The older man’s eyes narrowed on her. She held her breath, praying she hadn’t pushed too far. Then he reached inside his pants pocket and pulled out a notepad. Without asking, one of the men handed him a pen, and he scrawled an address. When he ripped it out and handed it to her, she feigned disinterest and shoved it into her jacket pocket. “Are we done?”
“For now.”
With a nod toward Bowen and Mr. Clean, she turned and headed toward the door. Suddenly, she wanted badly for Bowen to come with her. She’d planned on doing her part and trusting him to find a way out on his own, but an uneasy feeling gripped her over the possibilities of what he might do. Her shoulder blades itched as she walked from one end of the dark hallway to the other, but she didn’t turn around for fear they would see the anxiety on her face.
A minute later, Ruby walked out the front door of the warehouse. She sucked in a deep breath of air and focused on keeping her pace even on the sidewalk in case they were watching her leave. She scanned the adjoining streets, searching for the unmarked car that would undoubtedly be waiting for her, but it never came into view. With a confused frown, she turned the corner.
And ran smack into Troy.
He gripped her elbow, propelling her toward his black sedan parked at the curb. “Get in the goddamn car,” he growled.
Ruby searched his face, which looked carved from stone, and decided protesting would only make things worse. “All right, fine,” she responded, matching his tone. “Save the manhandling for later.”
Troy pulled away from the curb mere seconds later, splitting his focus between the streets he navigated and the rearview mirror. For endless blocks, he appeared too angry to speak, but finally broke the silence. “Do you have a death wish, Ruby?”
She ignored his question. “Driscol is inside that warehouse. I confirmed it.” He didn’t say anything in response, just stared straight ahead, jaw grinding together. When they’d driven at least twenty blocks, he pulled into an empty lot running alongside a park.
Still, he didn’t turn to look at her. “I know you’re angry, but look at me, I’m fine.” She unhooked her seat belt and faced him. “Aren’t you going to call someone about this? Lenny is in there. I just spoke with him.”
“Why would you do this?” Troy asked quietly. His tone began to alarm Ruby. Why wouldn’t he look at her? “God, I knew you were hiding something, but this…” He shook his head. “This is foolish even by your standards.”
“Foolish?” She laughed without humor, shock at his harsh words trickling through her chest. “Did you know he was there? Did you know he’s been coming and going through the parking garage behind the building? Or that, including Lenny, there are eight armed men inside?” His grip on the steering wheel tightened and his knuckles went white, but he didn’t respond. “No, I don’t think you did. I was trying to help. And I did.”
When he finally looked at her, she paled at his haunted expression. “I didn’t ask for your help. I never wanted or needed your brand of help.”
“You didn’t have to ask.” She swallowed the lump in her throat, despising the tears that threatened behind her eyelids. “That’s the thing about me. Once I decide I’m in your corner, I’m hard to get rid of.”
He leaned toward her, punctuating each word.
“People in my corner die, Ruby. They die.”
“That’s bullshit,” she choked out, alarmed by his eerie reaction. “If you insist on blaming yourself for Grant’s death, I can’t stop you. But the situations don’t compare. I did this to avoid you ending up like Grant.
I wanted you to be prepared.”
“Go ahead and justify it to yourself. It doesn’t change the fact that you lied to me, or that you deliberately chose to place yourself in danger rather than actually trust me for one goddamn minute.” He made a bitter noise. “It’s like I’m a f**king magnet for reckless head cases looking to get their rocks off.”
Pain blooming in her chest, she laughed shakily.
“Well, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.” Her comment went unappreciated by Troy, so she tried again. “I was worried. I know what he’s capable of, and I didn’t want to lose you…or see you hurt.”
He punched the steering wheel. “Do you think it would have been somehow easier for me to lose you, since I’m so used to loss? At this point, what’s one more death on my head, right?” His voice vibrated with emotion. “The situation is the same. I don’t know how… We’ve known each other less than a week. But if something had happened today, Ruby, it would have f**ked me up just as much as Grant’s death. Maybe… more. So if it’s too soon for you to feel the same, too bad. You’re important to me. And you could have already been gone.”
Ruby’s chest rose and fell rapidly as she absorbed his unexpected words. She didn’t know how to respond.
Deeds not words. It was all she knew. She wouldn’t have gone through with her plan today unless she felt something significant for him. Why couldn’t he see that? She didn’t know how to express it any other way.
“You’re important to me, too,” she whispered, silently begging Troy to understand what he meant to her, but he only stared quietly out the car window.
They sat there in silence for long, torturous minutes but neither of them spoke again. Anger, resentment, and something akin to defeat radiated from Troy in the driver’s seat. She jumped when he turned the key in the ignition and started the car.
“Where are we going?” she asked huskily as they pulled out of the parking lot.
“I’m taking you home.”
Panic spread through her at the finality in his voice.
“Are you coming with me?”
“No.” He shook his head. “We can’t do this anymore, Ruby.”
Her heart beat loudly in her ears, drowning out the car’s engine. “Do what?” Troy didn’t answer. “Look at me!”
His eyes slid shut for a moment before he faced her.
Even then, he appeared to be looking straight through her where she sat in the passenger seat. “You were in danger before just by associating with me. Now? I’m a complete liability to you.” His throat worked with emotion. “Not to mention, there will inevitably be more cases like this involving people from your past.
I can’t risk you doing this kind of thing again. I can’t risk you at all.”
She shook her head as if to clear it. “You’re cutting me loose to keep me safe. Is that what you’re saying?
That’s crazy.”
“I don’t know how else to do it. I asked you for one simple thing, to trust me, to let me keep you safe, and you couldn’t give it to me.”
“You think trust is easy for me?”
“No. I don’t.” He rolled one shoulder. “In fact, maybe it’s impossible.”
Ruby stared out the front windshield, cars and trees blurring together as they passed. On the right, her building came into view over the Chinese takeout restaurant. Only this morning, she’d woken with Troy in her bed. Happiness had wormed its way inside her, but now it threatened to detonate like a ticking time bomb. Her chest constricted at the thought of him dropping her off and leaving, but at that moment, she couldn’t think of a single thing to convince him to stay.