Page 14 of Dare to Dance
My gut twisted in several directions. “No. Look, Ruby was beautiful, fun, and she helped me through the dark days at the academy. But when we moved home, I wanted to put my life at the academy behind us. I wasn’t ready for love. If you want to beat my head in, go right ahead. I deserve every ounce of punishment you want to give.” Or at least one round of punishment. The second round would be more painful when I told my parents.
Kade sauntered up to me. “Brother, I’m not going to beat your head in. However, I can’t say I’m not shocked. Regardless, we need to find this girl and find the truth. If she gave birth to a Maxwell, then she and the kid belong with us.”
My head spun as I made my way back to the couch. I had to sit down before I collapsed.
Kade caught my arm. “We’ll find her.”
I laughed out of sheer panic. “What happens when we find her?” I would go to the ends of the earth to find this woman and my child. “I don’t know the first thing about being a dad. Besides, it’s clear in my mind that Ruby doesn’t want anything to do with me. Otherwise, she would’ve contacted me again.”
Kade drew me in for a hug. “Regardless, we’re here to help you no matter what.”
I hugged him back with all the strength I had. I almost bawled like a damn baby. “What about Mom and Dad? I can’t imagine telling them.”
Kade let go of me. “We will do it together, but not before we find Ruby. There’s no sense in getting them all worked up if you’re not the father.” He pinned a look on Kody and Kelton. Both nodded.
Dillon sat, observing and pensive. I imagined he was thinking of his own family. He fought every day to keep his spirits up while continually searching for his sister. He had brothers, but he didn’t talk much about them. “So, I take it I’m here because you want me to help find her,” Dillon said.
Kade stalked over to the coffee table and took a swig of whiskey straight from the bottle.
“You do have a ton of connections,” I said to Dillon as I walked on shaky legs back to my seat. “I’ve been thinking.” My brain hurt from all the images, scenarios, and ways to find Ruby. “We might be able to start with her old man. Tasha told us he was busted for drugs. I’m not sure if he’s still in jail, but maybe we can find out. If he is, then I can pay him a visit. He might know where she is.”
“If the dude’s in jail, then there’s a public record of what went down.” Kelton finally relaxed into the couch. “Well, maybe. If the feds were involved, then they could’ve sealed the records, depending on the drug bust. I’ll look into that when I go into the office tomorrow.”
I hadn’t thought of that. Regardless, I was grateful that Kelton was working at a law firm while he studied to get his law degree.
“I just thought of something. I’ll talk with Detective Rayburn.” He and I had met when Kelton, Lizzie, Dillon, and I were at an illegal gambling game, and the cops had hauled us off to jail. Mark Rayburn was a fan of mine too. “He probably has easier access to get information on inmates than what you would find,” I said to Kelton. “He also might be able to search his database for an address on Ruby.” As soon as my excitement stirred, it was quickly squashed. Detective Rayburn was out of town at the moment. I’d spoken to him before my trip to the Berkshires, and he’d mentioned that he wouldn’t be around for a couple of weeks. He had some assignment in New York.
“What’s wrong?” Kade asked.
“It might be a while before I can get a hold of Mark. He’s working on a case in New York.” But I could at least call him.
“Dillon,” Kelton said. “Lizzie told me one of your guys hacked into the BU computer system to find out more about her. Maybe he can hack into the government’s computers. That might be faster than waiting on Mark or me to sift through records.”
Dillon straightened. “The BU computers are one thing, but the government?” He shook his head. “That’s asking for more trouble.”
“Dude,” I pleaded. “I’m desperate. Put yourself in my shoes. What if you knew you had a kid in this world? What would you do?” Dillon had a ton of connections outside of his guy who hacked into computers. Kelton was right. He might encounter red tape, and I might not get through to Mark.
Dillon grabbed the whiskey bottle. “I can’t have my guys snooping. But I know someone who might be able to help. I’ll pick you up on Saturday night,” he said to me.
The room fell into an eerie silence. Kade stared into space. Kody continued to pick at the label on his beer bottle. Kelton focused on the muted TV. Dillon drank from the whiskey bottle. As for me, my brain spun with visions of a little boy running around who looked like me. My heart skipped a beat, then another. I had a feeling my heart wouldn’t settle until I found Ruby.
4
Ruby
Normaand I stood in a room in the basement of Firefly, waiting for Tommy. The strong odor of urine burned the hair in my nostrils. During the past week, Norma had recovered after I’d given her the NyQuil I’d stolen. It had taken her a couple of days, but thankfully, she’d gotten better.
“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of.” She watched me pace, pick at my nails, and twist strands of my long hair around my fingers. “I still can’t believe that a few minutes from now, you’re about to fight. When have you ever fought?” Her voice cracked.
“Never. But if I win, we’ll have money to buy food.” I hadn’t even gotten into a spat or fight with any girls in school. Aside from my close friends, I’d always kept to myself, not sticking my nose where it didn’t belong. Unlike the popular girls who’d wanted all the attention, the only attention I’d craved was from Kross or the audience at one of my ballet performances.
She grabbed my wrist. “Stop bouncing around. You’re making me more nervous. You don’t have to do this. We’ll keep looking for jobs.”
I stomped my foot like a two-year-old. Every fast food place I’d followed up with had given me the thumbs-down in the last week. “No one is hiring, or no one wants to hire me. I’ve got to get Raven back.” I cried most nights at the thought of her with another family. I also cursed my mom for hooking up with one of my father’s associates, who’d convinced her to step into my father’s drug-dealing shoes. My mom had no skills other than being a stay-at-home mom. She’d tried to get a job as an office assistant, a fast-food worker, even a clerk at one of the big chain stores. I had given the job hunt a go too before I delivered Raven. But no one would consider a pregnant girl. So when my dad’s associate approached her, my mom caved. I tried to convince her not to take the offer, but I couldn’t blame her too much. We’d been desperate.
“Ruby, you could get hurt. I can’t stomach that. All the money in the world isn’t worth you risking yourself.”
“I’m doing this for us, and for Raven. I’ll never get her back if I can’t show I’m responsible.”
