Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Miguel

Shane performed a miracle getting a professional moving company to move Ruby’s entire apartment full of belongings today on such short notice. I guess money talks. I imagine these people are being paid far more than overtime. They’re here now at Ruby’s apartment in Wicker Park, over a dozen uniformed people packing up her belongings.

Everything is going to the new apartment—every pot, every pan, everything in the bathroom, her bedroom, all the furniture and her clothes, every hanging plant, as well as the plants on the balcony. Even her wind chime.

Packing up her art studio is going to be the biggest challenge. Not only are her walls covered in small paintings, but the bookcase shelves are jam packed with supplies, everything from jars of paintbrushes, tubes of paint, blank canvases, art books, and numerous tools I can’t even identify. They have four people working in her studio, taking reference photos so they’ll be able to put it all back together in the new place. These people are professionals, working quickly and efficiently to sort, tag, and wrap everything securely before boxing it up, labeling it, and getting it all into the moving truck parked outside the building.

Jason and Layla come over at my request to collect Pumpkin and take him to their apartment temporarily, along with his food, cat bed, bowls, toys, and litter boxes. They’ll keep him for us until the move is completed.

Jason observes the bustling activity in the apartment. “Shane must have called in some favors to get this arranged so quickly.”

After my friends have collected all of the cat’s necessities, I secure Pumpkin in his carrier. He meows in protest. “Sorry, pal. But don’t worry. You’ll be reunited with Ruby before you know it.”

Jason takes the carrier from me, lifts it, and peers inside. “Hey, little fella. Ready to go for a ride?”

Layla sticks her finger into the carrier, and Pumpkin rubs his face against it, purring loudly.

“Hey, he still likes you,” I tell her.

She smiles. “Of course he does.” She winks at me. “He has good taste.”

Jason leans over to kiss Layla’s cheek. “So do I.”

The plan is for them to take Pumpkin back to their place, where they’ll keep him until all of Ruby’s belongings have been moved into our new apartment.

Our apartment.

I like the sound of that, but of course I have to remind myself this is only temporary until we’re sure the ones responsible for drugging Ruby have been apprehended and she’s safe. I imagine she’ll want to return to her own apartment after this is all over.

“Call us when you’re ready for him,” Jason says. “We’ll bring him to you.”

As I let them out of the apartment, I walk down the hall to Darren’s apartment and knock. There’s no response. I knock again, loud enough to wake the dead. “Open the door, Darren!”

There’s no response, but I guess that’s not surprising. He’s probably at work. I need to talk to him. I need to know what the connection is between him and Ruby’s father. The sick feeling in my gut tells me it’s not a good one.

I call Detective Cartwright and tell him I spotted Darren and Allen Foster arguing at the hospital. To my knowledge, the two men didn’t even know each other, so I find it more than a little suspicious.

“I should have a warrant to search Ingles’s apartment sometime today,” Cartwright says. “As soon as we locate him, I’m bringing him in for questioning.”

I return to Ruby’s apartment to oversee the packing. The movers are doing a great job. Already they’re starting to load stuff into the truck. Most of the materials in her art studio have already been packed.

The kitchen has been emptied. Her table and chairs are in the truck. The hanging plants are gone, packed up and ready for transport. The photos on the walls have been packed. It looks like the sofa, chair, and all the floor rugs are next.

Miraculously, they have everything loaded into the moving truck a little after noon. I follow the moving truck across town to the Gold Coast and direct them to park in the underground garage so they can use the oversized freight elevator to move everything up to our apartment.

While the movers are unloading the first of Ruby’s belongings into the service elevator, I head up to the security desk in the main lobby to get the keys so I can run up ahead of the movers and unlock the apartment.

We have one of the bigger floor plans in the building—one with three bedrooms and a home office. I do a quick walk-through to make sure everything is clean and in order. The apartment looks freshly scrubbed. The floors are immaculate. The bathroom is clean, as is the kitchen and laundry room. Everything looks presentable. My hope is that when Ruby sees all her familiar belongings here, she’ll feel at home.

The balcony off the living room faces east, and we have an unobstructed view of Lake Michigan.

Before long, the movers begin transferring everything into the apartment. They file into the place, one after another, each pushing a dolly filled with either furniture or boxes.

I call down to the front desk to ask someone from maintenance to come up and place hooks in the ceilings of the living room and kitchen so that her plants can be hung near the windows and balcony doors. One of the nice things about living in an upscale building like this is that services are available around the clock. All we have to do is make a call.

If the clothes washer stops working at midnight? No problem.

Got a clogged toilet at 3 AM? No problem.

Need plants hung at 1 PM? No problem.

I tell the movers where everything goes. While they’re moving Ruby’s things in, I ask Jason to help me move my bedroom furniture and work-out equipment to this apartment. Everything else—the living room furniture, TV, kitchen supplies, table and chairs—is Ruby’s. I want her to feel safe here. I want her to feel like this is her home.

Our home, at least for a little while.

Finally, everything has been unpacked and put in its right place by 4 PM. After the movers leave, I run down the hall to Jason and Layla’s apartment to get Pumpkin. They help me bring the cat and all his accessories back to the apartment. I set him up in Ruby’s bedroom, hoping that he’ll be comforted being around familiar furnishings.

When I open the cat carrier in Ruby’s new bedroom, Pumpkin darts out of the box and immediately runs under the bed. While Layla is setting up the cat box with fresh litter, I crouch down beside the bed to peer at Pumpkin.

“Hey, little guy. This is your new home—at least for the time being. Nothing’s changed. All your stuff is here. Ruby should be here soon. I’m sure she’ll give you lots of love and attention to make up for the upheaval you’ve experienced.”

I leave the cat with bowls of fresh water and food. Before I leave, I grab a change of clothes and a pair of shoes for Ruby and stuff them into a duffle bag. She’s going to need something besides a hospital gown to wear home.

By the time I get to the hospital, the staff are passing out patients’ dinners.

When I walk into Ruby’s room, I’m glad to see her sitting up and eating. “Did you miss me?” I toss the duffle bag on the bed.

Ruby’s eyes widen in surprise. “Miguel!” She shoves the bedding aside and jumps out of bed in nothing but her hospital gown and bare feet. She runs to me and throws her arms around me, hugging me tight.

I wrap my arms around her, hugging her back just as tightly. “I take it you did.”

She looks up at me with teary eyes. “You have no idea. How’d it go?”

“Everything went just as planned. We’ve been moved into the new apartment, and all of your stuff is in place. I think you’ll like it. Pumpkin is anxiously awaiting your return.”

I glance across the room at Charlie. “Everything go okay while I was gone?”

Charlie nods. “Fine. Ruby’s friend Edward stopped by to see her, and her nurses checked on her a couple of times, but other than that, it’s been just the two of us.” She stands and tucks her phone in her back pocket. “I’ll take off now so you two can catch up.”

Charlie gives Ruby a hug before she heads out. I walk her to the door. “No one else came to visit? Not Ruby’s father, or someone named Darren?”

She shakes her head. “No one. Just Edward, and he seemed nice enough. Ruby was glad to see him.”

“Good.” I give Charlie a hug. “Thanks for coming. I had a feeling you and Ruby would hit it off.”

“Anytime, pal.” She play punches my arm. “Just holler if you guys need me for anything after you get settled into your new place. You know I’m just down the hall.”

After Charlie’s gone, I close Ruby’s door and return to her bedside. She’s back in bed now, her gown covered by the bedding. I take a seat on her bed.

Ruby reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “Thank you, for everything. Especially for taking care of Pumpkin.”

I brush the backs of her fingers with my thumb. “You don’t need to thank me. I’m happy I can help. I just want you to feel safe and happy.”