Ruby (11 page)

“
It was never enough.” Not
in anything they did. He wasn’t enough in the bed so they’d brought
others in. Mostly men, and while he did enjoy it while it was going
on, Dwight had always felt as if he was lacking somehow, that she
needed more than him. And lately, just after this whole thing with
Josh, she’d been telling him how lacking he really was.

Then the money. He thought back on the
amounts they would have on them at any given time and still was
shocked by it. Millions and millions of dollars. So much so that
they’d fucked each other on it, and then had lit cigars afterwards
using hundreds as their flame. Christ, they were stupid.

And now the ride was over. Dwight
looked at the phone when it began to ring again. In two short
weeks, just fourteen days, they’d managed to spend every penny they
had, as well as a great deal they didn’t. Not only that, the money
that had been marked to pay the salary of their few employees had
gone to making a promise of payment to Manson.

When his phone rang the third time, he
reached for it. Whoever it was couldn’t harm him any more than he
thought Manson would when he found out they had no money. And even
death—although the thought of dying slowly terrified him—was
something he knew he deserved.

“
Dwight? I’d very much
wish you’d stop calling me. Anything you have to say to me—” Dwight
heard Josh’s voice and crumbled. Great loud sobs poured from him as
he sat there. He had no idea if Josh had hung up on him or not, but
just the thought that he was there made him feel marginally better.
When Josh said his name, perhaps not for the first time, Dwight
finally was able to talk.

“
I’ve made the biggest
mistake of my life with this.” Josh said nothing, but then, Dwight
never thought he’d be the type of man to say I told you so. “Teri,
the business, even the house. It’s all a mistake. I don’t know how
you did it with her for so long, but I’m going to lose it all. I’ve
made some mistakes before, plenty of them, but losing you was the
biggest regret of my life. I don’t know what to do.”

“
Is it the drugs?” Dwight
cried again, knowing somehow that if Josh knew, things might be
better. “When my lawyer inventoried the things in the storage room,
he only counted the boxes. He never looked into them. Today…what
the fuck were you thinking having that sort of shit at the office?
That money tested positive, highly positive, for cocaine. Damn it,
Dwight. What the fuck are you doing with that kind of money? In the
offices that we worked in?”

“
Teri did it. She said
you’d never know.” He felt stupid for blaming her, but it was the
truth. She’d led him around by his dick the entire time they’d been
together. “And she is the dealer that made all that money that we
used for shit. All those trips? It was to lay down the groundwork
for another bigger deal. I loved it, all the money, but now, you
took it when you left and we’re so fucked. So fucked, and there
isn’t a damned thing…I don’t even care anymore. I just need to get
him back his money.”

“
You can’t possibly think
I’m going to give it back to you, do you?” Dwight was shaking his
head even as Josh asked him. “Mother fuck, Dwight? Do you have any
idea how much money was in those boxes? There was just under twenty
million in them.”

Dwight didn’t say anything. He knew
that Josh was lying to him. There was a great deal more than that
in those boxes. He’d counted it. But why would he do that? He had
nothing to gain from it. But maybe, just maybe, he’d not counted it
all. Yeah, Dwight thought, his friend would not fuck him over like
that.

“
The man who supplies us
wants his money. We had to take everything we have here to give him
something or he was going to kill us. Mostly me. He said that Teri
would learn her lesson from him killing me or he’d kill her too. I
think she’d give me over in a second if it saved her ass. Did you
know she was like this when you met her?”

“
No. No, I did not. You
either for that matter.” Dwight felt his heart twist. His best
friend, his only friend, was disappointed in him. “You have to turn
yourself in. It’s the only way you’re going to be able to come out
of this alive.”

“
She’ll have Manson kill
me before I get to the courthouse.” Dwight knew that now. Not only
that, but he was pretty sure that Teri would gladly pull the
trigger if Manson asked her to. “I’m in some serious shit here. Not
only did the money you took fuck us, but the supplier is demanding
that we continue on as if nothing happened. Only this time we’re to
pay up front for the drugs. I don’t even think we have enough money
to pay the phone bill next month, much less give him
money.”

“
You don’t.” Of course
Josh would know that. He was good at finding out the most about
people and their businesses. He supposed if he wanted to, Josh
could find out how much Manson was worth as well. “Did you know
what you were doing when you starting fucking her?”

It occurred to Dwight that his friend
could be recording their conversation. Dwight nearly let his
thoughts get him, seeing himself not only arrested with Feds
breaking into his now empty offices and taking him away in cuffs,
but tied to a chair with currents running through it. His mind was
very prolific when it was afraid, Dwight just realized. But then he
thought, what the fuck? He was as good as dead anyway. Either by
the Feds that could be lurking outside his office door or Manson.
Either way, he was dead.

“
No. I mean yes, in a way.
She was always so together and had so much. And I didn’t…you know,
I’d never have taken her from you, but she….” Dwight let out a long
breath. “I sound like I’m blaming you for this. I’m not. This is
completely my fault. I should never had taken what was yours. Not
Teri or the business.”

“
I’m glad you did,
actually. Not the way you did it, but…I’ve met someone.” Dwight
felt the tears again and wiped at them with the back of his hand.
He wanted Josh to be happy. He felt as though if anyone deserved
it, Josh certainly did. “She’s wonderful and smart. A doctor, no
less. And she hates parties and me giving her things. She’s
perfect. I’m a better man for having her in my life.”

“
I’m so glad for you.
Really, I am. You needed someone that made you feel like this. I’m
sorry to say, I don’t think Teri was ever going to be it.” Josh
didn’t say anything, and Dwight leaned forward in his chair. “I
need you to help me. Not to get out of this, but to make it right.
I’m so fucked right now that there is no way for me to even think
I’m going to get out of this with anything short of prison. But I
do want out, to make it right, I mean.”

“
I don’t know what I can
do for you.” Not what he wanted to hear, but mostly what he had
expected. “Are you willing to turn on this guy and Teri? It would
mean you’d have to go deep into hiding.”

Dwight knew then that Josh was talking
to other people about this. If he had any idea, any whatsoever that
wouldn’t get him killed, Dwight would try it. “Yes. Whatever the
Feds want, I’ll do.”

There was a long pause. Nothing, not
even breathing on Josh’s end, and Dwight waited. He would do
whatever it took, even if he had to wear a wire. He did wonder
briefly if they did that sort of thing still. With all the
technology nowadays, more than likely they’d come up with a better
system.

“
Someone will be in touch.
Just don’t say a word to anyone or the deal is off.” Dwight nodded,
then realized that Josh couldn’t see him. “Do you hear me, Dwight?
Not a word or it’s over.”

“
Nothing. Not even to
myself.” He was going for a joke and it was a failure like his life
was at the moment. “When?”

“
They’ll contact you.” The
line went dead, and Dwight slowly hung it up. He wasn’t out of
trouble by any stretch of the imagination, but he was closer to
getting this off his back. And Teri too. Leaning back in his chair,
he thought of all the things he needed to get straight in his life
before he was killed. Because as much as he trusted his friend,
Dwight was under no illusions that he wasn’t as good as dead either
way.

~~~

Ruby looked around Josh’s home. Where
her home had been huge, this one was ginormous. There were rooms
inside of rooms bigger than her entire floor. Bathrooms that held
both a shower stall big enough for five people and a bath tub that
you could do laps in. And the yard? Sheesh, it looked like a
national park, it was so well maintained.

Then there were the boxes that were
everywhere. Plus, there were at least four men to every one box
that had been brought from the garage. Each piece they pulled out
was photographed and logged into a computer. Then it was written
down in a large notebook. These people took better inventory than
they did at the hospital.

She and Josh had gotten back from
their trip, as he’d been calling it, and Josh had gone out to the
garage when Lila had asked him about something she’d had sent to
his house. Then after that, all hell broke loose. He’d made calls,
people started showing up, and then Lila had entered her life. Ruby
looked down at the woman now. Her smile made Ruby smile back at
her.

“
You should have a seat,
my dear. He’s going to go insane trying to make sure you’re
comfortable.” Ruby looked at the elderly woman who had come in and
taken over, ordering people around better than her grandmother did.
With her she’d brought all the Feds that were there now, as well as
a few men that had already left to go to Dwight and Teri’s
house.

“
I’m fine. It’s him I’m
worried about.” Josh looked like someone had taken his heart out
and then tried to put it back in all wrong. “Do you suppose that
Dwight will do as he told him? I’m not sure Josh thinks he
will.”

“
Yes. The man is not as
stupid as some think. But he’s pretty close. He is a good deal
smarter than Teri thinks he is anyway. She had him all tied up in
knots, led him by his other brain, and he fell for it. Pretty much
as she had poor Josh here at first. Then he…he’d never admit it,
but I think he was tired of her. She broke his heart, sure she did,
but he got over it quickly and moved on. Lucky for him.” Lila sat
down. “I’ll only admit this to you, but I had him come home early
from that fated trip. I told him it was because a client needed
him. No one needs him after he gets them going. But he came home
and caught them. Just as I’d hoped.”

“
You broke his heart.”
Lila nodded, then shook her head. “I guess you’re right. He needed
to see what she was…what they were before it was too late. Do you
suppose they might have pulled him in had they not gotten caught?
Or do you think it was over before then?”

“
They were using his plane
for drops and pick-ups. That was how I figured it out. He had asked
me to sell it sometime beforehand and I had scheduled a company go
in and clean it up. It was gone. And the flight pattern that had
been filed was made by Dwight. After that, I kept my eyes on him
and that woman. Teri Parsons was a bad seed, and he needed to see
that.” She looked at Josh as he talked with one of the men in
charge. “I had no idea that this stuff was going on. I just thought
they were having an affair. It wasn’t until later that I figured
out that…. Had I known…well, had I known, I would have taken her
ass out long before this.”

Blair and Sapphire showed up a little
after noon. Grandmother brought some food with her and a couple of
pack members. They had a nice lunch set up in no time, and then
Grandmother started on dinner. It was going to be a long
day.

Blair sat down next to Ruby on the
couch after Lila left her to answer some questions about one of the
boxes.

“
You okay?” She nodded and
smiled at him. “There’s my girl. I want you to know that we’re here
for you. I know Josh is new to the family, but he’s pack too.
Sapphire said that you turned the other job down. I’m glad for
that. We need you here.”

“
He wants me to convert
him.” Blair nodded as if he already knew, which she supposed he
did. “I told him a little about what was going to happen, but he
needs to talk to you. I don’t think he’s thought this through all
the way.”

“
I bet he has. He doesn’t
strike me as a person who makes decisions lightly or quickly.”
Blair glanced at Josh, then looked back at her. “Can you do this?
Convert him? It’s not easy on a mate to do. And not that I think
that females are weak, but it’s usually harder on them than the
male. They’re a bit more squeamish on making their mate
hurt.”

“
I’m a surgeon, Blair. I’m
in love with making others hurt.” He laughed, as she’d hoped he
would. “To be honest, I’m sort of nervous about it. Not the hurting
him part, but the conversion part. What if something happens and
we’re no longer together?”

“
You won’t be able to
leave him. Not now.” That wasn’t what she meant, and she knew just
when it occurred to him what she did mean. “You won’t get killed
either. I know that there is a lot going on in that hospital right
now, but you’re as safe as you can be.”

“
Cochran threatened a room
full of people, Blair. He told them that I was going to suffer in
ways that no one could imagine. And I can imagine a great deal.
What if he comes into the emergency room and shoots a bunch of us?
He could, you know? He probably knows that hospital better than
most.”