by Rickie Blair
“The truth?” Sighing, Hari reached a hand under her elbow and guided her under a storefront awning, out of the rain. Once there, Ruby yanked her arm away. Hari held up both hands and took a step back before he spoke.
“Antony didn’t know enough about accounting to pull it off by himself. He needed someone who would be aggressive with the numbers, but not enough to get caught. Someone he could trust, who wouldn’t turn him in. I think even back then he knew Carvon was in trouble.”
A taxi drove slowly past, looking for a fare. Hari shook his head at the driver and the cab sped up, its wheels spurting water.
“I was at Jason Brothers when Antony sent his headhunters. They were persistent and I was flattered. But not flattered enough to jump ship. Then one weekend Antony invited me along on a trip to the Cape. Private jet, gourmet restaurants, the whole nine yards. Next thing I knew, he’d asked me to be a witness at his wedding. Your wedding. I guess his headhunters found out about our background because he knew the whole story.”
“Our background? What are you talking about?”
“You remember the rooming house?”
Ruby nodded reluctantly. Where was this going?
“I never really believed I’d make it as a professional singer, but there was no doubt you were a wonderful actor. I used to sit in the back of the theater, where it was dark, while you rehearsed that play you were in. You were brilliant.” A smile touched his lips and for a moment he looked as if he were miles away. Hari shook his head.
“You were everything I ever wanted, Ruby. I knew you’d never be mine, but I wanted you to be happy. Always.” He drew a deep breath. “Two years ago, when I figured out what Antony was doing, if I had walked away, it would have all come out and you’d have been—”
“The wife of a criminal?”
“Worse. A criminal yourself. Antony made dozens of transactions in your name, through subsidiaries that list you as president. I thought perhaps I could reverse them and delete the evidence. I knew you’d be cleared eventually, but in the meantime—”
“The media would crucify me.”
He nodded.
“So, have you deleted the evidence?”
“It’s complicated.” He pulled car keys from his pocket and held them out to her. “I know you don’t trust me, but I can prove it. Go to the parking garage on the corner. The silver Jaguar on the third level. There are things in the car you need to see. I’m going back to the restaurant to pay the bill. I’ll give you fifteen minutes. If you still don’t want to have anything to do with me, you can hail a cab and leave. If not, I’ll meet you at the car.”
She stared at the keys dangling from his hand and then looked up into his eyes.
“Did you turn me in to the police, Hari?”
“No. No, of course not.” He stared at her with his mouth open. “Where did you get that idea? Why would I …?” Shaking his head, he held up the keys. “Fifteen minutes, Ruby, that’s all I ask.”
She reached for the key ring.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ruby’s footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell of the parking garage as she climbed to the third level, where she clicked Hari’s key ring. Lights flashed and she walked to a silver Jaguar and clicked the key again. The car’s locks snapped open. Ruby glanced around. She was alone.
Opening the driver’s door, she tossed her tote bag onto the passenger seat and slid behind the wheel. There was nothing on the burled walnut dashboard and only her bag on the leather passenger seat. The back seat held a crumpled wool blanket. Maybe there was something underneath it. She twisted around, reaching for the blanket.
It moved.
Ruby jerked back. Two eyes and a furry white muzzle emerged from under the blanket.
“Charlie!” she shrieked, grinning as the frenzied terrier scrambled over the front seat. He clambered onto her lap, frantically licking her face. Ruby giggled, shivering as his cold wet nose nuzzled her neck. She hugged him, her face buried in his hair.
“I thought I’d never see you again, Charlie.”
Wait a minute. She wrinkled her nose and sniffed. Someone had given her dog a bath. Charlie smelled of—she sniffed again and chuckled—Old Spice. After giving him another hug, she reached for the door handle.
“Come on, Charlie. Let’s see if Hari’s got any biscuits.” There was no leash, so she climbed out with the terrier in her arms and walked out from between the parked cars.
Hari emerged from the stairwell thirty yards away. He waved and quickened his pace when he saw her. Behind him, a man in a sheepskin jacket and black wool cap also came out of the stairwell, arms pumping and head lowered. As he came alongside Hari, he swerved and raised an arm.
With a glint of metal, he plunged something into Hari’s side.
Hari’s face contorted as he crumpled onto the ground. He lay sprawled on the concrete with one hand outstretched, blood pooling around his coat.
Ruby’s jaw went slack and her legs turned to rubber.
The man bent over Hari and raised his arm again.
Ruby screamed, clutching Charlie to her chest, and the attacker looked up.
Dimitri.
Ruby tried to take a step back, but her legs wouldn’t move. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She stared at Dimitri, her heart thudding.
He straightened up and ran at her with the bloody knife in his hand.
Still she couldn’t move.
Then Charlie growled and tried to leap from her arms, barking in her defense. Jolted into action, Ruby darted for the car. Wrenching open the door, she threw Charlie onto the back seat and slid into the driver’s seat. She slammed the door shut and fumbled with the keys with one hand while searching for the lock button with the other.
Dimitri was steps away.
Ruby slammed down the button and the locks thudded on.
Dimitri yanked on the door handle and then pounded on the driver’s side window, first with his hands and then with the knifepoint. In the back seat, Charlie barked furiously, his front paws scrabbling at the side window. Ruby’s hand shook so much it took several seconds to slide the key into the ignition. As she cranked the engine, the driver’s side window cracked under Dimitri’s repeated blows. She hit the gas pedal just as the window exploded, showering her with shards of safety glass.
Flooring the accelerator, she jerked the steering wheel hard right. The Jaguar fishtailed out of the parking spot, shearing off the bumper of the car beside it. Ruby hit the accelerator again and raced to the down ramp. Without braking, she turned left onto the ramp. The car scraped and bounced off the concrete walls.
She checked the rearview mirror. Dimitri was sprinting to the stairwell.
When the Jaguar reached the bottom of the concrete ramp, its front bumper hit the floor with a shattering crunch. Ruby took another hard left and the car hurtled down the incline to the next floor.
Dimitri jumped in front of her with a gun in his hand.
She hit the brakes.
“Get out!” he roared, running to the driver’s side and reaching through the broken window for the door handle.
Ruby rammed the gas pedal and the car jumped ahead, knocking Dimitri off balance. The Jaguar raced a hundred yards to the far wall where she wrenched the steering wheel to the right as hard as she could. The car hurtled to the exit.
A red Mazda blocked the way, its driver handing change to an attendant in the kiosk. Ruby slammed on the brakes and the Jaguar halted, jerking her back against the seat. She fumbled in her bag for a bill, any bill. The barrier lifted and the Mazda drove out.
Ruby tapped on the accelerator and halted beside the kiosk.
A bored-looking teenage boy with dyed black hair and a nose ring leaned out.
“Ticket please.”
She threw a twenty at him. “I don’t have one. Open the gate.”
“I have to have a ticket.”
Dimitri stepped out from behind the kiosk with the gun in his outstretched hand.
Ruby flo
ored the accelerator and the Jaguar smashed through the wooden barrier, breaking it in two with a loud crack. The car bumped over a ramp on the sidewalk and she jerked the wheel to the right without slowing.
A block later, she slammed on the brakes at a red light and the Jaguar screeched to a stop partway through the intersection. As Ruby’s head snapped back onto the headrest, a car veered past with a blaring horn.
She slapped one hand on her chest, gasping, and with the other reached for her cellphone and keyed in 9-1-1. It might not be too late to help Hari. While gasping out a garbled report and an address, she checked the rearview mirror.
Dimitri ran to a Town Car idling nearby, yanked open the door and pointed his gun at the driver, who clambered out with his hands up. Dimitri jumped in and the Town Car screeched into the street, heading straight for her.
Ruby dropped her cellphone and clamped her foot on the accelerator. The Jaguar shot through the intersection. She turned down a street that led to the lake, swerving around other vehicles, and raced up a ramp onto the elevated expressway that curved through the downtown core. Leaning on the horn, she veered from lane to lane. Glass-walled condominiums flashed by, huge video billboards flickered and danced, and a domed stadium loomed beside her.
One wrong move and the Jaguar would strike the concrete divider at the road’s edge and soar through the air, drifting soundlessly until it crashed on the streets below in a cloud of smoke and twisted metal.
Ruby glanced at the speedometer. One hundred and forty kilometers, nearly ninety miles an hour. The rear mirror revealed the Town Car close behind, weaving from lane to lane. Dimitri was gaining on her. She pushed the accelerator to the floor.
By the time they left the expressway’s elevated section, her hands and face were numb from the night air that whipped through the broken window. A traffic cop often lurked behind the bridge support at the next overpass. Hopefully one would be there tonight.
Ruby gave a grim glance to the speedometer. One hundred and sixty kilometers. That should get the cop’s attention.
As the Jaguar raced under the bridge, she chanced a quick look to the side. There was an officer, all right. But he had already pulled someone over. He stood by the car, talking to the driver.
Ruby whooshed past him, checking her rearview mirror.
The Town Car was closing in. As it raced past the bridge, the cop ran for his cruiser. Within seconds, the police car had pulled out into traffic with its lights flashing and siren blaring. Ruby wrenched the wheel to the right and veered across three traffic lanes onto an exit.
The Town Car roared past, unable to turn in time, the police car close behind.
At the bottom of the exit ramp, Ruby slammed on the brakes. Gasping, she leaned over the wheel, blood pounding in her ears, as the siren faded into the distance. Taking a deep breath, she turned the Jaguar to the left with trembling hands and drove a few hundred yards to the lake, her foot numb against the pedals.
She pulled into a parking lot overlooking the water and stopped, killing the engine and the lights. Charlie, who had been forced against the back seat during the chase with his tongue lolling, clambered over the front seat and snuggled into Ruby’s lap. He licked her face, wagging his tail as she slumped back against the headrest with her eyes closed. She sat up, pushed him to one side and opened her eyes.
They couldn’t stay here. That cop, or others, would be along soon.
As she picked up Charlie to put him into the back seat her fingers brushed against something on his neck. Ruby turned on the overhead light. The Hello Kitty bracelet was looped around Charlie’s leather collar. She unsnapped the bracelet and examined it under the dome light, but there were no visible marks or message. She fastened it around her wrist. As she stared at it, the smiling Kitty disappeared, replaced by Hari’s contorted expression as he fell to the ground in a pool of blood. A gasp burst from her throat and she hunched over, sobbing.
Eventually, she rubbed her nose on her sleeve and rummaged in her bag for tissues. She blew her nose, staring at the moonlit lake. Dimitri must work for the vor v zakonye. But why would they want to kill Hari? What had Hari done to the mob? Her stomach twisted. Was it a warning? To who? Her?
Turning the key in the ignition with a shaking hand, she left the parking lot and drove west along the lake. She would drive out of the city and dump the car. Then she could think about what to do next.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Ruby drove Hari’s battered Jaguar north, miles out of the city, and parked on a lonely country road. She and Charlie huddled under a blanket in the back seat, their breath turning to frost. It was too cold to sleep, but because the attack on Hari replayed in an endless loop every time she closed her eyes it hardly mattered.
In the morning, she drove through subdivisions and past strip malls, stopping to buy breakfast at a coffee shop drive-through. Charlie devoured his egg-and-sausage sandwich in seconds, but Ruby could barely get to the bottom of a small coffee without choking.
She drove aimlessly until an outdoor parking lot next to a small office building caught her eye. She parked the Jaguar on a side street and tucked the keys under the visor. With Charlie trotting beside her, she strolled up the street and turned the corner.
In the parking lot kiosk, a gray-haired man with a gaunt face leaned over the open half door. Ruby bent over to fiddle with Charlie’s collar, glancing sidelong at the attendant, while a young woman with rumpled hair and a tired expression parked her SUV and strode to the kiosk. A small boy in thick corduroy pants and an oversized sweater toddled along with his hand clasped in hers.
Ruby crossed the pavement and stepped up behind them. The woman released the boy’s hand so she could rummage for change in her wallet. Charlie peered around Ruby’s legs.
“Look, Mommie, a doggie,” the boy squealed, his arm reaching out.
Glancing down at the terrier, Ruby inclined her head.
“Charlie,” she whispered.
The little dog looked up at her, his eyes bright.
“Go,” she hissed.
Charlie took off across the parking lot.
“Doggie,” squealed the boy, running after him.
Within seconds, Charlie was going gangbusters with his little legs a blur and his ears folded back. When he reached the sidewalk, he skittered to the right and disappeared behind a hedge and along a deserted side street.
The little boy tottered across the parking lot after Charlie, laughing and waving his arms.
Ruby watched him, holding her breath.
Wait … wait …
“Look out! That kid is headed for the street,” she yelled.
The woman shrieked, dropped her change purse, and sprinted after the toddler.
“What’s happening?” the attendant said, craning his head out over the door’s bottom half.
Ruby waved her arms.
“I think there’s a car coming!”
The attendant shoved open the door and hurried after the woman and child, his progress hampered by a pronounced limp. Ruby watched him and then stepped into the kiosk, grabbing a set of keys from the board on the wall. She whirled around and clicked. An Audi beeped, but it was hemmed in by another car.
The attendant reached the corner and disappeared behind the hedge, still limping.
“Is he okay?” he hollered.
“Yes, he’s fine,” a fainter voice replied. “I’ve got him.”
Shit.
Ruby dropped the keys, reached for another set and clicked again. Lights flashed on an Odyssey minivan. She ran over to it, pulled back the sliding door on the driver’s side, tossed in her tote bag and scrambled in after it.
The young woman walked back around the hedge with the little boy squirming in her arms and the attendant limping alongside. The attendant reached out an arm and ruffled the boy’s hair, then looked up sharply as the minivan jerked from its parking space.
“Hey!” he yelled.
Ruby floored the accelerator. Turning onto the side s
treet, she looked in the rearview mirror. The attendant was shouting, but not pursuing. She bit her lip. Great. Now CNN could add ‘grand theft auto’ to her growing rap sheet.
Four blocks later she caught up to Charlie, peeing on a tree. Ruby hit the brakes and lowered the window.
“Charlie, get over here,” she called, pushing a button to open the sliding back door.
The little dog trotted across the road to the minivan and stopped two feet away, bending his back legs for traction while his claws scrabbled on the pavement. He leapt into the air, sailing through the open door and onto the back seat. The terrier scrambled between the two front seats and into the shotgun position.
“Nice jump, Charlie.”
He acknowledged her praise with a slight nod, his attention now fixed on the road ahead.
They drove east until Ruby spotted the Sta-A-While, an aging motel tucked back from the highway at a four-way intersection anchored with gas stations and donut shops. After paying cash, she stopped at the vending machines in the hall for chips, a cellophane wrapped sandwich, and half a dozen colas. She waited for the chilled cans to trundle into the bin, stuffing them one by one into her tote bag. In her room, she kicked off her shoes, dropped her coat on the floor and climbed wearily onto the bed without even glancing around.
* * *
Charlie’s whimpering woke her six hours later. Ruby fumbled for a bag of chips on the nightstand, ripped it open and dropped it on the floor. The little dog devoured the chips, then buried his snout in the crinkly bag and pushed it around the room to reach the last crumbs. He shook his bag-covered head as a last resort, which threw the bag up into the air, showering him with salt and crunchy morsels. Charlie barked when the bag hit the floor.
Ruby chuckled, but her smile quickly faded. She couldn’t stop thinking of Hari crumpling to the ground, his face contorted in pain, blood pooling around his body. She tried to push those thoughts away.
Thing was, it made no sense. If Dimitri already had the bonds, as Mila had insisted, then why did he kill Hari? Because if Dimitri belonged to the Russian mob, then the mob had the bonds.
