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“I’m sure she is. But to me she was being a friend.”
Ruby’s hand dangled at her side, devoid of rings, bracelets, or any kind of ornamentation. Her fingernails weren’t painted, nor were her toenails.
Her hand was small compared to mine, and I wanted to grab it, hold it in my own and protect her.
“You want to talk about…anything?”
“Not particularly.”
Curiosity drummed through me. As much as I already hated Theodore Mathias for what he’d done to Talon, my hate ramped up a notch as I thought about what he could have done to the young woman walking next to me.
“How old are you?” I asked.
That actually got a smile out of her. “You’re lucky I’m not one of those women who won’t answer that question. I’m thirty-two.”
“Hey, me too. I would take you for a bit younger, maybe mid-twenties.”
“Thanks. I try to keep myself in shape.”
I couldn’t help myself. I looked over her body lasciviously. “Yes, you sure do.”
I couldn’t see in the darkness, but I was sure her cheeks were pinking.
“So are you happy your brothers are getting married?”
Nice change of subject. “Yes, of course. My brothers deserve happiness. Talon has suffered so much, and so has Jonah, in his own way.”
“Yes, unfortunately, there are many ways to suffer.”
Horrible images entered my head of what she had gone through. I wanted to respect her privacy, but she had opened the door.
“Are you…okay?”
“Of course. I’m fine.”
“I mean… Your father…”
“Is criminally insane. A psychopath. A murderer. A rapist. A certified nutcase. You can say it. I’ve no love for my father.”
“Tell me about your mother, then.”
“She was a good woman. She tried to be a good mother.”
“What was your childhood like?”
“Probably a hundred and eighty degrees away from what yours was,” she said with sarcasm, and then clamped her hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. What your brother went through. And the rest of you. I didn’t mean…”
“It’s okay. I get it. I mean, we went through a lot of shit, but at least we had money, right?” I was trying to be understanding, but a tiny red streak of anger niggled at my neck. “Let me tell you something, Ruby. All the money in the world couldn’t buy healing for Talon. And let me tell you something else. I still sometimes have nightmares about the day he was taken. But for him, they’d have taken both of us.”
Ruby stopped walking and plunked down onto the sand. “I don’t know why I said that. I am so very sorry.”
She sounded sincere. I sat down next to her. Her hand glistened in the light, and again I longed to grab it and hold it. But I didn’t.
“It’s all right.” I sighed. “At least we were never hungry. Were you?”
“Sometimes. Most of the time we did okay.” She sighed. “It’s hard for a cop to admit, but a few times I stole to eat.”
“You were a kid. You were hungry. There’s no need to be ashamed.”
