Page 23 of Reclaiming Chaos
The queen-sized bed looked comfortable enough, not that I thought I’d have a hard time falling asleep when my head hit the pillows. The walls were light gray. The furniture was sparse with no personal touches. I laid back and dialed Melony’s number and pressed the receiver to my ear.
“Boss.” Hearing her tired, groggy voice was a relief.
“You all right?” I asked, trying to hide the emotion from my voice.
“I’m breathing, thanks to you and Carlee.”
My heart kicked hard as it started beating again. “She’s something, isn’t she?”
“I’m not sure I’d be alive if it weren’t for her. How’s Reyes?”
“There’s no easy way to tell you this, but he didn’t make it. Melony, you should get some rest. We can talk about everything later.”
I was met with silence, a hesitation I wasn’t used to coming from Melony. “Good night, Ridge.”
“Melony …”
“Yeah, boss?”
“There is one thing I have to know. When you suspected Reyes was on the take, why didn’t you tell me?” The words tasted like acid on my lips.
“You know about that?”
“I was just informed you were digging into his background.”
“I’m sorry, boss. I didn’t start getting suspicious until we were assigned Carlee Tate’s case. The very first time we were being briefed on the case and was sent to FT Development, you know how nervous and jumpy he normally is. Reyes was calm and familiar with the building. It was like he’d been there before.”
“When I started to cough, he pointed me in the direction down the hall and told me there was a fountain if I turned onto the second hallway to the right. How had he known that if it wasn’t in his line of sight?”
“So, you started digging?”
“I asked him first. I asked if he’d been there before, and he told me no and then got mad. I knew he was lying at that point. I checked his financials. I know I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t accuse him of anything without proof. He was getting large monthly deposits from FT. They hadn’t even tried to hide it in a shell cooperation.”
My head pounded harder, the more I thought about it. “You should have come to me.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Get some rest, Melony. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow.”
“Thanks, boss. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“You, too, and, Melony, stay off the grid until you’ve recovered. Someone tried to kill you more than once, and they’re still looking for you.”
“Be safe, boss. I’m sure I’m not the only one they want dead.”
“Night.” I hung up and clutched the phone to my chest. I wracked my brain to recall anything important that had been said while I was on my bugged phone. Anything that might have compromised any case. Not that Reyes couldn’t have informed anyone he was working for on our whereabouts and our leads. How in the hell had he been turned?
This was a nightmare coming to light. Everything would need to be looked at once I was sure what Reyes had been up to.
I had this overwhelming need to apologize to Carlee for doubting her, and to keep her safe. She was more than my assignment. There was no doubt about that anymore.
