by Mia Gold
This door opened on a room cut in half by bars like those on a prison cell. Ruby’s skin prickled in anticipation. Beyond those bars, the walls were lined with safety deposit boxes. On their side of the bars a small, regular side door stood open, revealing a tiny room with nothing but a chair and desk. The teller used a key to open the lock on the bars and swung it open. Then she turned to Ruby.
“What number?”
“Six eight four,” Ruby said, tensing. This was a guess. The number on the back of the card had a series of numbers, but the first three were set slightly apart by a space.
The teller took her to safety deposit box marked 684 and slid it out of the wall. Ruby saw a keypad on the top.
“Feel free to use our private room,” the teller said. “There are no cameras in there. Ring the buzzer when you want me to come back.”
“Thank you.”
Heart beating fast, Ruby took the safety deposit box, a heavy thing that gave the impression of thick metal, to the room and closed the door behind her.
She took a deep breath, sat down, and paused for a moment, staring at the stainless steel box. She almost couldn’t bring herself to turn the card over and, slowly and deliberately, punch in the remaining numbers on the keypad.
The box clicked open. Biting her lip, Ruby opened it.
Inside the padded interior lay a thumb drive.
Nothing else.
***
Ruby walked far along the beach from her home, well beyond any tourist colonies, the thumb drive in her pocket and a bottle of rum in hand. The sun was lowering toward the horizon, turning the sea and sky a brilliant gold.
She pulled the thumb drive out of her pocket and turned it over in her hands.
Temptation jabbed her. It would be so easy to chuck it into the sea and forget about the whole thing. If she pursued it, she knew she’d be opening up a Pandora’s box, one that would probably make this murder investigation look like child’s play. She’d find out things about her old boss, her old mentor, that she didn’t want to know. She might even find out things that would make her more of a target than she already was.
And, worst of all, it would bring her back to her past, back before she ditched the most important person in her life and fled here.
A few children laughed in the surf, their parents calling out happily to them. But even this family scene couldn’t cheer her. All it did was remind her of the father she had left behind, and that little girl who would, someday soon, get sucked into the filth of the Maze.
Ruby stood at the edge of the water, opened up a fresh bottle of Bahamian Gold, and took a slug. It tasted flat. Like ashes.
She looked at the bottle, sniffed it. It didn’t seem off. She took another slug. It did not give her that calming warmth she craved.
Maybe I’m just too exhausted to drink, Ruby thought, then let out a humorous little laugh. That never stopped me before.
What was wrong? she wondered. Why did she feel so strange? She had solved the murder, gotten out from under the police. She had even taken another step toward solving what had happened to the senator.
But then she realized she hadn’t really gotten anywhere. No, she was precisely where she had been when this whole thing began with the body in the dumpster—a dead-end job under an assumed name hiding from her past.
The sun had settled onto the horizon now, turning from gold to a deep red.
Just one toss, and she could go back to being anonymous.
If she kept it, if she pursued it, she would get no rest.
But will I get any rest if I don’t?
The long nights of drinking after work … the hangovers … having her friends call her by a name that was not hers …
Ruby Steele—no, Ruby Wayne—wound up her arm, tensed her muscles, and threw the bottle as far as she could into the sea.
No more drinking, she told herself, as she studied the thumb drive and came to a decision. For the first time in a long time, she felt that sense of purpose rising up again, felt, once again, a reason to live.
You’ve got a job to do.
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!
EXTRA DIRTY
(A Ruby Steele Cozy Mystery —Book #2)
EXTRA DIRTY is book #2 in the Ruby Steele Cozy Mystery, which begins with ON THE ROCKS (Book #1).
Ruby Steele, 30, beautiful, fit, seems just like any other ex-pat hiding out in the Bahamas and playing local bartender. But unruly patrons find out the hard way: Ruby is a mixed-martial-arts pro, and not one you’d want to cross.
A 40-something female tourist seeks out Ruby, desperate for her help. She was out partying all night with her friend, both of them drinking way too much and doing things they don’t want their husbands to know about.
The problem is, as of 12 hours ago, her friend is missing.
Their husbands can’t know.
The cops can’t know.
She needs Ruby’s help. And she’s running out of time.
Ruby, though, has enough problems of her own. Shadowy figures from her old life are getting close. Way too close.
Can Ruby really pay detective and take on someone else’s problems? Who is this woman, anyway? And what isn’t she telling her?
Ruby can’t keep away from a bad decision.
And this time, it looks like, there won’t be any exception….
Welcome to the Bahamian world of Ruby Steele, replete with her local dive bar, her wily pet monkey, her major drinking problem, her (way) too many fights, her inability to get herself out of trouble, and her fists made of stone. Ruby’s life is a complete wreck. But there’s one thing she’s good at: capturing your heart.
EXTRA DIRTY (A RUBY STEELE COZY MYSTERY) is book #2 in a page-turning cozy mystery/thriller series, one that will linger with you long after the last page is read.
Book #3 (FULL-BODIED) in the series is also available.
EXTRA DIRTY
(A Ruby Steele Cozy Mystery—Book #2)
ALSO AVAILABLE!
KNOCKOUT
(A Holly Hands Cozy Mystery—Book 1)
Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and Jana DeLeon's Miss Fortune will find a new character to love in Holly Hands!
Holly Hands. 29. Single mom. Disgraced, former boxing pro. Repo woman.
Repossessing Lamborghinis and other exotic toys from criminals is second-hat for Holly.
But finding a dead body—and solving a murder—is not.
Luckily, Holly has Lucky by her side—a neglected pit bull she found on the wrong side of a job, who refuses to leave her side—and who, like her, has nowhere to go but up.
Together, maybe they can crawl their way out of the urban hell of their bad slice of Baltimore, where coming home at night is even more dangerous than going to work. Maybe Holly can manage to get her young daughter the medical treatment she desperately needs, and manage to get her out of her dangerous public school and into the private school of her dreams. Just maybe, she can fall in love with that private school Dad from the other side of town and start a whole new life.
Or maybe not.
Life has never been easy for Holly. And if the past few days—and the dead body in her trunk—are any indication—it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
KNOCKOUT (A HOLLY HANDS COZY MYSTERY) is book #1 in a riveting new cozy mystery series, a page-turning thriller that grabs you from page one and does not let go. Get ready to find yourself reading all night, bleary-eyed, and falling madly in love with a new character who will fight her way into your heart.
Book #2 (SUCKER PUNCH) and Book #3 (BELOW THE BELT) in the series are also available.
KNOCKOUT
(A Holly Hands Cozy Mystery—Book 1)
Mia Gold
Debut author Mia Gold is author of the HOLLY HANDS COZY MYSTERY, comprising three books (and counting); the CORA CHASE COZY MYSTERY series, comprising three books (and counting); and of the RUBY STEELE COZY MYSTERY series, comprising three books (and counting). Mia would love to hear from you, so pleas
e visit www.miagoldauthor.com to receive free ebooks, hear the latest news, and stay in touch.
BOOKS BY MIA GOLD
HOLLY HANDS COZY MYSTERY
KNOCKOUT (Book #1)
SUCKER PUNCH (Book #2)
BELOW THE BELT (Book #3)
CORA CHASE COZY MYSTERY
JACKPOT (Book #1)
ALL OR NOTHING (Book #2)
HIGH ROLLER (Book #3)
RUBY STEELE COZY MYSTERY
ON THE ROCKS (Book #1)
EXTRA DIRTY (Book #2)
FULL BODIED (Book #3)