And tried to plan for.
“Elijah wanted the mill to burn down so he could collect the insurance payout. Simple as that,” Ryan finished.
“So, did Beth even know about the code?”
Ryan shrugged.
“Missy never found out, and you know me, I’m not exactly book smart. The most I’ve done was try to figure out who all was connected to Elijah. I didn’t want a one of them to escape.”
Blake hurt for her sister. They would never know for certain if Beth had figured out what was going on, but Blake liked to think she had. That’s why she had been so angry the day she had died. That’s why she had been so scared when the man named Eric, a favorite employee of Elijah’s, had come after her while driving that day.
Eric never said a word on the matter, but a security camera outside the hospital had caught him fleeing the scene after he killed Ray McClennan. Chase had become Ray’s voice in the end, admitting that Elijah had paid Ray to try to stop Liam at all costs from digging into Missy’s death. At the time, Ray had lied to Chase about what was happening, saying that the sheriff was a bad man who had done bad things. It was only after Cooper Han had heard what had happened that he had told his best friend Chase about the code.
He hadn’t realized that Ray had been listening.
Or that Ray would raise the flag of alarm to Elijah, who had had no idea there was a code floating around out there somewhere. That’s where the panic had come in and that’s where he’d gotten sloppy.
He’d wanted Beth’s laptop, sure she had a copy of the code. In his mind, the only way to get what he wanted was to use the kids to threaten Blake to find it. His panic had only ratcheted higher when Blake and the sheriff were seen around town together. He’d been sure they were looking for the code too.
So, in came Ray McClennan. A young man who had his own set of daddy issues. He’d been more than willing to do whatever for the youngest Grant.
Too bad for him that Elijah had always planned to frame Ray for whatever misdeeds took place. They’d find that out later, when Glenn Lowell, the man in the baseball cap, finally opened up. The ambush at Blake’s home had been Elijah’s plan. The car chase had been Ray’s bad makeshift first attempt after seeing the sheriff and Blake outside of the restaurant that Chase worked at by chance.
“All these seemingly smart guys sure made a lot of bad decisions, all because they were worrying about two women who were chasing the truth,” Ryan said after a moment. “I went to tell you at the school gym that day, but I lost my nerve. I wish I hadn’t. I wish I’d helped Missy even more.”
Blake looked at Ryan with new eyes.
He looked right on back and was as serious as she had ever seen him.
“I know my brother wasn’t a good husband or dad, and I’m really sorry for him. I’m also real sorry I didn’t step up like you did. But I tried to make things right. As right as I could. From us. From Tim and me. Because Beth was a good, good woman. So was Missy. They both deserved a long, happy life. That’s why I killed Elijah without an ounce of doubt in me, and that’s why I’m not sorry for it.”
He shook his head.
“Though, I suppose I am sorry for the trouble it might bring you and the kids in town. I’m sure Mr. Grant isn’t going to be happy with our family after I killed his son.”
Mr. Grant, and the steel mill, would be in a fierce legal battle for the next year, until eventually an outside company would purchase it. The jobs would stay for the Seven Roads employees, but the name and management would change.
But, at the time, Blake wasn’t worried about any of that.
“There are some things you could apologize to me for, Ryan Reed,” she said. “But that’s not one of them.”
He nodded and stood. The story was over, and it was time for him to leave. He paused though and seemed to become a little sheepish.
“Maybe if it suits you and them, you could send me some pictures and updates about y’all,” he said. “I know I won’t ever be uncle of the year to the kids, but maybe I can be kind of like a distant uncle who sends them birthday cards and asks after their grades on occasion. Only if it’s okay with you though.”
Despite herself, Blake agreed. She also surprised herself by hugging the man. His parting words hit deep in her heart.
“Take care of our family, Blake.”
She smiled, her eyes starting to water.
“I will.”
Ryan seemed satisfied with her answer.
Then he grinned.
“And keep that sheriff around too,” he added. “He seems like he’d be one of those really good husbands and dads.”
