Facing It Read Free Page A

He’s…”
    How to tell her brother she’d married a crook and a monster?
    “Ruthie?” Tick covered her knee, his touch strong and warm. “Does he hurt you?”
    “Not physically.” She lifted her head. “That’s not his thing. He…controls me. Where I go, who I see, what I do. And the children too. I don’t want that for them, Tick, I don’t. I want them to have what I had, what we had…” Her voice broke and she swallowed against the tightness in her throat. “Verbally, he’s vicious when he’s angry, when things don’t go the way he likes. I’ve been planning to leave for a while, but I needed a plan and an opportunity, and I wasn’t sure where to go, what to do… I’m sorry for showing up like this, dumping this all on you—”
    “No, don’t be sorry.” His voice hardened. “Don’t you dare be sorry, Ruthie. Holy hell, I should be apologizing to you, for not—”
    “Don’t.” She knew what he was thinking. “It’s not your fault. It’s not anyone’s fault but mine. And Stephen’s, for being the absolute monster he is. But I need your help now, Tick.”
    “Anything.”
    “Don’t say that yet. You don’t know what I want.” She looked at her brother, who’d been awarded the FBI award upon his graduation from Quantico. He was all about integrity and what she was going to ask would test that.
    “Ruthie, just ask, honey. I’ll do whatever I can.”
    She took a deep breath. “I want you to help me disappear.”
    “Disappear.” He nodded and exhaled audibly. “It’s not like on television. You can’t just pick up a new identity—”
    “Tick, when he finds out I’m gone, when he realizes what I’ve taken, he’s going to kill me.”
    Her brother shook his head. “I won’t let that happen. We’ll find a way to keep you safe, to keep the kids safe. We’ll get you a lawyer, find a way to keep him from taking them back.”
    “He’s not going to want to kill me over the children.” She shook her head. “He doesn’t care about them except as photo props. It’s the ledgers.”
    Tick’s dark gaze sharpened. “The ledgers?”
    “He’s laundering money. A lot of money. And I took the records when I left.”
    “How do you know he’s involved in this?”
    “He’s incredibly arrogant, Tick. He thinks I’m completely under his thumb and he talks about it, brags about it, about what he’s doing.”
    Tick quirked an eyebrow, intrigue glinting in his eyes. “Show me.”
    ***
    Quiet voices and the scent of fresh coffee roused Ruthie. Eyes closed, she tensed before memory flooded back. She wasn’t in Charleston anymore. She was safe, she was home. Her neck ached from her cramped position on Tick’s couch, where obviously she’d dozed off while he pored over the financial books she’d filched from Stephen’s office.
    “Ruthie?” A touch on her shoulder accompanied the husky female voice. Ruthie opened her eyes to beautiful face surrounded by a thick fall of black hair. Caitlin, Tick’s wife, whom she knew only from photos. “I’m sorry to wake you, but Ainsley was stirring when I went up to get Lee.”
    “Thank you.” Ruthie straightened and cast a look toward the kitchen/dining area, where Tick sat at the pine table, his dark head still bent over the ledgers. He remained in his pajama pants but had added a white T-shirt. Lee, secured in a high chair at Tick’s elbow, babbled and stuffed dry Cheerios into his mouth.
    “I’m going to see about getting us some breakfast.” Caitlin retreated to the kitchen.
    Ruthie rose and hurried for the stairs. She didn’t want Ainsley waking alone, in a strange room. Her daughter was clingy under the best of circumstances, but when she was upset, she turned into the human equivalent of beggarweed.
    It was early, darkness still hovering outside the windows. Upstairs, she slipped into the nursery. Sure enough, Ainsley had rolled to her stomach and was stretching, a certain sign of her imminent waking. Ruthie perched on the