Red-Hot Ruby (6 page)

“Shhh,” someone hissed behind her.

There was silence for a while. Farrell tried to turn her attention back to the stage, but Carter’s leg was oppressively pressing on hers. She took a deep breath to calm down so that she wouldn’t kill him on the spot. Then she felt his fingers run along her arm. That was just too much to bear. She caught his wrist, and in a quick move twisted it violently. Carter groaned with pain and surprise.

“Shhh,” the person behind repeated, this time more impatiently.

Farrell smiled to herself, while Carter massaged his painful wrist.

“Nasty little girl,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Let me enjoy the show,” Farrell said. “I’ll deal with you afterward.”

“
You
will deal with me?” Carter mumbled sarcastically. “Hm, I’d love to see
that
.”

At the end of act one, however, Carter dragged Farrell outside. As she didn’t want to attract attention, she followed him without fighting.

“Well, see,” Carter said, “you can also be nice when you want.”

“That’s right: when
I
want.”

Carter let her arm go. He stepped back to look at her, letting his eyes travel along her perfect body.

“Please, stop that before I throw up,” Farrell said. Carter lifted his cold eyes to meet her black disapproving look. He didn’t say anything, but just held her look in the night. Although it cost her a lot, she had to admit he was somehow handsome.

“Where’s my ruby?” he finally asked.

“
Your
ruby?” Farrell laughed. “Last time I checked, it was actually
my
ruby.”

“Let’s get that mistake fixed, then, shall we?”

“I won’t give it to you.” Farrell regained her seriousness when she noticed Carter’s menacing gaze.

“Oh yes, you will,” he said, taking a step closer to her.

“And if I don’t?” she answered defiantly.

For the first time in a long while, Carter smiled. But it was a bad, mean grin. “I’m not letting you choose.”

Farrell didn’t move. She held his threatening look while considering her escape options, which weren’t many. She thought of yelling for help, but she didn’t want to have anything whatsoever to do with the police. Then she thought of running, which wasn’t good either as Carter would probably catch her within seconds. He suddenly took another step closer. She didn’t move back; she didn’t want to let her fear appear. Yet, somehow, he saw it.

“Is that a sparkle of fear in your dark eyes, little girl?” he said slowly. He was now standing only inches from her. She had to look up to meet his eyes, and could feel his breath on her skin. “You’re not saying anything?” he murmured. “What happened to your lovely courage?”

Farrell granted him her most beautiful smile, along with a sexy look at his lips. It seemed to destabilize him. She leaned on him, her hands sliding along his chest. She felt his fast heartbeat. And then, when Carter least expected it, she pressed her heel on his foot and kicked him in the shin before pushing him away from her. The last thing Farrell saw before running away was a tall figure stumbling on one foot and spitting insults at her.

“Anything new on the woman?” Williams asked.

“Nope,” Cowley said. “And on Carter?”

“Neither.”

Williams gave his colleague one of the two coffees he’d bought and started sipping on the other. Cowley thanked him warmly, happy to take a little a break. Williams sat heavily behind his desk. He leaned on the back of the chair, closed his eyes. Cowley thought she saw a smile appear on his lips.

“What are you smiling at?” she asked. And the smile instantly disappeared.

“Nothing,” Williams said, sitting up. Cowley was looking at him interrogatively, so he changed the subject. “I don’t think that woman is working with Carter.”

“Really? Why not?” Cowley asked with surprise. “He
did
help her escape.”

“Did he?” Williams raised an eyebrow.

“What’s your point?” Cowley wasn’t sure to understand.

“You know Carter as well as I do: he works alone.”

“And especially not with women. Yeah, I remember that.”

They both stopped talking, but they were thinking so hard about all the possibilities that they didn’t hear the silence. Two thieves, one ruby, and what looked like an incredible puzzle.

“One of the guards said the thieves were having an argument,” Cowley remembered all of a sudden.

“True. I think we’re dealing with two persons who were after the same treasure. Question is: which one of them
does
have the treasure now?”

As she had got a bit of a fright at the musical, Farrell decided that she needed to get information about Carter, get to know him better. Therefore she went all the way to Lower Manhattan to have a drink and a long conversation with López. There were more people than she’d expected, but luckily Carter wasn’t there. Farrell sat near the counter and waited. López appeared suddenly by her side, making her start in surprise.

“Sorry,” he said, “didn’t mean to scare you. What’s up?”

“What’s up is that you friend Carter assaulted me,” Farrell answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Oh,” López said with a wince. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, fine. But I’d love to know who told him where to find me.” Farrell stared accusingly at her friend until he was forced to look away.

“Well, I might have mentioned a musical,” he said, blushing. “But I knew you were strong enough to defend yourself,” he quickly added with a wide smile.

“Yeah right.” Farrell wasn’t convinced by López’s poor apology. She was slightly angry at him. After a while, when he couldn’t bear her silence anymore, López offered to pay for her drink.

“There, happy now?” he asked.

“No.”

“What else can I do?” he begged with a falsely desperate tone.

“Tell me where I can find him,” Farrell quickly said.

“What? You actually
want
to confront him?” López doubted Farrell’s plan.

“Yes, but this time he’ll be the one surprised. So?” she insisted.

“So… well,” López hesitated. “He likes Seward Park, especially in the morning when there’s less people.”

“That’s a bit of a walk from here. Does he live around there?” Farrell wanted to know more.

“He lives around.”

“Where exactly?”

“Don’t push your luck, girl. I didn’t tell him where
you
live,” López warned her.

“That’s because you don’t know.”

“Don’t I? Puerto Rico?”

Farrell was so surprised she was speechless. López smiled at her, and eventually got back to work as some of the other customers were starting to get impatient. Farrell went back home soon afterward. She’d go to the park on the next morning, but she needed to get ready first. She wanted to be in control this time.

On the next day, Farrell left early in the morning. The sun was only just starting to rise when she called for a cab. Because Farrell was thinking about the details of her plan, the ride to the park seemed incredibly fast. She got out of the cab in front of the dark fence. A large sign indicated SEWARD PARK and there was a maple leaf under the letters.

Farrell entered the park. She walked very slowly, inspecting every person on every bench. Carter wasn’t there, yet. Farrell kept wandering around the trees, pondering her next move. And all of a sudden, she spotted him. Carter was leaning against the fence a few feet away and apparently looking at her. She carefully walked toward him.

“Hey, little girl,” he said. “Are you lost?”

“Am not. I was looking for you,” she admitted

“Wow, I’m flattered. You’re ready to give me the ruby?”

Farrell laughed. “No. It’s
my
ruby, and I’ll die before giving it up.”

“Well, if that’s only problem, it can easily be arranged, trust me.” Carter’s tone was cold and menacing. He had his hands in his pockets, his look was steady and expressionless.

“You won’t leave me alone, will you?”

“Not while you have the ruby.”

“Then we’ve got a problem,” Farrell said slowly.

“Yep,” he agreed.

“Careful, mister Carter,” Farrell provoked him. “I already hurt you once.”

“Oh you mean that little scratch at the museum? That didn’t hurt,” Carter defended himself.

“You said, I quote: fuck, that hurt. End of quote,” Farrell said with irony.

“That was mere frustration,” he claimed. “What hurt was seeing my beautiful ruby in your filthy hands.”

Both went quiet. They were staring into each other’s eyes, but not in the romantic way. Each of them was trying to spot the other one’s weak points. Carter already knew that Farrell was mischievous, always manipulating and attacking him by surprise. And Farrell knew that Carter was quite strong, she expected him to be able to shoot in cold blood, just out of anger.

“So,” Carter said, “are we gonna stand here for the whole day, or are you gonna lead me to the ruby?”

“I’ll go home to my ruby, but certainly not dragging you along.”

“I’m not actually giving you a choice.”

Farrell took a step closer to him. Carter raised his hands defensively, moving somewhat uneasily.

“Don’t you come seducing me again,” he said.

Farrell laughed, but kept moving closer. She stretched her hand toward his. Carter instantly reacted by grasping her wrist. But before he could understand what Farrell was doing, silver handcuffs were hanging on his arm. Surprise took away his strength which only came back when he was already cuffed to the fence. Farrell stepped away from him, laughing.

“So like I said, I’ll go home to my ruby, but not with you,” she sang, already starting to walk away.

“Don’t turn away, you bitch,” Carter yelled, pointing his gun at her.

“You should work on that temper,” Farrell replied. “Look around you. Do you really wanna shoot me in a crowded place like this?”

Despite himself, Carter had to admit she was right. A lot of people were now walking in the park. Shooting would attract attention, and attention was the last thing Carter wanted at the moment. He looked at her again. She was still standing in front of him, with a huge smile on her face.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” he asked bitterly.

“Oh yes.”

“If I promise not to hurt you, will you let me go?” he added while putting his gun away.

“I’d love to, but I don’t have the keys.” Farrell looked at her wrist watch. “Wow look at the time,” she said. “Well, I’ll be on my way. Have a good day, mister Carter.”

“Wait,” he said. But she didn’t listen. “Wait, come back! Farrell, come back,” he called. She was gone. Carter breathed in deeply to calm his nerves. Somehow, he’d find her, and get the ruby.

His Place

“What’s on your mind?” Cowley asked Williams, who was absentmindedly sipping on his coffee.

“I was thinking about Carter and… what’s her name again?”

“Farrell,” Cowley said after a look at her notepad. A few witnesses had described a woman who looked very interested in the ruby the day before it was stolen. After interviewing the employees of the museum, Cowley had narrowed down the list of potential thieves. She now had a name and a picture from the CCTV videos.

“Right, Farrell,” Williams said. “I think she’s the one who stole the ruby.”

“So you still believe they’re not working together.”

“I know they’re not,” Williams said in a this-is-so-obvious tone. He got up, finished the coffee, and put his jacket on.

“Where are you going?” Cowley wanted to know.

“To get info,” Williams answered enigmatically. “Keep trying to find Farrell. I’ll call you if I have something.”

Williams drove to Lower Manhattan to find his informant. He entered the crowded and dark bar, waited for his eyes to get used to the low level of lighting, and eventually went to sit down at a place whence he could see who got in and out. A tall man in the corner turned his back to him. He seemed to be willing to avoid Williams’ eyes. That man looked somewhat familiar. Williams was about to get up to face him when López appeared in front of him.

“Officer Williams, hello!” he said cheerfully. “What can I get you?”

Williams was distracted just long enough to miss Carter’s escape from the pub. Carter breathed better once he was out of sight from the cop. He walked home with a fast pace, hoping that López wouldn’t talk too much to Williams. Carter had been arrested by Williams a few years before because of a stolen rare manuscript. He’d managed to escape, but had unfortunately lost the manuscript in the process. And although he didn’t have the ruby, Carter was pretty sure that Williams could arrest him, and it would no doubt be harder to escape a second time.

Carter sat at his usual place with both elbows leaning on the counter, and his face in his hands. He couldn’t believe what was happening to him. Farrell had made fun of him too many times already. He had to find a way to trap her so that she couldn’t surprise him with her bloody unexpected behavior.