“Hold on,” Ruby said. “I’d like to do some more investigating if it’s okay. I mean, before you dump all this stuff.”
“I thought the officers and detectives already got everything they needed,” I said. “That’s why I could come without an escort.”
“So they said, but they obviously missed the book.” She held it up to me. “Like I said, I’m off duty. This case is…personal to me.”
The second time she’d said that. Surely she didn’t expect me, a therapist, to let it go.
“Pardon me for prying,” I began, “but why? Why is it personal?”
“I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“You opened that door, Ruby. This is my apartment, and you’re not here officially. If anything you find can uncover the lunatic who kidnapped, drugged, and tried to kill me, I’m all for it. But I need to know why.”
She sighed and looked around. “Not really any place to sit, huh?”
“Unfortunately, no. At least not in here. We can sit on the bed in the other room. Or here on the floor.” I gestured.
“Works for me.” Ruby sat down cross-legged.
I sat across from her. “Look, you don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to talk about, but I need to have some clue as to why this is personal to you.”
“All right.” She cleared her throat. “Here goes. There’s a reason why I was taken off the case when they promoted me.”
“Yes?”
“This is difficult for me to talk about. It’s a crazy sort of coincidence that is almost unreal.”
My heart started beating faster. What was she getting at?
“I’ve been estranged from my family since I was fifteen. I ran away from home and never looked back.”
Teenagers didn’t usually run away unless they had a very good reason. “What happened? Why would you do that?”
“I ran from my father.”
“What about your mother?”
“She’s dead. At least I think she is. He always told me she was, but I’ve never been sure, you know?”
I nodded. “What does all of this have to do with my case?”
She inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, they flamed a bright blue. “I know about your history with Gina Cates, and I know about her uncle who abused her.”
This was all information I had given to the police when I was questioned, and surely they had heard it from Dr. Rodney Cat
es, Gina’s father, as well, since he’d been the prime suspect in my abduction until he exonerated himself with an ironclad alibi.
“I hope you know I can’t talk to you about any of that. Even though Gina is dead, her psychotherapy notes are still protected under HIPAA.”
“Yeah, I understand all of that. I’m not going to probe you for information on Gina. I know all I need to know about her. We were actually close once. A long time ago.”
“You were?”
“Yes. She was my cousin. The man who raped her is my father.”
Chapter Two
Jonah