Chapter 7 - THE MIDNIGHT INTERROGATION
The guest room on the third floor was larger than Ru’s entire Detroit apartment.
A king-sized bed with white silk sheets.
A marble fireplace crackling with warm orange flames.
French doors opening onto a moonlit balcony overlooking Lake Michigan.
Ru couldn't sleep.
She paced the Persian rug, her mind racing through the events of the evening.
From missing her bus to saving a little girl.
From carrying a dying child to diagnosing digitalis poisoning in a mafia boss's mansion.
A soft knock echoed at the door.
Ru opened it cautiously.
Harland stood in the hallway, wearing a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
“Can’t sleep?” Harland asked.
“Adrenaline is a stubborn thing,” Ru replied, leaning against the doorframe.
“What do you want, Mr. Voss?”
“Harland,” he corrected her quietly.
“Alright. Harland.”
“I want to know why a twenty-six-year-old nursing graduate with top marks is working fifty hours a week at a hotel restaurant in downtown Detroit.”
Ru looked down at her bruised forearm.
“My mother died of cancer two years ago.”
“Her medical bills cleaned out every account we had.”
“I missed my board exam fees because the electric company threatened to shut off my heat.”
Harland stared at her.
The silence between them stretched, heavy and profound.
“You didn't have to stay at the garage tonight,” Harland said softly.
“You could have called 911 and walked away.”
“I’m a nurse,” Ru said simply.
“I don't walk away from people who can't breathe.”
Harland took a half-step closer.
Up close, she noticed the faint white scar tracing his jawline.
“Detroit is a dangerous city, Ru Callaway.”
“I’ve lived here my whole life. I know how to handle myself.”
“Not against the men who are coming for my family,” Harland warned.
Before Ru could answer, the security alarm system shrieked through the mansion.
Red strobe lights flashed across the hallway walls.
Harland’s expression transformed instantly into a mask of pure predator ice.
“Stay in this room,” Harland ordered, drawing a suppressed pistol from his waistband.
May you like
“Don't open the door for anyone except me.”
He turned and bolted down the grand staircase into the dark.
