“Mommy’s waiting,” Sean said to Danny. “Say good-bye to Ruby.”
“Bye, Ruby,” Danny said, waving his little hand.
She blew him a kiss. “Bye, Bye Dan the Man. Happy New Year’s.” Then it came to her. “You’re coming back, aren’t you?” she said to Sean.
He didn’t turn around. “I was going to, but I’m exhausted. I think I’ll just go home to bed. But I’ll still pick you up on the fourth for your ultrasound like I promised. Two o’clock, right?”
She wasn’t going to see him for four days? That didn’t work for her. She caught his arm. “You promised we’d spend New Year’s together! Please, come back when you’re done,” she begged. “Please.” He had to come back. He had to.
He half turned and nodded, his gaze so remote she found it hard to remember how much fun they used to have together.
Her boys left.
She wondered, not for the first time, if she’d wake up the day Millie and Danny were moving to Ohio to find that Sean had moved with them. Single motherhood was not in her plans. Sean leaving was a remote possibility, but a possibility all the same. And his parents would back him and fund him because they loathed her.
Ruby leaned out the door and watched Sean climbing into his car. It was already full dark. She would try once more. “Hon!” she called.
He turned back towards her and raised an eyebrow at the endearment, which she had recently stopped using as he never reciprocated.
“Remember to put Danny in his car seat.”
He gestured at the car. “He’s in his car seat.”
She shivered. “Lots of drunks out on the road tonight. Make sure he’s strapped in snug. Promise me. Tell Millicent too, would you? In case she goes out.”
“Okay.” He stared at her but, was unnerved enough that he took off his seatbelt, walked around the car and adjusted Danny’s straps, pulling them tighter.
He stood and slammed the door. “See ya in a couple hours.”
She waved until they were out of sight, then stood on her deck looking up at the moon for a long time.
Finally, she turned and went back inside.
Que Sera, Sera.
January 1st, 12:27 am
Ruby slid Sean’s head off her lap and slowly stood up. He was deeply asleep.
Good. The drugs were working.
She put a pillow underneath his head and covered him with the afghan from the back of the couch. She gently brushed a lock of loose hair off his face and sighed heavily. According to her original timetable, he was supposed to have proposed tonight. He hadn’t though—he wasn’t even close. She doubted he even considered them a couple again.
He’d never move past this. At least, not without a little push.
He refused to move in with her, though she’d just closed on their dream house in Trinidad. She’d hoped the house would work as bait to keep him in California, but she was moving in there by herself next week.
Fuck this shit, she was nobody’s Baby Mama. She wanted to be his wife, and he was being awfully stubborn. He definitely needed a push, so she was giving him one.
A big one.
Tonight.
She turned off the TV, silencing the jarring New Year’s celebration, and ran a hand over her tummy. When would she start showing? Her lower stomach felt hard, but her clothes still fit, though maybe a bit tighter. So far, she’d had no morning sickness, she’d felt no movement…she couldn’t wait to get an ultrasound picture, to finally have tangible proof.
She touched the latex gloves in her coat pocket, but decided to put them on later. She’d wait until she actually stole the car. She went into the bathroom and put on the curly red wig she’d bought for Halloween, her fake baby bump from two years ago, when she’d gone as Rosemary Woodhouse, and platform boots. She finished the look with a pair of glasses with clear lenses. She was transformed. Even Sean wouldn’t recognize her.
She passed the couch and realized Sean was awful quiet. Too quiet. Was he breathing? She slapped her hand on his chest and kept it there until she felt his chest rise and fall. Relax. He’d be fine. Nothing had happened the last time she’d drugged him, and this time, Danny wasn’t here to mess things up.
She grabbed her keys and Sean’s cell phone and left the house.
▬▬▬
Ruby drove the stolen, blue, SUV to a gas station she’d picked out earlier. It was less than two blocks from Sean’s parent’s house, and she could drive that distance in just over a minute. She’d timed it.
This gas station was nestled between a pasture and an empty warehouse, and it was closed. The streets were deserted, it was pitch black out, and there were storm clouds moving across the sky. The streets were shiny from the earlier rain. Ruby should’ve been spooked, but she couldn’t afford such flights of fancy tonight.
She got out and jumped around for a moment, dodging puddles and hyping herself up. There was no turning back. It was go time.
She dialed Sean’s mom’s number on her new disposable phone. Janice answered loudly, on the fourth ring. “Heppy news nears! News years…new years! Hello!”
She was drunk! How perfect! “Hello, I’m trying to reach Janice or Walter Chaplin?” she said, pitching her voice higher and attempting a New England accent.
Wariness entered Janice’s voice. “This is Janice. Whad’ya want?”
“This is Dr. Ramona Getty. I work in the emergency room at Kamata General Hospital.” Janice gasped, and Ruby pressed on quickly. “Do you have a son named Sean Chaplin?”
“Sean is my son!”
“There’s been an accident. You need to come down to the hospital—”
“What kind of accident? Is he okay?” Janice said shrilly.
“Just come down to the hospital,” Ruby repeated.
“Please,” Janice begged, sounding stone sober. “Is my son okay? Is Sean…dead?” Her voice broke.
Ruby hesitated. “No.”
“Thank goodness!”
Ruby decided to turn the screws. “Not yet. Life Flight’s on the way to transfer him to Sutter Coast, the nearest Level Four Trauma Hospital, up in Oregon. If he survives the trip—”
Sean’s mom started wailing. “If? Noooo! Not my baby, not my Seanie! How could—he’s only thirty! That’s too young! Noooo—”
She heard Sean’s dad say in his no-nonsense voice, “What has happened?”
Janice babbled, “This doctor, from the hospital, says Seanie’s in critical condition—from an accident. He’s being helicoptered to this trauma hospital in Oregon, and he could die on the way!”
“Is that the hospital?” Sean’s father said. He must have grabbed the phone away because he was suddenly there. “Hello. What has happened?”
“This is Dr. Getty from Kamata General.” She didn’t give him time to speak. “I’m sorry to deliver such bad news,” Ruby said. “But Sean’s been involved in a horrible car accident. Alcohol was involved. We weren’t sure of his religious affiliations, so the priest is here to administer last rights. He has massive internal injuries, and there’s a helicopter on the way to take him to Sutter Coast. Sean’s barely conscious, but he’s asking for you and—”
“My son? My son is…dying?” Walter choked out. “I cannot believe it.”
“Hurry, or you won’t beat the helicopter. He could die in the air. He’s also asking for some people named Millicent and Danny? But I don’t have their phone numbers, and he was rambling on about her car being in the shop, so you’ll have to pick them up before you come.”
“Danny! Oh, my goodness—I’ll take care of it.” She knew he was about to hang up.
“Wait!”
“Young lady, I must go! He is dying!” His voice broke, and it was the first time Ruby had ever heard his father lose his composure.
“He’s also asking for his fiancé, Ruby—”
“He has no fiancé,” Walter snapped. “And I would no more call that woman than—”
“Gimme the phone Wally,” Janice said. “We’re hanging
up now,” Janice said. “Tell Seanie to hang on. His family’s coming.”
Ruby narrowed her eyes. “He said Ruby was the mother of his child—”
She was talking to air as Janice had hung up.
Stupid ass. Ruby allowed herself a quick smile before she sprinted to the car and got in, making sure she was safely belted in. Sean’s cell phone, which was in her coat pocket, began to ring immediately but she silenced it. She flew over to Janice and Walter’s and barely made it.
As she turned onto their street, they came charging out of their house, housecoats flying. Walter was yelling into a cell phone as they climbed into the Bronco, with Janice behind the wheel. The cell phone gave her pause. Please let him be calling Millicent and not the extended family or the real hospital. Otherwise, things would get…complicated.
Ruby was forced to drive past them, so as not to look suspicious. Well, she knew where they were headed. She’d catch them again at Millicent’s.
She sped to Millicent’s house and parked two houses down. As expected, a minute later the Bronco came careening down the street. It just missed a parked car before Janice stopped, with a squeal of tires, in the middle of the street in front of Millicent’s house and laid on the horn.
Ruby grinned. Slick roads, drunk woman…could it be any more perfect?
Millicent’s front door opened and she jogged out, carrying Danny’s empty car seat.
…Interesting. Her warning to Sean had obviously penetrated.
Janice got out, gesturing wildly. Ruby cracked her window and heard her yelling, “Where’s Danny? We gotta go!”
Millicent hurried towards the vehicle. “I have to put his seat in. He’s asleep on the couch.” She sounded stressed, but she wasn’t crying. And supposedly, she still loved Sean.
“We don’t have time for this!” Janice snarled. “He’s dying! Hurry up!” She broke down in sobs and covered her face with her hands.
Millicent said something quiet to Janice, opened the back door, and strapped the seat in. Walter climbed out of the passenger seat and shuffled into the house like a zombie, no expression on his face.
Millicent climbed out of the back seat as Walter came out of the house carrying Danny, who was dressed in Christmas, footy pajamas. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He had one arm around his grandpa’s neck, and Walter was openly weeping.
Walter strapped Danny in, while Millicent put her arms around Janice, who leaned against the car sobbing. Janice wrapped her arms around Millicent and hung on, and they rocked together for a moment.
Ruby realized that if Sean were really dying, she would be the odd man out in the hospital waiting room. These people would circle the wagons when she should rightfully be the one comforting and being comforted by Sean’s family. Not his ex-wife. Where was the justice?
They all clambered inside and Ruby heard three doors slam, before they roared off down the street. She followed at a safe distance until they hit the wet, deserted highway.
She had exactly 6.4 miles to work with.
She waited until Janice was doing eighty and hugging the center line, before she made her move. She tailgated them, threw on her brights, and moved into the lane beside them as if to pass. Instead, she suddenly jerked the wheel to the right and smashed them right behind their back door before jerking it back again. A perfect PIT maneuver.
She had expected her airbag to deploy but it didn’t. She braked hard as the Bronco immediately turned ninety degrees to the left and spun across her lane in front of her. She caught a glimpse of Janice’s panicked face and had to swerve hard to avoid crashing into their vehicle. Then they were behind her, and Ruby heard a loud crash, but she was fishtailing on the slick blacktop and concentrating hard. She finally seized control, accelerating away from the accident.
She looked in her rearview window, surprised to see that the Bronco had somehow jumped the center divider and flipped all the way across the deserted southbound side of the highway, before smashing into a solid concrete utility pole, which stopped it.
She was shaking. She forced herself to loosen her grip on the wheel. Okay. The baby was probably okay, right? She patted her lower stomach. She felt fine…and those people had to be dead. Didn’t they? The impact had been enormous, and she was certain the adults, at least, hadn’t been wearing seat belts. But even if they had, they probably still would have died. Right? Utility poles had no give to them.
That pole was unfortunate…but she’d flat out told Sean to leave Danny at her house. Begged him, even.
He really should have listened to her.
She wanted to go check to make sure the adults were dead. But of course, she couldn’t. Anyway, the police were bound to find the Bronco soon, and she had to be long gone before they did. She was just lucky she hadn’t already been caught. The fates were with her.
She got off at the exit for the hospital and quickly surveyed the damage to the vehicle. There was a large-ish dent on the passenger side bumper, and it was missing a long scrape of paint, but otherwise it was fine. Hopefully, the real owner would be so drunk when he noticed the damage, he’d think he did it himself, in some forgotten accident. As long as this wasn’t traced back to her, she didn’t care.
She got back on the highway, heading south back towards Kamata, biting her lip as she neared the accident site, which was on her side of the road. There were no flashing lights, so the police weren’t there yet, but it had happened less than ten minutes ago. She needed to be careful.
She slowed down and played Lookie-Loo like anyone would. The Bronco was a crumpled mess, and she could see a huge, bloody hole in the windshield on the passenger side. A car was parked beside it on the shoulder, and a woman was talking excitedly on a cell phone, probably summoning an ambulance. She could see a man peering into the wreckage, and a body lay some distance away from the crash. From its shape, it looked like Sean’s dad. She shuddered.
Ruby carefully drove the SUV back but was unable to get the exact same parking space on the street. She parked it nearby and called it good. It probably hadn’t been reported stolen yet. She carefully wiped it down, though she’d worn gloves, and walked away.
She had mace in her hand in her pocket as she walked the four dark blocks back to her own car. She really could not afford to get mugged right now.
She waited until she was a block away from her car before she took off her glasses and her gloves and tossed them into an overfull trashcan. Her wig went into the next one, and she waited until she was back in her own car before she took off the baby bump. She tossed that into a dumpster on the way home.
She couldn’t stop shaking. If anyone survived that crash…well, honestly, she’d covered her tracks pretty well, but it would be better for her if the adults died. It was such a small thing to ask.
▬▬▬
Sean was still fast asleep on her couch. He was breathing deeply, but his pulse was steady. She took a quick shower and blew her hair dry before changing into flannel pajamas. She went and got a pillow and blanket from her room, pulled a recliner over near Sean, and made herself a nice nest. She erased his mom’s message off his phone without listening to it, made sure his ringer was on, and plugged his phone in beside the couch. She kissed his forehead, then lay on her chair beside her one true love, trying to sleep.
An hour passed. Then another. Ruby dozed. Eventually, Nick’s ringtone sounded, but Sean didn’t stir. Sean’s phone went off eleven more times before she managed to wake him up. She refused to take this call herself—Sean’s brother was her nemesis.
She shook Sean relentlessly and yelled right in his ear, “Sean! Nick’s calling and calling. It might be important. Wake up! Answer the phone! Sean!”
“My head,” Sean finally said, smacking his lips. “I’m up. Please stop. …I said stop! I’m gonna blow chunks!” He fumbled his phone, and it hit the floor with a thump. Two seconds later, it went off again, this time with his sister’s ringtone. His eyes still closed, Sean blindly patted the floor until he found it and ra
ised it to his ear. “…Imogen?”
Ruby sat, lay back in her recliner bed, and fixed her face. She was ready for her new role. She would be the strong one. Sean’s rock of Gibraltar. She would guide him through this senseless tragedy, until he trusted her again. They’d be married before she knew it. Easy as pie.
Beside her, Sean began to scream.
REN MONTGOMERY
I live in paradise with my husband, some of our children and a whole lotta animals.
…Just the way I like it.
So far, I’ve written a horror novel (HAUNT), and this psychological suspense novel
(DRAWN TO YOU). I’m currently working on a cozy mystery series featuring time
travel, and another psychological suspense novel set in the nineties. I hope to publish
the lot throughout 2022. After that, I want to write a story about monsters.
Stay tuned!
▬▬▬
Please visit my website at www.renmontgomery.com.
If you join my list,
I’ll send youa FREE short story!
▬▬▬
And finally, thank you for reading DRAWN TO YOU. If you liked it, would you
please take a moment to write up a review and leave it on Amazon, and/or goodreads?
I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
Drawn To You: A Psychological thriller Page 44
