by Rickie Blair
“Could you come with me a minute, hon? I’d like to check you out.”
Felicity trudged after the paramedic to the ambulance.
Over by the police cars, Watson shook the officers’ hands before walking up to Hari and Ruby.
“Zeke Turner is free, for the moment. I convinced the police he had information that could be useful to their investigation.” He took Ruby’s hand in both of his. “I’m so sorry about your friend.”
“Thank you.” She bit her lip against the tears.
“What was that call about?” Hari asked. “Have there been developments?”
“The Romanian police arrested a dozen people three hours ago.”
Ruby leaned in, her heart thudding.
“What about Luca?”
“Still at large.”
“And Oliver?”
Watson clenched his jaw, not looking at her.
“In custody.”
“If Luca’s still at large, will Zeke be safe?”
“Zeke will be under FBI protection for a while. I don’t think you need to worry. Now,” he glanced around, “isn’t there someone else I’m supposed to thank?”
“Yes,” Ruby said, “Norris Havelock. He left about twenty minutes ago to check on his mother, but he’ll be back. You know, Mr. Watson—”
“Call me William, please.”
“—if Norris hadn’t helped Zeke hide from Luca, the whole investigation might have been at risk.” Ruby cleared her throat and began again. “What I mean is—”
“That I owe Norris Havelock?”
“Something like that.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Norris’s mom lost her home. You could buy her a new one.”
Watson cleared his throat.
“It doesn’t have to be big,” Ruby added hastily, “a small condo would do. As long as there’s enough room for Millie and Norris and Tinks.”
Watson’s mouth twitched. “Tinks?”
“Tinkerbelle. Millie’s dog.”
“I promise to arrange suitable accommodations for Tinks and her friends.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s the least I can do.”
The police officer put Zeke’s sword into the cruiser’s trunk before opening the back door and gesturing at him to get in. Zeke held up a finger, then dashed over to Watson. He stood before him with his shoulders hunched.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Watson. I only did … what I did … because I was afraid Luca would kill me.”
Watson crossed his arms and scowled at him.
“He would have had to get in line behind me.”
Zeke hung his head and Watson studied him before unfolding his arms.
“I’m not going to press charges, Zeke. Although I expect you to help Hari improve the security protocols at the Starlight so this can’t happen again.”
“I’ll do my best, sir. Thank you.” Zeke walked back to the cruiser and climbed into the back seat. The officer shut the door, got behind the wheel and drove off.
Hari raised his eyebrows.
“I’m doing what, now?”
“Sorry. I got a little ahead of myself.” Watson stood up straight. “Hari, I’m looking for a new head of digital security, and I’d like to offer you the job. It comes with a seven-figure salary, a spectacular loft overlooking the Thames, and all the usual accoutrements.” Watson held out his hand. “Interested?”
Ruby sucked in a breath and stared at the ground, a hollow space expanding in her chest. London? Did that mean he was never coming back?
Hari rested a reassuring hand on the small of her back before replying.
“No,” he said.
Watson withdrew his hand with a look of surprise.
“No?”
“No.”
Hari looked at Ruby and for a moment her world stopped. Then she rested her head on his shoulder.
Watson turned as Ana walked over, settling a chauffeur’s cap over her hair.
“Are you ready, sir?”
“One minute.” He turned to face Hari and Ruby. “I’ve been foolish about many things,” Watson said. “That’s going to change.” He smiled with admiration at Ruby. “She’s a cracker, you know, Hari.” He walked up to the car while Ana held the door for him.
Ruby rolled her lips as she watched the Town Car pull away.
“A cracker? Is that a good thing?”
He put an arm around her shoulder.
“The best.”
“Hari?”
“What, love?”
“I hope you’re sending Watson one hell of a bill.”
He gave a brief chuckle. “Enormous.”
The paramedic walked up. “We’re taking your friend to the hospital for assessment. We think someone should talk to her, maybe prescribe something. She’s distraught.”
“We’ll go with you,” Ruby said.
“We can’t take you both, I’m sorry. You’ll have to meet her there.” The paramedic gestured at the open channel across the field. “You two were in that water, right?”
They nodded ruefully.
“Get yourself to a clinic for a shot of antibiotics.”
They nodded again.
The ambulance pulled away, followed by the remaining police car. As the vehicles disappeared around the corner, Ruby looked up at the sky. Gray clouds hovered over the distant mountains.
“We’d better go.”
But as they turned to leave, a taxi barreled up the street and the back door flew open while it was pulling over to the curb. Norris jumped out and ran up to them. He skidded to a halt, staring with wild eyes.
“Norris,” Ruby asked, “what’s wrong?”
He tried to speak, took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, then tried again.
“It’s my mother,” he blurted, “Millie. She’s gone. Her door is wide open and she’s … gone.”
“Gone? How could she be gone? Maybe she’s at the coffee shop or in the office.”
Norris shook his head with a look of misery on his face.
“She’s not at the coffee shop and no one’s seen her.”
“But it’s barely six a.m. She wouldn’t have gone anywhere at this hour.” Ruby gave Hari a frantic look. “We have to find her.”
“It’s Luca, it must be,” Norris said, stepping in the direction of the storm drain. “He must have taken her in there,” he muttered, his eyes fixed on the entrance. “She might have been in there last night when we…”
“Norris, stop. We have to think logically,” Ruby said. “When Luca left us in the drain, he walked in the other direction, away from this entrance. Is there another way out?”
His eyes widened, and then he dashed back to the taxi.
“Come with me,” he called over his shoulder.
Ten minutes later, the cab pulled up to a field littered with blackened campfires, piles of garbage, and junked cars. An open concrete channel snaked through the middle, leading up to a storm drain opening.
“That’s it,” Norris said, pointing to the drain, “the exit.”
After asking the cabbie to wait, they headed for the drain. On their way across the field, Ruby pointed to a gleaming black Cadillac. The front fender was crumpled against a boulder and a back door hung open.
“That car’s brand new.”
Hari walked over for a closer look but stopped abruptly.
“Oh, bloody hell.”
“What?” Ruby said, walking up behind him.
“Don’t look.” He held out an arm to stop her.
She poked her head around him so she could see into the car’s open door. Her jaw dropped.
On the Cadillac’s back seat, with his feet hanging out, lay Dragos Luca. Battered, bloody, and dead.
* * *
“I called the police on the cabbie’s cell,” Hari said, walking toward them. “They’re on the way. They checked Luca’s house earlier and found someone locked in an upstairs room. Some bank manager, apparently.”
Rub
y, who had been studying the ground around the Cadillac, jerked her head up.
“Was it Kingsley Greaves?”
“Could be. I didn’t really catch the name, but that sounds right. Do you know him?”
“He’s Millie’s bank manager,” she said with a scowl. “I hope they throw the book at him.” Circling the car again, she cocked her head. “Did you hear that? Listen.” She slapped her hands on the Cadillac’s trunk and looked up in triumph. “There! You must have heard that.”
Hari looked up in surprise.
“It’s a dog,” he said, “and it’s barking.”
Norris picked up a rock and smashed it twice against the trunk. The lock popped out and he yanked up the hood.
Inside the trunk a tiny white dog bounced up and down as if it was on springs. It stopped to whimper and paw at an elderly woman lying beside it. The woman rolled over, raising a hand against the sudden light. Hari, Ruby, and Norris stared, unable to speak.
Millie shook her head.
“Didn’t I say he was a goddamn bastard?”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Three days later
Ruby snuggled against Hari in the Andromeda’s sunken living room, squinting at the wall screen. “What are we watching?”
“The financial news. Do you mind? I can switch it off.”
“Not at all.” She gave him a playful nudge. “We have been out of touch the past few days.”
He wrapped an arm around her.
“When are you going back?”
“I have to be on the set the day after tomorrow.”
“How long before you’re done filming?”
“Four weeks.”
“I’ll be back long before that. Especially since the house in London is sold.”
“You didn’t tell me you sold the house. When did that happen?”
“Didn’t I? I thought you knew. William and Jayden are buying it.”
“Get out.” Ruby slapped his arm. “How did you talk them into it?”
“I didn’t talk anybody into anything. Watson practically begged me to sell it to them.”
“Begged?”
“Maybe not begged, exactly, but he gave us a good price. He made me promise to get over there ASAP and clear out my parents’ stuff, though. The excavators are ready to go, apparently.”
“Excavators?”
“They’re digging the basement down several floors and connecting it with William’s house next door. Big plans. By the way, William said to tell you once again that he’s very sorry about your ordeal.”
“I know.” She pointed at a velvet-covered box on the coffee table. “He sent me that.”
Hari reached for the box and lifted the lid.
“Wow,” he said, pulling out a diamond pendant on a platinum chain, “that’s—”
“Spectacular? It certainly is.” Ruby took it from him to hold it up to the light. The pear-shaped gem sparkled and flashed as she dangled it on the chain. “It reminds me of the one I bought on the Apollonis.”
“The one the court reclaimed after Antony’s trial?”
“Hmm. That’s the one.” She replaced the pendant in its box. “It’s too much. I’m not keeping it.”
“It would make a big dent in your mortgage.”
She cradled the open box in her hand, evaluating the diamond.
“Hari, remember that homeless shelter that turned Norris away because they didn’t have room?”
He sat up straight.
“Bloody hell. Are you giving that jewel away, too? At this rate, you’ll be a pauper before long.”
She glanced up at him with surprise. He was grinning.
“I think it’s a terrific idea,” he said.
“Me, too.” She replaced the jewelry box on the coffee table, picked up an envelope and handed it to him. “By the way, we’re invited to a wedding. In London.”
“Ah.” Hari lifted the glossy silver-lined flap and slid out the heavy linen card. “I’ve been expecting this.”
“Read the note on the back.”
He flipped it over.
You’re booked at the Savoy. The Learjet will pick you up. Details to follow. William & Jayden.
Hari tucked the invitation back into its envelope with a chuckle.
“You’ve got to admit, he’s got style.”
Ruby took the envelope and waggled it, narrowing her eyes at him.
“He’s going to try to talk you into taking that job while we’re there.”
“It won’t work.” He reached an arm around her, snugged her up beside him and dropped a kiss on her head. “I have everything I want right here.” He settled back, watching the news.
Ruby gave a strained smile, fidgeting with the envelope. Were she and Hari moving too fast?
Without looking at her, he said quietly, “I’m renting my own apartment in New York.”
“Why? You can stay with me. Or we can—”
“You’re not ready. And that’s okay.” He sat up, reaching for the remote. “My parents want me to come back to Mumbai.”
Ruby held her breath. Hari’s wife, Meera, lived in Mumbai. But he hadn’t seen her in years. Nor had he ever explained why they didn’t divorce.
“Will they continue your allowance if you do?”
“I turned it down. I’m too old for an allowance.”
“It’s a lot of money, Hari. Maybe you should reconsider.”
“No.” He shook his head vigorously. “How could you even think…” He looked away, biting his lip. “Why wouldn’t you think that?” he said with a bitter edge in his voice. “I’ve been an idiot.” He turned to look at her. “I don’t want their money, and I’m not going back to Mumbai. Besides, with my half of Watson’s fee—”
“Your half? Where’s the other half going?”
He looked surprised. “Why to you, naturally. You’re my business partner.”
“So we’re still in business together? Bhatt & Delaney?”
“Absolutely.” He winked at her. “Think how boring my life would be without Ruby Danger.”
Epilogue
“I think we’re getting close, Charlie.”
Ruby looked at the brown-and-white terrier trotting beside her on Manhattan’s Amsterdam Avenue. Charlie’s nails clicked against the sidewalk while his head swerved from side to side to check out passing canines. When Ruby stopped to read the address on her phone, Charlie took advantage of the halt to pee on a light post.
Ruby turned into a five-story red brick apartment building. In the lobby, she scanned the names before punching in a number and speaking into the microphone.
“It’s me.”
“Come on up,” a muffled voice replied. A buzzer sounded as the door swung open.
They took the elevator to the fifth floor, walked down the hall and stopped at five-ten. Ruby’s heart raced as she tapped on the door. Four weeks. It felt like four months. She clamped her jaw to stop her teeth from chattering.
The door opened. Hari stood with his hand on the door, smiling at her. Charlie’s stubby tail wagged as he jumped up to lean his front paws against Hari’s legs. Hari bent over to scratch Charlie’s head, but his gaze never left Ruby’s face.
“You’re here,” he said in a soft voice.
Ruby grinned while she walked through the door. But as she stepped in, he stepped back.
“I had no idea she was coming, honestly,” Hari whispered.
Ruby’s gaze fell on a wingback chair that faced away from her into the room. She could make out the top of someone’s head. Black hair.
“Ruby,” Hari said, “I’d like you to meet—”
A woman rose from the chair and walked around it while holding out her hand.
“Meera Bhatt,” she said, smiling. “I’m so glad to meet you at last, Ruby.”
Gleaming black hair, cut in a sharp-angled chin-length bob, framed Meera’s limpid dark eyes, glowing skin and perfect features. Ruby shook her delicate hand and forced a smile.
“And you.”
>
“Hari keeps me up to date on your little venture. It sounds fascinating.”
Their little venture? Ruby looked at Hari. He cleared his throat.
“Meera needs my help to unravel problems at the family business. I have to go to Mumbai.”
Her stomach plunged to the floor.
“Now?”
He gave her a worried look and nodded. Charlie whimpered at her feet.
“Stay as long as you want,” Ruby said. “I don’t care—”
He blinked before looking away.
“—because I’m coming with you.”
His face broke into a soft grin as their eyes locked. Charlie wagged his tail. Meera’s eyes widened as she looked from Ruby to Hari and back again.
Ruby beamed at Hari. She had let him walk out of her life once, twice even, but not this time. Never again, in fact.
“So,” she said brightly, “when do we leave?”
THE END
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Acknowledgments
My sincere thanks to editor Alex McGilvery for his insightful suggestions on structure and style, beta reader Maia Sepp for her valuable input, and copy editor extraordinaire Martha Hayes.
I’d also like to thank Grace-ann McIntyre, whose unflagging support and indispensable critiques made this journey possible.
About the Author
Rickie Blair dangled her first participle at the age of six. For over two decades she's been a financial journalist, writing and editing for major financial newspapers and magazines. She lives in southern Ontario with several cranky pets and an overactive Netflix account.
Dangerous Comforts is the third book in the Ruby Danger series. Sign up for Rickie’s newsletter at www.rickieblair.com to get the second book in the series, Dangerous Benefits, for free, as well as news on upcoming releases.
