Page 69 of Freeing Ruby

What the hell? “How long have you worked for him?”

Darren shrugs offhandedly. “I don’t know. Ten years maybe.”

Ten years. “And you just happen to be Ruby’s neighbor?” That’s too much of a coincidence to be believable. “When did you move into this building?”

“About a year ago.”

“So, after Ruby did. How in the hell did you end up living next door to your boss’s daughter? Did Foster put you up to this? Did he tell you to move into her building?”

Darren nods.

“Why? To spy on her?”

“To keep an eye on her, yeah. Allen was worried about her.”

An apartment door down the hall opens and closes, and a young couple I don’t know walks toward the stairs. They wave and say hi.

“Open your door,” I tell Darren after they pass. We don’t need an audience. “You and I are going to have a little talk.”

With shaking fingers, Darren fishes his keyring out of his trouser pocket and unlocks his door. I push the door open and shove Darren inside.

While he turns on a lamp, I shut the door behind me. “Sit!” I say, pointing to his kitchen table.

I don’t know what the connection is between Darren and Allen, but there are a lot of dots that need to be connected.

Darren sits, looking ashen. He clasps his hands on the table in front of him. He’s perspiring like he’s just run a marathon.

Foster and Darren are somehow connected.

Darren works for Foster.

Darren delivered the coffees to Ruby’s apartment.

“You put the GHB and the alcohol in Ruby’s coffee, didn’t you? After you took it from the delivery guy, you spiked her drink.”

Darren looks out through his balcony doors at the setting sun. “I didn’t know what it was,” he says in a quiet voice. “I swear I didn’t know it would put her in the hospital!”

“Did Allen tell you to spike her coffee?”

Darren winces but says nothing. To my surprise, I realize he’s struggling to hold back tears.

I reach across the small table and grab his tie. “Did he?”

He nods frantically. “Yes, it was Allen. He gave me a vial of clear liquid a little while ago and told me to put it in her coffee the first chance I got. When I saw the delivery guy from the coffee shop arrive, I took the cups from him back to my apartment, poured the liquid from the vial into hers, then delivered them to her apartment.” Darren looks up at me, clearly stricken. “I didn’t know what was in the vial. I would never do anything to hurt Ruby, I swear it!”

He seems genuinely devastated.

Darren starts crying in earnest.

I take the chair opposite his and soften my voice. “The amount of GHB you put in her drink was more than enough to kill her. It’s a fluke that she’s still alive, Darren. Let that sink in. You nearly killed Ruby. If she’d drunk more, she likely would have died. You’re an accomplice to attempted murder. You realize that, right?”

Darren’s gaze flashes up at me, his eyes wide with shock. “What—no! It was just supposed to scare her, that’s all. That’s all it ever was—he wanted her scared so that she’d move back home.”

“Who, Allen?”

“Yes.” Darren looks sick. “It was just supposed to scare her, that’s all. I swear!”

“Why would Allen want to kill his own daughter?”

---