Page 87 of Deserving Ryleigh
“I didn’t think you’d simply hand it over, not when you already had that chance and failed,” Harold Lodge said almost conversationally. “That’s why we’re going to play for it.”
Tiny didn’t understand what he meant, but it was obvious Ryleigh did. Every muscle in her body tensed. “No,” she said firmly.
“Yes,” her dad countered. “I’ll give you twenty minutes to go check out my handiwork, to see that I’m serious about this. That I’m not going to fall for any more of your tricks. There’s nowhere you can hide. You have no idea what building might explode next. It might be that lodge you and your so-called friend are holed up in. It might be the barn with all those adorable animals. Maybe a vehicle. Or maybe another cabin. But which one?Nowhereis safe from me. Nooneis safe. You play my game, or everything you’ve come to love is gone.”
“How’d you get out of prison?” Ryleigh asked, actually sounding calm.
Harold chuckled. “It wasn’t hard. All I had to do was steal a cell phone from one of the guards and I had everything I needed. I altered my records to indicate I was scheduled to be released immediately. It took like half an hour.”
Tiny pressed his lips together in irritation. Someone would definitely get fired for that. For allowing a prisonerwho was known for being a world-classcomputer hackerto gain access to anything electronic. And the fact that he’d allegedly just walked right out of prison irked him to no end.
Then something else occurred to him. Harold Lodge was a free man. Was out there somewhere—and he knew they were all “holed up” in the lodge. Did that mean he was hacking their cameras even at that very moment? He doubted the man would be stupid enough to step foot onto their property…but if he was pissed enough at Ryleigh, he could do anything.
“I’ll give you what I can of the money. I don’t have it all,” Ryleigh told her father, clearly trying to do anything she could to protect everyone at The Refuge.
“Too late. We’re playing. Oh, you’ll give me my money, but I want to have some fun. You know my favorite game too. Twenty minutes, daughter. I’ll see you online.”
Ryleigh stared at Tiny with tears in her eyes.
Without a word, he stood, taking Ryleigh with him. He wanted to comfort her. Wanted to take her in his arms and tell her that everything would be okay. He had a million questions for her as well, but he didn’t have time for any of that. Ryleigh apparently needed her laptop. And he needed to assess the damage, see if what Harold Lodge had said about the cabins exploding was correct, and get with his friends to come up with a plan.
As Harold had said, there could be more bombs anywhere. And he wouldn’t put it past the man to torture Ryleigh by killing her new friends just because he could.
Tiny walked Ryleigh over to the blown-out window and blinked at the destruction in front of him. Two cabins had been blown to smithereens, just as Harold claimed. Theywere the two guest cabins closest to the lodge. Wolf and Caroline had been staying in one, and Brick’s mom had been in the other. If they’d been inside…
He took a deep breath. But they weren’t. They were safe…for now.
Small flames could be seen between the trees, but again, like Harold had said, the forest itself wasn’t on fire. The C4 had done what it was designed to do, blow things apart, not cause a huge fireball.
Still…Harold Lodge had followed through on his threat. Tiny couldn’t help remembering the asshole’s last words during their first online chat and they made a lot more sense now.It’ll be fun to watch the sparks fly.
“What the fuck is happening?” Spike asked as he joined Tiny and Ryleigh. He held his baby in his arms, the boy looking so tiny in his grasp.
“It’s my fault,” Ryleigh said in a small voice.
“No, it’s not. It’s your asshole father’s fault.” Tiny recounted what Harold Lodge had said, what he’d threatened.
“Meeting.Now,” Spike said, turning to head back to where the other owners of The Refuge were standing with their wives. Their family and friends were gathered not too far away, most looking scared and confused, with the exception of Wolf and Raid. The carefree and happy wedding reception had turned into a nightmare.
Tiny followed Spike over to his friends, his hand in Ryleigh’s. As far as he was concerned, she wasn’t leaving his side. No way in hell.
“Sit rep,” Brick barked.
Tiny once again repeated what Harold Lodge had threatened.
“What’s this game he’s talking about?” Pipe asked Ryleigh.
“He used to make me play it with him before I left. We’d basically battle via computer. See who could hack faster and outsmart the other to prevent an entire electrical grid from being taken down in some random city.”
Everyone stared at her in shock.
“What? Is that even possible?” Henley asked.
Ryleigh nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. My dad always wanted to play the ‘bad guy,’ of course. He’d try to out-hack me to take down the grid, and I’d have to do what I could to prevent it. I was better than he was, so I could’ve stopped him, but he hated losing and would take out his anger at me by stealing more money than usual from the people in those cities who needed it the most. From government programs that helped the homeless, the poor, kids, things like that. So I learned to let him win, let the electrical grid fold. He could gloat that he beat me, then he’d usually get drunk to celebrate, and I’d bring the grid right back up again as soon as he passed out.”
“So that’s what he wants to do now? Play this insane game with you again? Why? What’s the end game?” Stone asked.
“And what city is he targeting? Or does he want to mess with The Refuge’s power supply?” Tonka asked.
