Page 25 of The Night Ride (SEALs on Wheels #3)

Chapter seventeen

I should receive an acting award , I thought as I locked up the shop and ushered everyone out the door at the end of the day.

“Are you certain you don’t want me to count the till?” Tracy asked, appearing concerned and helpful.

Why? So you can forge the numbers? I stared at a woman I had thought was my friend.

But if Aiden was to be believed, and I had no reason to doubt him, she had stolen from me today while I was in the kitchen.

And then quite a bit more over the past two years.

Almost twenty thousand dollars was the latest figure the forensic accountant had calculated. And I had no reason to doubt them.

Pasting a fake smile, I said, “Nope. I’ll take care of it.

” Hoping like hell that Detective Garrison could arrest her tonight so that this chapter would be done.

There would still be more I would have to address with the rest of my employees, like the newly installed cameras, and that there was a former employee who had been stealing.

Tracy glanced past my shoulder at Aiden. “Be careful with that one. He looks dangerous.”

I wanted to roll my eyes. As if Aiden would ever hurt me.

She cast aspirations on him, when she was the one who had done more damage with her betrayal.

I needed to count out the days totals first before I called the detective.

And I had to watch the footage for myself.

I wasn’t saying that I didn’t believe him.

But I needed to see her betrayal with my own eyes.

“I’ll be just fine. Have a good night.”

“Ah, I see you want to be alone. Well, I’ll get out of your hair then.” Tracy winked and walked to her car.

I shut and locked the door, blowing out a frustrated breath. Everything had already been stored for the night and cleaned. All that was left were the books.

It didn’t take me long to count out each till and store those in the safe, then go through the day’s profits.

I double and triple checked. Between both tills, I was missing a little over one hundred dollars.

Not a significant amount of money given the profit made today, even with the cost of staff and deductions.

But it was still enough to pay a bill for the bakery.

Through it all Aiden was at my side. I wanted to get an accurate account before I watched the video. Now that I had I turned toward him.

“Show it to me.”

“Are you sure? We could just turn it over to the detective. You don’t have to view it. I can verify it was her in the video.”

It was so sweet that he wanted to shield me from this. I think he could tell from my expression just how much this was bothering me. But then, it wasn’t every day a girl discovered someone she considered a good friend had committed an act of betrayal. As if I was too dumb to figure it out.

“No. I need to see it.” It wouldn’t help the grief raging inside me, but then I would at least know and could begin to move on.

He nodded and brought it up on my phone for me. We sat in the accounting room with the video playing. And just as he described, Tracy filched money from each till but never returned it. Watching her slide the cash into her pocket burned my butt.

How dare she think she could take from me without consequences!

I took the phone from him and stopped video. Then pulled up the detective’s number in my contacts.

“There’s more.”

“I’m sure there is. We can hand it over to the police and they can deal with her. I don’t need to see anymore.” Because what I had seen, made me downright furious.

But underneath the fury was a pain I couldn’t ignore. There would be time for tears later. For now, I had business to contend with that I couldn’t ignore.

The detective picked up on the second ring. “Detective Garrison.”

“Hi, Detective Garrison, this is Beth Ryder at Sweet Dreams Bakery.”

“What can I do for you Miss Ryder? We’re still investigating—”

I interrupted him. “I understand that, and I think I have, what you would call a lead. I had cameras installed last night and today they caught one of my employees.”

“Is that a fact? Are you still at the bakery?” He sounded thoroughly pleased.

“Yep. And I have the accounting for today showing the missing funds.”

“My partner and I are on the way. We should be there in twenty if you don’t mind waiting.”

“Not at all.” We hung up, and I rose from my spot.

“Where are you going?”

“To put together a few boxes of goodies for their station.” There was enough left over from today I would rather not see it go to waste.

“I’m sure they will appreciate it.”

I did as well. And I needed to do something. Because as much as I wanted to play it off like this didn’t faze me, it hurt. She was someone I had relied upon, considered a very dear friend, and she stole from me.

I didn’t know how to rectify what she had done with what her friendship, her counsel had meant to me ever since I moved here. She and her husband treated me like I was family.

But it had all been lies.

I put together three large boxes of pastries and cookies for their station by the time the detectives arrived. I let them in with a tight smile.

“Thanks for coming.”

Detective Garrison entered with his partner behind him. He smiled. “It’s a slow night. And if we can get this case closed and prosecuted, it will be better for you.”

“Before I forget, I have boxes of goodies you can take to the station when you leave.”

“That’s much appreciated. I’m sure everyone at the station will love them.” The detective said.

I led them back to the accounting room where I showed them the discrepancies. His partner went through the tills and deposits with the accounting totals from the computers to make sure it had been accurate. Once he checked and verified that the numbers were correct, then we showed him the video.

“Did all your employees work today?” Detective Garrison inquired.

“Yep. Every single one.”

“We’d like the footage from the last twenty-four hours for us to review. If she contacts you or comes in tomorrow, just call us and we will handle it.”

“You think it will take that long to arrest her?”

“Nope. After seeing this, we have sufficient evidence to pick her up this evening. We’re just advising that should she contact you between now and then, for you to avoid her as much as possible. Just call us and we’ll handle everything from there.”

“Got it.”

The detectives left with the evidence and goodies. Aiden was there, pulling me into his arms. “Why don’t we get you home?”

“I can drive.”

“I know you can. And you will in a bit. Up for a ride?” He held up his helmet. “It always helps me blow off steam. When we’re done, we can come back and pick up your car or I can drive you here in the morning.”

How did he know I needed to blow off steam? I shouldn’t even ask the question. He seemed to pick up on my every thought and mood.

“Let’s go.” I tossed caution to the wind. For once in my life, I wasn’t going to worry about my responsibilities and what I should do, nothing but spending time with Aiden.

And I’d never ridden on a motorcycle before. I could add it to the list of things I’d experienced with the man I’d been in love with since I was fifteen.