The Defender - Ryder by Lisa B. Kamps

Author:Lisa B. Kamps [Kamps, Lisa B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BimHaven Press
Published: 2019-05-07T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

It was a con.

He's served time for embezzlement...wanted for fraud.

All of it is just one big con.

The words swirled through her mind, faster and faster as she hurried away from Ryder. Was he coming after her? She didn't think so, prayed that he wasn't. Prayed that he'd just leave her alone. She didn't want him to see her like this. Didn't want him to see the tears that she was trying so hard to blink back.

Didn't want him to see the heat of embarrassment flushing her face.

Because—no matter what she'd told him—she believed him.

It was a con.

And oh God, how could she have been so stupid? So naive? How could she have allowed herself to be so easily drawn into Kevin's scheme?

Because she had wanted to believe they were doing something good. Because she believed in what they were trying to do here. That belief—and her own naivety—had completely blinded her to the signs she should have seen.

Hannah stumbled, caught herself and quickened her steps.

No, she'd seen the signs—but she had refused to accept them, had made excuses for every single one of them. The delays in receiving supplies. The way Kevin constantly changed priorities, switching to a new project before one was finished, or making excuses for why something couldn't be done right away. He'd done that so many times that even she couldn't keep up, had no idea what they were even supposed to be working on anymore.

She should have pressed the issue harder. Should have demanded answers months ago when she first noticed things were slipping. But she hadn't. Instead of questioning Kevin, she'd given him the benefit of the doubt. She assumed he was overwhelmed and tried to do more herself to help him out, to take some of the pressure off his shoulders so he could focus on the priorities.

But even that hadn't helped—and she had blamed herself for not doing enough.

It was a con, all of it—and she had played right into his hands.

How much money had he taken in? She knew how much the weekly fee was for each person who came to help. At least, she thought she knew. It could be even more but she had no way of knowing for sure. And she knew exactly how much was spent each week for expenses—which wasn't much. Was he pocketing the rest? Yes, he must be—that's what made it a con, right?

She did the math in her head and stumbled to a stop. The figure was staggering. So staggering that she doubled over and nearly threw up. Oh God, all that money. Money that could be put to use here, where it was needed.

Money that would never be seen again because of one man's disgusting greed.

How long was he planning on keeping the con going? Weeks? Months? Years? No, definitely not years. Then how long?

She knew the answer as soon as the question came to her: until the holiday break. Nobody was scheduled to come in for those two weeks. Hannah and Allison would be going home.

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