Ruby (21 page)

“
What?” Duncan nodded.
“Why didn’t you inform me of this when I first arrived? I need to
know these things so that I may get my money from her.”

“
Yeah, I just found out.
Something about her trying to shoot up the hospital. Not sure on
the dets yet.” Manson asked him what a “det” was. “Details. I don’t
have me any details as yet. But she’s not in lock-up. Not that I
can see. They might have her cooling her jets or something, but
she’s not showing on their sheets.”

Manson had to do a quick translation
in his head. So Teri wasn’t in the jail and there seemed to be no
record of her arrest. Cooling her jets eluded him until he looked
at Duncan. She was hidden.

“
Is it possible for you to
speak English? At all?” Duncan grinned and showed his mouth full of
gold. “And that’s something else. Don’t smile around me. I find
myself wanting to have each of those nuggets removed surgically.
Where is Carl? He may be slightly stupider than you, but I can
understand him.”

“
Him? He’s out getting his
knob washed. Left him there to get you.” Knob? Manson didn’t think
he wanted to know. “I’m to pick him up in an hour.”

“
See that you both come
back here. I wish to get this completed as soon as possible. I have
appointments to take care of as soon as we return.” Duncan nodded
and left. Manson sat in the chair to take a nap rather than subject
his poor feet to another foray into the bedroom. Closing his eyes,
he thought of all the things he was going to do to Teri when he got
her back; and Dwight, too, when he found him.

Manson opened his eyes to find a man
sitting across from him on the sofa. He was well-dressed,
clean-shaven, and looked like someone he might like to have working
for him. But then it occurred to him that he was in his room,
unannounced.

“
What do you think you’re
doing? Who let you into my room?” He started to stand, but his foot
cramped up, and he only was able to sit up straighter in his chair.
“I will own this hotel for this. See that I don’t. Get
out.”

“
My name is Sloan Crane.
You’ve never heard of me, of course, but I have heard a great deal
about you.” Manson felt honored for some reason. Then the man
laughed. “I wouldn’t think any of it was nice. You’re just what
they think of you. A real bastard and a son of a bitch.”

“
And this is not a
compliment to me? I have been all of those things at some point in
my life and am proud of it. I could not have made it this far
without hurting a few people on my way to the top.” Crane snorted.
“Are you saying that you’ve not stepped on a few of your friends on
your way to where you are now? I won’t believe you if you
do.”

“
I usually drain them if
they piss me off.” Again Manson didn’t understand something that
someone said to him, and he felt his temper rise. “You want Ewing
and Summer? I have them both.”

If he had them both and knew that
Manson wanted them, then it was a safe bet that he also knew about
the money. But he didn’t mention Mr. Kramer.

“
And their partner? What
have you done about Mr. Kramer? I’m assuming he will be with them?”
Crane only stared at him, and Manson had an overwhelming idea that
he was probing his mind. “Do you have him as well?”

“
Dead.” Nothing else, just
the single word. Manson leaned back in the chair again and decided
that he’d wait him out. He’d seen bigger men than this one crumble
under his gaze. But after twenty minutes, the man said not another
word.

“
What did he do to get
himself in this new state of mind? Hurt one of yours?” Still
nothing. “I am speaking to you. What happened to Mr. Kramer, and
where is my money?”

“
He shit in someone’s
oatmeal and they didn’t care for it.” Crane stood up, and Manson
felt fear. Not a little fear of the man’s height and size, but a
full-out terror running down his spine kind of fear. He felt
himself back more into the chair, trying his best to be unnoticed
by the man should he get angry.

“
Why are you here?” The
man stopped pacing to turn and look at him. There was evil there.
So much so that Manson felt his bladder shrivel and a whimper slip
from his lips.

“
You afraid of me?” Manson
wanted to tell him that he feared no man, but nodded. “Good. You’d
better be if you know what’s good for you. I’m here to try and save
your ass. And from the looks of you, I’d say that was a big order.
But Josh sent me. The man you’re so hot to kill.”

“
He has something that
belongs to me.” Crane laughed. “You think millions of dollars is
something that can be laughed off? I assure you that I take money
very seriously.”

“
You mean your drug money?
Or the money you get from any of the many other dirty jobs you
have?” Manson started to stand up, but Crane was suddenly up in his
face. “You move, as much as twitch your finger without telling me,
I will tear your throat out and dine on your tainted black
blood.”

Manson felt his hot breath on his
face, and could see the red circles around Crane’s eyes as they
grew bigger until they filled his entire whites. Manson wanted to
back away, needed to get as far from the big man as possible, but
Crane grabbed him around the throat and lifted him from the chair.
He was too stunned to struggle for a few seconds. Then when he
could, Manson clawed at his hands to try to breathe.

“
Stop it.” Manson didn’t
move again. “You are going to listen to me and then do as I tell
you. If you do not, I will be there when they take you down. And
believe me, you’ll wish for prison before they finish with
you.”

Crane dropped him. The height wasn’t
huge, but it was enough for his weight to break the chair when he
hit it. Manson sat there stunned for several seconds until Crane
started speaking. It wasn’t until he shouted his name that he
looked at the man.

“
You will listen to me.
Understand?” Manson nodded. “When they call you to come for Teri,
you’ll go, and not speak a word to anyone about what may or may not
be owed to you. You will—”

“
I will not forgive or
forget my money.” The roar and the anger behind it took Manson’s
breath away. As the man seemed to expand and grow, so did Manson’s
fear. The longer the man stood over him, his body stiff and hard,
the more Manson wished he’d never heard of Josh Ewing or Dwight
Kramer.

“
You are going to end up
dead.” Manson thought that might happen right there in the hotel
room, but said nothing as the man began to pace again. “In one
hour, Josh will call you. When he does…when he does, you will do as
you please. I have tried.”

Manson blinked several times before he
realized that what he was seeing…or not seeing, in this case…was
real. The man was gone. Just simply gone. Looking around at the
mess on the floor and in the room, he decided that the chair had
broken because of its shoddy workmanship and he’d hit his head. All
of this had been a dream. A…a nightmare of sorts.

It was an ordeal for him to get up
from the floor. Manson tried everything before he finally rolled to
his knees, then got up by crawling to the couch and heaving himself
up that way. He was so out of breath by the time he was standing
that he was tempted to sit back down. But he was actually afraid
he’d never rise again, and he was beginning to get sore from it
all. Moving slowly, he made his way to his bedroom and decided to
make a few phone calls. First and foremost was his man in the
area.

“
I’ve not heard a word
about either of them. If Mr. Kramer is here, I’ve no idea where
he’d be.” Manson asked him if it was possible for him to be in the
morgue. “Doubtful. This is a small town and if a dead body came in,
I’d hear about it.”

“
And Miss Summer? Have you
any idea where she is? It is my understanding that her car was
found nearby.” Not true, but it was worth a shot. “I do believe it
was a dark sedan.”

“
We have a car in the
impound lot. We’re still trying to figure out who it belongs to.
The VIN has been taken off. But it’s one of them big boys, not
mistaken for a sedan at all.” That was just what he needed to hear.
He asked him about the hospital shooting. “Nothing. We got there
within minutes, and the doctor on scene had no idea what we were
there for. She had a good laugh…we did too.”

“
This doctor, the name
wouldn’t have been Erickson, would it?” The cop confirmed it. “And
what did she say? This doctor, what did she say about the report
that came out? Surely she had some insight on why you were called
in for that particular crime?”

“
No. Those Erickson women
have a good reputation around here. And they got themselves enough
men sniffing around them now that nobody messes with them too much.
Blair, the oldest one’s husband, is a well-respected man too. Don’t
have any reason to think she was lying to us.”

Which was just why she would. Manson
hung up and made another call. “Dick, she’s here in this little
burg where I am. Are you nearby?”

“
Looking right at her
now.” Manson forgot all about how sore his feet and body were and
stood up. He had no idea where he might be going, but he was ready.
“They got her in a small cell sitting in the middle of a big field.
And there’s a sign on her cage.”

Manson waited for him to say what it
said, but the man just chuckled. “Well? Are you going to share or
are you going to upset me more?”

“
Oh, this’ll do the job
just fine. It says, ‘Here you go, Manson Cartwright, come and get
her.’ I think they might know you’re here too.”

For the first time in his life, Manson
wanted to stomp his feet like a little girl. And the words that
came out of his mouth were things he’d never said before.
“Motherfucking cunts. Mother fuck fuck fuck.”

Chapter 14

Ruby was finishing the procedure just
as someone said her name over the intercom. Looking at Jenna, who
shrugged, she asked her to call in for her. She dialed the three
numbers on the pad and told her who she was. Within seconds Ruby
knew that things hadn’t gone as well as they’d hoped at
home.

“
Sapphire wants to know if
you are going straight home or are you going to her house first?”
Jenna winked at her, and Ruby felt her fear lessen a bit. “She said
to tell you that the men are assholes, and that if you come by,
she’ll explain to you why.”

“
Tell her I know, but I’ll
be there all the same.” When Jenna hung up and came back to help
her stitch up, she glanced up at her.
You
think something went wrong?

No. I think she’s had
about enough of them men hanging around her house, and she needs
you there to help her with the ass whooping.
Ruby nodded but was still worried.
She would have said if there was trouble. I know the alpha
that much.

Still, she couldn’t help but worry.
When she was finished for the day, Ruby reached for her sister and
was asked to wait. Ruby was cleaned up and in her street clothes
when her sister got back with her. Ruby made her way to Josh’s
office on the second floor just as she got back.

Opal and the rest of them
are here now. I’m just waiting on you. And so you know, the thing
with Sloan was a bust. Cartwright is a real bastard.
She’d figured that out already and told
Sapphire
. Yeah, well, Sloan lost his
temper with the man and it didn’t faze him in the least. He’s still
presumably coming for Josh and Teri. But he did think he convinced
him that Dwight is dead. That at least worked out okay.”

That was another part of their plan
with this whole thing. Dwight would be dead for all intents and
purposes. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t be punished, but they were
trying their best to avoid a long-term prison stay. He’d been
working hard with Blair and Bart on getting the warehouse ready for
the kitchen. Dwight had even showed them he was capable of handling
the large building and getting things put in and orderly.
Apparently he’d done some cooking for a restaurant while working
his way through college.

“
I’m going to get Josh and
then come home. I’m exhausted and hungry.” Sapphire told her that
dinner was holding for the two of them. “Good. I know that tomorrow
we have that couple coming in to cook and set up the house for us.
Lila set it up.”

She’s been in and out of
here too. I think she’s really sweet, and Allen is all over himself
flirting with her. He said she’s not his mate or anything. Cats and
canines, he said, do not mix, but he’s enjoying her company.
Ruby rounded the corner to the hallway where
Josh’s office was as her sister continued. But she was no longer
listening. Instead, she reached for Josh.

A scent…a scent she’d gotten from Bart
permeated the air and got stronger as she made her way down the
hall. And when she entered his office, she knew that whatever had
gone down here was going to be nothing compared to what was going
to happen to the men who had caused the mess in his office. She
went to his desk and saw the blood. When she sniffed it, she knew
without a doubt it was Josh’s.

Twenty-seven minutes and
three seconds.
She stopped moving when he
finally spoke.
I’m hurt but not bad. I
can’t shift. I…he put something on me.