Chapter 5

Corinna heaved a sigh, prompting Ruby to look over at her from the driver's seat. With the heater in Corinna's little car on the fritz, Ruby had decided to drive her Range Rover. "What's wrong?"

Corinna lifted the phone in her hand to show her a text. "Robert was just told to take the day off."

On the verge of pulling her SUV away from the curb at Mama Anna's, Ruby considered her sister-in-law's long face. "You want to cancel our shopping trip so you can be with him?"

"No, no. Tony wouldn't want me to ditch you."

"Hmm." Considering her options, Ruby proceeded to pull into the street, headed in the direction of Macy's. The drooping corners of Corinna's lips made her recall how desperately she had longed to spend time with Tony back when they were dating. "Well, what if Tony never found out?" She glanced over at Corinna as they neared an intersection.

Her cherry-brown eyes had widened hopefully. "What do you have in mind?"

Slowing down only slightly, Ruby looked both ways before gunning through the four-way stop. Shoot. She really needed to improve her driving habits for the baby's sake. But the rusty Volvo behind her also ran the stop sign, lessening her remorse.

She glanced back at Corinna. "How about I drop you off somewhere close to Macy's? Robert can meet you there, and you two can hang out while I shop. Then I'll pick you up again on my way home, and Tony will assume we spent the morning together." With an impulse to browse the maternity section, she had good reason for wanting to shop alone. "We won't even have to lie to him."

Corinna bit her lower lip, thinking. "Well, there's a Starbucks right around the corner from Macy's. Maybe Robert and I could hang out there."

"Perfect." Ruby sent the car riding her bumper a dirty look. "I turn right here, don't I?" she asked as she neared a stoplight.

"No, not yet. Two more blocks. Are you sure about this? I don't want you to feel neglected or anything."

"Sure, I'm sure. I remember what it's like to be in love." She waggled her eyebrows at her sister-in-law.

Corinna smirked back at her. "That's because you and Tony are still in love."

Ruby hummed her agreement. "True." But then doubt nagged at her. How might a baby change Tony's and her relationship? They hardly had any time together as it was.

Seeing the next light about to turn red, she slowed down instead of speeding up, and the Volvo nearly plowed into her back end. She started to whip her head around to glare at the driver, but then she remembered how she'd met Tony—by crashing into the back of his Honda. It wasn't that long ago that she'd ridden people's bumpers.

Should I have told him about the baby last night?

The question tormented her as she waited for the light to turn green. She'd been too distracted by how Staskiewicz's murder tied in so neatly with her exposé on Katz. Even though Tony kept turning down the volume, she'd overheard enough of James's words to fire her imagination. What were the odds that Staskiewicz was part of the firing squad, along with Monty and Ben Harmony?

Corinna looked up from her iPhone, flushed with anticipation. "Robert says great. He can meet me at Starbucks in five minutes. Just turn right at the next light and it's on the right side."

Ruby followed her directions, and soon they were nearing the familiar green Starbuck's sign. The long line at the drive-through was blocking the entrance.

"You want to just drop me off?"

"Sure, but you'll have to give me directions to Macy's." Ruby flipped on her turn signal, hoping the Volvo that still dogged her would finally pass. Instead, it stopped right behind her as she pulled up next to the cars parked along the curb.

Corinna pointed. "Okay, so turn left right there at the corner. That's the Wanamaker Building where Macy's is. Go past the main entrance and look for the Wanamaker garage that's underneath the building. There should still be parking this early in the morning." Pushing her door open, Corinna hesitated. "You sure you won't get lost?"

"I'm sure. Out you go. Say hi to Robert for me."

"Okay. Call me when you're almost finished, and I'll come to you, so you don't have to circle back. You have my number, right?"

"Of course." Frustrated with the Volvo, Ruby stuck her hand out of her window and waved for the driver to go around her. Instead, he beeped his horn at her. "What a jerk!"

The instant Corinna shut her passenger door, Ruby punched the accelerator, determined to shake the annoying driver off her tail.

Ten minutes later, she had yet to find a parking spot. Nor had she managed to distance herself from the Volvo that pursued her as she circled the parking garage, going down, down, down into the very bowels of the Wanamaker Building. The Volvo finally vanished from her rearview mirror. Good riddance!

At last Ruby spotted an empty space that had been shunned by other drivers since it butted up against a cinder-block wall, making it hard to turn into. Confident of her parking abilities, she swung wide and eased her SUV between the wall and a white Cadillac.

"Hah. I win." She killed her engine, unlatched her seat belt, and lifted her purse off the floor. Before slipping out of her SUV, intent on some serious shopping, she verified that her phone was turned on, her ringer set on high.

She locked her SUV and started up the sloped garage ramp, headed for the elevator that would take her up to Macy's. As her gaze alighted on the prominent forehead of the driver of the Volvo locking up his own vehicle, her steps slowed.

When he glanced over, she summoned an uncomfortable smile. "Oh, good. You found a spot. That one's even better than mine."

He acknowledged her words with a nod and nothing else.

A cagey feeling danced over Ruby's skin as she noted the man's tense jaw, his rigid stance. This was not your normal, easygoing holiday shopper. Unwilling to get into an elevator alone with him, she pretended to have forgotten something, threw her hands up, and started back toward her Range Rover.

She hadn't taken three steps when the sound of running feet had her looking back in alarm. The man crashed into her, banding an arm around her from behind. Ruby shrieked as he lifted her against his broad chest and jabbed something sharp into her upper arm, straight through the material of her swing coat.

With a gasp she looked down. A syringe glinted in the man's gloved hand as he withdrew it, tossing it down onto the cement floor. Shock kept her frozen.

He just stuck a needle in my arm!

He snatched her purse from her limp grasp and tucked it under his arm, then dragged her toward her Range Rover. The heels of her boots scraped over concrete.

I'm being abducted!The realization encased her in ice. It paralyzed her. Or maybe it was the drug because her field of sight was shrinking. With her vision tunneling, she willed herself to scream. But nothing more than a whimper issued from her throat.

Finding her keys in her purse, the stranger unlocked all four doors of her Range Rover, as if he owned it.

Fight him!Tony had taught her dozens of ways to defend herself, but her body refused to cooperate. Her head, too heavy to hold up, dropped onto the man's shoulder.

The ceiling of the parking garage became the ceiling of her SUV as her attacker lowered her onto the rear seat. He grunted, pushing her farther into her car across the trundle seat in the middle, until he could bend her legs and stuff her feet inside, shutting her in.

Ruby lay on her right hip with one foot dangling over the edge of the seat. A seat belt buckle gouged her rib cage. Her head was propped against an armrest.

Stay awake!she ordered herself.

The part of her brain still capable of functioning came to an appalling conclusion: This wasn't some random abduction. This had to do with her interview with Katz yesterday—she just knew it.

He's going to kill me!

That certainty preceded utter darkness. Tony! Her heart cried out in remorse. God forgive her. She ought to have told him the truth—not just the truth about her interview with Katz but also the truth about their baby. Now, he would never guess what had become of her, unless Corinna gave him clues.

Oh, Corinna, please tell Tony. Tell him everything!