“What do you mean?”
“Ruby, I did a terrible job of one thing. I did everything I could for you, but in the process, I showed you that it’s acceptable to be dependent upon someone else, a man, even when he wasn’t the best man. Patrick is not Andros. I loved him and I still do. It’s funny, but after all this time, I feel like I’m falling in love again. I know you don’t want to hear your mom say things like that.”
“No,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “You’re right, it’s mush, but I do like it. I want you to be happy. If you are, why would we want to leave?”
“Because, for the first time, we can. Not yet. We aren’t safe out there.” I motioned toward the windows. “But if and when we are, maybe I should show you that women don’t need a man. Maybe for the first time, I should encourage you to be independent. There’s so much world for you, Ruby.”
“Don’t do it for me.”
She’d been telling me for years she wasn’t a child, but for the first time, I truly saw her for who she was. She’d always be my child, but she was more. She was a young woman and the only woman who really knew me, or at least knew what I’d shown her. “Why not?”
“Because, Mom, you’ve done everything for me. I don’t know all of it, but I know you love me, and I heard Araneae and Mr. Sparrow talking about you sacrificing. I’m sixteen. Stop sacrificing. If you want to be independent, do it. If you want to have the life you never could with Patrick, do that. I know I’m young, but if you ask me, being with a man you love isn’t an example of dependency. Being with one you don’t love, one you may even fear…that’s a poor example.
“Now that’s over. At least, that’s what you all keep saying.
“So if you want to do something for me, do what you want, what makes you happy. For the first time since you found out I was inside you, make your decisions based on you.”
Though my throat was dry, I tried to swallow. “How did you become so wise?”
“I don’t know if I am. I know I like being able to be with you without you constantly checking the door or looking over your shoulder.”
“I’m sorry,” I said honestly. “I didn’t realize you noticed.”
“Now, tell me about New Orleans.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She lifted the iPad. “It’s a habit of mine to do searches for your name. I mean, sometimes it would be a few weeks between calls. I’d search your name to see if you were traveling and how you were doing on the poker circuit. I was always excited when you did well.”
“Gambling isn’t the best profession to show my daughter.”
“Why? It’s a skill. What if you were an athlete or an actor? Why is legal gambling any less impressive?”
“You didn’t mind?” I asked.
“Heck no. I would brag about you to my friends. I even paid attention to some of your opponents. I wanted you to win the one here in Chicago and beat that Elliott guy...oh and that Dunn guy. He’s a jerk on social media.”
I smiled. “He’s kind of a jerk in real life.”
“I saw the news thing where Mr. Elliott called you his fiancée.” Her nose wrinkled. “That’s not true, is it?”
My head shook. “No. The only thing that is true is here and what Patrick and I have told you.”
We both turned as the cell phone upon the kitchen bar began to vibrate.
“Maybe that’s Patrick,” she said.
I reached for her hand. “I don’t want to leave here. I want to make it work with Patrick. Are you saying you’re okay with that?”
“Mom, your phone.”
“Please. I want to know how you feel.”
Ruby’s blue eyes shone. “I say go for it. And I hope soon we can go back out in the world. I miss my friends at school.”
Hurrying across the room, I lifted the phone and read the name. PATRICK.
Nodding excitedly toward Ruby, I let her know it was Patrick. Connecting the call, I said, “Hello.”
Patrick
A detour in our day found Sparrow and I on our way to one of the Sparrow planes. We now had a flight planned, taking us to a private airport south of San Clemente, California, the closest airport to where Jerry and Wendy Millstone now resided.
Apparently, since Jerry Millstone conducted his illicit business under the alias of Dr. Miller, he found no reason to hide his true identity or whereabouts. His cavalier attitude allowed us to access enough to track him down in no time after we left the Sparrow mansion.
“I remember Jerry Millstone,” Sparrow said as Romero drove us to the airport. “He was one of the men who would visit my father’s inner office. He never stuck out in my mind as a man of any importance and wasn’t officially part of the Sparrow outfit.”
“It sounds like he was a friend with benefits for both the Sparrows and McFaddens,” I said.
“It could have been the Sparrow outfit who bought her,” Sparrow admitted.
By her, he meant Madeline.
“I know that. I also know it wasn’t. Madeline remembers it vividly as McFadden.” I recalled the little bits and pieces she’d divulged to me. It wasn’t much, and I wasn’t ready to push her for more. She mentioned being removed from the house she refers to as the cell house and taken by driver to a mansion where she met Andros. She recalled McFadden being present. She was even able to describe him. My rational mind reminded me that Rubio McFadden had been a senator and was recently arrested. His picture was easily accessible, but her description wasn’t as much of a visual representation as it was sensory. She described cigar smoke and cologne. She recounted a study or library with exact details down to the grandfather clock.
There was no reason to believe that after all these years her memories had forged with the man she saw on the news outlets. Madeline also said she’d never heard the name Allister Sparrow until Ivanov and Elliott told her the name.
I pulled my phone from my inner jacket pocket and called Madeline’s new number.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hi,” I replied, my gaze going to Sparrow. “Sparrow was called away for a day trip. I’m joining him.”
“Okay,” she said tentatively. “Is that what you do, accompany him?”
“Sometimes.”
“Stay safe.”
“I wanted you to know,” I said, “that it may be late when we return. Will you be okay?”
Madeline let out a breath. “I’m here in your apartment with Ruby. I couldn’t be better…unless you were here too.”
“I’ll let Lorna know that you’ll need dinner.”
“I hate being a burden. I could try that cooking thing.”
I scoffed. “Not with the food in our apartment. Getting groceries is on our list of things to do.” After tracking down every asshole…
“Do you want me to do that?”
“Grocery shop? No. No one is leaving the apartment until we settle a few things. Believe me when I say that Lorna is prepared for this and keeps everything well stocked.”
“Don’t worry about us.”