Page 18 of The Fortunate Ones
“Sure.”
He headed to the door, but before he left, he turned suddenly and ran back into my arms, taking me by surprise so that I didn’t hug him back immediately. Once I did, it didn’t take him too long to pull away. “Thank you.”
Then Matty ran off and out of the room.
CHAPTER 6
WES
I stretchedout in the passenger seat and sipped my coffee. I was glad Skye had offered to drive, as last night had been long and sleepless, and I had too much on my mind to focus on the road. Everything had gone smoothly when I’d dropped off Riley and Beckett. Their home had been untouched, and there’d been no sign of anything unusual. I hadn’t really expected it—Ri wasn’t part of my personnel file—but Ramirez shouldn’t have been able to access it to begin with, so I wasn’t taking any chances. By the time Brooks and I had left, Leo had already set up a rotation of his people to watch the building, and I’d felt secure enough to leave them there and go home.
That didn’t mean I’d gotten rest though. After briefing Luca, Mav and Skye, it had been a long night of work and speculation, and I had only managed a few hours of sleep until my phone rang, waking me up. My old landlord had wanted to notify me that someone had shown up to the apartment building that I had lived in before moving into the estate and had been asking about me. When my landlord had explained he couldn’t give out any information, the guy had left, but the whole thing had been suspicious enough to warrant a call.
Now, it was barely 8 am, and Skye and I were on our way to the old apartment to see what we could find out. Henry, the landlord, was waiting for us in the lobby. He seemed oddly nervous, wringing his hands and pacing the space.
“Henry,” I greeted. “This is my partner, Skye.”
Henry’s eyes widened slightly, him probably mentally trying to calculate the age difference between us, but he schooled his expression quick enough.
“Mr. Hayes.” He nodded in greeting. “I’m sorry to bother you so early, but something seemed off and . . . I wasn’t sure what else to do.”
“You did the right thing,” I assured him. “I appreciate that you didn’t just brush it off.” I knew most landlords would. It was one of the reasons I’d ended up renting in this building: many of the tenants had jobs that required discretion and more security, and he catered to that. “You said you have the man on security cameras?”
Henry’s head bobbed once and then he gestured to the front desk. “Yeah. He wouldn’t give me or the doorman his name, and when I began pressing for more details, he ran, but we did get a clear image of him. Let me pull it up for you to see if you recognize him.”
“Thank you.” The three of us all crowded behind the desk as Henry pulled up the footage. I recognized him instantly. Charles Ramirez.
I glanced at Skye, confirming our suspicions.
“Is there an outside camera?” Skye asked. “So we could possibly see where he went when he left.”
Henry didn’t even blink. “Yes. Hang on . . .”
It took him a minute or two, but then we were watching Charles Ramirez leaving the building and crossing the street to a black car that was parallel parked there. It was a newer-lookingsedan, and when he pulled out, we were able to get a partial on the license plate as he drove off.
“Is there any way we can get a copy of this?”
Henry hesitated, and I realized I’d have to give him more of an explanation. “There was recently a breach of security at my old place of employment, and this man is the suspect. This would be a huge help.”
He rang his hands in concern. “Should we call the cops?”
“No, that’s okay. We’ve got it handled. My job has us working closely with law enforcement,” Not exactly a lie, we do sometimes work with our contacts in law enforcement, “So I’ll update them.”
Henry watched me for a long moment before nodding and turning back to the computer. “Okay, I’ll make a copy for you. Just give me a moment, it’s not something I’ve had to do often.”
“No problem. Thank you for your help.”
With a nod to Skye, we walked back around the counter to give Henry some space. He was already nervous about giving us the information, and I didn’t want to intimidate him further. I wouldn’t be surprised if he called the authorities after we left. We’d have to keep an eye on that. Skye pulled out his phone. “I’m texting Diego the info. I know he’ll want the tapes, but maybe he can get a head start.”
I hummed my agreement, already lost in my thoughts. “I’m not really sure why he’d run like that. Why come all the way here, track me down, and then leave?”
“Maybe something spooked him. Or maybe he wanted you to follow. He didn’t bother hiding his face, after all.”
“True . . . Well, if that’s what he wanted, he’ll get his wish. He’s coming way too close to my family and home for me to let it go now.”
Skye met my eyes. “We got your back, no matter what happens.”
Even though I already knew that, it meant a lot to me for Skye to say it. Without thinking too much about it, I reached out and cupped his cheek. “Thank you.” I hoped he could hear the sincerity in my tone.
