She seemed the responsible sort.
CHAPTER 8
Ruby came in through the garage and stopped short when she saw the mess. She’d forgotten about trashing the living room.
She sighed. Did other people get this angry? They had to, though Simon had done his best to convince her that they didn’t. He’d wanted her to get some help.
She scowled. She was passionate, yes, but at least she was in touch with her feelings. Unlike Simon. In all the time they’d been together, he’d never yelled at her. Never blown up. Never cried. Not even when she’d left him for Curtis.
He was the abnormal one if you asked her.
She took some Aleve for her aches and pains, fetched a broom, and began gathering up books and pool balls and sweeping up wet glass. Still…she was tired of cleaning up her messes after one of her fits. She really needed to think before she reacted.
That, she could work on.
▬▬▬
After a long shower, she finally sat down at her drawing table to get back to work. It was almost five. Usually, she was wrapping up at five o’clock, not just getting down to business. She still had one and a half more dailies to draw, and she also wanted to push and finish the inking.
This could take all night.
She shook her shoulders out, cracked her knuckles, and grabbed a mechanical pencil. At least the shower and the meds had taken the edge off her soreness. She was hungry again. That bike ride had burned some serious calories. She’d grab a snack and then get back to work—No! She had to do this. She would sit here until midnight if she had to, but she would finish.
Her stomach grumbled, and she made a bargain with herself. She could take a break and order tacos after she finished her drawings and inked all the dialogue for the week.
Twenty minutes later she finally hit her groove. Sometimes it took a while, but she always prevailed. Soon she was engrossed in her work.
Some time later, her reverie was broken by a large crash from her front yard. She looked up from her drawing board. What the hell?
She left her table, crossed the living room, and peered out the bay window overlooking her shadowy yard. All the lights were on at the house next door and the red convertible was back and parked in front of it. The car was packed high with boxes, and the driver’s door was open. There was a large wooden display case lying broken on the ground, surrounded by shattered glass and cracked wood. A man stooped over the mess, his back to her, cursing, as he began to pick up the larger shards of glass.
Ruby unchained her door and warily opened it. “Are you moving in next door? Are you okay?” she called, hoping that whoever he was, he would be cool. She walked to the edge of her deck and looked down. The man turned and his smile was dazzling as the last light of the day glinted off Jeremy’s ultra-white teeth. “Ruby, hello! Do you live there? What a surprise!”
She took a step backwards. “What are you doing here?” she asked, mind racing, already resenting his presence. “…Did you follow me?”
“Yes, I’ve been following you around for the past four hours,” he deadpanned. Her skin got clammy as she remembered where she’d been.
Jeremy chuckled and started towards her. “That’s ridiculous, of course.”
She took another step back. “You’re scaring me.”
He immediately stopped smiling, tossed away the shards of glass, and started up her steps. He made placating gestures with his hands and talked in a soothing voice the way you might with a frightened animal. “Ruby! I was joking. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m about the least scary person you’ll ever meet. Honestly!”
She scrambled backwards towards her open front door and he stopped. “No, don’t go inside! I’m stopping. See? I’ve stopped.”
Ruby stood in the safety of the doorjamb, facing him.
“I’m moving in next door, and I didn’t know you lived here,” he explained. “How could I? This is my second load. But then I stupidly decided to move that,” he gestured back at the shattered case, “by myself, and—Kablamo! I’m lucky I didn’t wrench my back.”
He couldn’t be moving in. This was her sanctuary. This was so fucked up. “But you’ve already got a house,” she finally said.
“Technically, I’ve got lots of houses.” He pointed at the house next door. “I own that. Inherited it from my mom—remember? I told you she’d owned lots of property. Well, I’ve been looking for a renter for months, but now I’ve decided to take it myself and rent out my other place.”
“Why would you do that?”
“This house has been without a renter since last May, and my Jasmine Drive house is bigger and closer to GSU; much better located for college kids. It should be easier to rent than this tiny old house out here in nowhere land. And as you rightfully pointed out, the other house isn’t exactly my taste.…Maybe you could help me decorate this place. Huh neighbor?”
She looked around desperately. “This can’t be a coincidence.”
He laughed. “Silly goose! Of course, it is. A welcome one, I’ll admit, but a coincidence all the same.” He still had that same irksome smile on his face. “It’s pretty funny if you think about it.”
“I ain’t laughin’,” she snarled, arms crossed. “What are the odds that a man I used to know, that I met again by chance, who’s been making a pest of himself, owns the house next door?”
His face fell. “You think I’m a pest?”
She spit out the word, “Yes.”
He winced. “I don’t know what to tell you. I own a lot of rental properties in town.” He paused before dropping the bomb. “I also own your house.”
She felt like all the oxygen had been sucked from the world. “No, my landlord’s Mr. Finney—”
“Harold and Gail Finney manage all my properties.”
This couldn’t be happening. She felt a rushing in her ears and shook her head to clear it. She had to change the locks. She had to get out of here…
Suddenly, it all came together. There sure had been a lot of red convertibles around lately…She walked over to the railing and peered at his car, but she couldn’t read the plate in the gathering darkness.
She pushed by him on the steps and stalked across her yard until she stood behind his car. He followed closely behind her. His license plate read, “PLAYER.” She started to sweat even as she filed this nugget away to tell Hilary later. Player my ass. Hilary would appreciate the irony.
“That’s your car.”
He nodded.
“It’s been here before and it was parked outside the art store this morning. You have been following me. You set up that whole meeting in advance!”
He scuffed his toe in the dirt. “Well—”
She slowly circled her way back to her deck steps, keeping him in her sites the entire time. “How’d you follow my bike without me noticing?”
“Ruby—”
“This is sick.” She came to the steps and began climbing them, slowly, backwards, hands on both railings. “I first noticed that car right after I moved in—which was almost seven weeks ago. …Since you own this house and you remember my full name and how I take my coffee from six years ago, you had to have known the moment I moved in here.”
“That’s crazy—”
“Were you…did you follow me to the grocery store the other day?”
“Of course not.” He laughed, but his gaze slid away. “I’m not stalking you—”
“There are laws against that, you know.”
He sputtered. “I told you—”
“Consider this my notice. I’ll be out by November first.”
“Your lease—”
“I’m month-to-month, motherfucker.”
Storm clouds rolled across his face as she began ticking things off on her fingers. “I don’t want to date you. Don’t want to talk to you, don’t want to be friends with you, don’t want to go anywhere with you or take anything from you—”
“What, you think you’re too good for me?” he bellowed. He gras
ped both railings and it looked like he was about to launch himself up the steps at her.
She refused to let him know she was frightened. She turned her back and walked calmly to the door, heart thudding in her chest. “You said it. Leave me out of your sick fantasies.” She glanced over her shoulder at him once she was inside. “Next time you bother me, I’m calling the police.” She closed the door and slid the deadbolt home, leaving him standing, astonished, on her steps. Then she stood shaking and listening intently in the darkness beside the front door, until she was certain he had gone.
Jeremy was her landlord.
…What was she going to do?
CHAPTER 9
Ruby wasn’t used to the automatic transmission in her rental car, and her left foot kept searching for the clutch. She wore a black hoodie and sunglasses, and she was so jittery she might vomit.
So many things could go wrong.
She eased up on Briar Street and cruised by the house to get the lay of the land. It was just after 11 a.m. There was no activity at his parents’ house, but Sean’s car was in the driveway. She frowned. Why was he here? She’d looked it up, and today was a teacher prep day at the local schools. He was supposed to be at work, and his parents would be working too—she’d planned to go inside and have a look around. Maybe find his new address.
And now she couldn’t.
But…Sean was here. She felt a thrill go through her and hoped this reaction to him would never go away.
Maybe this could still work. She’d come prepared for anything, and it was a perfect day for a stakeout.
She parked across the street and two houses down. She had a good view of his house and yard, but with the tinted back windows, she’d be safe from detection. At least she’d be comfortable—her rental was so big, it was like driving a couch down the street.
She glanced at the package on the seat beside her. Inside was an expensive silver ID bracelet that she’d bought on Etsy a month ago, and it had finally been delivered this morning. “Sean” was engraved on the front. On the back it read, “with all my love.”
It had come inside a gray velvet box, and she’d used a blue gift bag because blue was Sean’s favorite color. At least it used to be. There was no card—the inscription said it all.
She sat in the car trying to work up the courage to run across the street and place the gift on his car. It had been a different thing entirely to put the roses on Millicent’s porch yesterday—no one had been home. But now, he was here, possibly looking out the windows.
She watched the house closely, searching for any activity at the windows, any activity at all. There was none. Finally, she grabbed the bag and jogged across the street, feeling barely a twinge of protest from her muscles. She’d woken up sore from her bike ride yesterday, but after some meds and her twenty-minute go-to Pilates workout, she was fine. She slowed to a walk when she reached the sidewalk in front of his house, keeping her head down and averted. With her hood up, and the sunglasses, and the rental car…it was unlikely she’d be recognized. That is, unless he caught her. But she wasn’t about to let that happen.
She slowed her step even more as she approached his driveway, tempted to keep walking past his house and down the street. At the last possible second, she forced her feet up his drive. She hadn’t come this far to back out now. She ran up to his car, tossed the bag on his hood, watched for a moment to make sure it didn’t tumble off, then sprinted back to her rental.
She’d barely dragged the long, heavy door closed behind her, when his front door opened, and Sean came bounding out. Shit! He must have seen her leave the gift!
She pushed the red ignition button, wondering briefly what she’d do if it didn’t start. But Sean wasn’t headed towards her, or towards his car either. He was headed for the garage.
He hadn’t spotted her gift yet. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Sean’s black hair was wet. He’d probably just finished showering. …She licked her lips as she watched the water spraying his chest, face upturned, eyes closed, palms braced on the tile in front of him. The steam so thick he didn’t realize she’d joined him until she began lathering him up. She opened her eyes, savoring the image. Someday, they would shower together. It was her longest-held sexual fantasy about him. She’d been dreaming about it for nine excruciating years, and she’d make it happen. Soon.
He wore gray joggers, black tennis shoes, and a red hoodie, and he was smiling and kind of dancing and tossing a set of keys into the air and catching them. She imagined that she could hear him whistling. …She had to have this man!
He had his hand on the garage door before she remembered why she was here. She grabbed her Canon with its telephoto lens and began snapping pictures of him. She got him opening the garage door, and at one point he turned around to face her, and she got at least three clear, close-ups of his face.
He went inside the garage, and she paused with her finger on the shutter until he came out again. He was pushing a lawn mower, and she couldn’t believe her good fortune. He’d be outside for at least a half hour, probably more, and she had a 120 GB sim card, and three fully charged batteries. …She was set!
She took shots from every angle imaginable. She’d already taken hundreds of pictures before he was remotely ready to mow.
She paused to check the battery, and when she looked back, she froze. Sean had set down the gas can, and he was staring at the package on top of his car. He looked alarmed, and then he swung his gaze around the neighborhood. She ducked and waited a full minute before diving into the back seat.
The front windows weren’t tinted, which was great for driving, and lovely for picture taking, but not so great if you didn’t want to be seen.
She peeked out the back side window, and now he was over beside his car with the gift bag in his hands. He peered into it before warily drawing out the gray box. Tucking the bag underneath his armpit, he used both hands to turn the box this way and that. Apparently satisfied, he opened it. He turned, and suddenly Ruby was staring at his back, and she couldn’t see his reaction. Turn around! I’m missing everything!
He shook his head and headed for the front door.
Sean went inside and closed the door, and Ruby sighed, picked up her video camera, and began experimenting with filming his house through the tinted back windows. The old school Sony video camera had belonged to her mother—it had an actual tape inside—and it still worked beautifully. When she played it back, the footage was clear. At least if he came back outside, she could tape him for as long as she liked, and she wouldn’t have to worry about putting the window down.
Suddenly, the front door flew open, and Sean charged back outside, followed closely by a man who looked like a shorter, huskier version of him. They had similar features, and the man looked to be somewhere in his early thirties, so he was probably one of Sean’s brothers. He wasn’t nearly as handsome as Sean. The features that made Sean’s face so appealingly quirky were sharper and coarser in his brother. A weak first draft.
They walked over to Sean’s car, and Sean pointed to the exact spot where she’d thrown his gift. His brother bent close to the hood and ran his hands over the surface. What was he hoping to find? Fibers? Hair? It was just a stupid ID bracelet. His brother turned and stared suspiciously around the neighborhood. His gaze came to rest on her car and stayed there for a long time. Ruby froze, hardly daring to breathe. She wanted to duck but was afraid his eyes would catch her movement even through the tinted glass. Finally, after an eternity, he looked away, and she relaxed.
They began to talk animatedly about something, and Ruby wanted to know what they were saying. She cracked the window open, but she was too far away to make anything out. Dammit.
She picked up her video camera and began filming them through the window again. If she couldn’t hear them, at least she could tape them. They talked for several more minutes, and then Sean’s brother took the bracelet and went inside the house, while Sean turned on the lawn mower.
He
mowed the grass, but his singing and whistling and smiling from earlier was gone. He did a shoddy job. He ran into flower beds, and he kept missing sections and redoing parts he’d already mowed.
When he was about half finished, the battery died on the video camera, so she reached for her Canon again and took another thousand or so pictures of Sean mowing the lawn. She could hardly believe her luck. She had more pictures than she knew what to do with, and a nice long videotape that she could watch however many times she wanted. There was no one to stop her.
When he finished the yard, he put the lawn mower away and went inside without a backward glance.
It was almost 12:15. She’d stayed up past one a.m. and had finished both her drawings and her inking last night. Today was her scanning day—her easiest day, so she could afford to take some more time off now.
She would go home, look through her photos, and pick out her favorites to print. She needed to drive at least an hour away and print them off at some random drugstore. By avoiding Kamata and Calua, she would almost certainly not run into someone who knew Sean. It would probably be safe to print them off in town—those photo kiosks were anonymous. Still, this area was geographically small, and he’d grown up here. There was too much of a chance that someone who knew him would walk behind her at the kiosk when she was choosing pictures. She couldn’t take that chance.
She’d drive to Bookerton, she decided, a little town about an hour south of Kamata. She couldn’t afford to mess this up. This was her life—her future—that she was gambling with.
▬▬▬
When Ruby was finished printing all three hundred seventeen of her favorite pictures, she collected her receipt and her SIM card from the kiosk and paid. It wasn’t until she had the photo envelopes tucked safely inside of her big purse that she finally allowed herself to relax. She did a quick little jig in the aisle. She was safe.
Drawn To You: A Psychological thriller Page 8
