Page 86 of Recurve Ridge

“That’s good. What else?” Alan folded his arms, mirroring Miller across the room, sans the simmering rage. His eyes were hooded, a sense of pride and possession lighting his face.

Jealousy smashed over me as she explained a few more basic things about the account and smiled back. I wanted her to look at me that way, damnit.

But hadn’t I been the one who pushed for sharing her? My jealousy didn’t spring from Alan’s ability to love her, or earn her love for him back, or what I saw in their easy banter as they worked through the task together.

What hurt was that the trust she’d developed with him still felt tenuous with me in this fragile moment.

I shifted, taking an unconscious step forward before I checked myself. Jon’s gaze darted toward me, and I cursed inside my head for giving myself away. Schooling my face to a blank canvas, I rocked back on my heels under the guise of rubbing my shoulder blades on the lip of the bar. Jon looked back at Mari, and I breathed again, unsure why I needed to hide my revelation over her love for my bartender, though the fucker still owed me. Their connection seemed to have been obvious to the rest of the household, but I wanted to keep that moment private for a while longer.

Maybe until I could have Mari alone again.

“It all looks normal, except that there are transactions that don’t line up.” Her gaze broke from Alan’s to meet mine, an accusation blazing there.

“If you gave me full access, this would have been easier.”

Her intelligence was a massive turn-on. I might have grinned like a lovelorn teen if her words hadn’t broken through my sensibilities first.

“What?” Alan and I said at the same time, and even Miller took a step forward.

Mari smirked, knowing she’d earned our attention. “Here. This transfer comes in and goes out several times. Kind of like a clownfish.” She grinned. But when I offered her a small smile back, she shook her head as though she’d taken it as condescending. “He tried to send it somewhere, and it was rejected. Why? And here, it’s come back again… but out of order. More than once,” she clarified. “Like an electronic check bounced. The transaction changed, its progress halted. Listed as a scam, maybe. Why would you do that? Where did it go? This throws everything out, and the balances don’t match up. See? Where’s the rest of this?” She flapped her hand at the page, frustration and pride warring for prime real estate on her face.

I met Miller’s eyes over her head. He offered a small shrug, conceding defeat for now. I had no doubt that he’d find another angle to attack her on until she wore him down like she had the rest of us.

I was the first sucker who fell for her, more than willing to man up and admit that her appearance in my section of the woods had been a turning point. Our twisted little band grew without effort, and I wanted to keep it that way forever.

Pity that can never happen, asshole.

Maybe karma from my previous life let me find the perfect girl—beautiful, clever, brave—but that same cosmic bitch slap also said I needed to set her free. I’d cloistered her away under a guise of health and recovery, but I couldn’t claim those reasons any longer. Mari had stood up to us, pushed away Miller’s bullying, his rage, and etched herself into each of our souls in her own way. Even if some of us—maybe just one—were in denial.

I knew she needed to be free to enjoy her own new life, even at a detrimental risk to us.

Away from us.

I swallowed a wave of grief in advance of that impending break for freedom without us to tether her to the ridgeline we ourselves couldn’t escape.

Maybe she’ll come back.

Yeah, and maybe Gideon would lay down arms and become part of the neighborhood watch.

“Show me that.” Alan snatched the paper from her hand and ran his finger along her calculations, ignoring the chatter that broke out around him.

I stopped pretending disinterest and leaned over his shoulder, offering Mari a quick wink that drew a blush to her cheeks. She’d circled the suspect transactions. Alan stopped when he came to one reversal that had been heavily underlined. He whipped out a second piece of paper and lined it up seamlessly.

Mari craned to look over the pages that matched up line for line. “I knew you were holding something back. Asshats,” she muttered with no small dose of amusement.

Alan glanced sideways, and I nodded my assent. If he wanted to test her, this was the best way. She’d spotted something we all overlooked the many times we’d trawled through these same accounts, some of the transactions Gideon’s, others from an unknown source, though I had my suspicions.

Her eyes were fresh, and she provided a perspective I needed. My lips rose at one corner. Miller was going to be pissed that I didn’t play this out logically but followed my heart instead.

I had a reason to keep her. Again.

“How about now?” Alan folded his arms and stepped back, his expression closed, cold.

Mari looked over her shoulder toward the darkening doorway as long shadows lingered in the yard outside. Her eyes darted around the room, settling on Jon, then me, and avoided Miller in his brooding depths altogether.

“I thought?—”

“You thought right, Mari.” I met her gaze. “Same job, different details. Show us what you see now.” I closed my fist, letting my nails bite into my palm.

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