"And what exactly did you find?" Russ asked, suddenly more relaxed.
Zoe felt certain the man figured Ryan's fishing expedition had been as fruitless as his own. Ryan's initial indignation no longer threatened the older man, but he would soon find out he was deluded, she thought.
"The first thing I discovered was that Zoe's hunch about you was correct. You'd visited the bus station a few hours before we did. So I wondered, what in the world could you be looking for?"
"Ryan, surely you know I've always had your best interests at heart."
"I thought so. Up until our search led us to the contents of Faith's locker."
"That's impossible!" His uncle propelled himself forward, righteous certainty in his voice. "They told me there was nothing to be found."
"Unless you know the right questions to ask," Zoe said, unable to contain her pride in Ryan.
"It doesn't matter how we found Faith's things," Ryan said, stepping between them. "What matters is that she left behind a note documenting everything that led up to her running away."
Uncle Russ walked to his side of the desk and lowered himself into his large, leather chair. "You can't possibly believe the ravings of a seventeen-year-old drug addict." That he was no longer eye to eye with Ryan, but gripping the armrests hard, gave away the measure of his fear.
"You wouldn't look so worried right now unless you knew for sure Faith's words were more than ravings."
"That's nonsense," his uncle said in return.
A muscle ticked in Ryan's jaw. "Still in denial?"
Tension radiated between the men and she sensed Ryan's disappointment in the uncle he'd idolized throughout his life. Even cornered, he wasn't man enough to own up to his actions.
She had to clench her fists in order to prevent herself from calming Ryan down. He needed to do this and she needed to let him.
"So tell me just what it is you think you know," Russ said dismissively, speaking to Ryan as if he was nothing more important than an annoying little boy.
A pathetic old man's last bid to dominate the nephew he claimed to love, Zoe thought. But she knew Russ's attempt to cause Ryan to back down was doomed to failure.
"What do I know?" Ryan mimicked, then stormed across the room and braced both arms on the desk. In mood and in action, he took charge. "Dad already mentioned the mob-related truck hijackings that took place during the years Faith was most troubled. Thanks to her letters, I know you were involved with organized crime. That you gave them Baldwin's trucking schedules." His voice was filled with disdain. "And I know that select vehicles with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of electronics were hijacked."
"Coincidence."
"Bullshit," Ryan countered. "Because I also know you'd increased the insurance appraisal and made yourself a hefty sum of money without revealing that to my father. And I'm certain the mob sold the goods they stole and made a bundle. It was the perfect scam until Faith found out and confronted you, so you needed to get her out of the way."
"It sounds like a work of fiction." But Russ's eyes darted from side to side, his panic obvious.
And Zoe clung to every word. Though she'd thought Russ had an unusual interest in the keys, in her wildest dreams, she'd never imagined Russ was involved in something like this.
"By the way, I also know that it wasn't Faith's choice to run away. You gave her money and told her to take a hike because everyone at home would be better off with her gone and nobody would miss her once she disappeared."
Zoe winced as Ryan revealed the most painful betrayal of all.
Ryan's throat hurt from hurling the truth at his uncle without letting his anger overwhelm him completely. His heart ached with the knowledge that the one man he'd trusted had let him down in this way. The only thing keeping him together right now was Zoe, who stepped up and silently clasped her hand inside his.
"You must be taking Faith's words out of context," Russ said, his voice shaking, his fear real.
But not as real as his sister's must have been, Ryan thought. "How could you?" he asked barely concealing his disdain.
Russ's eyes suddenly blazed with emotion. "How could I? I'll tell you how. I was Faith's only ally in that house, just like I've been yours. I was the one who comforted her when her parents yelled and passed judgment. I bailed her out of trouble more times than your family knows about. Especially that last time."
Ryan's legs shook and he lowered himself into the nearest chair. Zoe remained behind him, her hand on his shoulder and he appreciated her steady support. "What are you talking about?" Because for all his sister had revealed in her letter, he'd sensed there was much she hadn't said.
And unfortunately, Uncle Russ was the only one who could fill in the blanks. It was up to Ryan to decide whether or not to believe him.
His uncle rose and paced the small area behind his desk. Sun shone in from the plate-glass window behind him, but Ryan felt as if the sky were full of black clouds.
"Your sister had been doing drugs for years," Uncle Russ began. "I didn't know where she got them and I didn't ask. I tried to get her into treatment and I paid for shrinks your parents didn't know about, but the bottom line was, Faith was messed up and she still had to go home to that dysfunctional house every night. Therapy wasn't working. So when she came to me that last time, I had no choice."
"But to throw her out?" Ryan asked, unable to contain his sarcasm.
Zoe's hand squeezed his shoulder tighter.
"To bail her out and send her away." Russ shook his head, the bachelor looking older than his years for the first time in Ryan's memory.
But Ryan wasn't ready to believe that easily. He swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"
"Your sister ran out of money to support her habit. Your parents weren't giving her cash and I sure wasn't helping her kill herself. We all thought she'd give in and let herself be helped. But she began to borrow money from a friend at school. The friend turned out to be connected and when Faith couldn't pay him back, he threatened her. And she came to me."
Ryan rubbed his hand over his burning eyes. He refused to be conned, but so far the story made sense. "Go on."
"I met with this friend who brought his boss. They were only too willing to let me take on her debt. In fact they'd had it planned all along, using your sister's addiction to further their bottom line. Threatening Faith was never about the couple of hundred dollars she owed. They wanted a cut of Baldwin's profits. And they wouldn't leave her be until they got it."