Page 94 of To the Grave

Iwas almost speechless as I tried to get Ruth to settle down on the sofa. She was so upset she could hardly speak, and I focused on getting her warm and dry by wrapping her in the blanket in front of the fire.

Thankfully the gas stove in the kitchen could still be lit with a match, and Otis hurried into the kitchen to make her a cup of hot tea. I pulled my sister into my arms, trying to calm her down while we waited.

Otis returned a few minutes later carrying two steaming mugs. I pulled away from Ruth and smoothed her wet hair, then handed her one of them.

“This will help warm you up.”

She took a sip, then sighed.

“Can you tell me what happened?” I asked.

“I’m… I’m sorry to come here,” she said. “I don’t know why I came here.”

“You never have to be sorry for coming to me, Ruthie. I’m your sister. I’m always here for you. Now what happened?”

“It was a guy I’ve been seeing,” she said. “He… he seemed nice.”

I thought about the older guy Cassie and Sarai had seen with Ruth at the Mill, then glanced at Otis and saw anger flare in his eyes.

“Do you want me to leave?” he asked.

Ruth looked up at him, hesitated, then shook her head. “You should stay.”

He lowered himself next to me on the sofa.

“Did this guy hurt you?” I asked.

She took a deep breath and shook her head. “We were going to go to the city for the night. I told Dad I was spending the night at Bailey’s. But then I changed my mind. The storm…”

“You don’t need an excuse to change your mind,” Otis said.

She nodded and I tried to quell my own rising panic. Had Ruth been raped? Because if so, I needed to get her to a hospital.

My stomach turned and I forced my voice steady. “What happened next?”

“We met up because we were going to drive into the city in his car, but when I told him I changed my mind he got really pissed. Like… really,reallypissed. And…”

Her breath caught on a sob.

I took her hand. “And?”

“He… he grabbed me. He called me a spoiled cunt and grabbed my arm. Then he said… he said…”

“It’s okay,” I said, trying to be soothing while an internal alarm blared in my mind. “Just take it slow. You’re safe.”

“He said I wouldn’t need bags where I was going, like… like he was going to take me somewhere even though I said I wasn’t going with him.”

I glanced at Otis but couldn’t read anything in his eyes. There was just the hard set of his jaw and my own dread.

“Then what?” I asked.

“He started the car, his car, like he was going to make me go with him, but I… I got out.” She hiccuped a little. “I ran as fast as I could and got in my car and came here.”

I slowly let out the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. This was bad but not as bad as it could have been. I hugged her again. “I’m glad you came here, Ruthie.”

“Me too.”

And then, an approaching roar sounded in the distance. At first I thought the rain had kicked up a notch, or maybe the wind, but then Otis got to his feet, reached behind his back, and pulled a gun from the waistband of his jeans.

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