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Once he’s paid for the meal and left a nice tip for the waitress, he leads Ruby out to his truck. He lifts her up into the passenger seat and hands her their take-out bag. He waits while she buckles her seatbelt. Then he rounds the truck and climbs into the driver’s seat. They’ve barely gotten started back down the road when his phone rings. He glances at the screen. It’s Hawk. Fuck! He’s supposed to have the weekend off.
“Evans,” Tank answers after hitting the answer button on his steering wheel. Hawk’s voice comes over the speakers of his truck.
“Tank, Straw didn’t want me to call you, but I knew you’d want to know,” Hawk begins. Dread skitters through Tank. He instantly knows it has something to do with Abigail’s ex-asshole getting out of prison earlier this week. “Todd showed up at the house and caused a scene.”
“What the fuck? Are Abigail and Ellie all right?” Tank asks, fearful of the answer.
“Yeah, they’re both okay. Straw and the guys on the team subdued him. Lynnville came and took him back to the halfway house where he’s supposed to be staying. Abigail is shaken up of course,” Hawks says. “And Straw’s in the dog house for not telling her about Todd getting out. Ellie doesn’t know anything about it. She’s a little sad about missing their movie, but Charlotte and I took the twins over to Lynnville’s and helped watch over her and Marla until Lynnville got back from taking care of Todd.”
“Fuck!” Tank exclaims. “You and I both told Straw not to lie to her. He should have listened.”
“We did, and he should have, but Lynnville told him not to tell her,” Hawk continues, “Straw didn’t technically lie to her. However he didn’t tell her everything he knew, so a lie by omission, but to her still a lie. She’ll make him squirm a while, but that woman loves him, so she’ll eventually forgive him.”
“Yeah, but he’s going to have to do some serious groveling.” Tank chuckles but then sobers as a thought occurs to him. “Should I come back?” Worry for his friends hits him suddenly. He needs to be there to ensure Abigail and Ellie are safe. He wants to help keep an eye on the bastard who’s trying to hurt his friends, too.
“No, we have everything under control,” Hawk replies. “Straw will want to kick my ass for calling you in the first place. He didn’t want to spoil your time off, but I knew you’d want to know. If anything changes, I’ll call you back. Enjoy your weekend.” The call ends. Hawk has said what he wanted to say so he’s ended the call.
“My goodness,” Ruby says softly. “I’m glad Abigail is okay.”
“Yeah, me too,” Tank replies. He puffs out a sigh. He can’t keep from worrying about his friends and what they’re going through. Not being there to help is tough, but his need to be with Ruby drives him to keep the truck headed south. He knows Hawk wouldn’t lie to him. If the team couldn’t handle the situation and needed Tank there, Hawk would have asked him to come back.
“Do you want to go back?” Ruby questions after a bit of silence. He glances over catching glimpses of her in the passing lights. He shakes his head.
“No, the team has everything under control,” Tank assures her. “They’ll call if they need me. Hawk is correct about Straw not wanting him to call me. We’ve been close friends since we were in elementary school. I haven’t taken any time off on my own in years. It would have to be life or death before he’d want to call me back.” Ruby gives him a smile. “Not that I don’t want to be there for him, but it might make things worse, making him feel guilty about ruining my time off.”
“If at any time you want to head back”–Ruby pauses– “I understand. I would want to be there for my friend if the situation were reversed.”
“Okay and thank you for your understanding.” Tank takes her hand in his, enjoying the feel of her small hand in his larger one. She peeks at him through her lashes, seeming shy, which is in contradiction to the way she kissed him at the diner.
“Poor Abigail,” Ruby says after a few moments. “What do you think her ex was doing at their house? Would he try to hurt her again?”
“I don’t know,” Tank answers as he too has been wondering the same thing. “Abigail’s ex, Todd, is the father of her daughter, Ellie. The man is a fucking nut job. He abused her and tried to kill her before she got away from him.” Ruby sucks in a startled breath. “She actually thought she’d killed him the day she left. Todd had come home early and caught her packing to leave him. She’d decided to get out because of the abuse, and he’d threatened Ellie the day before all this happened.” Tank grips the steering wheel in his anger just thinking of what they’d learned about that day. He’d seen the videos Todd had recorded. Even of the incident when Abigail left. Tank is amazed Abigail had been able to survive as badly as she’d been injured and treated. “Ellie was only a few months old at the time, and he threatened to kill her because she was crying. Abigail wanted to protect Ellie from the monster. She didn’t know he had cameras set up in their apartment. He monitored and recorded everything. He saw her packing when he checked the camera on his phone. He came home and attacked her, so while trying to defend herself, she knocked him out, but thought he was dead. She called emergency services, but fled the scene, thinking they wouldn’t believe her.”
“Why did she think no one would believe her?” Ruby questions. “Surely he left evidence of the abuse on her, bruises or cuts.”
“He did, but Todd was in the Navy at the time,” Tank explains. “Abigail had been raised in a rough environment and had gotten into some trouble as a juvenile. She had some minor criminal offenses as a teen. She didn’t think the police would believe it was self-defense. So she took Ellie and ended up in California.”
“My God!” Ruby says. “I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for her, having a small baby and being all alone.” Tank notices the worry on Ruby’s face. He would love to take all her worries away.
“Yeah, she had some rough times,” Tank responds. “She told us about them living in her car, shelters, and some really seedy apartment buildings over the years, but she eventually got a good job at a hotel in San Diego. Their apartment still wasn’t great, but it was livable. That’s where she and Straw got together.”
“Really?” Ruby asks. “They met in California?” Tank nods.
“Yeah, we had gone out there for a two-week training session,” Tank tells her. “It was practically love at first sight for those two.” Tank proceeds to tell her how the team had helped Abigail and Straw during the trip to California and then afterward when Abigail and Ellie moved to North Carolina to be close to Straw and the Admiral, Ellies’ grandpa.
“And she and Straw are happy together, now?” Ruby asks when he’s finished the story. “Even though her ex is still causing them trouble?”
“Yeah,” Tank replies. “Straw loves Abigail, and she loves him. They would do anything for each other. I’m pretty sure Straw is proposing this weekend. At least he’d been planning on asking her tonight. I’m not sure if he got the chance since Todd’s showed up causing trouble. I hate it the dickhead has ruined their night at home alone.” He glances at Ruby. He can see something working in her mind as she ponders his words. He sure wishes he could read minds.
23
RUBY
Ruby keeps running Tucker’s words over in her mind. Straw and Abigail have been able to find their happiness, despite her ex causing them trouble, but Ruby’s situation is much worse. She might have an ex, but it isn’t only him. It’s the whole “family” who she’s hiding from. How can she take the chance of letting Tucker into her heart, her life, when she’s running from a very powerful organization?
Ruby sighs, turning her head toward the passenger side window. She stares out into the passing night, her heart aching with the pain of what could have been if she weren’t on the run. Tucker is a good man. He’s kind, caring, and while he can be bossy and very straightforward when he wants something, he cares for her. She hasn’t had anyone who’s cared for her since her mother died. Well, that’s not entirely true. Gianna had cared enough for her to help her escape…
* * *
