Page 11 of Deception and New Direction (Ranger Shield Security #3)

JACK

In the car ride over to Ruthie’s granddad’s house, Archer made some calls then filled us in on what he’d learned.

“Shortly after we moved here, I kept checking in with my friend Tyrone who’s still on the force back in Vegas ,” Archer detailed. “ He told me they could never pin anything solid on your dad or brother because they claimed they had no idea where Mal got the items.”

“They didn’t think it was weird that he kept bringing in high-end jewelry from nowhere?” I asked because that would seem like a red flag to me eventually.

“Apparently her dad always claimed Mal got them from friends who needed to pawn them,” Archer explained. “ Mal , however, had a lot of evidence against him, so he was charged and sentenced to two years but will likely get paroled early for good behavior.”

Ruthie’s deep sigh of frustration could be heard from the back seat.

“That was Tyrone I just talked to, and he said Mal is still in prison,” Archer told us. “ My guess is he didn’t order the flowers directly, but someone could have done it for him and had them delivered.”

“Do you think it was my dad?” Ruthie asked. “ Like , Mal asked my dad to order the flowers and send them to me since he couldn’t from prison?”

“Yes, it’s very likely he did, but the real question is how did he find you?” Archer pointed out.

Hopefully we would get the answer to that question when we talked to her granddad.

Dash had been reluctant to leave Ruthie’s side, so we’d brought him along with us. When we arrived at Hank’s house, I helped Ruthie get Dash out of the car so she could focus on her crutches.

As we walked up the front porch, Hank met us at the door.

“Now you’ve brought ‘em both here?” Hank hollered down at us. “ Darlin ’, if you can’t decide which one you like better, I’m happy to help ya. Not that I don’t appreciate the first one bringing you out here to Georgia , but my gut tells me the Army one is a better fit.”

Archer and I chuckled as we realized he was referring to us as potential suitors for Ruthie .

“Judging by the looks on y’all’s faces when you got here, I’m guessin’ this isn’t a casual visit,” Hank said as we walked up the stairs. “ Come on in, and I’ll get ya something to drink. Then we can talk.”

I took Dash outside to let him roam around with Hank’s other dogs, and then we all got situated in the living room.

We gave him the brief summary of what happened with the flowers and our thoughts of her dad, Floyd , likely being the medium for the flower purchase.

We also let Hank know that Mal was still in prison but that it was likely he could get out early with good behavior.

Hank sat there a while, listening but not saying anything.

“Granddad? What’s that look on your face mean?” Ruthie asked.

“Money is a powerful motivator,” he said, his hands clasped together in his lap as he sighed. “ Sweetheart , when you turn twenty-four next month, you’ll inherit a trust fund from your mother.”

“What?” Ruthie’s head jerked back at hearing the news.

“My Ruth - Anne came from money,” he said.

“ Call me old-fashioned, but I wanted to provide for my wife and family. So while we spent some of it when the kids were growing up, most of her money went to investments and such. When she died, she left me enough to have the house taken care of ‘til long after I die, and the rest went to the kids. My daughter used some of it to pay off the house she and your father had, but I’m guessin’ she had already started to sour on that jackass, because she hurried up and put the rest of it in a trust for you before she died. ”

“I had no idea,” Ruthie said, shock written all over her face.

“Far as I know, your sperm donor and half-wit brother got nothing when she died, but that’s when your dad found out about the trust in your name.

Your dad tried to get the money, but I called our attorney, Ronald O’Reilly —a good friend of mine—after my granddaughter moved to Georgia .

I wanted to make sure everything was still set and he hadn’t tried to get his grubby hands on it.

Ronald assured me there was nothing her dad could do to get around her will—it was ironclad.

Nobody could touch it but you, and you could only get it when you get married or turn 24, whichever comes first.”

“I don’t mean to be morbid, but what happens if she dies?” Archer asked, but my thoughts went there too, especially after her dad tried to have her killed after she turned the jewelry in.

“Don’t remember all the details, but I believe the money then goes to charity,” Hank responded.

Ruthie, who had been sitting there in shock for most of this, spoke up.

“ A year after I moved out, I got a promotion at work,” Ruthie spoke slowly, as if she was recalling a memory.

“ They talked about sending me to Phoenix to help open a new salon location there. I was talking on the phone to one of my friends about it when I walked up to my door, and Mal was standing there. I told him to go away, but I knew he overheard me, because an hour later my father called screaming at me, saying it was my duty to the family to stay close and eventually help out the family business.”

“My guess is he wanted you to stay close until your twenty-fourth birthday so he could convince you to invest in the pawn shop once your trust money was released,” Hank said.

“My brother came to visit me later that night. He said he had calmed Dad down but begged me not to leave. He said we were family and he wanted to keep me close. He didn’t want Dad to push me away any more than he already had.”

“Is your brother a part owner of the pawn shop with your dad?” I asked, trying to figure out if there was any motive on his side.

“No, but when my father dies, Jason will inherit the business,” she answered then paused as if she remembered something important.

“ Oh God . Mal used to joke about us eloping and getting married, but it always creeped me out, so I just ignored him. I mentioned it one time on the phone to my brother—who I didn’t realize had me on speakerphone—and my dad announced that I should do it.

He said I had his blessing and it was what I should do for the benefit of the family . ”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked angrily.

“He said it would help keep the business in the family.”

The more I learned about her dad, the more and more I hated the man.

“I always thought the comment was weird because he made it very clear I would only mess things up at the pawn shop, but now suddenly he wanted me to marry Mal and be a part of the business.”

“I’m guessing this trust isn’t exactly chump change if her dad was that pushy,” Archer surmised.

“I checked on it when Ruthie first moved here after everything you told me,” Hank answered.

“ I was worried since you changed your name and dropped off the face of the earth that your dad might try to get to it. Haven’t checked it since, but when I last talked to Ronald , it was nearing six million with the investment growth. ”

“Holy fudge nuggets,” Ruthie whispered beside me, her face starting to turn pale.

My lip twitched at her odd exclamation, but I also said my own expletive internally at what this meant.

This was definitely motive for why that prick Mal was still after her, even though she was responsible for putting his ass in jail.

He wanted the money. It wouldn’t surprise me if her dad was also behind this.

One look to Archer , and his face showed he was thinking the same thing I was.

“Can I just choose to donate it? I mean, if all they’re after is the money, then they’ll leave me alone if they know I don’t have it anymore.”

“Let me call Ronald , because I’m not sure if you can do that since you aren’t of age yet,” Hank said, getting up from his seat and going to the kitchen presumably to get his phone.

“You doing okay?” I leaned over to Ruthie and put my hand on top of hers that she was twisting in her lap.

“No…. Yes … I don’t know,” she replied then sighed and her head fell forward.

I slid closer to her and put my arm around her, pulling her into me for a side hug. I hated seeing her like this.

I softly rubbed her back and whispered down to her, “ We’ll get this figured out, Ruthie .”

And we would, I’d make sure of it. I looked up to Archer and saw his eyes were looking intently at me. I was going to ask him what he was thinking when Hank walked back into the room.

“Ronald’s on vacation, but he promised to meet with Ruthie and me as soon as he gets back.”

“You mind if we come too?” Archer asked. “ Depending on what he says, we can adapt our safety plan for Ruthie .”

“Sure thing,” Hank responded. “ When his secretary calls me back to schedule something, I’ll let y’all know.”

Hank gave us his blessing to put up some discreet cameras at his house. So , while Archer and I went to install them, Ruthie stayed and helped her granddad print some photos he’d taken on his cell phone.

“What are your thoughts on this?” I asked Archer as we grabbed the stuff from the vehicle.

“My money’s on the dad,” he replied. “ Guy’s always been a piece of shit from what I can tell, and with that much money. He’s definitely the type to burn his daughter to get his hands on it.”

“What about the brother?”

“He’s never going to win brother of the year, but from everything I gathered from Ruthie , he protected her from the dad when he could.

He also kept her away from the pawn shop.

Now , whether that was to hide what was going on and keep her clear of it or because he wanted to keep her clear of Mal —who knows. ”

I finally asked him the question I thought had been on both our minds. “ How do you think they found her?”

“We may have changed her name, but she wasn’t put in WitSec like Cat was. We changed it the legal way. Which means it’s not hard to get those records if you know how to find them.”

I nodded, knowing he was right.

“As for the location,” he said, “her dad may not have had contact with Hank over the years, but Hank hasn’t moved, so it’s highly plausible he figured she’d move to Georgia . I did the best I could with legal resources, but obviously they found her.”

“As Hank said, money is a big motivator,” I told him, sensing he felt a little guilty he hadn’t covered her tracks more. “ I wouldn’t put it past her dad—or this Mal guy—to pay someone to find her. Especially when the payout could be a couple million dollars.”