Page 22 of Deception and New Direction

“I checked on it whenRuthiefirst moved here after everything you told me,”Hankanswered. “Iwas worried since you changed your name and dropped off the face of the earth that your dad might try to get to it.Haven’tchecked it since, but whenIlast talked toRonald, it was nearing six million with the investment growth.”

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

My lip twitched at her odd exclamation, butIalso said my own expletive internally at what this meant.Thiswas definitely motive for why that prickMalwas still after her, even though she was responsible for putting his ass in jail.Hewanted the money.Itwouldn’t surprise me if her dad was also behind this.

One look toArcher, and his face showed he was thinking the same thingIwas.

“CanIjust choose to donate it?Imean, if all they’re after is the money, then they’ll leave me alone if they knowIdon’t have it anymore.”

“Let me callRonald, becauseI’mnot sure if you can do that since you aren’t of age yet,”Hanksaid, getting up from his seat and going to the kitchen presumably to get his phone.

“You doing okay?”Ileaned over toRuthieand put my hand on top of hers that she was twisting in her lap.

“No….Yes…Idon’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.Ihated seeing her like this.

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

And we would,I’dmake sure of it.Ilooked up toArcherand saw his eyes were looking intently at me.Iwas going to ask him what he was thinking whenHankwalked back into the room.

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

“You mind if we come too?”Archerasked. “Dependingon what he says, we can adapt our safety plan forRuthie.”

“Sure thing,”Hankresponded. “Whenhis secretary calls me back to schedule something,I’lllet y’all know.”

Hank gave us his blessing to put up some discreet cameras at his house.So, whileArcherandIwent to install them,Ruthiestayed and helped her granddad print some photos he’d taken on his cell phone.

“What are your thoughts on this?”IaskedArcheras we grabbed the stuff from the vehicle.

“My money’s on the dad,” he replied. “Guy’salways been a piece of shit from whatIcan tell, and with that much money.He’sdefinitely 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 everythingIgathered fromRuthie, he protected her from the dad when he could.Healso 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 ofMal—who knows.”

I finally asked him the questionIthought had been on both our minds. “Howdo you think they found her?”

“We may have changed her name, but she wasn’t put inWitSeclikeCatwas.Wechanged it the legal way.Whichmeans 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 withHankover the years, butHankhasn’t moved, so it’s highly plausible he figured she’d move toGeorgia.Idid the bestIcould with legal resources, but obviously they found her.”

“AsHanksaid, money is a big motivator,”Itold him, sensing he felt a little guilty he hadn’t covered her tracks more. “Iwouldn’t put it past her dad—or thisMalguy—to pay someone to find her.Especiallywhen the payout could be a couple million dollars.”

9

RUTHIE

My mind was racing as we drove back toJack’shouse.Dashkept sticking his head up front to lick the side of my face or rest his head on my shoulder, likely because he sensedIwas upset.

I sighed deeply. “Sorry.IhopeGranddadcan get the attorney to let me donate the money.Ijust want them to leave me alone.”

“I understand where you’re coming from, butIdon’t think you should get rid of that money if you’d like to keep it.Let’swait and talk to thisO’Reillyguy.Itsounds like he’s done a pretty good job so far of keeping the money away from your dad and brother, so hopefully he can help you figure out a way to keep doing that even after your birthday.”

“Before my mom died, my dad mentioned several times that he couldn’t wait untilIturned eighteen and wasno longer his problem.Then, after she died, he never mentioned that particular comment again.Ihonestly believed maybe he had softened a little sinceMomdied.NowI’mrealizing it was because he found out about the money and just wanted to keep me near.”

---