Lionel winked, and the disk came to an end.
She stared at the screen wondering what the hell to do. Never had she felt so lost in all of her life.
“He loved you.”
Ruby gasped, and turned to find Oliver in the doorway.
“You startled me.”
“I didn’t think it was possible to startle you.”
She held onto the DVD player. “What do I do now?”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. Ten years I’ve had one plan in mind. Avenge my brother’s death. We were very close. He always protected me. I loved him so much.”
“I can see that.” Oliver moved in, and took a seat in front of her. “What were you going to do before it all happened?”
She licked her dry lips. “I was going to go to culinary school. I’d hoped to go. My parents, they just wanted me to find a husband, and to settle down with a bunch of kids. I was never the kind of person who could just look after kids waiting around all day. Lionel wanted me to follow my dream.”
“You didn’t do that?”
“No. My focus has been on doing the right thing. I was offered a place at a school, but it would take me away from my goal. I guess I can see if they’d let me back.” She found herself crying once again, which only served to annoy her. “I never cry. I mean it.”
“You’ve had a shock. You’re granted some freak out time.”
“Not usually. I don’t have time to freak out. Freaking out took precious time away from everything else.” She frowned. “I don’t know what to do anymore.” That’s all she kept thinking. It was like a broken record going off inside her head with no way of making it stop. “Are you going to kill me?”
“Why would we kill you? We’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
She’d been
so alone. Planning, living, and just living her life her way.
“Do you remember anything about that night?” he asked. “The men?”
“No. I was hiding in a closet.” He looked confused, so she explained it to him. “My brother opened up the wall, and whenever he had company that he didn’t trust, he’d pull down the panel, and I’d be hiding within the wall.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, it was awful. There were spiders everywhere.” She shuddered remembering the times that they would crawl all over her. It was always hard for her to keep her screams in. “Do you know who did it?”
“We have reason to believe they worked for the Coltons.”
“The Coltons. I keep hearing that name come up. If you’re supposed to be the shit when it comes to family, why do you have one that can cause so much damage?”
“We’re not the only family around. Our enemies are many and widespread, and when we make mistakes, we end up paying the ultimate price.”
“That must suck.”
“It does. Are you ready to come out and talk to us?”
They hadn’t tied her up, and right now she didn’t feel the need to hurt anyone. It was frustrating because it was the life she’d always known. Fighting, exacting revenge.
Pushing hair out of her face, she nodded. “Yeah, I think it’s time.”
Oliver stood, and she followed his lead, making her way out toward the main room of the apartment.