Page 47 of Keeping Knight

“It’s true. I call you Micah because that’s how I got to know you. But I like Knight, too.”

Though I’ve had decades to move past some immature jerks from my past, I can’t deny the burst of pleasure that comes from Ruby’s comparison. “I’m not quite like an actual knight,” I protest. “I just do my job, is all.”

“No.” Ruby palms my cheek and leans in to kiss me. “You are so much more than your job. You’re all those things I said, Micah. And more.” She kisses me again. “I feel so lucky to have met you. I don’t care about money or being knighted or any of that. I just like you.”

“Rue.” I haul her onto my lap and kiss her hard. “I just like you, too.”

Chapter Eleven

RUBY

“I’m not sure if this is a good idea.”

Micah glances at Rogue for backup, but Rogue merely shrugs. “It’s not necessary,” Micah continues. “Ruby can read the report. She doesn’t need to watch the interrogation herself.”

“It’s Ruby’s case,” Rogue replies. “Her family.”

“I know that.” Micah’s jaw goes tight. “But what if it were Sofia? Would you want her to watch⁠—”

“I’m right here,” I interject. Irritation sharpens my voice. Well, that and the fear and anxiety that have been churning in my belly ever since we got the news this morning. “I can make up my own mind. I don’t need you deciding things for me.”

Micah turns to me. Contrition replaces his scowl of moments before. “Sorry, Rue.” He sinks down onto the worn plastic chair beside me. “I’m not trying to make decisions for you.”

From his position by the water cooler, Jester coughs loudly.

“I’m not,” Micah insists. “I’m just worried. You’ve already had to deal with so much, Ruby. And this isn’t going to be pleasant. At all.”

I take a deep breath as I try to work through the storm of emotions surging through me. I remind myself that Micah means well. It’s just his protective instincts on overdrive. “My stepmother may have tried to kill me,” I reply flatly. “So I think it’s pretty obvious this isn’t going to be pleasant.”

This being the interrogation we’re about to watch, which Rogue got us access to thanks to his contacts in the NYPD. And not just any interrogation, but one of my stepmother, who recently jumped to number one on the list of suspects in my case.

So, yeah. I’m not expecting anything positive. But I need to see it. I need to watch Sylvia as she answers the officers’ questions. I need to look at her face. I need to figure out if the woman I’ve known for five years could have done what she’s suspected of.

I don’t want to believe it. I may not have liked Sylvia much, and I never got the feeling she was terribly crazy about me, but attempted murder? Potentially twice, if it turns out she was responsible for the bomb at my apartment, as well? Which would make sense, unless there are two people out there trying to kill me, which I really hope there aren’t.

“Money is a powerful motivator,” Micah explained when I insisted it wasn’t possible that Sylvia could be involved. “People do terrible things for money. Things you could never imagine them doing.”

“But Sylvia has money,” I replied. “My dad left her the house in Suffern, and all the cars, and his life insurance, and there were accounts…”

“Not as much as your dad left you,” he said. “Right?”

No. My dad didn’t leave Sylvia as much as he did me. But that made sense. He and Sylvia had only been married for five years. Most of the money my dad made was from before that. Plus, he still had everything my mom had left him. It’s not like he was going to give that to his new wife. Of course, my dad would leave it to me.

Except maybe Sylvia didn’t think it was fair. Maybe she thought, as the wife, she should have gotten the bulk of everything. And maybe, after having stewed about it in the months since the will was finalized, she finally decided she would do something about it.

The money is the reason the police brought her in; along with the evidence Fox & Falcon gave them. While researching potential suspects, Rogue discovered that Sylvia had consulted a probate attorney on numerous occasions in hopes of contesting my dad’s will. I never knew, so I guess the attorneys told her it wouldn’t work.

If she’d only gone to them, it would have been one thing. But she talked to her friends about it. According to Wraith, who’s one of F&F’s top interrogators, Sylvia whined to her bridge club, her book club, her hairdresser, and her manicurist about how unfair it was that her greedy stepdaughter took all her money.

Still, I’m not sure that’s enough to prove Sylvia actually did anything illegal. I’m pretty sure it’s not, actually. It proves she’s even worse of a person than I thought she was, but that’s about it.

“Maybe it won’t be that bad,” Micah offers. “Maybe the interrogation will reveal something that clears Sylvia, and we’ll find out all this worrying is for nothing.”

“Maybe,” I reply weakly. But the sick feeling that’s been there since Micah got the call from Rogue this morning says otherwise.

I’d just been sitting down to work on a new manuscript, and Micah was getting ready to head over to the office to meet with the other employees in the canine services division. He kept apologizing for having to leave and explaining that he’d be back as soon as possible. “I’ve got Kurt coming over to guard the place,” he was telling me. “He’ll be outside by the elevator. But if you need him for anything, he’ll be happy to help. He’s a really nice guy. I think you’ll like him.”

Just as I was about to tell Micah that he didn’t need someone to guard the condo—it has a ton of security, and the elevator to get up here can only be accessed by the residents, so it’s not like just anyone can use it—his phone rang.