“I just wish this day was over,” he said sadly.
I remembered my surprise and pulled a small package out of my sweatshirt pocket. “Yeah, well it’s not midnight yet, Tom.”
“What?”
“Happy sixteenth birthday, Tom.” I unwrapped the brownie, stuck in a candle I swiped from the teacher’s lounge, and lit it with one of the matches near the cooler.
“You remembered,” he said with awe.
“Of course I remembered.”
Tom smiled and cupped my face with his hands. He put his forehead to mine and whispered softly. “You’re amazing.”
Then, unexpectedly, he tilted his head and brushed my lips with his. A gentle, tentative kiss that made my face explode with heat and my heart ram in my chest. He’d never done that before. “Should I make a wish?” Tom let go, picked up the brownie, and beamed at me.
I nodded dumbly, trying to recover. I watched him blow out the candle, terrified because I could barely breathe when I was near him.
****
“Lava OK?”
Ben’s voice tore me from memories and back to the busy café. He stood next to the table, holding a plate of lumpy chocolate.
“What?” I asked.
“They were out of brownies, but the waitress said this lava cake was sort of the same thing.”
“Oh, yeah, lava cake is great.” I dug in hungrily. I hadn’t eaten dinner. After a day cleaning the clinic with Lilah, I managed to get washed up right before Ben drove up. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ben watching me with concern.
“Are you going to be OK, Ruby?”
“Sure, the clinic wasn’t really harmed. I cleaned the paint and found some folding tables. It was a terrible shock, but it is just stuff. I’ll be OK.” I really had no other choice.
“Yeah, but, no…that’s not true. This was vandalism. Not just spray painted gang signs or stupid protester stuff, but a directed effort to hurt the clinic and you.” Ben’s gaze held mine, worried.
“I know it seems like that, but maybe it’s just some locals mad at me for withholding drugs or something.”
He didn’t look convinced, but dug into his cherry pie without arguing.
Done with the lava cake all too soon, I fought the urge to lick the plate. Taking a sip of the hot coffee instead, I dripped on my cream colored blouse and pale blue skirt. I dabbed it with a napkin. This was one of my few nice outfits.
“So what did Tom think?” Ben asked between bites.
He really needed to practice his nonchalant face.
“You heard what he thought,” I said and met Ben’s gaze. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather not talk about him or the clinic right now.”
“OK,” he said and leaned back in his chair, wiping the paper napkin across his mouth. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“What were you like as a kid? Did you always want to be a doctor?”
I tensed inwardly. Never able to gracefully tell people about my missing younger years or my terrible older years, I generally didn’t divulge much. Lilah was one person who knew the whole story. And Tom.
“Uh...well, I guess I decided to be a doctor in college, actually. I worked in the infirmary to help pay my way through, and it kind of evolved out of that.”
That and the nurses who named me, the one who fostered me, and the hospital being my first cohesive memory of life. I liked the out-loud version I gave Ben better.
“Huh, so what about your parents? They must be proud of you.” He knew I was holding out.
“This coffee is amazing, Ben. Are you sure you don’t want any?”
“Maybe I will. Thanks.” Ben looked at me for a beat, tapping fingers on his plate. The tink-tink-tinking made my nerves jangle.
“You should,” I said, and smiled hopefully.
Ben wasn’t dumb. He didn’t push.
“So, do you like your new ride?” He asked, after an awkward moment.
My gaze went to Renee’s keys. I was worried something would happen to it.
“It’s nice.” I glanced at Ben’s knit brows and my stomach knotted. “OK, Ben. Ask me what you want. All of this chit-chat is nerve wracking.”
“OK.” He leaned on his forearms and looked at me intently. “What’s up with Tom? He’s a UC guy, right? How do you know him?”
“UC?”
“Undercover, UC. What is your history with him? He said you’ve known each other for over a decade?”
“More like I knew him a decade ago,” I muttered.
“Sorry?” Ben’s gold flecked eyes blinked.
“I told you, I knew him before I moved here, that’s all,” I said evenly.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “I know you haven’t seen him in a while.”
“How’s that?” I asked startled.
“The night I drove you guys to the ER, he kept trying to say sorry.”
I nodded and folded my napkin into an origami crane.
“UC guys, they’re adrenaline junkies, and since I’ve never seen him at my precinct, and not out on the street, he must be new.” Ben continued.
“Uh, huh?”
“So he just shows up right when all of this crazy stuff starts to happen to the clinic? How well do you know this guy?”
“I know him, Ben,” I answered evenly. “Trust me, I…what’s with the interrogation?”
“Just asking why an undercover guy, still active, would associate with someone who knows his real name.” Ben leaned back with his hands up in surrender.
“He isn’t associating, Ben, he was making sure I was OK. Besides, how do you know if he’s active or not? Doesn’t the DEA give time off for getting shot?” I asked.
“DEA?”
“Please, let’s just drop this before I give away launch codes or something.” I slapped a palm to my forehead.
“I’m not interested in his professional history, just his history with you.”
“Why?” Slightly irritated with all the questions, I shot Ben an exasperated expression.
“Because I see the way he looks at you.”
“Look, Ben, I’ve known Tom since I was a kid.” I felt heat rising in my neck.
“A kid, huh? How old were you?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Why does it matter?”
Ben leaned forward further and whispered conspiratorially, the gleam in his dark eyes apparent. “I want to know if by kids you mean, we played on the merry-go-round together…or you mean more like…we were teenagers and we’ve got a lingering Romeo and Juliet thing going.”
“Lingering?”
“I like to know who my competition is, that’s all.” Ben reached out, took my hand, and wrapped his fingers through mine.
Before I could answer, my phone chirped. I’d set it to not ring during my coffee with Ben, but the text feature still gave an alert. I glanced at the screen. A message from Lilah displayed the numbers 9-1-1 and about twenty exclamation marks after it.
“Uh, oh,” I said, and picked the phone up. Apprehension wrenched my stomach into knots.
“What is that all about?”
I shook my head and dialed her number. Cold fear settled in my gut, something was wrong. She picked up on the first ring.
“Ruby, Dakota’s missing!” She yelled. I missed the rest of what she was saying.
“Slow down, Lilah,” I urged. “What happened?”
She cried into the phone. Big, heaving sobs that sent tremors through my chest.
“He said he was going to meet with one of his friends yesterday and never came back. I walked around the grounds looking for him, and I found the van behind the apartment’s garages. Ruby—” she screamed. “There’s blood on the driver’s seat. There’s blood everywhere!”
10
Blue and red lights slashed across the perfectly manicured lawn highlighting the Fresco Villas’ fountain sign like frantic disco lights. I stood next to Lilah with my arm wrapped around her heaving shoulders. She hadn’t spoken since I arrived.
The paramedic had given her a mild sedative.
The detectives and patrol officers talked in clusters by the white mini-van, and I tried to pick up any hint of what they knew. So far, Ben hadn’t come back from his trip inside the apartment manager’s office.
Lilah and I stood by Renee’s SUV, away from the crime scene. I could see the neighbors gathered on the terraces and stairs overhead. They sent concerned looks while whispering amongst each other.
I chewed on my thumbnail. A sick, hollow feeling churned in my gut. Gnawing worry pulled at my thoughts. Over the din, I thought I heard a familiar voice and turned to scan the gawkers.
Tom stood in the crowd by the side fence. He nodded in a ‘follow me’ gesture, and then stepped back from the fence, dissolving into the crowd.
I looked at Lilah. She hadn’t seen anything.
“Lilah, Honey,” I said to her quietly. “I’m going to go do something real quick.”
She nodded, her eyes still fixed on the van with a vacant stare.
“Are you going to be all right, Lilah?”
She nodded again. I almost didn’t leave, but decided I might learn something that might help her know what happened. I left her by the paramedics and ducked under the police tape heading to where I last saw Tom.
Over by a walkway, hidden from the crowd by an enormous mulberry tree, Tom stood leaning against the trunk. He walked a gold coin between the fingers of his left hand, making it flip to the next digit by moving his knuckles up and down. As kids, he’d always done that when he was thinking, or brooding. Tom’s faded jeans and old shirt were gone, replaced by a dress shirt and slacks. The police lights flashed his face red, then blue, then back. He smiled sadly.
“How are you holding up?” He asked.
I hugged myself. “OK. Lilah on the other hand…” I shook my head and looked out at the crowd. “Were you working nearby?”
“No.” Tom’s raised his eyebrows at me.
“Then how did you know to come here?”
“I heard Lilah’s kid turned up missing.”
“I guess bad news does travel fast,” I murmured. I thought of Lilah and sorrow crept over me. “I hope they find him soon.”
“Ruby, don’t,” Tom said and tossed me the gold coin.
“What?”
Tom pulled a piece of gum from his pocket, unwrapped it, and shoved it in his mouth. His jaw worked it savagely, and he nodded towards Lilah’s van. “Did you see how much blood there is? Lilah’s kid, if they do find him, won’t be alive.”
My stomach fell, but I knew he was right. Whoever it was lost at least three pints, maybe more, all over the front seat and lawn. The average human male had between eight and ten pints of blood but could only loose up to four before his heart stopped. I rubbed my hands over my eyes and shuddered. I found it unlikely that Dakota survived whatever happened to him tonight.
I bit back tears. “Why would someone do this? He wasn’t a model citizen, but no one deserves to…he’s just a big, dumb kid. A kid, Tom.” I shrugged helplessly and stared at the coin in my hands. It was chocolate in gold foil, my favorite.
“I think we both have an idea who did this,” Tom murmured.
“You think it was Antonio?”
Tom looked at me and then out at the crowd. He had the same wary look I’d seen in the hospital. “Local law thinks it’s a car-jacking, but they’re wrong. Word in the ether is that Culebra is behind this.”
“I didn’t think things would go this far. I mean, when Antonio vandalized my car and clinic…it was just stuff.” My eyes slid back towards the flashing lights and the yellow crime scene tape. “This…this is murder, Tom.” Fear shot through my chest. “Just because I wouldn’t hire some of his friends? It doesn’t make sense.”
“You need to walk away from that clinic, Ruby. I don’t know why, at least not yet, but this Antonio guy isn’t playing around.” Tom pushed off from the trunk, worry creasing his forehead
I shook my head vehemently, and my whisper came out in a harsh rush.
“How can you even suggest that? I’d rather lose the clinic by doing the right thing, than open it up to those monsters and their drugs! If I get dragged into this, I’ll lose my medical license. I won’t be able to open a clinic anywhere else. And if I bring in security, the people who need me most won’t come. They’re wary of that kind of stuff.”
“You can’t keep a clinic open if you’re hurt, Ruby, or worse. Antonio isn’t bluffing. I think the blood all over the grass proves that.” Tom ran his finger down the bridge of my nose and smiled sadly.
“We can’t be sure this has anything to do with Antonio and my clinic. Dakota didn’t work there…he isn’t even one of my patients.” I batted his hand away, irritated.
“Are you kidding me? You’re the one who always said that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. Dakota’s connection to the clinic is through his mom. You know that.” Tom’s shook his head. “You’re just being stubborn, Ruby.”
I folded my arms. My earlier conversation with Lilah about the clinic’s odd paperwork nagged at the back of my mind. Fear rammed in my head. Could they be connected? “Tom, there’s something I haven’t told you; something about the clinic’s shipments being weird.”
His face registered shock. “What?”
“It seemed like a computer glitch when Lilah first told me about it, but now—”
“Lilah discovered something?” Tom interrupted. “And now her son is missing.” Frustration creased his lips. “Why didn’t you say something sooner, Ruby?”
“I told you, we thought it was just a clerical error,” I whispered harshly.
“That’s it,” he said evenly. “You’re not going back to that clinic.”
“What are you talking about? That’s the only place I have.” I snapped.
“Are you paying attention to this week’s events, Ruby?” He shot back. “Open your eyes.”
“I will not abandon those kids, Tom. We both know what that feels like, to have adults cut and run when things get tough.”
Tom opened his mouth to say something more, but his gaze went past me, over my shoulder. He lowered his head and turned away, disappearing in the darkness.
“Tom?”
“Promise me you’ll go back to the hospital tonight. Wait for me in the cafeteria.” His low voice floated out from farther away than I’d anticipated.
“Where are you going?” I whispered to the shadows.
“Just do it, Ruby…for me.”
I squinted into the trees but didn’t see even the slightest rustle. “Tom? Great.” I turned and headed back towards Lilah, who was talking with Ben over by the SUV. She looked terrible. Hugging her, I turned to Ben and smiled sadly.
“Hey there,” Ben said and scanned the crowd by the fence. “Where’d you go?”
“Ah, you know…” I said and shrugged.
He raised an eyebrow but let it go.
“Did you find anything out?” I asked.
“The manager didn’t notice any weird cars or people hanging around.” He waved his hand at the buildings. “This complex doesn’t have security cameras or anything.” He looked at Lilah. “I’ll keep digging though.” He checked his watch. “My shift starts in an hour. Do you want me to take lost time? I can call in.”
“No, that’s sweet, but no. There’s no reason for you to miss work.” I turned to Lilah. “Honey, do you need a ride home?”
She shook her head and wiped her nose with a crumpled napkin.
“No, I don’t want to go home.”
“Where can I take you, then?”
Her gaze, sorrowful and desperate, met mine. “I need to go tell Dakota’s father. I don’t want him to hear it from cops. He hates cops.” She looked at Ben quickly. “No offense.”
“None taken.”
She turned back to me. “I’ve tried his cell, but I think the number is old. Can you go with me, Ruby?”
“Uh, yeah, where does he live?”
&
nbsp; She wrung the paper napkin in her hands and sniffed. “Brooklyn’s not home. He works nights. He’s the bartender over at that new club downtown.”
She said it like I’d know about new clubs. I gave her a puzzled look.
She dug in her purse, pulled out a laminated card, and handed it to me. It looked like a backstage pass. Silver script spelled out the name, Flow. The card had a thumbnail-size picture of the club’s front doors. It looked expensive.
“Are you guys going?” Ben leaned in to look over my shoulder.
“I guess so.”
“Let me call in.” He glanced at me, torn. “I’ll go with you.”
“Don’t do that, Ben. We’ll be fine. It’s just a club.”
Ben nodded and then wrapped his arms around me in a hug. “Can you call me when you’re home…just so I know not to worry?”
My eyes darted to the trees, guilt flooding through me as I hugged him back. Chiding myself, I shook it off. I had no reason to feel guilty, right?
“Sure, Ben,” I said, smoothing the bangs over my scar. “But don’t worry.”
It took us a while to get going because I insisted that the paramedic take a look at Lilah. She seemed close to shock. Shaky and pale, she gave in and let them check her out, but refused to go to the hospital.
I gave up trying to convince her. Forty-five minutes later, we pulled into the lot across the street from Flow. Saturday night was apparently a busy night because the line to get in snaked around the back of the building. The steady thump of muffled music shook the metal door and windows. Lilah and I walked past the line of well dressed, beautiful people, most of whom felt the need to complain or swear at our attempt to cut in line. Ignoring them, Lilah walked up to the huge, wall-of-a-guy with a clipboard. He looked Samoan, with a buzzed haircut and wild eyebrows.
His gaze ran over her nurse’s scrubs and his brow wrinkled. “Gotta wait in line,” he said in a baritone.
Lilah leaned in, showed him her driver’s license and spoke into his ear. His face fell. Nodding, he lifted the velvet rope that served as a gate and let us into the club. Moans and protests from the other people in line followed us into the dark club. Inside, the thumping music, much louder now, kept time with blinking lights that froze everyone’s dance moves in flashes of strobe. Colored laser effects swirled through the thick fog that rose off of the dance floor.
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