Chapter Ten
Alia left Sara in the downstairs room and headed up to find her eight-year-old son, Kean, still up watching TV, waiting for her. The nanny, twenty-five-year-old Ruby Cruz, lay sprawled beside him on the sofa, a half-empty dish of popcorn leaning precariously between them.
Alia bent over the brown leather furniture to fondle her boy’s hair. “Bedtime, son, it’s after eight. Pajamas and brush your teeth. I’ll be up to visit in a few minutes.”
“Aw, Mom, you just got home.”
“And yet you haven’t taken your eyes off the screen.”
“I’m watching this documentary on building ships.”
“Record it and you’ll have it for tomorrow. Scoot now.”
His grunt of displeasure didn’t deter her as he knew it wouldn’t. He picked up the remote, pressed the necessary button and gave Ruby a gentle hug before disappearing up the stairs.
Alia removed her weapon and locked it in the safe hidden in the side table. Then she moved closer to Ruby, who looked worn, the black shadows under her eyes telling a tale of sleepless nights and a worried soul.
“Don’t rush away, Ruby. Sara is fine. She’s downstairs having a shower so you can take your time going to her. Have you heard from your family in the Philippines today? How is your father?” Alia sat beside her employee.
“Not good news, Alia. He’s not getting any better. My sister, she’s worried, but her family’s so large she can only spend a little time with him. He wants to go home, only she can’t take care of him there, and in her house, there’s no extra space.”
Tears began forming in Ruby’s already reddened eyes and they tore at Alia. She and soft-hearted didn’t go together except when it came to her family and old people. Then she was pure mush.
“Ruby, we’ve been together since Kean was born and there’s no one I trust more with him, you know that. You’re an amazing woman. Not only have you taken care of us, but look at the numerous other people you’ve helped over the years. All those countless hours you put in, walking the streets, handing out your cards, urging the young ones to call you for help whenever they need you.”
Ruby’s expression lightened. “I know in the last year or so you wanted me to back off from the program in San Diego. And I promised not to get involved here in Honolulu. Then I broke my word. You’ve never given me hell for that, Alia. And I never told you I was sorry.”
“Never? Only maybe a hundred times. Look, you know why I hoped you wouldn’t get involved here. Kean is growing up and I’m not sure I want him around some of the messes we get tangled up with. So far, he’s accepted the occasional ‘friend’ staying over, young girls who are here for a short time, but soon he’ll begin to ask questions. So let’s not bring anymore stray kittens to the house, okay?” Alia grinned away her sarcasm, and Ruby’s theatrical look of sorrow melted away. The little actress kept trying but her skills needed a lot of polishing.
Besides, Alia knew that there was no way in hell that Ruby would turn her back on a call. Even if it meant paying for a hotel room herself, something she’d done many times. So had Alia, if the truth were known.
In San Diego, Ruby had set up a network of ex-street people who’d banded together to save lost souls. She’d started this arrangement secretly until one night a frantic call had come. No one else was available to pick the kid up, so she’d turned to Alia for help. After that first time, Alia had become a regular transporter. But she’d hoped that once they’d left the mainland, it would end there.
Sadly, within a week of them moving to Honolulu, Ruby had begun to organize the youngsters on the street here, and Alia was again carrying a special phone.
“I’m sorry, Alia. I can’t help remembering how you saved me when I was in a similar situation, how much it meant to me. Without you, I would have taken those pills I stole from the hospital. I meant to kill myself. You knew it, and so did I.”
“And Kean and I would have had to manage on our own, without your wonderful cooking and having you picking up the messes we leave everywhere. I don’t think we could have survived without you, my friend.”
No matter how hard Ruby worked for the discarded kids from the streets, she was totally loyal to Alia and Kean. Years earlier, Alia had saved her from human traffickers who’d kidnapped her and others from the same village.
Only fifteen, Ruby had been ripped from her family, brought to San Diego and forced to do all kinds of horrific things to stay alive. She’d lost count of the number of men she’d been forced to service but had pushed the nightmares of that brutal life to the back of her mind, only for them to be reignited whenever she saw another poor helpless girl.
Enslaved for six month before Alia and her people had broken into the warehouse, poor Ruby had suffered horribly. Beaten for trying to protect one of the younger girls, she’d been taken to the hospital where Alia found herself almost daily, visiting, supporting the homeless teen.
Ruby’s guilt had stopped her from taking advantage of the city’s provision to send her back to her homeland. Instead, with Alia’s help, she’d chosen to stay and work in this country.
Alia, pregnant at the time, had gladly found the girl a job and even a place to live. Until after Kean was born. Then she’d moved Ruby in with them and they’d become a family of three.
For eight years, Alia had marvelled at her good fortune. But now, she needed to think of Ruby. The young woman was hurting, and Alia had the cure.
“I’m going to buy you a ticket for Manila tomorrow. You have to go home, Ruby. Be with your family and make peace with them. What happened to you wasn’t your fault. Hasn’t Father Bowen continually told you that? And so have I.”
Ruby nodded reluctantly. “You don’t understand. Maybe my body’s been cleansed, Alia. But I’ll never wash the filth from my soul. That’s why the young people we save matter so much.”
Alia took Ruby’s face into her hands and forced the other to look into her eyes. “Think of all those kids you’ve helped over the years, Ruby. Even now, you have a fifteen-year-old downstairs crying her heart out, a girl who will have a chance because of you. Do you ever wonder if the nightmare you suffered had a purpose?”
Ruby blinked, but the tears still streamed. “Alia, you save them. I only pass on their names and locations.”