by Claire Raye
Ruby’s eyes flick to Reid, a guilty look on her face and when I turn to my best friend, I see he’s watching her, his face giving nothing away.
“You knew about this?” I ask.
Reid nods, his eyes still on Ruby. “You want to tell him?”
“Tell me what?” I ask, as Sie says, “Reid, what’s going on?” clearly also confused.
Ruby lets out a breath, her hand moving so it covers mine. “Sit down?” she says gently, as she smiles up at me. “Please.”
I do as she asks, her hand still covering mine as she glances once at Reid before turning back to me again.
“It happened during finals,” she says. “That morning I got up early to go for a run.” I nod once because I think I know the day she’s referring to. “I remember thinking how weird it was that this car was just kinda sitting in the alley, slowly moving forward but not really going anywhere.”
Ruby’s words are like a jolt of electricity down my spine, the all too familiar tingling beneath my skin as my heart starts to pound in my chest. I have to swallow hard, remind myself to stay calm as I take a long slow breath in.
“Then as I ran across the road,” she continues, flicking her hand in the direction of the screen again. “He just drove straight for me, like deliberately.”
“He?” I ask.
Ruby shrugs, squeezing my hand. “I don’t know actually. I couldn’t see who was driving. But when I got home, you’d gone to the gym. I talked to Reid about it and I don’t know, he wasn’t—”
“I wasn’t sure if it was related to what went down with my dad or not,” Reid cuts in, giving Ruby a small smile before he turns to me. “I’d had a call from that detective about a guy who hadn’t been put away with everyone else. He was old and sick, and it was a long shot about this being him, but we didn’t want to worry you. It was my call not to say anything.” Ruby opens her mouth as though to say something, but Reid cuts her off before she has a chance. “You were doing good, Caleb. I didn’t want you to worry about shit that was probably nothing.”
“I don’t think it was nothing,” Ruby says.
We all turn to her, silence falling over the room. “What?” I eventually ask.
Ruby smiles, turning the laptop around and loading up another video. “The car is always here,” she says, her voice more animated now. “Look, see,” she says, pointing to a shot on the screen.
Sure enough, the car is back again, parked on the street looking like any regular suburban car. But then she loads another video, and another and another. And every fucking time, that car is there.
Including the day everything went to shit when I found Keller outside our house.
And that’s when it hits me.
“Holy fuck,” I breathe out as I’m struck with a memory.
“What?” Reid asks.
“I remember this car,” I say, my eyes glued to the screen and the still image of it, parked out on the street, directly across from our house. “I remember seeing it when I came home from work. I remember…” I trail off, racking my brain for the memory, for the vision of what happened that night, weeks before the attack. “Fuck, I remember walking toward it because I could tell someone was inside. Just sitting there in the dark, watching me. It didn’t feel right, but when I approached the car, it drove off, no lights on, nothing, like it was trying to get away before I saw who was driving.”
“Oh my god,” Sie breathes out. “Do you think it’s him?”
I glance up at Ruby as though she could possibly know the answer, but she just shrugs at me. I turn to Reid now, who’s staring at me, his eyes hard and focused as though his mind is running through every possibility of what this could mean, trying to find the one that fits.
“We need to show this to Ed,” he eventually says. “Tomorrow, you need to show this to him.”
Neither Ruby nor I sleep much, the two of us lying silently side by side in the darkness as we stare up at the ceiling of her room.
There’s so much I want to say, so many questions I want to ask, but I can’t find the words, my brain too fried, too many thoughts running through it for me to make sense of anything right now.
I’m trying not to get my hopes up about this though, having been burnt too many times already to possibly imagine that this could be the one thing that saves me, that proves that what I did that night was justified.
If that’s even fucking possible.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the car,” Ruby whispers, her voice breaking the stillness of the room. I feel her hand slip into mine, the bed dipping a little as she rolls over so she’s lying on her side facing me.
I mirror her pose, my free hand moving to tuck her hair behind her ear as I brush my thumb across her cheekbone. “It’s okay,” I tell her. “I get it.”
Ruby frowns. “It’s not okay, not when I spent every day begging you to talk to me.”
I smile at her. “Yeah but I was just being a dick. You were actually trying to help me. Protect me even.”
Ruby’s gaze drops to our joined hands, which rest on the bed between us. “Don’t be mad at Reid,” she whispers. “It was my idea not to tell you.”
I laugh, tugging her closer as I slip an arm around her waist. “Firstly, I do not believe that it was your idea,” I whisper, brushing my lips against hers. “And secondly…” I pause, brushing my lips against hers again. “I’m not mad at anyone.”
“Really,” she asks, lifting her eyes to mine.
I smile at her. “Really. I love you, Ruby. So fucking much.”
When the alarm rings out the next morning, I’m already awake. Ruby is asleep beside me, barely stirring as I lean over and silence the noise.
“Shit,” she mumbles, burying her face against my chest.
I press my lips to the top of her head, inhaling as I pull her against me. “It’s still early,” I whisper. “Why is the alarm going off?”
“I know,” she groans. “But we need to call Ed.”
I chuckle, wrapping my arms around her as I pull her closer. “Ed can wait, babe. It’s just a car and a partial license plate.”
I don’t mean to sound ungrateful about it all, but I’m tired of getting my hopes up only for them to come crashing down when it yet again falls apart. Nothing I seem to do makes any difference and as shit as it is, I’m slowly coming to realize that what’s happening to me now is what I deserve.
I’m going to have to pay for what I’ve done.
One way or another.
Ruby shuffles against me, lifting her head as she blinks the sleepiness away and focuses her eyes on mine. “It’s not just the car, Caleb,” she whispers.
“Huh?” I ask, confused.
Ruby’s fingers weave through my hair, brushing it back as she smiles at me. “There’s Meagan too,” she adds. “And there’s me and I know there have to be more, we just have to find them. We just—”
“Ruby, babe,” I say, gently placing a finger against her lips. She stops talking, her brows narrowing a little as she watches me. “I know you want to fix this, okay, I know. And I truly love you for it, for everything you’ve done. But let’s not get our hopes up okay.”
Ruby huffs as she reaches up and pulls my hand away from her mouth. “Don’t talk like that,” she says, frowning at me. “Now let’s get up. You need to call Ed and we need to get going.”
She pulls herself from my arms, rolling away from me and out of the bed before I have a chance to move. I watch as she grabs my phone and throws it onto the bed, staring pointedly at it as if to say you know what you have to do, before she opens the door and walks out of the room.
I fall back onto my pillow, shaking my head at this woman who has walked into my life and completely turned it upside down.
And for better or worse, whatever has happened since I’ve met Ruby, I know I wouldn’t trade any of it if it meant I couldn’t have her. Yeah I wish I’d done things differently and yes I wish I could go back and change so many things, but the one thing I woul
dn’t change is being with her.
No matter how selfish that makes me.
I grab my phone from the bed, shuffling a little as I prop a second pillow behind me and scroll through to Ed’s number. Just as I’m about to hit call, my phone vibrates with an incoming text.
Ken: hey, are you able to come in a little earlier today – hoping to chat. Nothing to worry about, but just a few things we need to talk about.
“Fuck,” I groan, my head falling back onto the pillow.
What the fuck now?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ruby
While Caleb is making his call to Ed, I return to my initial idea of asking our neighbors about the car. It could once again be a long shot, but it can’t hurt to ask. All we got off the camera footage was a partial license plate number and the make and model of the car.
At the time I was almost run down by the silver Audi, my only thought was that it was somehow connected to Caleb’s past, but the more I dwell on the thought, the more I’m aware that the connection was to me instead. That silver Audi has to belong to Professor Keller. It was on the footage multiple times, pulling into our alleyway at strange times, never following the pattern most people do.
People leave for work at the same times. Students head to class on a schedule and even when the schedule changes, it really doesn’t. We’re creatures of habit and varying habits isn’t the norm. The randomness of this car’s appearance screams it doesn’t belong, and there’s only one way to find out.
I look back at the bedroom, knowing Caleb’s call could last five minutes, but also knowing it could be much longer, I quickly slip my shoes on and quietly leave the house.
As much as Caleb and Reid want this shit over, they hate the idea of me out snooping around trying to find out anything I can. They’d both call it risky and worry that I’m putting myself in a precarious situation, but if it gets us a step closer to pinning all this on Professor Keller, then I’ll do it.
I stop at the house directly next door. It’s a group of guys, who on occasion Sienna and I would flirt with, but that died off when Reid made his presence known every time we were outside. I knock a few times, waiting for someone to answer, and when a few seconds pass, I knock again, louder this time.
I hear the shuffling of feet and the lock on the door clicks. When it opens, I’m met with a disheveled guy who was clearly asleep.
“Ruby,” he says, now more awake than he was just seconds ago as his eyes drag over my face and down to my boobs.
“Eyes up here, John,” I say, snapping my fingers, in no mood for playful, flirty banter.
“Okay, okay. Take it easy,” he grumbles, tugging a hand through his hair, obviously annoyed that I woke him and I don’t care to follow him back to his bed. “What do you need?”
“Do you or any of your roommates have a silver Audi sedan?”
He laughs, cackling sarcastically. “We’re all here on scholarships, Ruby. We can’t even afford a ten year old Audi.”
“Anyone you know then?”
He shakes his head in response, his lip quirking up in the corner.
“Okay, thanks,” I respond, knowing I have about ten more houses to get through.
“No prob... Wait, hang on,” he calls as I start to walk away. “I’ve seen that car though. The one you just described. Silver Audi, yeah.”
“You have? Where?”
“Here in our alley. It’s been coming in and out, sometimes parking for a while, but I’ve never seen anyone get out of the car. I just figured it was a friend of someone who lives here.” He motions up and down the street with a tilt of his head.
That’s what we all thought. A random car and none of us cared to wonder why it was here, all of us assuming the same thing.
“Do you think it’s connected to what happened with your boyfriend?” he now asks, but his words fall a little quieter. It feels like everyone who asks is prying, like all they want is inside gossip, and I immediately grow defensive.
“How do you know about that?” I shoot back, sounding harsh, but also sounding stupid. Of course he knows about it. It literally happened steps from their back door, too. The police were here, cop cars, an ambulance. It was like a live version of a TV drama. “Sorry,” I quickly add. “It feels like everyone is on Professor Keller’s side and no one cares to hear what really happened.”
I have no idea why I’m telling him any of this. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me or for Caleb, but it’s starting to grow old, always being on the wrong side of the argument.
“Yeah, it seems that way, but if it’s any consolation, I believe you. We all do, actually.” He now looks back over his shoulder as if the other guys are in the house. “Professor Keller is a dick. You know he failed my ex-girlfriend a few semesters back. She claimed it was because she wouldn’t sleep with him and at the time, I just thought she was being dramatic. I feel pretty shitty about that now.”
“Does your ex still go to school here?”
“No, she graduated last year, but if you want her number, I can give it to you,” he replies, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“Hang onto it for now, but I might need it later.” I smile gratefully, keeping the idea in the back of my head if I need it. “I’m gonna go. I want to check a few more houses.”
We say our goodbyes, but as I’m walking down the steps of John’s house, I realize I don’t need to ask every house that lines our alley. I have Meagan’s number and she might know what kind of car Professor Keller drives.
I scramble across the grass and up the front steps, realizing I left my phone on the kitchen table, I fling open the front door. Caleb is sitting on the couch and gives me a strange look as I fly through the house as if this is an emergency.
It feels like everything is time sensitive these days, and in a way it is. The pending civil suit is looming over our heads and the only way to get it to end is to find some damning evidence against Professor Keller. If I can prove he was stalking me, it will be something we can build from.
“Ruby, you okay?” Caleb asks, following me into the kitchen.
“You know, we can just ask Meagan if Professor Keller drives a silver Audi. She would know and it would—”
“You don’t have to do that,” Caleb interrupts. “You’re going out of your way to try and help me and I’m worried it’s putting a lot of pressure on you.”
“Stop it. I’m here to help because I love you and if that means asking everyone on campus what their experience with Professor Keller is then I’m doing it.”
I text Meagan, hoping she answers me. I know it was hard for her to talk about what happened and now with Ed contacting her, she may be rethinking her involvement.
Me: Hey Meagan, it’s Ruby. I was wondering if you know what kind of car Professor Keller drives? Is it a silver Audi?
Caleb shakes his head, smiling a little as he pulls me into his embrace. He kisses the top of my head, mumbling something into my hair, but I don’t ask him to repeat it. He doesn’t need to, because he’s been saying it since the day we met.
“You do deserve me,” I say, and I feel his lips curl into a smile against the top of my head.
“How do you know I said that?”
“Because you won’t stop saying it. How many times do I have to tell you that you do deserve me? When are you going to get it through your head that you’re deserving of me, of me loving you, of me taking care of you and of me just being here with you? It’s not going to change.”
Caleb doesn’t have a chance to respond, my phone chiming out and interrupting our conversation.
Meagan: He does drive a silver Audi. Why?
I flash my phone to Caleb, not saying anything as he reads the message. And when he’s done, we spend a few seconds just looking at each other, wondering what the hell we do with this information.
Me: Because I think he was stalking me.
Meagan: I’m sure he was. Scary, right?
Me: Scary for you because it went to
o far.
She doesn’t answer me after my last text and I don’t blame her. Her situation isn’t the same as mine. She is now forever stuck with the trauma Professor Keller put her through. Like Caleb, she’s struggling to feel safe, to live a normal life. But I’m hoping Caleb and I can give her back some security by having him arrested for what he did to her and for what happened outside my bedroom window.
“What did Ed say?” I now ask Caleb, everything happening at once.
“He asked me to make a copy of the security footage and bring it over to him. He also said he’s going to get a PI friend of his to run a trace on the partial plate and the make and model of the car. He’s hoping to get a solid return on the owner.”
“We know who the owner is, Caleb. It’s Keller. Meagan confirmed that.” I stomp my foot a little, wanting all of this to move much faster. It feels like it’s happening in slow motion and we’re just standing by and watching.
“Yeah, I hear you, but right now the police aren’t going to believe her. They didn’t believe her when she told them Keller raped her. What do you think they’re going to say when we tell them she’s our witness as to who’s driving the Audi?”
I hate that he’s so logical and everything he says holds the truth. The police won’t care and will probably look at her as a jilted ex who didn’t get her way. I don’t want her to be put through that all over again. I’d like to minimize the amount of contact the police have with her.
“So we just let Ed and his investigator figure this all out,” I say, feeling a little defeated.
“Yes, Nancy Drew. We need to leave this to the professionals.” He’s teasing me now and it feels good. It always feels good when I hear him joke about something. It gives me hope that he’s finding the humor in a flawed situation. Something I haven’t been able to do lately.
He smiles at me, but it feels weak, his face not lighting up the way it does when he’s truly happy. I understand he has a lot weighing on him and it’s a struggle.
