Maladaptation

by Adan Ramie

  "Why?" Ruby asked. She swung her legs off the bed and pulled off her thin pajamas. Lee tossed her a t-shirt and a pair of jeans that she struggled into as Lee shoved herself into her own.

  Lee shook her head, stumbled over to the window, and peeked out again. The ape was still in the car, but in the backseat. Eddie was gone. "Shit, shit, shit!" she said, and fell over onto the floor. She pulled her jeans on all the way, then jerked a pair of socks on; the toe seams whined as she pushed them into her boots.

  "What the hell is this?" Ruby asked. She slung two duffel bags over her shoulders and stepped into her sneakers, then held a hand down to help Lee up.

  Lee finished haphazardly lacing up her boots and accepted Ruby's help. On her feet, she grabbed her bags, shoved her watch and the map inside the half-open one, and then grabbed her keys. "It's Eddie. He's fucking here. He's here, and he's going to kill me." She could feel her lungs struggle to pull in air and knew she was on the crest of a panic attack.

  Ruby grabbed her arms and looked into her eyes. "Listen to me. He's not going to get you. We're getting out of here, okay?" When Lee nodded, she dropped her arms and grabbed one of Lee's hands. "We're going out the window."

  "We can't get out the window. And even if we could, they're in the car."

  In the bathroom, Ruby inspected the window, then pulled the pocketknife out of Lee's pocket and went to work disassembling the frame.

  "What are you doing?"

  Ruby pulled off one part, then another. Through gritted teeth, she told Lee, "We're getting the hell out of here before you have to shoot someone."

  "With the gun," Lee said, and suddenly, calm dropped into her belly like ice. She relaxed, dropped the duffel bag on the toilet lid, and rifled through it. In a few moments, she had the gun reloaded with a fresh clip. She walked out of the bathroom and back to the window.

  "Yeah, with the—Hey, where are you?" Ruby asked. She abandoned her work long enough to glance over her shoulder, then turned back to it. "We need to go. No shootouts. Just run."

  Lee watched Eddie walk back toward the car. When he got there, he kicked the gorilla in the car, and the big man turned around to stare stupidly at him. Lee couldn't make out what he was saying, but she could tell he was mad, and thought it was a good sign. She hoped he wasn’t thinking clearly; it would give her an edge

  "What do you see?" Ruby asked as she pulled off the final piece of the inside window frame.

  Lee walked back into the bathroom and slipped the strap of the duffel bag back over her head. "I see two goons not getting anywhere trying to find out where we are," she said from behind Ruby. Ruby pulled off another piece, and Lee whistled in appreciation. "Look at you, MacGyver."

  Ruby chuckled, pulled out the glass from the window, and slipped it against the side of the wall. "Did I mention that my stepfather was kind of a Jack-of-all-trades? One of the many things he did while I was growing up," she said, and darted a look outside the window. When she pulled her head back in, she was smiling.

  "One of the things he did was help neighbors when they were locked out of their houses. It was just a friendly thing, and everyone always said they were glad he was one of the good guys, because he could have robbed them all blind without breaking a single window."

  "That kind of skill would have saved me a lot of cuts and bruises," Lee said. Ruby gave her a dirty look. "What? I got locked out a lot."

  "Do you want to go first, or shall I?" Ruby asked.

  "I'll go first." She pulled the gun out and checked that the safety was still on. It was, and she tucked it back away. "I'm going to get us a new ride. I want you to keep yourself out of sight of those Neanderthals."

  "Okay," Ruby answered. Lee grabbed onto the windowsill, but before she could climb up onto the toilet to crawl out, Ruby pulled her back into her arms and pressed her lips down hard on Lee's. When she broke the kiss, she was out of breath; where her fingers had been, Lee could feel heat still radiating, promising faint red tracers that would fade after a few minutes in the cool morning air. "Where will we meet?"

  Lee licked her lips. She still tasted Ruby on her; the irrational part of her wanted to go back in for another kiss. She grabbed the windowsill and climbed up. "Meet me on the south side of the last building. Don't let them see you."

  She crawled out and dropped to the ground with a dull thud. Hunched over, she pulled the hood of her jacket up to cover most of her face, and made her way to a nondescript Honda Accord that had seen better days. She bent down beside it and tugged on the handle.

  Miraculously, it was unlocked, and as she crawled inside, she thanked the universe for small miracles. If she could get it hotwired quickly enough, she could scoop Ruby up before Eddie and his minion sighted either of them, and the two could be long gone before the men knew what they had missed.

  CHAPTER 26

  The fading sunlight felt good on Ruby's back, and a trickle of nervous sweat along her backbone sent a shiver through her whole body. She crouched at the edge of the motel building, the last in a line of six, at the southernmost end of the lot. She held her breath for as long as she could and listened. Nothing. She expected an engine to roar to life and a car—sporty or flashy, knowing Lee—to come barreling around the corner like something out of a movie.

  She heard a door close, but it was too loud to be Lee. She took a step forward and leaned her head down to peek around the building. If they had her, she knew Lee would put up a loud struggle; in the silence, though, Ruby knew something wasn't right. Her car stood closed and abandoned as she had left it in the very middle of the parking lot. Part of her wanted to race for it, the one thing that seemed normal, a beacon in the storm that her life had become, but she knew it would be a mistake.

  "Come on, Lee," she whispered aloud. She crouched back down, her sneakers sending rocks tumbling and releasing a puff of dust from the dry ground beneath. "What's taking so long?"

  Eddie was beside her, his hand latched on her arm, before she saw him. When she looked up at him, her mouth dropped open, and she could feel the color run out of her face like blood down a drain.

  “Lee!” Her eyes searched in a frantic sweep of the empty parking lot. He gripped her arm so hard that tears sprang to her eyes. One arm came around her and as his knuckles met her cheek, she closed her mouth to stop the next cry that threatened to escape her.

  "Did you think you were going to get away from me?" he asked, teeth clenched in a snarl, and pushed her shoulder toward the back of the building. She started to struggle and he gripped her arm tighter. She knew there would be bruises, flat, purple tubes like sausages lined up on the milky flesh of her bicep; he clenched his fingers tighter as if he hoped his fingernails would draw blood. "Make this easy on both of us, and I don't gut you right here."

  She let out a breath, and with it, the fight poured out of her. She deflated and complied in hopes that Lee could somehow get away.

  RUBY SAT MUTE IN THE passenger seat as Eddie drove her away from the motel. He had been silent since he grabbed her arm and cajoled her into his car; he hadn't even looked at her since he strapped her seatbelt on and slammed the door. Part of her wanted to tear at the belt, push the door open, and scramble out of the car, but the blind hatred in his face and the gun on his lap told her he would rather kill her than let her go.

  She watched as they passed shopping centers and outlet malls; in her mind, the memory played of the day that she and Lee had walked from store to store, their faces lit up with merriment, buying trinkets and getting makeovers. She dropped her eyes.

  He flicked on his blinker and took an exit. She toyed with a loose thread on her t-shirt, swallowed back tears, and dared a peek at his stony face. He met her eyes and she shrunk in her seat.

  "Did you really think I wouldn't find you?" To Ruby, he almost sounded amused. "And, boy, I never realized that what I would find was so much better than one of the assholes I was looking for." He laughed, a guttural sound in the back of his throat that spoke volumes of his habits, and rubb
ed one dirty hand up her leg. His fingers bit into her upper thigh. "I can't wait to get a bite of this."

  She kept her mouth shut. He reached over her to open the glove box and grabbed a pack of cigarettes. He rustled around in his pocket, driving with his knee, and pulled out his Zippo. She opened her mouth to ask him to stop, but thought better of it, and instead concentrated on shallow breathing. He popped a cigarette in his mouth, lit it, and blew out a plume that she tried not to inhale.

  "You know, you have got to be the dumbest bimbo I have ever met in my life, and that’s saying something.” He snorted out smoke. "You think that little bitch can protect you? Hell, I was coming for her when your husband called me. He said you tried to kill him. Left him for dead so you could run off with some bull dyke with an attitude. We get to talking, and I realize that she's the one I've been looking for, so this is what's called a win-win situation."

  She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms more tightly around her middle. He flicked an ash that landed on her arm. She looked at him with tears in her eyes, and he chuckled.

  "Back when I was young, that kind of shit used to work. Some little piece of ass would give me those eyes, and I'd even apologize for busting her in her smart mouth." The car slowed to a stop at a lonely red light. "But I'm not young anymore, and I don't give a shit about you."

  He sucked hard on the cigarette, and the tip glowed like the center of a fire pit. He took it from his mouth, then reached over and pushed it into the skin on her forearm. She shrieked and tried to pull away, but he caught her and dug the cigarette deeper into her flesh. The smell of burning reminded her of bonfires, and she tried to get lost in a memory from childhood, but he slapped her across the face. "You're mine now."

  "Please," she begged through a shower of tears, her uninjured arm wrapped around her torso. "I can get you money. Whatever you want."

  He pulled the cigarette away and released her arm. She cradled it close, but kept her eyes off the smoldering wound. The light turned green and he pressed the gas. They crept forward a few streets, then he turned down an unmarked one. When they pulled into a storage center, she let out a moan.

  "Shut up!” He put the car in park and killed the engine.

  He slid out, closed the door behind him, and walked around the side of the car. He jerked her door open, grabbed her by the bicep, pulled her onto her feet and pushed her forward in one motion. She took a few steps ahead of him. A starburst of pain crashed over her lower back, then her hands and knees as she fell from the kick he had landed. He swore; the idea that he had hurt himself gave her small comfort as she spat blood onto the rocks.

  He kicked dust and rocks over the small puddle, then yanked her onto her feet. He led her, his fingers biting into her neck, into a storage building he unlocked with a combination. When the door closed behind them, he pushed her toward the two pieces of furniture in the large space. She walked toward the chair, but was dragged back by her neck to the bed. He tossed her onto it, and she rolled onto her side and curled into a fetal position.

  "Oh, no, you're not getting out of it that easy.” He twisted her onto her back, kicked her legs apart and pushed his torso between them. "I don't want your money, little girl. I have money. Your husband saw to that. What I want is what you owe me, and you owe me one hell of an apology screw for all the trouble you, your dyke girlfriend, and her faggot buddy have been."

  He unzipped his pants and pulled them down around his hips with one hand. The other held the gun to her ribcage. "Your husband never taught you how to behave. Now grab a handful of real man and show me how much you want to live."

  Ruby let out a shuddering breath and tried to coax her muscles into relaxation. She pushed one hand in the narrow space between them and filled her hand with him. He groaned and relaxed a bit, and rocked his hips in time with her hand movements. After a few moments, he pulled back and slid a pocket knife out of his jeans. Her heart felt like it stopped in her chest, and she silently said goodbye to a life she felt she hadn't really lived.

  CHAPTER 27

  "We need to get Evangeline Isles alone," Cal said through a mouthful of plastic straw. He pulled it out through clenched teeth, then put it back in and did the same again. "She has a lot to tell us if you can get her away from her brother."

  Harry watched him for a moment in disgust, then turned to stare out the window. A fine mist of rain had started: just enough to drop a film of dusty muck onto her car, but not enough to wash it away. "What could she tell us that would help us? The key is with Herrin and Barsten."

  Cal plucked the straw from his teeth and checked its flatness. "You never know. We couldn’t get footage of their meeting, but maybe little Miss Ruby has more secrets that could pop this thing open."

  Harry watched as he used the straw as a toothpick, and pulled a hunk of pork tenderloin from between his molars. "You are disgusting."

  He grinned and dropped the straw onto his empty plate. "Yet I still pull as much tail as you do."

  She snorted a laugh. "Half."

  "No way," he said. They stood, he dropped a few bills onto the table, and then they walked to the register to pay. "You don't think the sister-in-law could tell us something?"

  The waitress that rang them up eyed them as she handed Harry back her change. "The in-laws always know something," she interjected. She looked around them, then leaned forward to whisper to Harry. "My in-laws know things about me that keep me on the straight-and-narrow. They're especially privy to juicy information, because they're always there." She rolled her eyes and stood back up straight. "At least, that's my opinion. Have a nice day, detectives."

  Cal gave Harry a pointed look that she tried to ignore as they pushed out the glass doors of the diner. "Come on, Thresher. You know you want to talk to Little Miss Perfectly Creepy again. We just need to get her away from Mr. Isles, because he's got his thumb on her, I promise you."

  "Ugh, fine. If I call her in, will you stop begging?" Harry asked, and pulled out her cell phone. As they climbed into the car, she dialed the number Evangeline Isles had given her. "Miss Isles, I have a few more questions."

  HARRY WAITED ALONE on a park bench and stared down at the newly paved walking path in front of her. Birds and squirrels fought over the remnants of a burger and fries about a foot from a blue, metal mesh trash can. She picked at a hangnail and silently cursed Cal for setting her up to wait for Evangeline while he was at the precinct, drinking coffee and chatting up attractive rookies.

  "Are you alone?"

  Harry looked up to find Evangeline standing a few feet away. She nodded and indicated that she should sit. Evangeline obliged, and perched on the edge of the park bench as if she were afraid it would bite her. She kept dark sunglasses over her eyes.

  "I really don't feel comfortable leaving my brother alone," she said, and crossed her legs at her ankles.

  Harry sat forward and tried to seem casual. "I understand that he's injured. I'll try not to keep you long."

  Evangeline glanced down both sides of the path, then licked her lips to wet them. "It's not that. Truman, alone, is like a young boy. He's impulsive. He does things that get both of us in trouble."

  "What kind of things?" Harry asked. She didn't want to seem too eager, but maybe Cal was right. Maybe Evangeline Isles did have something for them to help with finding her sister-in-law.

  Evangeline smoothed the sleeves of her jacket and picked something microscopic from its surface. "He does things like call in favors from scumbags that he knows better than to associate with, and then I have to pick up the pieces. It really is like having a child." Her hand fluttered to her abdomen.

  "Scumbags?" Harry settled herself back in the bench and stared in front of her. She laid one arm over the back of the bench, and the other hung lazily on one leg. "How does someone of his socio-economic status even come to know any scumbags?"

  Evangeline let out a humorless laugh. "You don't know much about polite society, do you, Detective?"

  "I do not," Harry admitted.r />
  Evangeline raised a hand to her face, then stalled for a moment as a jogger passed by them. When the orange-clad jogger was out of sight, Evangeline grabbed her sunglasses and pulled them off. A multicolored bruise screamed from the hollow of one eye, made even more noticeable by the bright glow of her ivory skin.

  As quickly as they had come off, the glasses went back on her face, and Evangeline readjusted herself on the bench. "As you can see, Truman isn't far from 'scumbag' himself. And he knows a lot of people just like him. They run in packs, like animals.”

  "I'm sorry," Harry said, but Evangeline's scowl stopped her apology short.

  "Don't be sorry for me," she said. "One day, all his unpleasant habits are going to catch up to Truman, and I'll inherit everything he owns. I'll be the sole heir to the legacy my family built—the first time that a female has overseen the Isles' estate." She let a smile slip onto her lips.

  Harry let a moment pass before she sat back up. "You were telling me about the kinds of shady people Truman knows."

  "Yes," Evangeline said, and cleared her throat delicately. "He gets his drugs from the same man he's been dealing with for twenty years. They have a long-standing relationship. He would never narc on Truman; he's gone to jail before and not said a word. That's why Truman always calls him when he has dirty work to be done." Through her dark glasses, Harry could imagine Evangeline's eyes sparking with righteous fury. "After I found him and nursed him back to health, he called this guy, Eddie Bishop, to make a deal."

  "What kind of deal?"

  Evangeline hesitated. "If he finds out I told you—and he would know it was me – he will kill me."

  "I won't let that happen," Harry assured her. "He doesn't need to know anything until it's all done."

  Evangeline nodded, then leaned forward until their faces almost touched. "He called Eddie to give him some information about Ruby."