Page 43 of Be Courageous

“Give me ten minutes. Stay inside until you see me pull up.”

“I will.” Ending the call, Corinna met Robert’s watchful gaze. “You’d better disappear. My brother’s on his way, and you don’t want to meet him right now.”

Robert’s eyebrows quirked. “Does his wife do this often?”

“Enough to make him crazy. Hopefully he’ll find her using his own phone. I just…I have a bad feeling.” Ruby’s interview with Katz yesterday stood at the forefront of her mind. How far would Katz go to keep Ruby from pursuing the rumor she’d brought up?

“Let me know if I can help.”

“Thank you.” Corinna slipped off her stool, hugged Robert good-bye, then went to wait by the door for Tony.

Out the corner of her eye, she could see Robert studying her in the same protective way Tony watched her. He didn’t go anywhere, just watched over her as she waited for Tony. She dialed Ruby’s number again, getting the same result. When her Escort pulled into the parking lot minutes later, she sent Robert a tiny nod, dashed outside, and slipped into the passenger seat.

If the set of Tony’s jaw was any indication, the Find My service had told him something bad. “What did you find out?”

“She’s not shopping.”

“What? But she was all excited about the sales at Macy’s.”

“Her phone is somewhere off the highway. See for yourself.” He plucked his iPhone out of the cupholder and handed it to her.

Corinna found herself staring at a map with a blue dot near an access ramp leading to I-95 North. “I mean, there’s a little dog park there. She probably drove right past the Wanamaker Garage and got lost, and now she’s asking someone for directions.”

“I’ve told her never to get out of her car. It’s not safe.” He took the phone back and wedged it into the cupholder again.

Since when did Ruby ever play it safe?Corinna swallowed the question.

Tony turned left at the light, then right on Race Street, making the street live up to its name by accelerating way past the speed limit and whipping through traffic. A glance down at the phone showed them closing in on the blue dot, which hadn’t moved.

Corinna looked up. “She ought to be right on this ramp coming up.”

“Yep.”

Instead of slowing down, Tony pulled them onto the tight-turning ramp at a speed that caused her tires to squeal. But Ruby’s Range Rover didn’t suddenly appear. In fact, the ramp was completely empty. Tony glanced down at his phone, then slowed abruptly, pulling them close to the guardrail before parking. He picked his phone up while cracking his door.

Vehicles were whizzing past them. “Stay in the car, seat belt on.”

With a glance in his mirror, he vaulted out of the driver’s seat, went around the idling Escort, and stepped over the guardrail into the clumps of dead grass growing between the ramp and the tall chain-link fence hemming in the dog park. A glance at his phone had him doubling back along the fence line.

With her breath sawing in and out in the quiet car, Corinna watched him. How could Ruby have vanished in the scant time they’d been apart? Craning her neck to keep an eye on her brother, Corinna spotted him bending over. Her breath caught when he straightened with something in his hand. His expression turned thunderous. As he marched back to the car, her stomach swiveled unpleasantly.

A puff of cold air accompanied him as he got back into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. “Found her phone.” His voice was hoarse, his complexion gray with worry.

Corinna stared at the brand-new iPhone Tony cupped in his hand. It must have been turned off when he found it because it was still coming back to life. As he waited with grim calm for it to come online, Corinna pictured Katz’s assistant chucking Ruby’s phone out the window of their moving car.

At the verge of entering Ruby’s passcode, Tony glanced her way and did a double take. “What?”

“I might know who’s behind this,” Corinna admitted.

His dark pupils seemed to expand as they focused on her. She had his full attention now. “Talk,” he ordered with so much intensity that she had to swallow to find her voice.

With her car’s windows fogging as it idled, Corinna relayed the story of their interview of Katz the day before. Her halting explanation made Tony pale even more. She told him how they’d hidden in the office building after the interview and how they’d overheard Katz’s assistant say that they’d taken care of the leak.

Tony covered his eyes with a hand and whispered, “Sweet Jesus.”

Knowing how spiritual he was, she interpreted the exclamation as a prayer for help. “I filmed the whole interview. I have it at home on my camera,” she added in case he wanted proof.

Tony dragged his hand down his face. Corinna thought he might call 911 or drive like a madman to their mother’s house. Instead, he accessed his contacts on his phone and placed a phone call. “Sir.” His strained voice radiated alarm. “Tell me you didn’t give Stasky’s book toThe Washington Postyet. I just found out Ruby interviewed Katz yesterday.” He relayed what Corinna had just told him. “And now she’s missing. I found her phone lying in the grass off an exit ramp leading to the highway. You think this guy is capable of—” Tony’s voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “I think he just snatched Ruby.”

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