Ivan(6)

"My battery is dying."

I cursed softly as I backed out of my parking spot. "Okay. Why don't you go ahead and hang up to save battery. I'll be there in fifteen minutes, maybe twenty. Just stay put."

"What if Andrei comes back?"

Even though I wanted to punch that rat bastard in the balls for dragging Ruby into his organized crime mess, I knew she wouldn't come with me unless I protected him, too. "I'll bring him back to our apartment. You'll both be safe there."

"Promise?" She sounded so childlike and nothing like the big sister I'd once known her to be.

"I promise, Ruby."

"Okay. I'll see you soon."

"Yes. Bye. Be careful." I dropped my phone into the cup holder and left the parking lot. My stomach knotted painfully as I navigated the early evening traffic. On a hot, humid Friday like this the clubs and restaurants would be packed. Vehicles jammed the roadways. I had to cross some of the busiest intersections to reach Ruby. My gaze darted from my dashboard clock to the windshield and back again. I prayed she'd be safe just a little while longer.

But what the hell was she doing in that part of town? It was a middle-class neighborhood and definitely not one where I would have ever looked for her. Ruby might not have been abusing hard drugs like meth or heroin or cocaine but the places where she and her pill-popping, pill-snorting friends hung out and scored weren't very nice. They definitely weren't two and three hundred thousand dollar houses…

My gaze flitted briefly to my rearview mirror. A black SUV followed me through a left turn. Paranoia gripped me. Hadn't I seen that SUV in the parking lot of the supermarket? I tried to convince myself that I was crazy. I mean, there were a lot of SUVs in Texas, right? But something wasn’t right about this one.

As if confirming my worst fears, the SUV turned into the Harmony Fields subdivision and crawled along behind me as I searched for the right house. Did I dare park and run inside to find Ruby? What if this was one of the bad guys? Had I just led them right to her?

Instead of stopping, I kept right on driving and picked up my cell phone. I dialed Ruby as I drove along the street to the end of the cul-de-sac. Spotting a for sale sign, I parked in front of the vacant house and pretended to be looking at the property. Why wasn't Ruby answering?

I glanced in my rearview mirror. The black SUV drove slowly by me but I didn't dare make eye contact through my window. I kept my gaze fixed on the house and pretended to be studying it intently. The SUV made the turn of the cul-de-sac and turned off a side street. I waited another few minutes before putting my car in drive again and heading back to the house where Ruby hid.

I found 16114 and parked across the street at 16115, the house where Ruby must have been. It was a small brick ranch house that looked innocuous enough. I twisted in my seat to check the street. Everything was quiet.

Phone in hand and ready to dial 9-1-1 at the first hint of trouble, I exited my car and locked the doors behind me. Keys in hand, I suddenly wished I'd done what most of my friends had done on their twenty-first birthdays and treated myself to a concealed handgun class and a small pistol for my purse. A year ago, I'd never dreamed I'd find myself in a situation like this. Now I was silently cursing myself for not being more proactive. What if Ruby wasn't alone in there?

My finger hesitated just above the doorbell. Should I? Uncertain, I tried the door knob and found it unlocked. Gathering my courage, I pushed the door open. "Ruby?"

There was no answer so I stepped inside the house. Almost instantly, the overpowering scent of chemicals took my breath away. What the hell?

"Ruby! Where are you? Hurry up! Let's go."

The fine hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I slowly crept across the living room. One glance into the kitchen and I had my answer to the strange smell question. The counters and table top were littered with empty bottles and boxes and equipment. Someone had been cooking meth in here. Small batches, it seemed, but just as dangerous.

I shoved down the urge to throttle Ruby for pulling me into this nightmare. I wasn't sure how volatile the remnants of the drug-making procedure were but I didn't dare turn on any lights as I continued my snail's pace walk toward the rear bedrooms. There was still enough light from the setting sun to illuminate the interior of the house but I walked carefully.

Worried she'd passed out or gotten high again, I had to check every room and closet and even under the beds. When she was high, Ruby often squeezed herself into tight spaces. I didn't understand it and probably never would.

I came to the last bedroom in the house and spotted the hot pink phone she carried everywhere. The sight of used syringes, spoons and crushed pills left me cold. Ruby's preferred method of abusing oxy had always been snorting, especially the quick-release form of the drug. Now it seemed she'd made the jump to shooting up the pills.