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“Ruby, wake up.” I raise my voice a notch higher than restaurant level. “Elise kept Claire from danger. You are so delusional about Peter, you’d rather him hurt his family before admitting he’s a monster. You made the choice to alienate yourgrandchild when you swept abuse under the rug like it was nothing.”
Elbow planted on the table, she holds her forehead. Tears fall from her eyes and splash onto the speckled white table. “It was the drugs,” Ruby whimpers. “It’s not my Peter. It’s thedrugsthat make him crazy. It’s not his fault.”
No, fuck that shit. Unless she’s tying him down and jabbing the needle into his arm, it most certainlyishis fault. Not saying he doesn’t deserve help, but he sure as hell never deserved Elise, and he doesn’t deserve a relationship with Claire. Not then, and not now.
I take a deep breath. Yes, that pissed me the fuck off. No, anger doesn’t get to run the show anymore. “Let me help you, Ruby.”
“You can’t. It’s gotten too out of hand. Just let me do what I need to.”
I lean into the table, lowering my voice. “Being?”
She sniffles. “They just want their money. Once they have that, they’ll leave us alone. If I go to the police, they’ll hurt everybody. I couldn’t do that to Claire?—”
“You already did,” I grind out. “Up until this point, you have already made every single poor decision you possibly could. You’re not fit to raise Claire. You don’t know how to prioritize her well-being over that pedestal you still have your son on.”
Ruby cries harder which brushes against my heartstrings, but doesn’t completely tug. She needs to face the music. Actions have consequences. “I don’t have enough. But I thought if I gave them something…”
“Peter’s debt?” I ask. “How much?”
She forces herself to look at me. “With interest, five hundred thousand.”
“And how much do you have?”
“Twenty-eight thousand, cash.”
I exhale sharply. “Ruby, if you go to Mexico with less than ten percent of what Peter owes the cartel, they will kill you. Claire will never see her grandma again. But that won’t be enough. They’ll come after Claire.”
Ruby’s bottom lip trembles. “The things they threatened if we go to the police…” She shudders violently. “I can’t even repeat it. Peter wants to run.”
I shake my head. “Where? They’ll find you.”
“I know, I know,” she sobs. “That’s why I drained my savings. I took a second mortgage on the house. If I give them a deposit, they’ll know we’re trying.”
“Trying isn’t good enough.”
She slams her fist on the table. “I haven’t slept. I can’t eat. I can’t think. How did it get this far? Claire and I were fine until?—”
“Peter got out of prison?”
Ruby nods, a disturbingly sad frown sweeping over her face. “I’m scared. Of them…of him.”
Hot anger pumps through my veins. More and more it seems like Peter disappearing would be the solution to everybody’s problems. I’m tempted to just feed him to the drug lords he stole from. If I knew their cruelty would end there, I would. But Ruby and Claire will never be safe until the debt is paid.
“I don’t know what to do, Nathan. I’m sorry.”
“Ruby, look at me.”
Her eyes lift to meet mine, guardedly. “Is this the part where you swoop in to save the day, yet again? Just like with Elise?”
“Elise saved herself. Crediting me with that is an insult to her memory. Leaving Peter, taking Claire, starting over on their own, was the most difficult thing she ever had to do. And she did it for her daughter. You could at least show some respect for that.”
She bows her head. “Okay. I know.”
“You’re going to pay off Peter’s debt on my dime. Text your contact and let him know we’ll set up a drop, untraceable. We’ll double what he owes if they can ensure they never contact your family again and will never sell to or through Peter. I’m not in the business of trusting the integrity of drug lords. I have guys who can handle it. After that, you need to wipe your hands clean of this whole situation. Tell Peter’s parole officer he’s back on drugs, and thenlet him go, Ruby.”
She stares over my shoulder, her open emotional wounds written all over her face. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“You do. I’m simply asking you to make the right one.”