Page 11 of Claimed Gem
She probably thinks there will be a bigger payoff for helping to save them all.
“Come on, I’ll walk you downstairs and call a cab for you.”
“Ries, please. Let me help you. I know what this guy looks like and I can even take you back to where I followed him…I think. I can at least get close. You need my help and I…”
“You what?” Ries asked when she paused and looked down at her hands.
“I’m tired of only being a waitress. I want to do something meaningful with my life but no one wants to even give me a chance. I can help you find this guy and protect your family. I know I can. Please, don’t send me away.”
She looked at him then, her eyes big and brimming with unshed tears. Ries felt as if he could see right into her soul, and it was so much like his own he couldn’t help but feel something. He knew how it felt to want to do something meaningful and never be given the chance. That was what had driven him to decide to help her, but now…he found that he couldn’t really deny her request.
Not yet, anyway. At some point, she’d show her true motivations and then he’d have no trouble sending her packing, but looking in her eyes at this moment, he could only see his own yearnings looking back at him.
“Please?” she whispered. “Let me help you?”
Ries nodded and then cleared his throat. He looked across the room and that’s when he realized he was wearing nothing more than a hastily donned pair of sleep pants and a wrinkled t-shirt. His feet were bare, and he was in need of a shave and a shower.
“I need to call my brothers. I’ll call Damon…no. I’ll call Nicolai first. He’s a bit more open-minded than Damon.”
Stephanie said nothing and Ries pulled out his laptop and video called his brother.
Nicolai’s sleepy eyes appeared on the screen moments later and he groused, “This had better be good, Ries.”
“Good morning, Nicolai. I realize it’s the middle of the night or early morning, but this couldn’t wait.”
“Who’s the looker behind you?” Nicolai asked.
Ries moved aside and motioned Stephanie forward. “This is Stephanie.”
“What’s she doing there?”
“She came to tell me something very disturbing. Someone has targeted us.”
Nicolai shook his head, “We know this.”
“No, it’s much worse than you or Damon realize. They don’t just want to destroy the company; they want to destroy us. Starting with me.”
“What do you mean?” Nicolai was fully awake now and continued to eye Stephanie suspiciously.
“A man has been hired to kill me, you and Damon.”
“Kill us? You need to get out of there,” Nicolai informed him. “You don’t have nearly enough security to handle this sort of threat.”
“No,” Ries insisted. “I want to stay here and find this man and put an end to the threat.”
“Ries, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Why don’t we continue this conversation, privately?”
Ries shook his head, “I need Stephanie’s help. She’s the only one who can identify the guy that has been hired to kill us.”
“I don’t like this,” Nicolai told him.
“You think I do?” Ries shoved a hand through his hair and then calmed his voice, “I can find this guy. I’m in the perfect position to do so because this guy doesn’t realize we know about his plan. He no longer has the element of surprise.”
“That is true.” Nicolai sighed and then asked, “Tell me what you have in mind?”
“I want access to the best resources we have at our disposal. I’ll find out who this guy is and who he’s working for.”
“Why don’t I just send…”