Wednesday morning came too soon. I took one more walk along the beach, ate breakfast at the Fifties-style diner at the end of the pier, and checked out of the inn. The clerk gave me a message that Lilah left. She was staying at her brother’s for another couple of days.
About a mile from the clinic I put the battery back in my cell phone while stopped at a light. It started chirping like an angry parakeet. I watched multiple messages, both text and voicemail, blip onto my screen. Renee, Ben, Renee…and an unknown number that I guessed was Tom. Feeling selfish, I tossed the phone on the seat and kept driving.
The hospital buzzed with the morning rounds, and I slipped into the locker room to change into scrubs. I found Blaine sitting in the ER lounge writing out orders in the patient files.
“Hey, there, stranger, how was your vacation?” Blaine asked and tapped his pen on his report. “Kara told me you had men troubles…this have anything to that guy we patched up the other night?”
“Is nothing sacred around here?” I asked, slightly embarrassed.
“Not really,” he quipped. “We can pretend, though, if it makes you feel better.”
I smiled and poured myself a cup of awful coffee. I swirled the thick sludge in my mug and then poured it down the sink. My stomach was already jittery with nerves about being back. I didn’t want to push it. “When you get a chance, can you thank Kara for me? The inn she booked me at was so marvelous I almost didn’t come back.”
“That’s Kara for you.” He bobbed his head while he wrote.
“How is she doing?” I asked Blaine. Kara had a bout with breast cancer last year that scared us all. “She’s back at work already?”
“Apparently almost dying costs more than insurance will cover. Bills are coming out of our ears.” Sadness flitted across his features.
Not knowing what to say I smiled sympathetically. My shift didn’t start for an hour, so I sat on the couch and flipped through the morning talk show channels. Blaine finished and came to sit next to me.
“Speaking of men, Officer Farrell came into the ER two nights in a row looking for you,” he whispered conspiratorially. “Something going on there?”
I didn’t say anything. The truth was, I wasn’t sure.
“That’s what I thought,” Blaine said and tapped my knee with his reading glasses. “He’s a good guy, Ruby. The nurses know everything, and they like him.”
“I happen to know that you have two daughters in private college that are probably dying to hear your opinion on the guys they’re interested in,” I countered.
Blaine chuckled. “Aw, give him a chance.”
I smiled, uncertain. “Maybe.”
Blaine clicked his tongue and bobbed his eyebrows. He didn’t get anything more out of me, so he left me on the couch watching the talk show with a spinning wheel of travel prizes on the television.
I dug my phone out of my pocket and stared at it. I called Lilah, got her voicemail and left a message telling her I was back. Next, I dialed the unknown number. An automated voice told me to leave a message. I didn’t.
Finally I called Ben. He picked up on the first ring.
“Hey, Ruby,” he said with surprise. “I’m glad to hear from you.”
I felt guilty when I heard the relief in his voice. He’d asked me to call him after I took Lilah to speak with Brooklyn. I completely forgot. I should have told him I was leaving.
“Hi, Ben, listen, I’m sorry I skipped town like that. I just was really overwhelmed and needed to get away to clear my head.”
“Oh, you skipped town. I just thought you were avoiding me,” he joked.
“No, I wouldn’t do that. I didn’t mean to make you worry.” My voice cracked.
“Hey, it’s OK, what’s important is that you’re OK.” His voice sounded worried.
I rubbed my eyes and sighed.
Why are you so understanding, Ben?
I felt like a big jerk for leaving him hanging without a word. He’d raced with us to the crime scene, stayed and talked to the family for us, even made sure I was OK by calling. “I really am sorry, Ben. You’ve been wonderful through all of this.”
Ben was silent for a beat, and then asked, “Did it help, getting away?”
“I did a lot of thinking,” I hedged. “I kind of feel like I’ve been making some bad decisions lately and I need to get my head on straight.”
“Oh,” Ben answered quietly. “Bad decisions, huh?”
It sounded like I was giving him the brush off and I spoke quickly. “Not like you think. I was wondering if I should even stay downtown at the clinic. Whether or not I want to stay in San Diego...I’m trying to sort it out.”
“I hope you don’t decide to leave, Ruby,” Ben said.
“Yeah, well, you’re one of the things on the ‘con’ side of leaving,” I admitted.
“Really?” He sounded pleased.
“Listen, Ben. Can we maybe get together later?”
“Of course. Want me to call you?”
“That would be nice.” My stomach tightened.
“Great,” he sounded like he was smiling. “I’ll call you soon.”
“OK.” I rang off and stared at the television, not seeing it.
Ben was the right choice. He was the one I could see a future with. My heart tumbled, sending ambivalence running through my chest. I sighed heavily. Why did it sound like I was trying desperately to convince myself?
I drifted through my rounds, stopped on the cardiac ward to check on Carl, my ‘cardiac event’ guy from earlier in the week. The nurses rolled their eyes when I asked about him, an indication that his winning personality wasn’t coming across. I smoothed over some ruffled feathers and asked Carl to be nicer. A little later, I went back down to the ER lounge and demonstrated a mattress stitch to the med students on a pig’s leg.
At lunch, I ate from the bagel and cream cheese box the nurses put out on the counter. After, I helped a kid who’d shoved a few dry beans up his nose. His dad asked to keep them. Once, around four, I thought I saw Ben by the reception desk, but it was just another officer bringing in a guy who’d tried to hop a fence while running. He’d apparently neglected to notice that the fence had razor wire across the top. I cleaned and stitched both his palms.
I spent the rest of my time filling out orders and finishing up notes. By six o’clock, I was bushed. Happy my shift was over, I headed to the cafeteria for a quick dinner before heading to the shelter, Haven Home. I hoped to re-open my clinic soon, but until then, I put the word out I’d be at the women’s shelter. I promised to take walk-ins. As I chatted with Sasha for a few minutes, drinking coffee with her by the salad bar, she told me about Tom’s visit the other night. I already knew about that but thanked her just the same for the heads up.
For some reason, the cafeteria lights never seemed to be very bright in the east corner. I didn’t know if it was a design feature to make the televisions hanging from wall brackets easier to see, or it was just bad florescent bulbs. Either way, I liked to sit in the corner booth, put my feet on the seat opposite me, and relax with eyes closed after my shifts. I was doing just that when I felt someone slide into the seat across the table from me. I opened my eyes a crack and gasped, sitting straight up.
Antonio glared at me in the dim light. A sneer pulled at his puffy pink lip. My gaze slid to the tattoo of a black snake on his neck and it made my stomach flop. “Been making yourself scarce, huh, Doc?”
I fought to control my breathing and hoped my face didn’t show the fear I felt tightening my throat. “What are you doing here?” I hissed.
Antonio clicked his tongue and waved his tattooed finger. “You still haven’t learned any manners, Doc? Not even after your car got jacked-up?”
I leaned back against the vinyl seat and looked at him. He was actually proud of himself. I tried to keep from shaking, the fear rising up my throat like bile.
“The car was a piece of junk, you did me a favor, Tony,” I said with a hiss. “And your little high-scho
ol pranks didn’t change anything. You’re not getting anywhere near my clinic.” I wanted to sound tough, but my voice came out in a hushed squeak.
Antonio leaned in on the table. “You’re messing with fire, Doc,” he said angrily. “You don’t want anything to happen to you. Who would take care of all of those cute little runaways?”
“You’re a monster.”
“Remember that, or maybe next time we meet, I put a bullet in your head.” He reached across the table and poked me between the eyes so fast I didn’t have time to pull back. I gasped with surprise and fear.
“You got one more chance, doctor, what’s it going to be? You take me on as a silent partner,” he said and made quotes in the air with his fingers. “Or you pay the price for getting on my bad side.”
“What’s really going on, Antonio? What’s with the shipments?” Lilah’s bloody van flashed behind my eyes and I balled my fists under the table, furious.
He jumped back, suddenly wary, his lip pulling up in the corner. “What are you talking about?”
“Do you think I’m stupid, that I wouldn’t figure it out?” I bluffed through the fear and anger boiling in my gut. I thought vaguely that I shouldn’t have said anything.
Antonio threats would never end unless I gave in, but then his drugs and his boys would destroy the clinic and my career. All the kids who relied on my clinic were going to suffer.
“You better watch yourself,” he growled.
Tears burned my eyes, and I blinked them back, suddenly furious. I slammed the table with both palms and jumped to my feet. “Get out!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Get out of my hospital! Security!”
Startled, Antonio scanned the room.
Everyone in the cafeteria looked in our direction, some people stood at their tables.
Scurrying across the carpet, Mike and another guard rushed over to us, their hands on their weapons.
“You’re gonna pay for this!” Antonio growled. “You’re gonna wish you were never born!”
“We’ll see about that,” I snarled back.
He turned and pushed past Mike and the other guard knocking over a chip rack on his way out. They followed him at a distance, making sure he left the hospital.
I watched him leave, dread pooling in my chest that he would be right and I would pay.
13
It was well past eleven when I parked a block down from the clinic in the only available space against the curb. Still upset over Antonio’s visit to the cafeteria, I didn’t pay attention when I grabbed stuff from the SUV’s passenger seat. I only managed to grasp one handle of my duffle bag and the zipper ripped open, dumping the contents into the gutter.
“Great,” I muttered and bent down to fish everything out of the brown sludge.
I shoved my stuff back in and turned to face the clinic. I unlocked the door and pulled it open. A movement down the sidewalk caught my eye. Tom slipped out of a car parked across the street. He walked towards me.
“Go away!” I called out.
I pushed through the door and locked it.
His footsteps stopped at the door, and he knocked. “Ruby, let me in. I need to talk to you.”
“Tom, I’m really tired. Can we do this another time?”
“I really want to explain what you saw at the club the other night, but I’m at risk shouting out here in the dark.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can find a comfy place to stay till morning,” I shouted back. “I seem to recall seeing you with a really close friend.”
I ran hands through my hair and leaned against the door. I reached over and flicked on the lights. The place was still relatively intact. Maybe I could reopen in a few days.
“Ruby,” Tom groaned against the door. “Open up. I’ve been looking for you for the past four days.”
I sighed and unlocked the door. Tom pushed it open and slipped inside. He blew out a breath, and looked at me, exasperated.
“What?” I asked genuinely confused.
“What do you mean, ‘what’…You disappeared.”
“That’s rich, coming from you.”
Tom rubbed his face with both hands. “You can’t just disappear like that, Ruby. Not after what happened to Dakota. I thought you were going to meet me at the cafeteria. I nearly went insane with worry when you didn’t show up.”
I stalked into the kitchen.
He followed.
“Well, I’m sorry I made you worry, but as you can see, I’m fine.” I opened the fridge, looked at the empty shelves and clenched my jaw. “And you didn’t look too worried at the club, Tom. You looked perfectly relaxed, actually.”
Tom looked at me over the refrigerator’s door with his lips pressed thin. Ignoring my comment, he spoke softly. “I thought we decided that coming back to the clinic was too dangerous.”
“You decided that, Tom. Not me.” I swung the fridge door back and forth on its hinges, not looking at him.
“I tore up this city looking for you.”
Angry, I stepped into him, my finger poking his chest. “I don’t owe you any explanations, Tom. You don’t get to be protector anymore.”
“You can’t stay here, Ruby.” He looked down into my eyes, not angry, but worried.
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do,” I said evenly. “You just showed up after ten years, ten years, Tom. I think you are just a little too optimistic about how far your charm and good looks can get you.”
He stepped back and put his hands up in surrender. “Look, forget about the clinic for a second, OK?” His eyes were sad, tired. “I…I saw you at the club and knew you’d misinterpret what you saw…”
“Oh, no, you did not just say that!” I interrupted. “Misinterpret? Were you actually giving her the Heimlich on the dance floor? Is that what you mean?”
Tom never fought with me, never in the three years I was with him. He never raised his voice at me, never used his size to intimidate. “Ruby,” he said quietly. “That woman is working with me and the DEA. I had to be there with her at the club to make a buy. It’s part of my cover.”
“Right.”
“Her boyfriend is the guy who shot me the other night when he found out she was with me.”
“Well thanks for explaining, Tom. I feel much better.” I put my hands out in a grand gesture.
“You’re not getting it. She’s a criminal. She flipped on her brother for a deal with us. So we had her pretend she was seeing me so she could vouch for my cover. The fact that her boyfriend shot me over her was actually a great thing because her brother bought it. I mean, who gets shot over a girl if he isn’t serious, right?”
“You almost died!”
“I didn’t expect him to do it. She wasn’t supposed to say anything to her boyfriend until her paperwork was in place. He apparently made her mad, so she just announced that she was leaving him for me during a party. He and I tussled outside. He pulled a gun, and you know the rest.”
I remembered the dirt on his clothes and his bruised face, shuddering. Yeah, I knew the rest all right. I’d forgotten how easily Tom brushed off harm.
“So you were just enduring that beautiful blonde, for your job, huh?”
“Ruby…” Tom sighed with frustration.
“I thought you’d be on leave or something,” I said. “Don’t they care that you almost died?”
“Ruby, I’ve been working this case for months. I asked to go back in.”
“There are other DEA agents.” Worry and helplessness swelled in my throat. “Why can’t you just back off this time, Tom?”
“I need to bring this case home successfully for the position I want here.” His expression darkened. “Or my transfer won’t go through.”
Anxiety tugged at my stomach. This might not be permanent. “Oh,” I said quietly. “This girl, is her brother the king-pin…guy?”
“King-pin?” Tom chuckled. “No, but we think he’s a step in the right direction.”
He flashed a dimpled grin, and I remembered this
feeling from before. My inability to talk him out of anything, and my need to join him in the danger, came crashing back. My heart fell. I was trying to avoid repeating this cycle with Tom.
“Well, whatever. I hope you catch the kingpin,” I said and picked my duffle bag back up. I walked down the hall and set it on the card table in the kitchenette.
“If you don’t trust me personally, at least trust me professionally.” Tom followed me.
I turned to face him, and scrunched my eyebrows together with confusion. “What?”
“I can’t prove it, but I know that Antonio was behind Dakota’s disappearance. And whatever drove him to attack, I guarantee you, it’s not over.”
“How do you know any of this?” I countered. “Dakota did drugs. What if he just got on the bad side of his dealer?”
“No, this is not chance, Ruby. I can feel it. I just can’t figure out what attacking Dakota was meant to accomplish. If he wasn’t working for Antonio, then he must have posed some threat or leverage to him. I think it all has to do with the clinic.”
I grabbed a handful of clothes out of the gym bag and carried them to the office. Swinging open the supply closet, I dumped them in a hamper shoved in the corner. “You have no proof that Dakota wasn’t mixed up in something that has nothing to do with me or the clinic. Besides, I told you that we haven’t even heard back from the shipping company yet…there might not even be a problem with the paperwork.”
“Do you really believe that, Ruby?” he asked quietly.
“We are in the worst part of town, Tom. The chances of someone getting killed and it having nothing to do with me are pretty high, actually. Now, this is my home and my work, Tom. I’m staying here.”
Tom nodded silently, thinking. Then he plopped down on the futon. “Fine, we’ll stay then.”
Hands on my hips, I shook my head. “You’re not staying here.”
“I am if you are,” he answered, and leaned back.
“No, Tom. I mean it. You’re leaving…now.”
“Unless you’re stronger than I remember, and can carry me out, I’m stayin’.” He looked up at me with a smirk.
“You’re being infuriating.” A frustrated growl left my lips. “I don’t need your protection, Tom. This isn’t Dresden Heights, and I’m not a helpless teenager anymore.”
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