“Come.” He motioned for me to join him in a strange sitting room full of skulls and serpents. “May I offer you something to drink?”
Yeah, so he could drug me and make me more compliant. “I don’t think so.”
All the windows were covered in black curtains, blocking out any late-afternoon light. I had to get this over with—and get out of here as soon as possible.
“Listen, I need your help,” I said, hating the taste of the words on my tongue. “And you need mine.”
“Oh…kay,” he said, awkwardly sitting down on a claw-like couch—the back rose up in four sharp talons, so it seemed like any minute he could be crushed within his own living room. “Help with what, exactly?”
I took a long breath, searching for the best way to answer. “Your life in is danger, and I want to protect you.”
“Right.” He released a stifled laugh that was tinged with nervousness. He was scared of me. And the poorly concealed pistol in his track pants didn’t seem to make him feel any better.
I paused, seeking the line between telling him as little as possible (to prevent him from going to the police with any information), and as much as possible (to prevent Silver from pulling off the fifth kill by my hand).
“Has anyone contacted you lately about ‘product’ you may be interested in?” I asked.
“Listen, Ruby—may I call you Ruby?”
“That’s fine,” I lied. “But you didn’t answer my question.”
“OK, Ruby, I know who you are.” He pulled at the hem of his thin V-neck to expose scar tissue on his shoulder. “After all, it was your sharpshooting dad who gave me this.”
He stared at me like I owed him an apology.
“You deserved it,” I assured him.
“So is that why you’re here? To give me what I deserve?”
“I told you, I’m here to help you. I swear.”
“Help me like you helped that LeMarq fellow? With a bullet between the eyes?” He placed a pale forefinger to his oily brow, as if I needed a visual.
I clenched my jaw and decided to respond in kind. “OK, Mr. Violet, here’s the truth, plain and simple: Someone has been setting me up to take out killers.” I watched his eyes flinch. “I don’t know who’s doing this to me, and I’m not even sure why. But I do know that you’re next.”
I took a few steps toward him to make sure he understood me with perfect clarity. “He is going to try to make me kill you, and I don’t want to do that.”
A twisting silence slithered between us while he absorbed the truth. He stared through me with the eyes of a racked soul.
My head swiveled around just in case someone else was here. I put my hand inside my hoodie to grip my gun.
“Yes, someone has contacted me,” he finally admitted.
“OK, then,” I said, relieved he might actually cooperate. “I have a plan.”
I flung my backpack off my shoulder and reached inside to grab my dad’s vest.
“This is an Ultralight Concealed Goldflex/Kevlar Level IIIA Bulletproof Vest.” I held it out to him. “Wear this day and night. I don’t know when you’ll need it.”
He sat forward on the heel of the claw-couch and took the offering, inspecting the impossibly thin design.
“Wear it with sweatshirts to maximize the concealment,” I said, channeling my father. “And you need to start thinking about other methods of protection. Hire more security, stay armed, and above all, resist any kind of bait he lays for you.”
“Slow down, sweetheart, slow down—”
“Don’t call me sweetheart, and don’t you dare treat this lightly,” I warned him.
“But I don’t understand. You aren’t making any sense.” He held up his hands. “Why would—”
“You don’t have to understand.” I cut him off again. “Look, I don’t have all the answers. I just know at some point he’ll come for you. And as much as I don’t give a damn about you, the only chance of this working is if you try to protect yourself. Any slight wrench in his plans might be the difference between you living and me killing you. If you value your life, you’ll fight however you can.”
Doubts fought against my hopes as he sunk in reaction to the word “fight.” This small man was no fighter. He was scrawny and despicable. But he was my only chance.
I turned to go. I couldn’t bear to be in his presence one second longer.
Before leaving, I said, “Regardless of what I think of you and the truly evil things you’ve done, I don’t want to kill you. Please don’t make me.”
CHAPTER 26
The sound of the garage door cut through my thoughts. Mom was finally home. I shook off the memory of Violet’s tentacles touching me, reassuring myself that my scalding shower had washed away all his filth. Man, my loofah was getting a lot of use lately.
I ran downstairs to meet her. I had to know what was going on with Liam.
“Hey, Mom,” I said softly, trying not to scare her. It was well after 11:00 p.m., and most of the lights were off.
“Ruby!” She jumped like a skittish cat. “What are you trying to do, kill me?”
Was that a Freudian slip?
“Why are you home so late?” I asked, going for a gentle approach. “I’ve been waiting to talk to you.”
“Yeah, well it’s going to have to wait,” she said curtly as she scrambled to pick up the files she’d dropped.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked, sensing something in her frantic movements.
She brushed past me and started hiking the stairs.
“Are you just going to ignore me forever?” I called after her. “You know, it was only a week ago that you asked me to meet at Dr. Teresa’s to talk. Did you suddenly forget what you had to say?”
“Rue, it’s almost midnight. It’s been a long day, and I’m tired.” She stopped and took off her heels—like that would give her more getaway speed.
“You told me you’d help him,” I said, not even close to giving up. “You promised.”
She turned and looked down at me.
“He’s been in there forever. Why haven’t you gotten him out?”
“It’s more complicated than I realized at first. Do you know how it would look if I pulled strings to get my daughter’s high school fling out of jail after he killed a veteran police officer?”
Whoa. I could not have heard that “he killed” part right.
“He didn’t do it. I told you that. I was there!” I stalked up the stairs after her. “If you’d let me talk to the police, I would tell them that! They have no right to detain him. They have no evidence, no motive. He should have been released by now.”
“Ruby, honestly, just stop. You have no idea what you are talking about. His bail was set too high, and his mom can’t afford it. She’s a bartender,” she said condescendingly. My anger flared and the springs in my muscles tightened up, waiting for the release.
“What bail—what are you talking about?” I asked, staring her down.
“Arraignment was several days ago. The judge set bail at a million dollars.” She turned to go, but I grabbed her wrist. This was escalating too fast.
“A million dollars? That’s ridiculous. Why didn’t you tell me?” I narrowed my eyes at her, knowing exactly why she hadn’t told me. She saw this fight coming, and that’s why she’d been avoiding me. I wanted to slap myself for believing in her and not finding out about Liam’s situation myself. “Why haven’t you told me anything? I trusted you, and yet you’re the one allowing the charges to be brought!”
She pulled her wrist away. “My hands are tied. I can’t go easy on him because you have a crush on him, Ruby. He had Martinez’s blood on his hands—”