Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Miguel

By the time I make it to Ruby’s old apartment building, it’s eight o’clock in the evening. I park behind the building and look for Darren’s car, but it’s not here. He’s still not home.

I go inside and stop in the mailroom to pick up Ruby’s mail. She’s got a few pieces of junk mail and a water bill. I make a mental note to have Ruby’s mail forwarded to the new address.

I run upstairs and knock on Darren’s door, but there’s no response. I’m not surprised. So I sit outside his apartment door to wait for him to return. Unless he’s skipped town—I wouldn’t put it past him—he’s bound to return home sooner or later. I just hope it’s sooner. I don’t like leaving Ruby alone right now.

Finally, half an hour later, I hear someone coming up the stairs. A minute later, I spot Darren. He looks awful. His face is flushed, and his suit is rumpled. He looks stressed out. He stops in his tracks when he spots me and his shoulders slump. “What do you want?”

I stand. “To talk to you.”

“Where’s Ruby?” He glances down the hall at her apartment. “Is she home?”

“She’s not here, if that’s what you’re asking.”

He doesn’t bother to hide his surprise. “Why not? She’s been released from the hospital. Where else would she be?”

“How do you know she was released?” Undoubtedly, he got the information from Allen.

Darren flinches, as if he just realized what he gave away. “I don’t know for sure. I just assumed, since you’re here—”

“Did Allen Foster tell you?”

Darren’s eyes widen. “Who? Oh, you mean Ruby’s father. No.” Darren frowns. “Why would he tell me anything? I don’t even know the man.”

Liar.

“What were you doing at the hospital earlier, arguing with him? How the hell do you know Ruby’s father?”

Darren pales. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I fist his tie and shove him against his apartment door. “I saw you at the hospital arguing with Foster. What I want to know is what you were arguing about.”

He shakes his head. “I have no idea—”

I tighten my grip on his tie, putting pressure on his windpipe and cutting off his air. “What were you arguing about?”

He tries to pry my hand off him, but he’s about as effective as a fly swatting a human.

“How do you know Allen Foster?”

Darren’s face is turning red. “From work,” he gasps. When I loosen my grip, he sucks in a breath. “We work for the same investment firm. He’s my boss.”

What the hell? “How long have you worked for him?”

Darren shrugs offhandedly. “I don’t know. Ten years maybe.”

Ten years. “And you just happen to be Ruby’s neighbor?” That’s too much of a coincidence to be believable. “When did you move into this building?”

“About a year ago.”

“So, after Ruby did. How in the hell did you end up living next door to your boss’s daughter? Did Foster put you up to this? Did he tell you to move into her building?”

Darren nods.

“Why? To spy on her?”

“To keep an eye on her, yeah. Allen was worried about her.”

An apartment door down the hall opens and closes, and a young couple I don’t know walks toward the stairs. They wave and say hi.

“Open your door,” I tell Darren after they pass. We don’t need an audience. “You and I are going to have a little talk.”

With shaking fingers, Darren fishes his keyring out of his trouser pocket and unlocks his door. I push the door open and shove Darren inside.

While he turns on a lamp, I shut the door behind me. “Sit!” I say, pointing to his kitchen table.

I don’t know what the connection is between Darren and Allen, but there are a lot of dots that need to be connected.

Darren sits, looking ashen. He clasps his hands on the table in front of him. He’s perspiring like he’s just run a marathon.

Foster and Darren are somehow connected.

Darren works for Foster.

Darren delivered the coffees to Ruby’s apartment.

“You put the GHB and the alcohol in Ruby’s coffee, didn’t you? After you took it from the delivery guy, you spiked her drink.”

Darren looks out through his balcony doors at the setting sun. “I didn’t know what it was,” he says in a quiet voice. “I swear I didn’t know it would put her in the hospital!”

“Did Allen tell you to spike her coffee?”

Darren winces but says nothing. To my surprise, I realize he’s struggling to hold back tears.

I reach across the small table and grab his tie. “Did he?”

He nods frantically. “Yes, it was Allen. He gave me a vial of clear liquid a little while ago and told me to put it in her coffee the first chance I got. When I saw the delivery guy from the coffee shop arrive, I took the cups from him back to my apartment, poured the liquid from the vial into hers, then delivered them to her apartment.” Darren looks up at me, clearly stricken. “I didn’t know what was in the vial. I would never do anything to hurt Ruby, I swear it!”

He seems genuinely devastated.

Darren starts crying in earnest.

I take the chair opposite his and soften my voice. “The amount of GHB you put in her drink was more than enough to kill her. It’s a fluke that she’s still alive, Darren. Let that sink in. You nearly killed Ruby. If she’d drunk more, she likely would have died. You’re an accomplice to attempted murder. You realize that, right?”

Darren’s gaze flashes up at me, his eyes wide with shock. “What—no! It was just supposed to scare her, that’s all. That’s all it ever was—he wanted her scared so that she’d move back home.”

“Who, Allen?”

“Yes.” Darren looks sick. “It was just supposed to scare her, that’s all. I swear!”

“Why would Allen want to kill his own daughter?”

“She’s not his daughter!” His words reverberate like gunshot in the quiet apartment.

“What are you talking about?” I sound as shocked as I feel.

Darren shakes his head. “She’s not his child—not biologically, anyway.”

“How?”

“After his wife died, Allen arranged for a paternity test. He’d always suspected Ruby wasn’t his. After Helen died, he wanted to find out for sure. The test came back negative.”

“Why did he suspect Ruby wasn’t his?”

“Allen and Helen had a falling out at one point, and Helen moved out. They were separated for a couple of months, but they ended up getting back together. Helen was already pregnant then. She told Allen the baby was his—that she hadn’t been with anyone else. Allen told me he didn’t believe her, but he desperately wanted her back, so he kept his mouth shut. Then, after Helen died, he wanted to know for sure.”

“If Allen Foster’s not Ruby’s biological father, who is?”

“Allen told me it was Edward McCall.”

“Edward?” My mind is reeling with the implications. Helen Foster and Edward McCall? “Are you sure?”

“Allen seems to think so. He thinks they hooked up while he and Helen were separated.”

“Does Edward know?”

“No. As far as I know, he has no idea. Neither does Ruby. Allen’s the only one who knows. Well, besides me.” Darren lays his hands flat on the table and looks me in the eye. “Please, you have to believe I’d never knowingly hurt Ruby. I—”

“Wait, why would Foster want Ruby dead?”

“He didn’t, at least not in the beginning. But he wanted to gain control of her trust fund. The initial plan was for me to seduce Ruby and marry her. When that didn’t seem to be working, Allen decided to scare her into moving back home with him.”

“So, you’re the stalker? You put the roadkill outside her door? You left the threatening messages in her mailbox?”

Darren nods. “But none of that seemed to be working, and Allen was running out of time. Ruby’s birthday is in two months. Once she turns twenty-five, the trust fund money will be hers. He needs control of that money, desperately, before it’s too late.”

I feel almost numb as the pieces start to fall. “Why?”

“Allen’s been stealing from his clients’ investment accounts for years, and he needs to replace the funds before anyone finds out. But Allen’s broke, and he can’t pay the money back. If he gets caught, he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison.”

“And he’s willing to kill Ruby to get her money?”

“I guess so—he’s desperate. But I never signed up for anything like this. I thought we were just scaring her. Allen’s her only known next of kin,” Darren says. “If she died without a will, her trust fund would automatically go to him.”

“How does Edward McCall come into this?”

“He doesn’t know anything. As far as he knows, he’s just her godfather.”

I let out a long sigh. “So, you were the one terrorizing Ruby all along.”

Darren nods. “Partly me. Allen hired some kids to help. I was supposed to be her knight in shining armor. Her protector. And then you showed up.”

I shake my head in disgust. “When I told Ruby you were at the top of my suspect list, she defended you. She said you were a good guy, that it couldn’t be you. She thought I was nuts for suspecting you.” I pick up my phone. “I’m calling Detective Cartwright of Chicago PD. You’re going to tell him everything you told me.”

Darren shakes his head. “No way. I can’t. I’ll lose my job. I’ll lose everything.”

“It’s too late. You’ve already lost everything.” I show him my phone screen.

He grows pale. “You’re recording this?”

“Yep. Every word.”

“I’m not going to be Allen’s fall guy.”

“It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”