Drawn To You: A Psychological thriller

by Ren Montgomery

  “Flattering me won’t work,” Hilary said, looking even more annoyed now. “Again, why are you dressed like that? Why do you have a picnic basket? Are you ever going to tell me your plan?”

  Ruby told her. When she was finished, Hilary’s mood had improved. “You’re so brave. That might actually work!”

  “It’ll work, I know it will! But I need to borrow your cell phone.”

  “It’s yours, but it’s at thirty-eight percent. I just hope you’re right. So, can I go now? Because I’m starved. You should have told me to bring a book and a snack.”

  “I guess,” Ruby said, taken aback. “But I planned to ride with you to the police station after. This shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes. Please wait.”

  “Okay,” Hilary said. She appeared to have gotten a second wind. “I have to find out how this turns out.”

  ▬▬▬

  Ruby put her cell phone in the right pocket of the loose, blue overalls she wore with only a white tube top underneath. She started a voice memo on Hilary’s cell phone and put it in her left pocket before she opened the door of Hilary’s van. She needed to go in, get what she needed quickly, and get out. She put on a long cardigan and big sunglasses, to cover her bruises and her black eye that no amount of makeup completely covered, placed her picnic basket over her arm, and closed the door. Hilary gave her the thumbs up signal.

  She turned, forced a jaunty cheerfulness into her walk, ignoring her multiple aches and pains, and started towards his office. “You can do this.” she said out loud, starting to believe that she could.

  She breezed through the front door confidently, marched up to the receptionist’s desk, smacked the basket down, and threw her a big grin.

  The receptionist put her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone she was talking on and said, pleasantly, “May I help you?”

  “Yes. I’ve come to surprise my boyfriend Jeremy Van der Wyden with a picnic lunch. Is he in?”

  The receptionist glanced quickly at the clock on the wall and Ruby forced a chuckle. “I know. It is a bit late for lunch. I hope this isn’t an inconvenient time?”

  “Could you hold for a moment?” the woman asked the caller and pressed the mute button. “I believe he’s with a client right now, but he should be finishing up soon. You’re welcome to wait though, Miss…?”

  She didn’t have time to wait! She took a step closer to the desk. “Deardon. Ruby Deardon. All I need is two minutes of his time.” She lowered her voice. “We had an argument this morning, and I wanted to give him this peace offering.”

  “How lovely,” the woman said, and smiled. “If you’ll take a seat, I’ll let him know you’re waiting.”

  “Thanks.” Ruby sat down reluctantly.

  She heard the woman buzz the intercom and tell Jeremy she was here. Less than fifteen seconds later he came barreling around the corner and into the front office. He stopped about ten feet away, staring at her, looking frightened. Ruby felt powerful as she realized that he hadn’t considered that she might come to his office.

  “What’re you doing here?” he asked, his gaze darting from Ruby to the receptionist and back again.

  Ruby reached down and set the picnic basket in her lap. She was hot, and she wanted to take her jacket off. “I felt badly about our little spat, so I brought you this picnic lunch to make up.” Please don’t let him ask how she’d found out where he worked. She stood. “But if you’re too busy…” she deliberately trailed off.

  His face lit up. “No, I’m not too busy!” he turned towards the receptionist. “Nora, have you met my girlfriend Ruby?”

  Nora put the phone into the crook of her neck, leaned over, and touched Ruby’s fingers briefly. “Pleasure,” she murmured, before going back to her conversation.

  “Come back to my office,” Jeremy said. He put his hand on the small of her back and began guiding her down the hallway behind the receptionist’s desk.

  “Don’t you have clients in your office?” Her stomach felt queasy, and she was sweating now. They passed three offices, two with open doors and people inside. Good. The more witnesses the better.

  “Nah. I was just helping a colleague with a zoning question. I’m free to take a break. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.” He gave her a lecherous smile as he opened his office door.

  She searched his office with her eyes, looking for either his briefcase or the tape itself. His briefcase was on his desk, but it was closed. However, his cell phone was also on the desk, charging. She smiled as she recognized his red and black phone case.

  “Have a seat,” he said, gesturing at some chairs by the door. She sat. He started to close it, but she stopped him. “Oh don’t. I need the cross breeze. It’s so stuffy in here.” She fanned herself to emphasize the point.

  “I know! This stupid place is always either an oven or a freezer. Nobody listens to me.” He took the basket from her, sat down in his chair, and rolled away from his drafting table and over to behind his desk. He wiggled his fingers above the lid on the picnic basket. “So, what goodies do we have here?”

  “I thought we’d talk first.” She reached out and stopped him from opening the basket. “We need to clear the air.”

  He leaned back and crossed his arms, a storm gathering on his face. “…Clear the air about what?”

  She took a deep breath, clenched her hands into fists to keep him from seeing them shake, and practically yelled, “About how you broke into my house last night, stole a private tape of me and my real boyfriend making love, beat me up, held me hostage, and sexually assaulted me!”

  “Keep your voice down!” He leapt up and barged around the desk towards the door. She knew he was going to shut it so his coworkers couldn’t hear them, so she popped up and blocked it with her body.

  “No!” she shouted. “Sit down! Unless you want your entire office to know what you did.”

  “No one will believe you.” But Ruby could see the fear in his eyes.

  She took her sunglasses off, reached inside her sweater pocket, pulled out a small Ziploc baggie and showed it to him. She had his full attention. Theatrically, she opened the bag, pulled out a warm, damp washcloth, and quickly scrubbed it over her eyes and cheek where he’d hit her. She held it up so he could see that it was smeared with her heavy make-up.

  “Hey!” he said, but she wiped her face and neck again for good measure before tucking the dirty cloth back in her pocket and taking off her sweater. She had practiced this once at home and she knew her bruises were now in full view.

  “You don’t think so?”

  His face flushed deep red. “I don’t have time for this nonsense.”

  She rocked back on her heels and yelled out the door, “Nonsense? Sexual assault is nonsense? Really? I wonder what your boss thinks? Or your coworkers?”

  “If you’d just close the door, we could discuss this rationally,” he said. He took a menacing step towards her, and she stepped almost completely into the hallway.

  “Sit down,” she said. “You don’t scare me, you pathetic, slimy, deranged…incel!”

  It felt so good to scream at him that she didn’t want to stop. His face was crimson and the menace coming off him was palpable.

  He went around, sat behind his desk again, and opened his top drawer. “You’ve made a mistake. A big mistake,” he said.

  He pulled her tape out of his desk drawer, and her heart sang as she recognized her own writing on the front. “Obviously, you forgot I had this,” he said, holding it up like a prize. “As soon as you’re gone, I’m releasing it. So, vent away, bitch. I can take it.”

  “Thank you, I will.” She took a seat. “I didn’t forget about my tape; I came here to get it back. I actually wasn’t certain you’d brought it. Thanks for showing me. I’ll just take it and go.”

  He forced a laugh. “Nice try.”

  She pulled out her cell phone. “Give it to me, or I’m calling the police right now, and telling them how you broke into my house, beat me up, then forced me
to suck your dick—”

  “What?” His expression was one of disbelief. “I didn’t force you to do anything. You wanted it!”

  “That must be why I vomited after. Because I wanted it so badly. You forced me, and I have

  the bruises to prove it.” She turned her neck this way and that so he could see, and his face darkened further. “You forced me on an answering machine, mind you, which I can get, if I have to, for the police. Stop lying and gimme my fucking tape!”

  He stared blankly at her, and she continued, “And after I’ve told the police all of that, then I’ll tell ‘em that you stole a tape of me having consensual sex with my boyfriend, and you’re blackmailing me with it. Blackmail’s another crime.” She ticked them off on her fingers and shook her head. “Wow. Just racking up the felonies, aren’t ya?” She didn’t give him time to answer. “Then I’ll tell them that the tape is here. Which I know, because you just showed it to me, and you’re refusing to give me back my property. So gimme my frigging tape.”

  “I’m going to kill you.”

  The hairs on her neck stood up. “Thank you for that too. That was an unexpected bonus. Keep talking.” She patted her pocket. “Keep digging your own grave.”

  “What? You’re not…are you taping this? Fuck!”

  “Is everything okay in here?” She turned. A man stood timidly in the doorway. He was slight and balding, and making placating gestures with his hands. She saw faces peering at them from the other offices too. Good.

  Jeremy smiled wide, though Ruby noticed that he was sweating so profusely that he had rings around his underarms. “It’s fine. Fine Alan. Just a little disagreement. A lover’s quarrel. I’m sorry if we were too loud. Come on in Honey,” he said. “Let’s close the door so all these nice people can get back to work.”

  Ruby ignored him. She turned her head so Alan could get a good look at the bruised side of her face. “Lover’s quarrel. What a nice way to describe this,” she said, pointing.

  “This isn’t what it looks like,” Jeremy interjected. “She’s just clumsy. Right Sweetie?”

  “Why do you think I’d lie to protect you?” she asked. Jeremy stood and reached for her arm, and she stumbled to her feet, shrieking, “Don’t hit me!” She was startled when she realized she wasn’t acting anymore.

  His face drained of color. “Hit you? Come on, Honey. Be serious.” He looked at Alan, chuckled, and said, “This is just some huge misunderstanding, I promise you. You’ll see.” Then he turned his pleading towards Ruby. “Can’t we work this out?”

  Ruby blinked slowly. “That’s up to you, Hon. Do I get what I want?” She casually patted the pocket with Hilary’s cell phone inside. “Or do I tell everyone, including the police, what really happened?

  Alan put his hand on her arm gently and said, “Look. I’m sure we can—”

  She shook him off. “We can’t do anything. I’m speaking with Jeremy, not you.” She again showed Jeremy her phone. “I’m getting tired of waiting,” she said, parroting back to him his own words from that morning. “What’s it gonna be?”

  Alan stepped out of the room muttering something about security.

  Jeremy looked like he’d like to leap over his desk and kill her right there. Only then did Ruby question her decision to treat Alan so rudely. If Jeremy started something, would Alan still step in? …Maybe? But, if not, someone else would…hopefully.

  Jeremy’s face brightened. “If you bring the police here, they’re going to take the tape and watch it as proof. Think about it. All those cops watching you guys goin’ at it…”

  She shrugged. “That’s a hell of a lot better scenario than what you’ve got planned for it. Give it here. Now!”

  He looked desperate. “If I do, then I expect an assurance from you that you won’t go to the police. We’ll just call it even. Okay?”

  What balls he had! Here he was trying to cut a deal with her, and he had no power anymore! Of course, she was going to the police. She’d be stupid not to.

  Though, it would be better if he gave up the tape willingly. Otherwise, he was right about the police watching her tape. She shrugged. “Gimme what I want, and we’re even.”

  He picked up the tape, hesitated, and chucked it at her head. She ducked just in time and made sure to scream extra loud for their audience. She bent to pick it up without taking her eyes off him. Once she made sure it was the right tape, she pushed it deep into the front pocket on her overalls and put her hand over it to protect it. “You fat fuck. All deals are off now.”

  “I’m not fat anymore!” he wailed. Then he lowered his voice, though he couldn’t control the quiver. “This isn’t over. I made copies of that tape!”

  For a moment she was unsure. Did he really have copies? Hilary probably hadn’t watched him as carefully as she could have…

  “I stopped off on the way to work today and made them. I can still hurt you.”

  She was safe. Ruby walked on shaky legs towards his desk and grabbed her picnic basket back. Why let him keep it? It had been a Christmas present from Simon, so it was expensive, and she wanted to use it someday with Sean. “A friend of mine followed you this morning, stupid, and my, my, they must have forgotten to mention your little stop to copy my tape.” She put her sweater back on.

  His face was a thunderhead.

  “Go ahead and release anything you might have,” she said. “I give it to you. A gift to remember me by. Enjoy.” Quick as a cat she grabbed his phone, yanked it out of the charger and scrambled backwards out of his reach.

  He was on his feet in an instant, face murderous, but he didn’t come around the desk. “Hey! That’s mine!”

  She backed towards the door and dropped both phones in her pocket. “Mine,” she snarled, showing him her teeth.

  “You bitch,” he whispered. “You treacherous, two-faced bitch.”

  She paused at his door, unable to resist one last dig. “Don’t you forget it. And next time you have to force a woman to suck your dick, take a bath first. You reek.” She stalked out, slamming the door so hard the pictures hanging in the hallway swung.

  She was hurrying down the hall ignoring the stares when she heard a crash as Jeremy threw something against the wall. A security guard came towards her, his hand on the butt of his gun. Ruby paused. All she needed now was to get shot by some gung-ho, pseudo-cop. And she had stolen Jeremy’s cell…She needed to beat a hasty retreat.

  “Is everything—”

  “I’m fine.” She jerked her head towards Jeremy’s door. “But he’s not. Don’t worry though, the police will be here soon to take care of him.” She started walking again.

  The security guard grabbed her arm and she winced. “You’re coming with me. We need to have a little talk.”

  She jerked her arm away. “Careful, that’s assault, Mr. Rent-A-Cop. You have no authority to make me go anywhere with you. Talk to the real police when they arrive.”

  The guard looked from her bruised face to Jeremy’s office where crashes and thumps were ongoing and started that way. “Don’t worry. I’ll see myself out,” she called, and left the building.

  She waved the tape at Hilary in victory and kissed it. Later, she planned to run over it, as well as his tower, his laptop and his cell with the car, cut the tape into pieces, and piece everything out into different dumpsters and trash cans around town. Life was good again.

  Then she heard the sirens. She broke into a shaky run, climbed into the van, and screamed, “Go, go!” Ruby lay on the floor in the back seat so she couldn’t be seen through the windows, as Hilary peeled out and drove away.

  CHAPTER 33

  Sean kept repeating, “I don’t believe this! All this happened to you last night? After you left here?”

  “Yeah. It’s been…a lot,” Ruby said, staring at her cell, which was on speaker. What an understatement.

  The police station had been one humiliation after another. She’d been granted a seven-day Emergency Protective Order against Jeremy, who had been ar
rested. Afterwards, detectives had descended on her house, photographed the destruction, and bagged up her discarded clothes as evidence. She denied stealing Jeremy’s cell phone and he couldn’t prove it, but she could, and did, prove her accusations. The police had been especially interested in her doorbell camera footage of him tackling her and kicking her last night. They had chided her for destroying her own sex tape. It hurt her case, apparently, but she didn’t regret it. She wasn’t going to tell Sean about it, but at least if he ever found out, she had a police report on which she’d specifically blamed Jeremy. She’d told them that Jeremy had taped them without their knowledge.

  After the police had left, Ruby couldn’t even look at her beloved writing chair anymore, so Hilary had set it out by the road for pickup, and had helped her sanitize everything. …She shuddered, wishing she’d gotten to witness Jeremy being led away in handcuffs. She savored the mental image.

  “…uby?”

  “Huh?”

  “Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve stayed home and gone to the police station with you.”

  She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t exactly tell him what she’d been doing all day. “I’ve been in shock, I think.”

  “You don’t have to go through everything alone anymore.”

  Her eyes misted up. “Thanks,” she said, in a thick voice.

  “You can’t stay there. You’re going to pack a bag and stay with me.” Her heart soared before he ruined it by saying, “At least until my parents get home on Monday.

  “I’d love to, but I already told Hilary I’d stay with her tonight,” she said. They were party prepping. “Can I stay with you tomorrow? I’m afraid to be alone. It’s silly—”

  “It’s not silly at all,” Sean said. “He’ll be out on bail soon. You need to get a restraining order.”

  Ruby wasn’t entirely convinced. It was only a piece of paper. She thought she had a better chance of stopping him with a bullet. “I sort of already have one. Today, the police granted me an emergency one, but do you really think he’ll get bail? I mean, the charges are serious. Assault and battery, stalking, breaking and entering, criminal mischief, kidnapping, sexual assaul—” she stopped herself too late. She hadn’t told him everything.