Dangerous Allies (The Ruby Danger Series Book 1) Read Free Page A

Once he even found several written on a yellow sticky note taped to Antony’s computer. According to Hari, who had recounted this tale during dinner at the Carvers’ Manhattan apartment, Antony had replied, ‘So what? Security is what I pay you for.’
    Grinning, Ruby flexed her fingers. She wasn’t as smart as Hari, but she could figure this out. First, she keyed in Antony’s birthday. Nope. Her birthday. Nope. Their anniversary? As if. Her fingers hovered over the keys. She tried the date that Carvon, Antony’s company, had been incorporated. Ruby had seen photos of magnums of Cristal being popped in the office that day, the champagne spraying the floor, the desks, even the men’s suits. So you’d think … but still, nope.
    Tilting her head, she studied the keypad. It had both letters and numbers on it, so she tried t-i-m-n-c , for ‘This Is My New Code.’ The safe beeped, and the door clicked ajar. She tapped her fingers on the door and chuckled. Might as well use 0-0-0.
    Sliding stacked folders to one side to make room for the earrings, she noticed a red leather box leaning against the back wall. Ruby tugged it out of the safe. She pushed Antony’s cardigan aside, sat on the bed, and placed the box beside her, staring at the rich embossed leather. Could it be a gift? After turning the small gold key in the lock, she flipped open the lid and stared at the contents.
    It was not a gift.
    Three bundles of hundred-dollar bills lay atop a stack of documents. She picked up the plastic-wrapped money and checked the markings. Each bundle held one hundred bills, thirty thousand dollars in all. Why would Antony need thirty thousand in cash on a cruise ship?
    Ruby placed the plastic-wrapped bills on the bed and turned back to the box. Under the bills were four passports, three American and one Canadian. She picked up the first American passport and thumbed to the data page. Antony’s photo looked back at her. Dropping that passport on the bed, she picked up the next one. The second passport also bore Antony’s picture but a different name, one she had never seen. She picked up the Canadian passport and flipped it open. Antony’s picture stared out at her yet again, but her stomach lurched as she read the name beside it. Quentin Wade.
    Ruby’s hand shook as she dropped the open passport on the bed. The air conditioning in the bedroom had been cranked up high, and she shivered as water dripped from her still-damp hair onto her bare shoulders. She stared at the passport, rubbing her throat. Why would Antony, an American citizen, have a Canadian passport? But more than that, why was it in her brother-in-law’s name?
    Quentin Wade.
    Mild-mannered assistant English professor, beloved father of Naomi and Sarah, bereft widower of Ruby’s deceased sister, Lily. How had a passport in his name come to be locked aboard a ship cruising the Caribbean, thousands of miles from his home in Vancouver? It couldn’t be Quentin’s real passport, since the photo was Antony’s. Ruby bent her head, her shoulders curled, fighting a wave of panic.
    Straightening up, she took a deep breath and pulled the leather box nearer. Two manila envelopes lay under the passports. She ripped open one envelope and shook out its contents. Ten certificates with green embossed edges spilled out. The name and logo of a Cayman Islands bank was printed along the top, followed by tiny printing and a holograph that rippled when she tilted the heavy vellum pages.
    They were bonds, each for one million U.S. dollars. And the second manila envelope looked as if it held the same. Twenty million dollars in all. Ruby scanned the certificates for the registered owner’s name and found nothing. These were bearer bonds, cashable by anyone who held them, no questions asked. Having once researched them for a role, she knew bearer bonds were popular with criminals and screenwriters, but they hadn’t been issued in the United States for decades. Ruby smoothed a finger