Page 65 of Besties
A deep groan slid out of Richie. His shoulders slumped and he seemed defeated. Then he suddenly lifted his head and smiled at me. I very much did not like that look.
“Okay, but if we’re going to do this, it’s going to be my way. Agreed?”
From the glint in his eyes to the way he was smirking, I had a bad feeling about whatever he was going to say. “Go on.”
“I’m going with you.”
That wasn’t my plan at all. “It would be better if I go myself,” I said, even though the set of his jaw told me it would be useless to argue.
“That’s not happening. He was my employee, this is the company everyone here had a hand in building. If I don’t go with you, then you don’t go either.”
I honestly couldn’t argue with him. He was right, and he needed to be part of whatever was going on. “Fine, but you stay near me.”
He smiled. “Like glue.”
I slid my cell from my pocket and called the number Nico had given me. It was answered on the first ring.
“Who is this?” a voice on the other end demanded.
“My name is Max Henry, sir. I work for Teaching Time.”
“Oh, Mr. Henry. Nico said I should expect a call from you.”
“Are you safe, sir?”
He blew out a breath. “For now, I guess. No clue how long I will be, though.”
“Can we meet sir? It would just be the three of us.”
“Three?”
“You, me, and Mr. Ryland.”
There was a strangled gasp on the other end. “I—I—I’m so sorry, Mr. Ryland,” Dennis whispered.
I turned the speaker on and set my phone down. “Why are you sorry?”
“They threatened my son!” Dennis shouted. “They said….” He cleared his throat. “They met me coming out of work one day. Told me that we needed to talk. I didn’t know them, so I declined. Then one of them reached into a folder and pulled out six pictures of Jeff. One of them was taken from inside Jeff’s house. They told me that they could get to him at any time, and if I didn’t do exactly what I was told, they’d find him.” He hiccuped. “They said they would make him kill himself.”
I swallowed hard. If Jeff was emotionally fragile, what kind of dicks would do shit like that? “Why, though?”
Dennis groaned. “When my wife—Jeff’s mother—died, Jeff went off the rails a bit. He tried to kill himself twice. He was hospitalized for two months after the second episode. It was where he met Nico. For some reason, and I never questioned it, Nico was protective of Jeff. He’d do anything for him. He helped pull Jeff out of the dark place and showed him he could live in the light.
“After what they said about Jeff, I told Nico what was going on. He helped me to hide out and told me he’d kill anyone who came near my son. I’m still afraid, though. Jeff needs Nico to keep him together. He’s the one that ensures Jeff goes to his therapy appointments, takes his pills, and all the other stuff that allows Jeff to live outside of a hospital.”
That was definitely the man I’d met.
“What do they want from you?”
He whimpered and his voice broken when he continued speaking. “Mr. Ryland, I’m sorry. They want me to get copies of your Teaching Time suite. They got some of your software code—not from me, I swear—and reverse-engineered it so they could undercut Teaching Time and run you out of business, because you wouldn’t sell to them. They’re doing their best to discredit you to get it legally, but they’re willing to get it by whatever means necessary.” A shuddering sigh. “I helped them because I couldn’t have my son hurt. I’m sorry.”
I fully expected to see anger on Richie’s face, but instead I saw something almost… familial as he reached out and took my hand in his. “Dennis, listen to me. I don’t like what you did, but I can’t say I’d have done it any differently.” His gaze cut to me. “Especially if it was someone I loved.”
“I don’t know what to do. I thought about going to the police, but if they’re watching Jeff….” His sniffled. “I know I don’t have any right to ask for help, but please, protect Jeff. He’s all I have left in the world.”
I could see the exact moment Richie made his decision. “I swear we’ll protect him.”
That was my Richie. He would go to the wall for anyone who he deemed family, and despite what Dennis Kramer had done, he was still family. He’d probably have to work his ass off and apologize to everyone he’d insulted, but I had a feeling with Richie’s blessing and some help from me, we could get this sorted.
