Page 69 of Meowy & Bright

“Help me!” Nora screeches.

“Is that Ruby?” He blinks.

“No.”

“That idiot is long gone. Now help me out of out here!”

“If you say another bad word about Ruby, I’ll strike a fucking match, Nora.”

Dad’s eyes widen.

Nora’s screeches turn to sobs.

My phone buzzes.

“Nora was just leaving.” I stride to my office. “What can I do for you, Dad?”

“Lorraine still has that figure. Still so … so spicy. You get me?” He waggles his eyebrows.

“You came all the way to my shop to tell me about Lorraine?”

“No.” He scoffs. “I came to tell that granddaughter of hers to leave you alone, that you aren’t meant for the likes of h—”

“If I have to knock your block off, Abner Lovejoy, I will.” Lorraine storms into my office. “Ruby loves your son. And he loves her. And if you’d spend more time with other people instead of locked up in your stupid mansion, you’d know that.”

“See?” Dad smiles. “Spicy.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Back up. You talked to Ruby?”

“HeinsultedRuby. I told her to leave before he could get started with his bluster and foolishness, and I thought she’d have come here.” She glances around and sees Nora as she climbs from the pit, covered in oil, and still sniffling. “What is that?”

“Nothing. Where’s Ruby?” My phone buzzes again. I pull it out and see three security notifications. Ruby’s been at the house, on my computer, and now she’s gone. Shit.

“I have to go.” I grab my keys and sprint out of the shop as my dad calls after me.

“Quiet down, old man.” Lorraine snaps over him.

“Spicy!” He laughs.

I don’t have time for him. I don’t have time for anyone except Ruby. If the feeling in my gut is any indication, she must’ve heard enough from my father and seen enough from that idiot Nora to draw all the wrong conclusions. And if she dug around in my computer? I swallow hard. Yeah, I have a lot of explaining to do.

It’s snowing when I whip into the street and gun it the few blocks to my house. When I get there, my mailbox is destroyed, and a black SUV is pulling away.

Tension forms a ball in my gut as I tear off after the SUV. Ruby’s been taken. But what moron would dare try to take her from me? My mind flips through a million culprits—her pervy boss, Todd, some guy in the bakery who I noticed lingered a little too long. Each name has me gripping the steering wheel tighter.

I have to stop them. A side swipe should do it. Then again, the driver isn’t a professional. In fact, they’re going slower than Grams on Sunday morning. What the fuck is happening?

When the SUV slows as it comes to a stop sign, I pull up beside it.

A wave of relief hits me when I see Merry behind the wheel and Ruby in the passenger seat. I quickly pull in front of them and kill the engine.

When I get out, Merry’s eyes go wide, and Ruby tries to stare daggers at me. It doesn’t work, though, because I can see the tears on her cheeks.

I go to her window. “Red.”

She looks at me through the dark tint.

“Red, come on.”

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