Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Jack
Jack dumped the contents of Ruby’s handbag onto the bed and grimaced. She hadn’t been lying about having a gun. But he’d also been right: she had more than one wallet in her purse—along with two pocket watches and a bracelet.
“You’ve been busy this morning, haven’t you?” he asked with raised brows.
Ruby hugged her arms to her chest, leaning back against a wall, her foot tapping. “A girl could do a lot worse than take some cash off men who will never miss it in the first place.”
“Girl is a generous word.” Jack scowled. “You’ve got to be—what?—at least thirty? A little old for wasting your life on crime.”
Sunlight filtered in through the gauzy curtains, throwing warm light into the room, but Ruby hung back in the shadows, her expression unreadable. “Watch it, Darby. I’ll only accept so many insults before I bite back.”
“You already bit, remember? And not in the buttering up sort of way you were doing with Mr. Dillard. I didn’t even get a single fluttering lash.
” Jack collected the wallets and jewelry, then fished a key out of his pocket and walked to the wardrobe.
Upon opening it, he deposited the items in a safe, pulled out a locked ammunition case, then turned back to her. “So let’s talk business.”
“What sort of business?” Ruby didn’t leave her spot by the wall.
Jack slipped out of his jacket and sat in an armchair, facing her. “How long have you been in Cairo, Ruby?”
Her lips twisted, and she looked away from his, staring toward the window sullenly.
He wanted to feel sorry for her. But he also needed to keep in mind whom he was dealing with. This woman had robbed him without a hint of remorse. And she’d been at it ever since. She was a criminal without a conscience, nothing more.
“Ruby?”
Her mouth pressed to a tighter line, then after a moment, she said, “Eight months.”
“And before that?”
“What’s it to you?” She glared at him. “What are you, a detective?”
“No.” He examined her more closely. “I’m not interested in turning you in to them either. That’s just a last resort. I’m … a businessman. And considering that you took a sizable amount of my money, we’re going to call that my first payment to you for your services—if you can deliver what I need.”
Her eyes widened. “I told you, I’m not that kind of—”
“And I’m not that kind of man.” Jack rolled his eyes. “You have my word. This is about business, not that. And you have no reason not to trust me.”
She shifted with discomfort. “I have every reason to not trust any man I meet.” But his words hadn’t been lost on her either, apparently. “What do you mean first payment?”
“I mean if you help me, I’ll pay you. Good money too. More than you could get in a week of working your little con. But first I need to know if you have the right contacts for the business proposition I’m making.”
That garnered her interest. Some of the tension in her posture dissolved. “How much money?” Then she seemed to catch herself. “But, more importantly, for doing what?”
“Well, it depends on how useful you can be. Let’s talk about you, first. I’m sure you’ve got someone you’re selling all the stolen jewelry and travel documents to.”
She blanched. “I don’t handle that—Theo does.”
“Is he actually your brother?”
She didn’t answer.
Time to change tactics. She clearly responded to money. Might even be desperate for it.
Jack unlocked the case of ammunition. From inside, he withdrew a tidy stack of cream-colored certificates, each bearing the insignia of the British government. He held them up. “You know what these are?”
She looked from the certificates to his face, her breath catching audibly. “Bearer bonds.”
He slipped them back into the case. “Good. Yes. Each of them are worth more money than you’ve probably ever lifted off anyone.
One thousand pounds sterling each. Don’t get any ideas.
They’re not staying here after our little meeting—I don’t show thieves my secrets that na?vely.
But if you help me, there will be two of these earmarked for you.
” He gestured toward the other armchair in the room. “Sit.”
Ruby stared at him for another minute before she peeled her hat off, then removed a wig from over her hair, returning to the blonde he’d met at Mena House. For whatever reason, that made him smile.
Don’t let her hoodwink you, though. He well knew he often let women get the best of him.
“You know, I wasn’t always a thief. I have my reasons for what I’m doing.” She sank into the chair with a sigh, smoothing the wig with her fingertips.
“I’m sure you do. So tell me—how well connected are you?”
She glanced back toward the case where he’d slipped the bonds. “I’ve been working here for long enough that I know people. We switch towns every week or so. Usually come back to Cairo once a month, catch some of the new tourists.”
“That’s not surprising. Smart, even. In fact, I expect you know a lot of people here in Egypt. So you travel often. Maybe even in the Middle East? Do you know people there?”
She shrugged coolly. “I know enough.”
“What about Palestine ... or Iraq? Have any contacts there?”
A moment of tense, suspicious silence followed. “Why do you want to know?”
“Just answer the damned question. I’m interested in knowing how wide you’ve cast your little criminal net.
If you can be useful to me, then we can move forward with this business arrangement.
I need someone who knows fixers and where to get paperwork.
Who has contacts in Egypt, sure, but also up through Palestine, Transjordan, Syria, and Iraq.
Can you offer me that, Ruby? You have experience with that? ”
Her voice was small as she answered. “Yes.”
His eyes narrowed at her. “You’re not lying, are you? You take on this job for the money but don’t know what you’re doing and we’ll—”
She glared, her tone instantly harder. Flatter. “I’m not lying. I can do all that. I’m good at getting people to help me—for a price.” She gave him a sharp look. “Don’t judge me. You have no idea what I come from and what I’ll do to meet my goals.”
The change in her demeanor almost gave him goose bumps.
“I’m not judging you. Just the methods you use to help yourself.
” He cleared his throat. “Listen. We’re not getting anywhere bickering like this.
Here’s the deal. I need someone who can help me disappear from Egypt for a while.
Someone who can get me across the border with Iraq and without alerting anyone.
And I’m willing to pay good money for whoever provides and facilitates that service. ”
Her eyes narrowed. “You mean smuggling. You need someone to smuggle you into Iraq.”
“Technically I need a guide. But if you want to add accessory to espionage to your resume, I won’t stop you.”
She blinked slowly, as though processing the information. “You mean to tell me that a man with your wealth doesn’t have connections?”
“I didn’t say I don’t. But mine tend to be more savory than yours, I’ll bet. And the unsavory ones … I can’t trust right now. I need new ones. Ones who don’t know who I am and won’t recognize me.”
“And if I help you, you’ll pay me two thousand pounds sterling in bearer bonds?” She arched a brow. “How do I know those are real?”
He leaned forward. “We could go to the bank. Find out together when I deposit them. But you’re also welcome to examine them.”
She raised her chin. “Both.”
“I’d expect nothing less.”
Ruby twisted in her seat, holding his gaze as she considered his offer. “And I just have to get you through to Iraq?”
“You’d have to come with me.”
“Just how long do you plan on staying there? And where in Iraq?” She huffed. “I don’t see why I would need to stay with you.”
“Baghdad. As long as necessary—but I’ll pay you accordingly.
And why you’d have to stay with me?” He leaned toward her and winked.
“I need some insurance to make sure I make it back safely. And that you have all the contacts you claim to have in the first place. It’s a lot harder to make that promise when your neck is on the line, too, if we get caught. ”
“You don’t trust me?” She crossed her arms.
Jack chuckled. “Would you?”
She looked away, but her lack of protest made it clear she’d conceded the point. “Why do you need to get to Iraq anyway? You running from the law?”
He shook his head. Telling her too much was a risk, but he’d already risked a lot by involving her. “I’m looking for someone in Baghdad.”
“Who?”
Jack’s breath grew shallower as he stared at her, his palms suddenly clammy. “A woman. One who may know where my sister is.”
The air between them crackled, the room feeling warm and stale despite the humming of the ceiling fan above the bed.
Jack watched the fan blades spin, feeling the urge to throw up a silent prayer to the heavens.
Several weeks had passed at this point since Prescott had found him and told him Alice and Kit were missing.
Every day wasted was a step closer to a grave instead of a sister. To more questions and even more regrets.
The thought was like ice water to his veins, and he stood suddenly, then crossed to the window and opened it. As warm fresh air filtered inside, he turned his gaze back to Ruby, hoping he wouldn’t look as desperate as he felt.
If he was right about her, she actually did know people who could help.
Or she was desperate enough for the money that she’d find the right people to help.
Outside, the call to prayer drifted through the window, carried on the dry breeze that smelled faintly of dust and citrus. God help him if this woman couldn’t.
She finally frowned and gave him a cold, calculating look. “Half now, half when we return from Baghdad. In sterling, not bonds.”
“Half is too much. Besides, like I said, I already made a first payment.”
“It’s not enough. And you just took everything I earned today.”
“Earned is one way to put it.” He turned and perched back against the windowsill, then stretched his legs out in front of him.
“If I give you half, I have no guarantee you won’t disappear before we leave Cairo.
I’m not that stupid. And the wallets and jewelry from today are evidence.
If you cheat me … let’s just say a certain inspector friend might just find himself on the receiving end of a very good tip about a trio of thieves plaguing the wealthy tourists of Cairo.
I may not have reported the theft, but others will. ”
She clasped her hands in her lap. “I can’t return today empty-handed.”
“Why? Is Theo holding something over your head?”
Ruby flinched, then shook her head slowly. “He’s my brother. I wasn’t lying about that.”
He’d clearly landed a little too close to the truth for her comfort.
“Okay, maybe not Theo. But someone else, right?”
She nodded. “And if we don’t pay him what we owe him by the end of the week, he won’t be merciful.”
Jack caught the flicker of her hand toward her wrist—reflexive, unthinking. He’d seen that kind of fear before.
He was tempted to ask who. No. I don’t want to know. The less I know about her or her business dealings, the better.
“All right. Then I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you enough to make sure you can make your payment this week. Then the rest you’ll get when we return.”
“It’s not just this week, though.” The tough veneer faded. “Every Friday we have to make a payment. If I leave for Iraq with you, I’ll leave Theo and Felix vulnerable. And Felix is still recovering from your vicious throat punch. I’m the one who’s pulling in the most money right now.”
Her plight intrigued him, his curiosity burning. Just who in the hell was coercing her and what did they have on her?
But that wasn’t as important as solving her problem was.
“How much?”
She frowned. “How much what?”
“How much do you need in order to make the payment to your debtor?”
Ruby twisted a strand of hair on the wig around her fingertip. “A hundred pounds a week.”
Jack let out a low whistle. “You must have really racked up the debts. What’d you do, blondie?” Her cheeks went pink and he pressed on. “I have a friend that can disburse the weekly amount you need—directly to Theo—while you’re gone.”
She looked doubtful. “You can do that?”
“Like I said, I have connections. Just not the ones I need to get into Iraq right now.”
A few more beats of silence passed before she nodded. “I need your word that you’ll keep me out of prison. You or your inspector friend. And no lies. You lie to me, I walk. I’ve had enough of men with secrets.”
He almost smiled at her negotiations. He liked that about her. She was sharp. Smart.
She’d be useful.
Jack opened his mouth, then shut it. For a second, the fire in her eyes made him forget why he ever preferred quiet women. He nodded gruffly. “Sounds like a deal. Shall we go to the bank?”
Ruby took a deep breath, then pulled out a slip of paper from a hidden pocket in her dress. “Here. As a show of trust.”
Jack took the folded paper, brow raising. As he unfolded it, he saw it was the telegram he’d decoded from Noah earlier.
Holy mackerel. When had she swiped it from him?
He pulled a lighter from his pocket, then lit the corner of the paper before returning his gaze to her. “Remind me to never turn my back on you.”
“You already did once.”
True enough. He’d have to watch himself with this one.