I knew I needed to get my ass down to the store and assess the damage. I wasn't entirely sure that the blood stains would come out of the concrete after letting it soak in for a full day. After I got dressed, brushed my teeth and grabbed a banana on my way out the door, I wrote Cooper a brief note, telling him where I was so he wouldn't be worried. As I hung it on the fridge the memory of what he'd said before killing Gregory came to me. You'll never hurt what's mine again. It made me smile.
Sean had once said something equally possessive; that thought wiped my smile away. I sighed outwardly and crept out the door.
I was nervous as I unlocked the shop, unsure of what I would find. As I stepped into the showroom, I had a major sympathetic response. It was just like going through the day before to find Peyta – I was nervous, sweaty, and my heart was racing. Walking slowly toward the back, I forced myself to take each step. I had to face what happened there; I couldn't let it tarnish my psyche. I'd never had the chance to revisit the scene of my parents' death, nor my prison in Utah, and both haunted me still.
I would not let my own safe haven turn on me in that same way.
My hand pressed against the slightly-ajar door that separated me from my fear. Leaning into it, I took a cleansing breath and pushed it out of the way. I snapped the lights on quickly, too afraid to stand there for even a second in the dark. At first I was stunned by what I saw, but once the surprise started to subside, I realized that I shouldn't have been. The PC had come and done what they did best, aside from killing – they'd cleaned the place so that not even the slightest trace of the horrors that had taken place remained.
“These guys should really start a side business,” I muttered to myself.
My theory was further confirmed when I remembered that I'd never locked the entrance to the store. I'm not sure how they had a key to lock it from the outside, but I figured some things were really better left unanswered. I didn't want to know just how much of my life they had access to at the drop of a hat.
Standing amid the pristine room, I debated as to whether or not I was up to opening for the day.
“Better late than never,” I whispered to myself.
I walked back out to the front at the same time the entrance bells chimed. Cooper smiled at me over the top of the coffee carrier and paper bag of goodies he'd procured at the bakery down the street.
“Tell me it's a croissant!” I exclaimed, as I moved toward him as quickly as my injuries would allow me. “And if that's my ginger and honey tea, I might just hump your leg.”
“Then hump away my friend, hump away,” he replied, grinning uncontrollably while extending his leg my direction.
“Maybe later,” I reneged. “My abs hurt too much at the moment for that.”
“Rain check then?” he asked, his smile fading.
I pretended not to notice the change in his expression, longing for the days when I was truly clueless about the facial subtleties that spoke volumes. Being blind really did have some perks. Instead, I rifled through the little white bag for my pastry and literally moaned as I put it in my mouth; it nearly melted it was so soft.
“Oh, now that's good stuff there,” I told him.
He eyed me over the brim of his coffee cup.
“So it seems.”
“Don't be jealous, Coop. If you were a croissant, I'd wanna eat you, too.”
He shook his head as he pushed past me towards the counter.
“I decided to give you the day off,” he informed me. “I think you need to go upstairs and rest.”
“I think I'll be okay, Coop. I'm not feeling too bad this—”
He threw the paper bag at my head with some heat behind it. I flung my arm out to catch it, not wanting any of the other goodies to meet an untimely demise. As the pain seared through my gut, my anger at his little stunt tore through the rest of me. He'd wanted to make a point, and he did undoubtedly; I was still in rough shape whether I wanted to admit it or not.
“Fuck, Cooper. Was that really necessary?”
“You're so stubborn, Rubes. I didn't think you'd listen to reason,” he said as he rushed to my side. I'd dropped the bag and my croissant as I collapsed forward, doubling over to grab my stomach. He managed to catch me before I crashed to my knees on the floor.
“Let me help you,” he said.
“I don't know if I like your help,” I explained. “You were just helping me understand my limitations. I wasn't such a fan of that.”
He walked me out of the store and through the entrance leading up to the apartment, where he deposited me on the couch with the remainder of the stash from the bakery.
“I'll be up to check on you in a couple of hours. If you need anything, just yell. I'll hear you,” he said as he left me alone in the apartment.
* * *
I wished I had been alone longer when the knocking on the door started, and I groaned as I delicately and painfully pulled myself from the couch.
“Just a minute,” I called out to my unwelcome visitor.
Now Cooper's forgetting to lock the exterior door.
The knocking ceased as I shuffled my way to the door; Cooper's demonstration of my limitations was still having ill effects, and I hunched over slightly to ease the pain. I leaned heavily on the knob as I turned it, not even thinking clearly enough to see who was on the other side before opening the door. That thought came to me as I swung it wide open and saw a formidable man standing on my landing.
“Ruby,” he said with an uncomfortable smile. “We really do need to talk.”
36
“I know, I know. The whole broken record thing. I get it,” he said, raising his hands as if to block the verbal assault destined for him. “But it's true. We have to talk about Cass.”
“This so isn't a good time, Sean,” I told him, feeling woozy. Standing was far more laborious than I expected, and I felt faint. “Does your girlfriend know you're here?”
He flinched at the low blow.
Good. Maybe you do have feelings in there.
“She doesn't. PC business is none of her concern. Unless someone is bleeding to death, her involvement is unnecessary,” he said, trying to soften his hardened expression. “Can I come in? Do you need a hand over to the couch?”
I was dying to tell him “no”, but the reality of the situation was the door groaned painfully under my weight as I continued to shift more and more onto it.
“Suit yourself,” I snipped at him as I tried to release the knob unsuccessfully. He instantly supported me around my waist and gently ushered me to the sofa, the second man that day to do that.
He placed extra pillows against the couch's arm so I could recline slightly, then helped me position myself perfectly, inching me in all sorts of directions until I was satisfied. He then laid a fuchsia blanket across my lap.
There was a moment of awkward silence between us as his hand lingered atop the wool longer than it should have. My attention went from that hand to his face; his gaze dropped away, immediately avoiding me.
“You wanted to talk?” I prompted.
“Yes. There are some issues with your alibi,” he hedged, speaking toward the floor. “You haven't been cleared.”
“Are you serious? You think I killed him?”
“I don't think you killed anyone. However, I'm not exactly unbiased and I'm very much in the minority,” he said soberly. “You have few sympathizers.”
“Yeah, what's that all about? Jer said something about that the last time you guys were here.”
“There are a handful of us who feel you should be allowed to live. The rest do not,” he said, as he pulled his vibrating cell phone out and glanced at it.
“Ah, I see,” I replied, not knowing what to make of that information.
“Anyways, the holes in your story...well, you couldn't be ruled out. We weren't able to tie down exactly when Cass died, and unfortunately, over the range of days it occurred you spent a little too much time alone.”
“So I'm on the radar?
” I asked, already exhausted.
“You're the only signal,” he replied, his gaze pinned directly on me for effect. He wanted to be sure I was comprehending the severity of the situation.
“So this wasn't really a talk,” I said, doing nothing to hide my frustration. “It was a telling. Thank you for informing me that my head is on the chopping block again, and there's a long line of axe-wielding brothers awaiting the go-ahead to lob it off. So I guess we're all done here then?”
“Not exactly,” he explained. “I need you to do something.”
“And that would be?” I snarled, my agitation clearly visible.
“I need you to stay out of Boston. I don't want you near the boys down there, not until we figure things out, okay?”
“No, Sean, that's not OK,” I said, my anger rising. “Ever heard of being innocent until proven guilty? I'm not going to completely alter my life because your boys have a hard-on for killing me, whether it's warranted or not. My dance company is down there, and I will not be forced out of the one human activity I have, which just happens to be the one I love. So no, Sean, I won't stay out of Boston. You can tell your boys to stay the fuck away from me.”
I tried to inelegantly wiggle my way off the couch to no avail. It hurt too much, and the yelling I'd just done hadn't helped matters. Sean looked calm on the surface, but the darkening of his eyes was always a giveaway.
“I wasn't really giving you an option, Ruby,” he said, seriously. “Stay away from Boston.”
“And do what? Sequester myself to my house or the store? Never go out for fear that one of your boys may be hanging out around the corner? What happened to 'no more cages, ever', Sean?” I yelled at him.
“I'm not trying to lock you in, away from the world like your parents did, Ruby. I'm trying to keep you alive. Why must you always pick the path of most resistance?” he shouted, as his cell phone buzzed again.
I paused for a moment, wanting to choose my next words carefully.
“I don't want to live in a bell jar, Sean. If that costs me my life, then so be it.”
“You don't really mean that,” he said, dropping his phone to the couch.
“I couldn't mean it more,” I informed him, staring him down for effect. “I've faced death, Sean, and it pales in comparison to other things. If that's the consequence, then I accept it.”
He looked like I had slapped him in the face. His jaw was slack, hanging open slightly in disbelief. I wasn't the Ruby he'd first met, cowering naked against a tree, afraid of her own shadow. I was tarnished, worn by the events that had occurred over the past year. Erosion would normally leave things smoother and softer than they were before; it left me more angular and prickly. The new Ruby was learning how to do things on her own terms, consequences be damned. She would not be caged again; not for anyone or any reason.
By the expression on Sean's face, he got that message loud and clear.
“I don't like it,” he said plainly.
“You don't have to,” I replied, equally sterile.
“Will you do something else instead, then?” he asked as he rubbed his forehead. He seemed to do that a lot when I was around.
“Depends.”
“Will you keep Scarlet locked up until this mess is cleaned up? I don't need her on the loose. If any of the brothers see her, they'll kill her without question, sympathizers or not.”
Ummmmm...
His cell phone was vibrating for the third time. As he reached over to grab it and see who was being such a pain in the ass, I internally debated whether or not it was a good time to tell him that Scarlet was out the night before.
“Why do you have that look on your face?” he asked, studying me.
“Why does your phone keep buzzing?”
He gave me his annoying head tilt with the “I asked first and you're not going to win this one” face. I sighed in response.
“You have to promise not to freak out,” I told him, prefacing my next statement.
“That's a promise nobody can make when you're involved, Ruby. Just tell me what it is.”
I opened my mouth to do so when my front door nearly came flying off the hinges. Jer came storming through into the living room while Jay sauntered in behind him looking unhappy with the situation.
“You know, Jer, it really is more civilized to try knocking before entering a room. You may want to try turning the knob next time too, asshole. The door was open,” I said as sarcastically as possible. There was no love lost between the two of us.
“Explain yourself, now!” Sean yelled, getting up in Jer's face.
“We tried to call you,” Jay offered, standing behind Jer. Having the two of them together made me realize why Jer had looked oddly familiar when I first saw him. They were clearly brothers, Jer older by a few years, most of which appeared to have been rough. Jay was a softer, younger, and far more pleasant version. “You didn't answer your phone.”
“He never does when this bitch is around,” Jer added.
“I'm waiting for an explanation,” Sean fumed, his hands flexing by his side.
“There's been another murder,” Jay explained. “We found the body this morning. Sophie checked him and said it had to have happened last night.”
“Who?” Sean asked, still curling and uncurling his fists repeatedly.
“Raife,” Jer said through gritted teeth. He turned his attention to me. “Wanna tell me where you were last night, Bitch?”
“She didn't do this,” Sean snapped.
“You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?” Jer retorted. “Why don't you ask her?”
“Because I don't need to,” Sean replied, inching closer to Jer's face.
“I was here all night with Cooper and Peyta. You can ask them,” I interjected, feeling the tension rising. I didn't need the testosterone boiling over in my living room.
“Oh, we will,” Jer said, seething with anger.
“Ruby isn't capable of killing anyone, and Scarlet hasn't been out since yesterday morning and I was there for that,” Sean said in my defense. Too bad he spoke without being fully informed.
“About that, Sean,” I started, unsure I was making a wise choice. “That's what I was about to tell you when the Village Idiot kicked down the door.”
“What were you going to tell me?” he asked, turning his anger on me.
“Scarlet was out last night. Cooper suggested it to help speed the healing process. I was still in so much pain that I did it. She was only out for an hour or two. She made me watch some awful horror movie. Once it was finished she let me take over and I fell asleep on the couch with Cooper,” I rambled, speeding up as I went along.
“You didn't...,” he said softly.
“Just to take the edge off the pain—”
“Or to kill someone,” Jer added unhelpfully.
Sean's nostrils flared and his eyes nearly blackened. He was furious.
“But Cooper can speak as to your whereabouts?” he growled, pinning the full weight of those black eyes on me.
“Well...he sacked out long before Scarlet was finished. He was asleep for most of my healing.”
“What the fuck were you thinking, Ruby? You know what's at stake! Why must you keep tempting fate?” Sean yelled, furious with my carelessness.
“I didn't know it was going to be an issue. I was just trying to heal!”
“This bitch needs to be put down here and now,” Jer commanded. “Let's end this.”
“We don't know that she actually did anything,” Jay commented before an uppercut from his brother silenced him for the rest of the encounter.
“Yeah, and we don't know she didn't, either. I'm not willing to bet any more of the brothers' lives on it,” he said, stepping towards me. “Any last words?”
“Fuck you seems befitting for the moment,” I replied, feeling helplessly trapped on the couch.
“Touch her, Jer, and I'll end you,” Sean growled. “I run things here, not you. She dies when I say she dies.”
&n
bsp; “For now,” Jer muttered.
“Excuse me?” Sean asked, closing in on him again.
“I said 'for now', as in you run the show 'for now'.”
“Are you threatening me?” Sean asked, clenching his jaw. The two were nearly toe-to-toe, and the hostility was palpable. The energy coming off of them was so intense it was like forcing the wrong side of magnets together; the closer they got the more pressure I felt it.
“Not threatening,” Jer replied. “Enlightening. The Elders are having doubts about your ability to fulfill your duties.”
“And let me guess, you're vying for my position.”
“I'm for anyone who knows that this mongrel should be wiped from the face of the earth. Her existence offends me...it should offend all of us.”
“You offend me,” Sean said, thrusting his face into Jer's. “Should I wipe you from the face of the earth?”
“You could try,” Jer seethed.
“I would succeed.”
Jay and I watched the two men silently, like spectators at a tennis match, our eyes darting from one to the other as they postured back and forth.
“You can tell the Elders that I don't need you to be their messenger boy,” Sean said, turning away from Jer and ultimately dismissing him. “They can come and tell me themselves.”
“They plan to,” Jer retorted.
“Then so be it.”
“You won't be singing that tune when they get here. They have plans for you.”
“I'm sure they do,” Sean replied, sounding disinterested.
“Maybe another half-century buried alive will do you some good,” Jer mocked. “It'll give you some time to get your priorities straight.”
I was starting to think that having Jer in my apartment was synonymous with needing to repair the plaster walls; Sean shoved him so hard that he almost made a new egress next to the existing one.
Jay went over to his brother to help him up, but Jer brushed him off as he rose to his feet, eyes pinned on Sean.
“We have a job to do. When are you going to start doing it?”
“I'll be at Raife's in a couple of hours. Nobody leaves until I get there,” Sean ordered. “I'm going to find out who killed my brother.”
Haunted Page 22