Ruby paused in the doorway and took in the cozy scene. Their beautiful son, only three but already a genius, and her husband, making her breakfast. They were a happy family, and this was their house…and then Danny looked up and she noticed for the first time that he had Millicent’s nose, and Chloe barked, and the ugly, countrified kitchen intruded, and her fantasy was spoiled.
Sean turned around and grinned. “Happy Birthday, Sleepyhead!”
Her birthday! Oh no! How could she have forgotten? But actually, this might work even better…
“Hope you’re hungry because we’ve made enough for an army. Right, Buddy?”
Danny nodded.
“I’m starved,” Ruby admitted. Sean stepped back, leaned over, and kissed her. “How’s your headache?”
“Much better.” He turned back to his griddle, and she sat at the table beside Danny, wondering what she could possibly talk to him about. It was important that he like her, especially after last night’s fiasco. She needed to be this kid’s best friend.
Sean must have sensed her discomfort because he prompted, “Danny, why don’t you give Ruby that picture you colored for her.”
Danny’s eyes lit up, and he flipped through his coloring book until he came to a picture of a cowboy on a horse that he’d scribbled all over with a scarlet crayon. He tore it out, managing to rip it in half in the process, and handed it over with a flourish.
“Oh, thank you! Did you make this yourself?” When he nodded, she said, “I love it. You’ve got a great sense of color. I’ll hang it on my fridge, soon as I get home!”
She would too. It’d hang there until Danny turned eighteen if it impressed Sean at all.
Breakfast was delicious, and she spent her time pretending to be enchanted with Danny’s non-stop chatter.
Before she left, she managed to sneak into the living room and change the batteries again in her radio, which was still safely hidden under the couch. Sean was picking his parents up at the airport soon, and she wanted to hear what he said about her. …Too bad she couldn’t bug his car. …No. There was no way.
She had some things to take care of before she set the rest of her plan into motion. Basically, it was just busy work while she got her nerve up, but it was all important stuff, though only some of the things needed to be done today.
First, she drove home and emptied her safe. Then she drove to Calua, rented a safe deposit box at a bank she’d never banked with, and stuffed it full of everything from her home safe, as well as her MacBook and her iPhone. She put the key in her pocket and made a mental note to hide it under a rock somewhere safe until everything blew over.
Next, she drove to the courthouse, completed the forms for a Temporary Restraining Order, and turned them in.
“The judge will look this over and decide today whether to grant you one or not,” Tisha, the bored clerk told her. “Because you already have an Emergency Order, I’m sure you’ll get the TRO.”
“I hope you’re right,” Ruby said, turning the bruised side of her face towards the woman, who winced. “Maybe this will keep that animal away from me.”
When she was done, she drove across town to the Apple store and bought a new MacBook Pro—which she’d had her eye on for a year, and a new iPhone. She got the same lavender phone Hilary had, though with a prettier, flowered case. Happy Birthday to her! Her old phone wasn’t backed up by the Cloud—she had never trusted the Cloud, thank goodness—so she left the store with the same number, but a brand new, empty phone.
She added Sean and Hilary only back to her contacts list, and added Jeremy’s cell phone number and his Shiloh Hill number back into her notes. She drove to Walmart, where she paid cash for another disposable phone with forty free hours on it.
Then she went to the library, where she went on one of their computers and activated the phone, registering it to a fake name and her spam email address.
She thought briefly about going home and shuddered. It was too beautiful a day to spoil just yet. She’d stall a bit longer.
She drove back to Kamata and went to the CVS, grabbed a cart, passed the magazines, and snagged her gaze on a bridal magazine.
She looked around furtively before snatching it up, marveling at its weight. This thing had to be at least six pounds.
She couldn’t resist its pull and placed it in her cart. She hoped to be engaged soon, so she needed to start thinking about their wedding. Luckily, she’d already found the perfect church. It was in Trinidad, a tiny town north of Kamata that was built along huge cliffs overlooking the ocean. She’d wanted to buy a house there ever since college. They all had views to die for.
Years ago, she’d noticed a little white church on a bluff overlooking the ocean, and she’d just known that was where she would finally marry Sean. She hoped he agreed with her on the location, but how could he not? It was literally picture perfect.
She skimmed the covers of the books. She read romances by the dozen, so she usually bought old ones from the used bookstore, and new ones on her Kindle, but she didn’t feel like making another stop.
She eventually placed two in her cart and one in her pocket. She hoped she got a chance to read all three, but that would depend on what happened later.
She rolled her cart over to the feminine hygiene section and rifled through the pregnancy tests. She finally settled on the kind with the stick you peed on because it looked the easiest, and when the time came, she wanted to know for sure. She tossed in two tests just in case.
She spent at least ten minutes reading the backs of all the ovulation predictor tests before finally choosing the most expensive of the lot. The last one she’d bought had not been user friendly, and she wanted to know, no ands, ifs or buts about it, when was the perfect day to get pregnant.
She chose lambskin condoms, making sure they didn’t contain even a hint of spermicide. When she sabotaged them, she didn’t want Sean’s sperm thwarted by Nonoxynol-9.
The clerk at the checkout line was a pretty brunette about her age, and when Ruby had everything set out on the conveyer belt, the clerk raised an eyebrow and smiled. “What an eclectic bunch you’ve got there,” she said, as she grabbed a romance novel and rang it up. She glanced at the stuff again and chuckled.
“What?”
“It’s just, you’ve got two pregnancy tests and an ovulation test, but you also bought condoms. It just seemed like an odd combination. Like you couldn’t make up your mind or—” She took in Ruby’s glowering face, lowered her gaze, and went back to ringing things up.
The total came to seventy-nine dollars, and Ruby pulled out her debit card to pay, looked up, and saw Sean hurrying through the front door. She smiled with pleasure, about to call him over, when she saw her items through his eyes and panicked.
She looked back at Sean, and he noticed her at the same moment. His eyes lit up and he started towards her.
Ruby automatically punched in her PIN, which was SEAN and had been for the last nine years, as her mind raced through, and rejected possible explanations. She wished the clerk would hurry up and bag her things.
The clerk grabbed up the condoms to put into the bag with the ovulation test, and Ruby said, “No, those are separate. The pregnancy and ovulation tests, and the romance novels go in one bag, the condoms and the magazine in the other,” she explained.
She felt Sean put his arms around her waist and kiss the top of her head, and she leaned back into him and smiled. Man, she liked her life right now. She covered the stolen book in her pocket with her hand so he wouldn’t feel it there. “Hey there Ruby Lou. What’cha buying?” he said.
Ruby Lou. She even liked that when it came from him.
He gazed at her purchases and Ruby felt his body stiffen. She pointed at a bag. “Don’t panic. That bag’s for Hilary. Her hubs is due back from the sea, and she was embarrassed to buy that stuff herself. She’s a big ol’ chicken.”
She felt Sean relax as the clerk finally got everything bagged. He tossed her bags in her cart. “But
who’s the bride magazine for?”
“That’s mine so I can plan our wedding,” she deadpanned.
Sean practically jumped away from the cart, and she forced a laugh. “I kid. Jeez! It’s mine, but I bought it to get some ideas for Shelby and Rick’s wedding. That’s all. Nothing sinister.”
“You had me worried for a moment,” he said. They paused by the cart rack, and she picked up her bags. “What are you doing here anyway? I thought you’d be at the airport?”
“Actually, I just picked them up. They called and—”
Damn! She’d completely forgotten to monitor that radio, and she just knew he’d discussed her with his parents! She tuned back in as he said, “…refills couldn’t wait, so I told her I’d get them. Actually, I know we were going out to dinner later, but my mom wanted me to ask you if you’d like to celebrate your birthday dinner with all of us tonight instead. My mom’s dying to meet you and she’s a fantastic cook! I was going to call you later, but since you’re here…”
She’d most likely be arrested later today, but accepting his invitation might actually help her case… “Sure!” she said. “I’d love to meet your parents. What time should I come by?”
“Oh, around six I guess.”
“Should I bring anything?”
“Just yourself.” He gave her a hug and a kiss, and then cupped her butt. “You wanna wait for me? Maybe get some coffee or something after I’m done? It should only take a minute to pick up her pills.”
Dammit! “I can’t,” she said. She really did need to get started. “I have a few more errands to run, and then I need to work. I’m sorry. But I’ll see you tonight, okay?”
“Okay.” He kissed her again and she deepened it desperately, before they parted. It took all her resolve not to call him back. But if things went her way, she’d soon be safe.
CHAPTER 38
Ruby drove home with her stomach rolling and pitching. Everything had to go perfectly, especially the timing; there was no room for mistakes. And part of it was out of her control.
She pulled over about a mile from her house, took out her disposable phone, and called Jeremy’s Jasmine Drive number, hoping he’d pick up. The last thing she needed was for him to be next door.
Jeremy answered, and she hung up as soon as she recognized his voice. Gotcha.
She parked in her garage, noticing as she drove by it how glaring the word “BITCH!” looked on the side of her house. The paint had run a little in the rain, and it definitely looked like the work of a disturbed mind.
She carried her stuff inside and spent about twenty minutes setting things up. She buried her safe deposit key in her backyard under a distinctive rock beside a fern clump, then went in and made sure the doorbell camera was on, working, and that it wasn’t recording audio. When she was certain, she began rearranging her furniture, pushing her beautiful couch across the room beside the island and replacing it with an old chair she’d had forever and never particularly liked. She brought her step stool out of the coat closet, covered it completely in a large kitchen garbage bag, and placed it beside the front door. She looked around and nodded. It would do.
She did a quick, practice run through to make sure everything worked, and it seemed to. She’d done all she could think of to prepare. Now, it would just take luck.
She dug her cell out of her purse, intent on calling Ben Trumpower to tell him about the graffiti. She saw she had a couple missed calls and voicemails, but she hadn’t heard her phone ring. She looked on the side and it was on silent. She rolled her eyes, suppressing a smile. Looks like the problem had been her all along and not her old phone.
She opened her voicemail and the first was from Jeremy. “I was already abiding by your Emergency Protective Order when I got served with your fucking Temporary Restraining Order. This is overkill. You know I didn’t hurt you or slash your tires, and I won’t go down for it, you lying bitch! You better watch out!”
She saved his message with a big smile. Thank you, Jeremy. Another nail in your coffin.
The second message was from detective Fung from the Calua PD. He wanted her to call him ASAP.
Ruby perched on the edge of the couch chewing her nails. Whatever he wanted, it could not be good. She hoped they hadn’t found her car yet. Then again, it could be something totally innocuous, and if she didn’t call back it would look suspicious. She shook out her hands, rolled her neck, and dialed the number the detective had left.
He answered on the second ring. “Fung.”
She cleared her throat. You can do this! “Hi, this is Ruby Deardon returning your call—”
“Oh yes. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly Miss Deardon.”
“No problem. What’s up?” She hoped it wasn’t about paint chips…
“Your name’s come up again in our investigation, and we’d like you to come on down to the station to answer a few questions,” he said.
Ruby drew in her breath and felt her entire body begin to sweat. “In what way has my name come up again? I already told you what little I know. I can’t help you.” This couldn’t be happening! Not when she was so close!
“We just have a couple of questions,” Fung said.
“…Is this about my car?”
He didn’t answer for a long time, and she gnawed at her torn cuticles until her fingers throbbed. She took them out of her mouth and blew on them. “Yes,” he finally said. “Among other things.”
What other things? Witnesses? Phone records? She sat heavily on the window seat. “You found it then?” She tried to interject just the right note of hope into her voice.
“Found it?”
“My car. My Mini. Has it been recovered?”
“Not that I know of. …Actually, we aren’t investigating the theft of your vehicle, but had it been found, I’m sure we would have been contacted by the Kamata PD. I really need you to come down and talk to us. We can discuss everything here.”
She almost laughed. She didn’t have a lawyer yet, and her answering questions was not in her best interests. She had the right to remain silent, and she was planning to use it.
“Actually, I haven’t had a chance to retain a lawyer yet.”
“We can appoint one for you—”
“I’m sure I don’t qualify for a public defender. Once I find a qualified attorney, if they think it’s a good idea for me to speak with you, then I’ll be happy to come in and answer all of your questions. Okay?”
“Ma’am,” he said in a long-suffering voice. “We have enough to bring you in today. To get a warrant—”
She snorted. They hadn’t found her car yet, so they had nothing. She called his bluff. “And I still wouldn’t answer your questions without a lawyer. So, get your warrant. Come and get me. You know where I live.” She shook her head. “Man…What a sucky birthday I’m having!”
“Um…happy Birthday,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “You wanna know my birthday wish?”
“Ma’am?”
“I wish you police would investigate my neighbor, Jeremy. He’s been stalking me, and my new relationship with Sean Chaplin seems to have set him off. He stole my keys, he’s broken into my house twice, and then my car was stolen out of my yard. Conveniently stolen, I mean.”
“What does that mean? You think he stole your car?” His tone was openly skeptical. She brought her chin up.
“I know he did, and I told the Kamata police that. He’s a maniac. He beat me up and sexually assaulted me a few days ago, and he’s out on bail right now. He’s snuck into my house at least twice, two nights ago he slashed the tires on my boyfriend’s car, and last night, while I was staying at my boyfriend’s house out of fear for my life, he wrote the word ‘bitch’ on the side of my house with red spray paint. That’s what I was about to call the Kamata police about when I found your message—” She realized, suddenly, that she was shouting, and she lowered her voice. “He’s escalating. You guys need to protect me.” She pitched her voice high and scared.
“Please,” she begged. “Please help me.”
“Ma’am, while I sympathize, these are two different cases. Detective Lange and I are investigating the death of Ms. Dabler, not your stalker. It’s not even our jurisdiction. I’d advise you to go on down to the Kamata Sheriff’s Office and file a complaint. Get a restraining order—”
“I already have an Emergency Order and today I filed for a temporary one,” she snarled. “I’ve been to the station, and now I’ve been sexually assaulted, I have ‘bitch’ spray painted on the side of my house, and a new threatening message on my phone!”
“Calm down. Look, how about this. When you come in for questioning, we’ll set up a conference call with Sheriff Orlando in Kamata when we’re finished. I’m sure that between the three of us, we can figure this thing out.”
She stood up. “You’re not listening. Whatever questions you have about my car would be better asked to Jeremy because he’s the one who stole it out of my yard!”
“Ma’am—”
“And stop ma’aming me! He is going to kill me soon, and nobody cares!”
“Ms. Deardon, calm down.”
She started crying and allowed him to hear the defeat in her voice. “I’m not just another statistic! Come and arrest me if you need to. At least I’ll get a break from Jeremy in jail.”
He was silent, and she held her breath and forced herself not to break it.
“Look,” he finally said. “I’ll call the Kamata Sheriff and prod him into sending a detective over to talk to you about this. I’ll try to have a someone there within the hour. Are you safe where you are?”
Ruby let out the breath she’d been holding. An hour would be cutting it close. This whole house of cards she’d built could tumble at any moment. “I think so.” She let her voice quaver.
“I’ll get back to you,” he said and hung up.
Drawn To You: A Psychological thriller Page 36
