Luca wasn’t sure if she was aware he was one of the men who had rescued her husband after he was kidnapped a few months ago.
Ralph called out from behind her. “Who’s there?”
“Mr. Rousseau.” Luca stepped into view. “How are you feeling?”
Destiny looked at the embroidered Saxon Investigations logo on his polo shirt. She moved aside, and Luca headed into the bay. Ralph was sitting up in the bed, his phone in his hand.
“I feel a whole lot better than I did earlier.” Ralph looked at the monitors beside him. “Now I’m hooked up to all this, stuck here for who knows how long.”
Behind Luca, Destiny said, “You nearly died!” She came around the side of the bed to stare disapprovingly at her husband.
“It takes more than poison or a gunshot to kill me.” Ralph slapped a hand on his chest. “You’re just getting to see how tough I am.”
Luca wasn’t sure she appreciated that sentiment. The woman looked worried out of her mind. The fancy clothes she wore were rumpled, and her hair was out of place. She’d been through something, and Ralph already considered himself to be a survivor.
If he’d been poisoned, did that mean the syndicate was no longer happy with him?
Luca turned to her. “I can keep your husband company for a few minutes if you’d like to stretch your legs. Get yourself a cup of tea from the cafeteria.”
She moved to Ralph’s side and took his hand. “I can’t possibly leave my husband at a time like this.”
Ralph said, “Anything you want to talk to me about, Destiny can hear it.” He patted his wife’s hand. “I wouldn’t be the man I am if it wasn’t for her. I’d be lost without her.”
“I don’t want to put too much strain on you if you aren’t feeling well.” He had to say it so they knew he didn’t want to push Ralph beyond what he was capable of right now. Especially if his health hung in the balance. “But I have been meaning to ask you some questions. Just to follow up on what happened to you a few months ago and the police questioning.”
“People always assume I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It was a terrible time, being tied to a chair, held against my will. Beaten and shot. Having you guys come in and rescue me, only to discover that someone was blaming the whole operation on my company.”
Luca didn’t react to that. It was the way Rousseau and his lawyers had decided to play it.
Destiny gasped. “You’re one of the men who rescued my husband.” She touched her free hand to the buttons on her shirt. “I’m so grateful you got him back for me before the worst happened.”
Luca nodded to her. “I was glad to be able to do it.”
“Ask me anything,” Ralph said. “You’ve earned it.”
“I’ve been looking into what you said about the Shadow Syndicate. About how they’re the ones behind everything in Renegade—like a criminal empire.”
Destiny twisted around to her husband. “Do you think these shadow people are the ones who just tried to kill you?”
Luca frowned, silently asking Ralph the same question.
“Someone must have slipped something in my drink at the restaurant, and by the time I got home, I was about done for,” Ralph said. “The hospital is running tests to see what I was poisoned with, but it mimicked a heart attack. They nearly killed me tonight.”
“Has anyone been sending you death threats recently?”
Destiny said, “Our investment company is very lucrative. Enough that I am able to spend most of my time working on the foundation, helping people in developing countries who need medical supplies. Of course there will be people who are jealous of our success and want to take Ralph down a peg or two.”
Ralph glanced at his wife, then back at Luca. “I think they also found out that I was considering running for mayor when the election rolled around. Of course, that’s all in a shambles now that snake Jenkins is in prison.”
Luca kept his mouth shut. Had Ralph really thought that would actually work? Even if Luca hadn’t known then about the evidence out there implicating Ralph and Rocky Mountain Land Development in exactly what Jenkins had gone down for, Luca still couldn’t see a guy with Rousseau’s reputation winning an election.
“Whoever these shadow people are,” Destiny said, “they don’t want you to become mayor. They want to destroy your business and kill you before you can be elected. They know what a good mayor you would be.”
He patted his wife’s hand.
Luca said, “Do you have any idea who the Shadow Syndicate are?”
Ralph shook his head. “I’ve heard scuttlebutt about them, and when I was taken, I assumed they were the ones behind it. Now it’s clear they were trying to frame me.”