Page 72 of Freeing Ruby

Exhaustion creeps up on me, and I end up stretching out on the sofa. Pumpkin curls up in front of me.

The sound of the deadbolt turning wakes me from a fitful sleep. I sit upright, my heart pounding. It takes me a second to orient myself. The room is dark, and the TV is on.

The door opens, and Miguel walks in. “Hey, I’m sorry I’m so late,” he says quietly. “I got back as soon as I could. There was a lot going on.”

“What’s wrong?”

He joins me on the sofa, and Pumpkin climbs into his lap, purring. Miguel looks pensive. He sighs heavily. “I don’t even know where to start, Ruby.”

“What did you find out?”

“More than I bargained for.”

I shift to face him. “What?” I can see the hesitation on his face. “What aren’t you telling me, Miguel?”

He looks truly pained, as if he knows what he’s about to say is going to hurt me.

“Just start at the beginning. Did you find out who put the drug in my coffee?”

He nods. “Yes. It was Darren,” he says with absolute certainty.

I feel gut punched. “What? No!”

“I’m sorry. I know you didn’t think he was behind the stalking, but he is.”

I sink back against the sofa cushions. “I can’t believe it.”

Miguel scrubs his hands over his face. “That’s just the beginning.”

“What else?” I see so much reluctance in his eyes. Whatever it is he knows, it’s bad. My pulse starts racing. “Just tell me, Miguel.”

He shakes his head in dismay. “Honey, I don’t want to do this to you.”

“Do what?” Now he’s scaring me. “Just say it.”

He takes my hands in his and squeezes lightly. “It’s hard to know where to start. It took me so long to get back here because I had to wait for Detective Cartwright to arrive at Darren’s apartment. Darren made a full confession.”

“What did he say?”

“That he put the GHB in your coffee. But in his defense, he swears he didn’t know it was enough to do real harm.” Miguel pauses, absently rubbing the back of my hands with his thumb. “Someone gave him the GHB and instructed him to put it in your coffee.”

“Who?”

Miguel just stares at me, clearly not wanting to say more.

“Who, Miguel? You can tell me.”

“Allen.”

I can feel the blood drain from my face. My stomach tightens into a knot, and I feel sick. “My dad? That’s impossible.”

“Darren was arrested tonight. So was Allen. They were both charged with attempted murder. They’re in police custody.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “My dad? No—that can’t be.” Tears spring into my eyes. “We had our differences, yes, but I can’t believe he would want to hurt me.”

Miguel tightens his hold on my hands. “Ruby, Allen’s not your father. Not biologically, anyway.”

I pull free from Miguel’s grasp and shoot to my feet. I start pacing, all the while shaking my head. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course he’s my father.”

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