Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Ruby watched through the passenger window as Chase’s truck wound its way out of the hilltop neighborhood.
Mrs. Murtree hadn’t called again. Ruby thought about checking in, but the poor woman probably had her hands full with Haley.
Ruby had just switched off her screen when the phone rang. But this wasn’t Mrs. Murtree’s number.
It had a Los Angeles area code.
“Hello?”
“Ruby? It’s Nora.”
Finally. “Where have you been? I’ve been really worried since the fight. Are you okay?”
“Adrian Peele is dead.”
“What?” Ruby shared a glance with Chase. “Okay, hold on a second. I’m with Chase. My husband. I’m putting you on speaker.” She pressed the button. “Peele is dead? What happened?”
“I don’t know yet. It just went down, and the minute I got word, I packed up and left. I’ve been sleeping on friends’ couches. But I can’t stay in LA. Not now.”
Ruby was trying to think through what Nora was saying, but she couldn’t begin to puzzle out the few hints her friend had given her. “I want to understand. Why would Adrian Peele’s death make you have to leave LA? You didn’t…you didn’t have something to do with it, did you?”
“No way,” Nora said adamantly. “I’ve been trying to keep my head down since the fight venue got busted. This is the last thing I wanted.”
“But why?” Ruby didn’t wish anyone dead, but Adrian Peele had probably deserved this. How many enemies had the guy made over the years? “If Peele’s gone, he can’t bother you anymore.”
“I can’t explain it all now. There’s so much shit happening, and I swear I don’t want anything to do with it. I just want out.” She sounded like she was panicking. “I need a place to stay.”
“Where are you?”
“West Oaks. Parked in a public lot at the beach.”
Ruby looked over at Chase again. What was Nora doing in West Oaks? What in the world was going on?
The truck was still turning back and forth, making its way out of the hills. Ruby felt like those same twists were inside her mind as she tried to make sense of the little Nora had told her.
“Are you in danger? Did anyone follow you?”
“Nobody knows where I am. Except you.” Nora exhaled into the phone. Ruby could hear the woman’s exhaustion.
“If you’re afraid of someone coming after you,” Chase said, “you need to call the police.”
“That’s not an option. You both think you know what’s going on, but you don’t.”
“Then tell us.”
“Ruby, you’re the only person I can trust. I’m begging here. It’s just for tonight, and I’ll be gone in the morning. Then I won’t bother you again.”
Nora wasn’t going to explain, at least not over the phone. “Hold on. I need to talk to Chase. Don’t hang up, okay? I’m going to put you on mute.” Ruby set down her phone.
Chase gripped the steering wheel. The lights of the main boulevard appeared ahead. “Maybe we should call Sean Holt at the LAPD. If Adrian Peele is dead, and Nora could be a witness—”
“Then that’s her business for the moment. It sounds like she’s terrified and running, and I know how that feels. I want to help.”
“You’ve always thought Mickey could’ve been into more than just the circuit. Nora could be, too.”
“But I can’t turn my back on her.” How could she blame Nora for getting too close to Mickey when Ruby had made the same mistake? “Please, Chase. Do this for me.”
He was shaking his head. But she could already tell he wouldn’t say no. “She can stay at my house. There’s a key hidden beneath the grill on the back patio.” Then he held up his hand. “But only if she explains what’s really going on.”
Ruby leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.” She unmuted the call. “Nora? We have a place for you to stay. But there’s a condition.”
“Which is?”
“I’m going to meet you there, and you’ll tell me the whole truth. Everything that I don’t know.”
“Whoa, hold on,” Chase whispered. “You’re going?”
Ruby ignored him. “Nora? What do you say?”
There was quiet on the line. Ocean waves crashed faintly in the background.
“You’re not going to like it,” Nora said. “I’m scared you’ll hate me.”
Chase kept glaring over at her, switching back and forth between watching the road.
“I’ve made bad decisions too. I believe in second chances. But you have to earn it, Nora. Be honest with me.”
Nora paused again. “Okay. I’ll tell you. But only you. Not your cop husband. And don’t tell anyone else where I am. That includes Tag.”
So she knew Chase was a police officer. “Fine. Just me.” Ruby gave her the address and explained where Nora would find the key. “Meet you there in about an hour.” She ended the call.
The traffic light turned red, and Chase punched the brakes. “You’re not going there alone. No way.”
“Nora’s been hesitant to talk this entire time. She trusts me more than you.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t automatically mean you should trust her back. I’m the one who should go talk to her.”
“But she just said she didn’t want to talk to a cop.”
“Then I’ll tell her I’m not a cop at the moment. I’m suspended.”
Ruby breathed through her annoyance. Chase was protective, and that wasn’t going to change. But she also had to make him understand the nature of their relationship.
They were a real couple now, but that didn’t mean Chase got to call all the shots. Ruby was as opinionated and stubborn as she’d always been.
“One of us has to go home to Haley right now,” Ruby said, “and one of us needs to talk to Nora. I’ve made my decision on who’s going where. Don’t argue with me.”
Chase was frowning. Biting back his protests. “Okay. You’ll go talk to Nora. But at least take someone with you. Call Bennett Security.”
“You mean the guys who are drinking at Max’s wedding right now, like Devon? What about Officer Shelborne? You always say how much you trust her.” And Shelby might seem less intimidating to Nora.
“I’ll call her. But if she can’t come with you, I’m going over there to meet Nora myself.”
When they reached Ruby’s apartment building, Shelby was already waiting by the curb. She was dressed in jeans and a dark blue West Oaks PD sweatshirt. Not too subtle. They’d have to make sure Nora didn’t see.
“Where’s the Bennett Security guys who were watching the building?” Chase asked.
“I assume at the wedding with everyone else. I told them we didn’t need them anymore. They were camped out here for weeks, and they had better things to do. Max agreed with me.”
“But you should have told me. I thought you had protection the past week while I was gone.”
“Chase, it’s fine. I need to get going.” Ruby didn’t want to leave Shelby or Nora waiting. “Give Haley a kiss for me.”
He parked the car, and they both got out. “Be careful.”
“I’ve made it this many years figuring things out on my own. Without a husband or bodyguards.”
Ruby waved at Shelby and started toward her. But Chase grabbed her hand. He cupped the back of her neck and kissed her. Shelby wolf whistled.
“I know you can survive without me,” Chase said. “But I can’t survive without you. So hurry home.”
“I will.” She didn’t trust herself to say much more. But on the inside, she was getting all mushy. “You’re being too perfect. It’s annoying me.”
“I’ll keep working on that.”
“You’d better.”
Ruby got into Shelby’s hatchback. Shelby hopped in the driver’s seat and started the car. “From the looks of that kiss, I’d guess you two worked out your issues?”
“Most of them. We’re together. Officially, not just on paper.” Ruby couldn’t hold back her grin.
“It’s about time. But he’s my friend, so I have to do the obligatory ‘don’t break his heart’ speech. Chase can act tough, but he’s squishy underneath that armor.”
“I promise I’ll take care of him.”
Shelby held up her fist, and Ruby bumped it.