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Waiting for us to be alone, I walked over to Luke. “Are you all right?” I asked.
He nodded, but his eyes brimmed with tears. I felt like we were boys again and someone had let my little brother down. “Come here.” I pulled him into my arms. He resisted at first, but then allowed me to pat him on the back once before he pulled away. He wiped his face.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m overreacting like this.”
“I do,” I said. “You’ve always cared the most.”
“No, I didn’t. I just showed it more than you and Colton did. I know you care, Ryan. You care as much as the rest of us about Mom and Dad.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him right now that everything I’d believed about my childhood could be a lie. My mother was not the loyal woman I’d thought she was. But today would not be the day I’d break my brother’s heart.
“Let’s get started on that list, huh?”
I sat down at my brother’s desk and turned on his laptop.
“What time did you leave the office last night?” I asked.
“Around six o’clock.”
“Ok,” I said, opening a blank message. “I’ll email security and see who swiped in after six o’clock last night. Then, I’ll email property management and check which cards have access to your room. This should give us a good list to start with.”
“I hate to think it’s someone we employ,” said Luke, running a hand through his hair.
“I know. But we can’t be soft about this, Luke. If someone stole from us, then we have to know about it and get rid of them.”
“Let’s start with this list,” said Luke, running a hand through his hair. “Maybe there’s a good explanation. Maybe they just saw something and didn’t think to come forward.”
“Don’t let your good heart get in the way of your good judgment. People don’t change, Luke. They just fool you to believe what you want to believe.”
“That seems pretty cynical, Ryan.”
I shrugged my shoulders. Whatever he wanted to call it was fine by me. I called it living with my eyes wide open.
I sent both emails and instructed them to copy me with their responses.
“Come on,” I said, putting my arm around Luke’s shoulder. “I think you need to take your mind off of this. Let’s go back to my office for a drink.”
“It’s nine o’clock in the morning, Ryan.”
“Yeah, but it’s five o’clock somewhere in the world.”
Laura
My father hadn’t come home last night. I stood in his empty room, my arms crossed, my chest heaving from anger that burned inside of me. I had no idea what my father had agreed to, but the memory of that man’s deep voice gave me chills. This wasn’t a regular side hustle. My father had gotten himself wrapped up in something bad, and this time I wouldn’t wait around to find out what it was. He couldn’t avoid me. I would track him down at work.
I dressed in a simple black shift dress and a pair of nude heels. Checking my lipstick before I left, I grabbed my purse and started the car.
You can do this. Ryan won’t even know you’re there.
He hadn’t shown up at Luxor last night again. It had been two nights in a row. Sadly, I was glad Ryan hadn’t come. My head spun with ideas of what I’d overheard and I could barely complete drink orders. There was no way I could have had a meaningful conversation with Ryan these last few nights. And I owed him an explanation for why I’d run out on him that morning. I just needed some time to get this under control.
That was my motivation when I pulled into the parking lot of Crawford Corporation. My father could avoid me at home, but he wouldn’t skip work and I needed to find out exactly what was going on. I just hoped to avoid Ryan before I found my father.
There were at least a dozen concrete steps leading to the looming tower of Crawford Corporation, a high-rise, I estimated to be at least twenty stories high.
Walking through the automated glass doors, my heels clicked on the white marble floors and my heart mirrored the staccato as I approached the security desk.
“Hi, I’m here to see Peter Stevens,” I said.
