Page 17 of Freeing Ruby

Ruby takes one look at Philip—he’s a mountain of a man at six-six—and points down the hall. “I’m sorry, but I have to—” And then she looks at me. “I have work to do.” Ruby rushes off and disappears into her studio, closing the door behind her.

I hate putting her on the spot like this. She had little warning that Philip was coming over so soon. Two strangers in her apartment now in one day—that’s a lot for her to deal with.

Philip sets his supplies down. “She doesn’t seem too happy that I’m here.”

I sigh. “Yeah, she’s not comfortable around strangers.”

“I’ll get right on this so I can get out of your hair.” Phil gets busy installing the main control panel beside the door. Then he moves quickly through the apartment attaching sensors on each window. He does the kitchen window, the balcony doors, the living room window, and Ruby’s bedroom window. He saves the art studio for last. We both stand in front of the closed door.

“You want to tell her I need in here?” he asks.

I knock, then open the door wide enough to poke my head in. “If you don’t mind, Philip needs to come in here to install the last window sensor.”

Ruby jumps up from her chair and walks out of the studio, disappearing into her bedroom.

After attaching the last window sensor, he configures the main control panel. “What four digits do you want me to use for her access code?”

“Good question. Just a sec.” I head down the hallway and knock on her bedroom door. “Ruby? Can I come in?”

The door opens, and she’s right there, peering up at me. “Yes? Is he gone?”

“Not quite. I need to know your birthday.”

“August 30th.”

“Thanks.” And then I head back to Phil, who’s waiting by the control panel. “Make it zero-eight-three-zero.” That’ll be easy for her to remember. She can always change it later if she wants to.

After Phil tests each of the sensors, he leaves. I set up the monitoring app on my phone for the security system. I’ll need to set the app up on Ruby’s phone, too.

I wait for Ruby to come out of her room, but she doesn’t seem to be in any hurry. I knock on her door. “Ruby?”

There’s no answer.

I try again, knocking quietly. “Ruby, he’s gone. You can come out now.”

Still nothing.

She’s overwhelmed—too many strangers in her space lately. First me, and then Philip.

So I sit on the floor and lean on her door. “I’ll wait until you feel like coming out.”

When I hear the quiet shuffle of footsteps, I suspect she’s close to the door. Maybe even sitting on the other side. “I know it was stressful having a stranger—another stranger—in your apartment, but it’s worth it. You’ll be so much safer now. No one can get into your apartment without your knowledge. And if he does, the police will be summoned.”

“You believe me?” Her voice is muffled through the door, so quiet I almost didn’t hear her.

“Yeah, I do.” The truth is I don’t know anything with certainty—not yet anyway. There’s no indisputable evidence of a stalker, but I’m not going to tell her that. Right now she needs to feel like someone believes her. More than anything, she needs a friend.

I feel bad for stressing her out. “How about we watch a movie?”

A full minute passes with no response. Then her bedroom doorknob turns, and the door opens. I jump to my feet and face her.

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and nods. “Sure. I’ll watch a movie with you.”

I motion for her to proceed down the hallway to the living room. “What do you want to watch?”

When she glances back at me, her waterfall of red hair bounces over her shoulder. I see only her profile, a soft round cheek with scattered freckles, a partial curving lip. “What kind of movies do you like?”

I shrug. “Action and sci-fi, mostly. Or thrillers.” I wonder what she’s into. Romantic comedies? Jane Austen? Most of the ladies love those Jane Austen movies.

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