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“Well, I guess I can’t speak for the others, butIwon’t step on your toes. I’ve got my own whale, anyway.” Ruby wiggles her eyebrows suggestively again.
“I told you, I don’t care. He’s a dick. Besides, he didn’t come back the other night. He probably wanted to slum it once, and now he’s good. He’s over it.”
“Davik didn’t like him,” Ruby says contemplatively. “Maybe it’s better if he doesn’t. Or maybe you should try to see if you can find anything out about him. See if someone else knows what he was doing at the club.”
“I don’t know anyone around here, remember? And I’m not going to go poke around in thenicepart of the city, asking questions. That’s borrowing trouble.” I frown at her. “You know that as well as I do.”
Ruby shrugs. “That’s true. But–” she frowns, considering. “I could ask around if you want? I know girls at the other clubs on our street. I could see if he’s been to any of them, if they know anything. You know–just in case he does come back. You should know if there’s anything weird about him, since he clearly liked you in particular.”
Don’t be an idiot. Say yes.Ruby is offering me free information to find out things about Mikhailforme without me having to put myself in any kind of danger. I remember the thought I had last night, how I wondered if Mikhail might be the one following me.
If heis, if he’s the one leaving things at my apartment, Ruby might be able to find me clues that would confirm that. Or, she might find nothing. Either way, it would be a step closer to solving the mystery of the man with the ice-blue eyes.
You might be putting her in danger, if he is the one leaving the letters. Which is exactly what you’ve been trying to avoid.
“That would be nice of you,” I hear myself saying before I can stop the words from coming out. “You really don’t have to–”
“It’s no problem.” Ruby waves her hand. “Honestly, we all do it. If someone new comes in who takes a liking to one of us, and anyone gets a bad vibe, we ask around. Sometimes we find out things that aren’t good, and sometimes it’s nothing. But we all have to look out for each other–it’s not as if anyone else will.”
We have to look out for each other.
Something tightens in my chest when I hear her say that, a longing for the kind of deep friendship and camaraderie she’s referring to. We have something like it now, the beginnings of it, at least, but how long will that really last?
As soon as I’m able, I’ll leave this place. I can’t stay here.
But a part of me feels guilty about leaving my friend behind.
Natalia
The feeling of being watched doesn’t leave me. I’m acutely aware all day of the gold chain and charm in my pocket, as if it weighed so much more than the mere ounces that it actually weighs. “Is there a gold shop anywhere around here?” I ask Ruby as we leave the cosmetics store, an idea springing into my mind.
She arches an eyebrow. “Why? Going to buy some jewelry?”
“No. I just found something on the ground outside my apartment. I thought it might be worth something.”
I reach into my pocket, fishing out the gold chain and charm. I hold it out on my palm for Ruby to see, and she peers at it.
“Probably not much. But I do know a place. And every little bit counts, right?”
“It does.” I couldn’t agree more.It’s not as if I’m going to wear it.Even a few rubles is better than throwing it in the trash, and the thought of turning my stalker’s threat into something beneficial to me feels particularly satisfying.
The pawn shop Ruby takes me to is in a particularly shady part of town, near my apartment. There’s an older man who looks nearly a hundred years old if he’s a day behind the counter, peering at a thick chain with a loup. I feel suddenly embarrassed about the thing in my hand.
It’s not even mine. It’s just something that was left on my door. It’s not like I’m begging him to take my valuables.
The man looks up as we approach the counter, giving Ruby a lewdly appraising look. She bats her eyes teasingly at him, and he grunts, grinning a toothless smile at her.
“Can I do something for you ladies?” he asks in a croaking voice, setting the loup aside.
“For me? Nothing that wouldn’t give you a heart attack.” Ruby flashes him the kind of smile that could, quite possibly, have that result anyway. “But my friend has something for you.”
“It’s not much.” I step up to the counter, holding out the chain. “But I thought it might be worth something.” I don’t bother mentioning that I found it. This doesn’t look like the type of place run by someone with principles about finders keepers, but I don’t want to risk it.
“You’re right that it’s not much.” He holds it up, turning the chain back and forth. “But it’s fourteen-karat. So not worthless.” He picks up the loup, giving it a closer look. “Let me think.”
Ruby leans forward, her elbows on the counter as she gives him a brilliant display of her cleavage. “The charm is really pretty, I think. Very nice craftsmanship.”
I could have hugged her for the way the man’s eyes light up as he looks at her, the chain still dangling from his hand. I’mabsolutely sure that it’s affecting his decision.I need to do something nice for Ruby with part of this.
