by Rickie Blair
“Now,” he said, “why are we calling the police? What have you done, old man?”
“You son of a bitch. How dare you come in here and—”
Oakes’s eyes flashed and his finger tightened on the trigger.
“If you’re talking to me, watch your language. I’m not the one with a body in my freezer.”
Fulton gaped at him. “You set me up,” he said.
Oakes stepped around the chair and smacked the gun against Fulton’s head. Fulton staggered. When he straightened up, blood trickled through his white brush cut and dripped onto his face.
Ruby struggled to breathe, shaking violently as she stared at the gun.
“You set me up,” Oakes said, leveling the weapon at Fulton. “You told me I had a future with your scummy little company. You fucking lied to me.”
Fulton stole a sideways glance at the pistol on his desk and Oakes sneered.
“So you’re gonna shoot me now? That’s not gonna happen, old man. Slide that gun over here.”
Fulton pushed it across the desk and Oakes nodded.
“We’ll leave it there for now, because you’ll need it later when you shoot,” he pointed at Leta, “her.” Oakes grinned and leaned back on his heels.
“Terrell, what are you talking about?” Leta said in a panicked voice. She took a step closer and held out a trembling hand. “Terrell, put the gun down and we can talk about this.”
On the other side of the room Ruby stared, transfixed by Oakes’s twisted expression.
“No, we’re not going to talk about this.” His voice rose. “I know what you and your boss had planned.”
“You’re wrong,” Leta said.
“Am I? I’ve been barred from the office, did you know that? His guards,” he jerked his head at Fulton, “stopped me and said I couldn’t come in. After he told me to get rid of Keller’s body. He makes one call to the cops and I’m screwed.”
Oakes stepped within inches of Fulton’s face.
“You thought you could get rid of me.” He twisted the muzzle of the gun into Fulton’s broken scalp and chuckled as blood ran down his neck. “That’s not going to happen.”
Ruby’s mouth fell slack as she gaped at Oakes, unable to look away.
Fulton raised both hands.
“Terrell, please. There’s been a misunderstanding. I never told anyone to bar you from the office. And if I planned to call the police about Keller, wouldn’t I have done it already? If you want more money, that can be arranged. Put the gun down and we’ll talk. I have a checkbook right here, in my desk. Let me get it.” He twisted away from the gun at his head and bent to open a drawer.
“Stop.”
Fulton froze.
“You think I’m stupid, don’t you? Open your safe and give me the cash. All of it.”
“Terrell—”
“Did you think twenty would be enough to get rid of me?” He jerked his gun at the opposite wall. “Open it.”
Fulton walked to an oil painting on the far side of the room and pulled the frame until the painting swung out to reveal a wall safe. After punching in a code, he opened the safe and slid out a wooden box.
“Open it.”
Fulton twisted a latch and flipped back the top, revealing plastic-wrapped packets of currency.
“Put that on the desk and stand back.”
Fulton’s hands trembled as he set the box down, but his face was neutral. Oakes thrust a hand in the box and rifled through it, keeping the gun trained on Fulton. He nodded and stood back.
“Now, let’s talk about that body in the freezer. You’re a murderous son of a bitch, aren’t you, old man?”
Fulton’s calm demeanor evaporated.
“Don’t be ridiculous. No one will think I’m responsible for that.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. Because when you’re dead—and you will be dead—who’s to say different?”
Ruby’s chest was burning and she could barely breathe. She was only steps from the door, and Oakes was distracted. She could race down the corridor, up the stairs and onto the terrace. He wouldn’t follow her if it meant leaving Fulton alone with the other gun. And if he stopped to pick up Fulton’s gun, or the cash, that would give her the seconds she needed to get away. Mrs. Fulton was on the terrace and she could call the police.
But what if Oakes didn’t stop to pick up the second gun? What if he chased her onto the terrace, where guests sat around the harvest table, drinking wine and laughing? Oakes would burst through the door, gun blazing—Ruby shuddered. She needed a better plan.
She cleared her throat and Oakes turned to look at her. He gave her a puzzled look and then smirked.
“We meet again.”
Behind him, Fulton edged closer to the gun on the desk.
“Terrell, is it?” Ruby said tentatively.
He glared at her.
“Terrell, I don’t know what’s going on here, but it looks to me as if you performed a business service for Mr. Fulton and he paid you for it. At this point, we could all walk away, no harm done.”
Oakes took several steps closer.
“Nobody’s walking away from this except me.” He reached out with the gun. Ruby’s blood ran cold as he dragged the muzzle down her arm. “Besides,” Oakes said, lifting the gun with a smirk, “what about that body in the freezer?”
Fulton was within arm’s reach of the pistol on the desk.
Ruby’s voice wavered.
“I happen to know that man … was a thief. Any one of his victims might have wanted him dead. There’s no reason to think—”
“Terrell, look out!” Leta screamed.
Fulton had grabbed and aimed his gun, but not fast enough. Terrell swiveled and fired twice, hitting him in the chest. The pistol dropped from Fulton’s hand. He looked down at his chest and pawed weakly at the blood sprouting on his shirt. Then he closed his eyes and sank to the floor.
Ruby raced over to Fulton and pressed two fingers to his neck. Should she try to revive him? Judging from the two neat holes in his chest, the lack of a pulse, and his vacant unseeing stare, it would be pointless. Her stomach heaved and she turned her head away.
“Is he dead?” Leta asked, with a hand clasped to her throat.
“Let’s check,” Oakes said. He kicked Fulton in the ribs. Fulton’s body jerked with the blow and a last lungful of air sighed from his lips.
“Yep. He’s a goner.” Oakes slipped his gun under his waistband and bent over to yank a handkerchief from Fulton’s pocket. He wrapped the handkerchief around the grip of Fulton’s pistol before straightening up and aiming it at Leta.
“Too bad I couldn’t kill him before he shot you, Leta.”
Leta gasped, her eyes fixed on the gun in Oakes’s hand.
“Terrell, for God’s sake. I just saved your life.”
“So? The old man had a scam going, right? Stealing from his clients? I think you were in on it.”
“That’s not true. I didn’t know what he was doing. I still don’t.”
Ruby took a step back into the doorway. Terrell turned to look at her, scowling.
“That’s far enough.” He returned his gaze to Leta.
Ruby caught movement in the corridor and stole a glance to her left. Hari shook his head and held a finger to his lips. She widened her eyes, trying to warn him away, but he kept coming. Then she saw the gun in his hand.
Oakes was still talking.
“And after Fulton shot you, I had to kill him. Self-defense.” He grinned, raised the gun and pointed it at Leta’s head. “Sorry.”
For Ruby, what happened next moved in slow motion. Hari burst through the door, Oakes whirled to face him, Hari fired. Oakes’s upper arm exploded in broken bone, blood, and flesh. Screaming, he dropped Fulton’s gun and fell to his knees.
Hari stared, mesmerized by the damage Leta’s expanding bullet had caused. Oakes lurched to his feet, blood gushing from his arm, and fumbled blindly with his left hand for the pistol under his waistband. His ey
es were wild, rolling back into his head.
Hari still didn’t move.
With two lurching steps, Ruby grabbed the wooden box from the desk and whacked it against Oakes’s head. Currency cascaded onto the floor. Oakes staggered. She whacked him again, harder, splintering the box. Oakes fell to his knees and tipped forward onto the floor, motionless amid the fallen bills.
“Oh, my God,” Leta whimpered. She covered her mouth with one hand and looked beseechingly at Hari. He leapt over Oakes’s prone body and took her in his arms.
“Leta! Are you all right?” She clung to him as he kissed her head with his arms wrapped around her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Ruby stared at them, the broken wooden box in her hands, and lifted her eyebrows.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
Hari looked over at her and winced.
“I’m sorry, Ruby. Are you okay?”
She dropped the broken box on the desk, bent over Oakes, and held out a hand to Hari.
“Give me your belt so I can put a tourniquet on this jackass before he bleeds to death. And for God’s sake, somebody call the police.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
THREE DAYS LATER
“Ruby, over here, Ruby Delaney!”
Ruby smiled blankly while the reporters outside her apartment building ran over to thrust microphones at her. She held one arm out to her side to keep them from stepping on Charlie, who trotted beside her. Lionel waited at the entrance, ready to usher them through the door. Ruby caught his eye, and he nodded. Charlie jumped onto the first step.
“Miss Delaney, have you and Mr. Bhatt collected the reward yet?”
Ruby halted and turned to face the reporters.
“Excuse me?” she said.
Charlie stopped and sat at her side, his head tilted. Ruby stared at the questioner, a woman from a local network affiliate.
“The reward,” she said, “for revealing Raymond Fulton as the mastermind of a massive Ponzi scheme. Have you collected it yet?” She thrust her microphone in Ruby’s face and a dozen other mics followed. The reporters hushed and stared at her expectantly.
“Mr. Bhatt and I agree that a reward, if there is one, should go to Fulton’s victims,” Ruby said. Questions buzzed around her and she strained to make out the words.
“Miss Delaney, some say you two are heroes. How do you feel about that?”
Ruby held up a hand and the throng hushed again.
“None of this would have been possible without Benjamin Levitt.”
“Where is Mr. Levitt now?”
“We don’t know.” She refrained from adding, ‘So why aren’t you looking for him, instead of trailing me?’
The clamor started up again as she stepped through the entrance. Charlie turned to stick his snout out the door before it closed. Bouncing on his front feet, he yipped at the reporters. Then he shook himself and trotted after Ruby. Lionel closed the door behind them with a grin.
Inside her apartment, Ruby threw Charlie a biscuit and walked upstairs to the office. Hari and Zelda were conferring over a computer screen. Hari looked up as she entered.
“How was it today?” he asked.
“Same. We’re still heroes.”
“Two weeks ago I was a villain. Takes a little getting used to.”
“Worried about losing your bad boy status?”
“Not as long as I have Ruby Danger on speed dial.”
She gave him a playful swat and tossed her handbag on the table.
“Any news?”
“If you mean about Ben, then no.” He returned his gaze to the screen. “But our fee arrived from Global TradeFair.”
Ruby sat beside him, tapping a finger on her mouth.
“Hari, I’ve been thinking about that. Natalia lost her life’s savings—”
Without looking up from the screen, Hari held out his palm to Zelda, who grinned and slapped a piece of paper on it. He handed the paper to Ruby. It was a check drawn on their business account and made out to Natalia Wolff. For a sizable sum.
“Your partner asked me to cut that check this morning,” Zelda said. “I’ll go see about lunch.” As Zelda headed down the steps, Ruby stared at the check in her hand and blinked rapidly. Then she smiled at Hari.
“Thank you.”
He shrugged, still staring at the screen, and clicked a few more keys.
“I figured it would be faster to write the check than to argue about it for three days and then write the check.” He clicked more keys.
She stood with a hand on his shoulder and bent to kiss the top of his head.
“I mean it, Hari. Thank you.” Ruby started to straighten up, but stopped as he put his fingers over her hand and turned his head. His grip was strong and his breath warmed her arm.
Smiling, he let go and nodded at the check.
“Aren’t you going to take that to Natalia?”
“I’ll give it to her tonight after the performance.”
“I’m sorry, I forgot. It’s your first night back, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and I’m looking forward to it.” It hadn’t been fun running a daily gauntlet of reporters. But it made her realize how much she missed being on stage, connecting with the other actors, hearing the audience react to her lines. She missed the murmur of the crowd as they found their seats, the whine of the stage lights coming on, the tiny dressing rooms with their clouds of talc and rows of makeup jars and photos taped to the mirrors. She even missed Henry’s scowls.
Hari turned to rest one arm on the back of his chair.
“Sometimes people who’ve invested in a Ponzi scheme aren’t happy when it comes out. Your friends have lost a lot of money and they might take it out on you.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“It’s not silly.” He shook his head. “People don’t always understand that the gains they made aren’t theirs. The authorities will go after everyone who ever invested in the Castlebar Fund and try to seize the early returns. Then they’ll redistribute them according to how much money each investor originally put into the fund. It could take years, and it will be messy. Your friends—”
He was interrupted by Zelda coming up the stairs, followed by Detective Nolan.
“It’s the police again,” she said, ushering in the detective. With a flick of her hand, she started back down. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Hari glanced at Ruby with a look in his eyes that she recognized as stand down. She tapped her foot on the floor.
“We’ve made an arrest in the Perrine case,” Nolan said. “We thought you’d want to know before it hit the news.”
“Thanks,” Hari said. “So who—”
“I knew it,” Ruby broke in, unable to stay silent any longer. “It wasn’t Keller, was it?”
Nolan shook his head. “Or Oakes. Although he admits to killing Keller. He says it was an accident and insists Fulton put him up to it.” He turned to Hari. “Speaking of Oakes, I’ve been meaning to tell you—helluva shot for a novice. When you hit him in the arm, I mean.”
Hari grimaced.
“I was aiming for his chest.”
The detective smirked. Ruby bit her lip. Hari looked embarrassed.
Ruby cleared her throat.
“So who killed Brigitte Perrine?”
Nolan stood up straight, suddenly serious.
“Mrs. Keller. We arrested her this morning at the airport. She was on her way to Paris. She said she wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”
“Mrs. Keller? But she led us straight to the body.”
“That was smart, actually, it deflected suspicion. But in the end, we put the pieces together.”
“Why did she do it? Jealousy?”
“Yeah, partly, but she was more pissed off that her husband had cleaned out their investment account. Two million dollars, and all of it gone. She had a lot to say on that score.”
After Nolan left, Ruby shook her head at Hari.
“I didn’t see that coming.�
��
“Of course you didn’t. It wasn’t a crime of passion, remember?”
“Oh, shut up.” Smiling, she punched his arm. “I was half right, though. It wasn’t Keller. See you tomorrow. I’m off to the theater.”
Ruby jogged down the stairs, retrieved her leather tote bag from the entrance table, and waved goodbye to Zelda. The theater had sent a Town Car so she could avoid the reporters. In the back seat, she patted her tote bag and imagined Natalia’s reaction to the check.
After the car dropped her by the stage door, Ruby hustled inside and down the stairs to the dressing rooms. A knot of people, including Henry, Arthur Evans, and Dorothy, looked up as she approached. She grinned at them.
“I’m back,” she said in a sing-song voice.
“Judas.” Arthur glared at her.
She stopped, her smile wavering. “What?”
He spit out the word again. “Judas.”
Most of the others nodded, also glaring. Arthur took a step nearer.
“Why didn’t you mind your own business? We’re ruined, all of us. And I suppose you’ll cash in on the reward. Thanks a lot, Delaney. How does it feel to walk all over your friends?”
Muttering, they stomped off and left Dorothy standing alone. Ruby stared after them, her mouth slack. Dorothy placed a hand on her elbow to guide her to the dressing room.
“Never mind, dear, they’ll get over it. You and Hari did a good thing. You go in and sit for a while. I’ll see you backstage.”
Ruby pushed the door open with a shaky hand and stepped through. She shut the door, leaning her forehead against it, and closed her eyes.
Your friends have lost a lot of money and they might take it out on you.
How was any of this her fault?
“Ruby?”
She opened her eyes and turned.
Natalia smiled and held out her arms.
“Never mind them.”
She sagged into Natalia’s arms and rested her head on her mentor’s shoulder, inhaling the familiar scents of lavender and tea tree oil as Natalia patted her back. Ruby drew back and wiped her face.
“Are you all right?” Natalia asked.
Sighing, Ruby glanced at the closed door.
