as if he could read her mind.
“Oh, sorry.”
“It’s fine. Tonka called Brick, who sent me a note while I was out hiking. We came back early because I wanted to check on you. You good?”
