DEMON

Chapter 2

Tommy

Tommy's gut knotted. When Westridge had been arrested, he backed off from protecting Ruby and her sister. Crystal had Kade. And while Ruby was alone, he figured she needed time to heal. Then he received a call from his old friend, Joseph that his youngest had run away from New Orleans to New York and was on the streets. It had taken over two months to track her down and put her back on a bus to home. The pimp might be angry, but Tommy would have thought the half a million dollars he borrowed from Uncle Gustin would be sufficient despite breaking the pimp's face when the dude tried to stop her from escaping.

The shooter could have been after him as payback for mangling the pimp's face. Tommy raced out of the warehouse toward the building the shots had come from.

Or was it Westridge and he'd become desperate? Doing a stunt like this so close to his trial was suicidal. If Westridge had hired a hitman, Tommy would have heard whispers through his sources. Unless Westridge paid for someone's silence. Or it was related to Joseph's daughter and the pimp? Tommy ducked behind a dumpster, listening for the gunman. He knew the layout of the Uncles' warehouse and alleys and could maneuver through them blind if he had to. Just like the layouts of Westridge and the Board of Directors. No one paid attention to the lawn crew or how all of a sudden, a leak or faulty breaker box needed fixing.

The scent of pizza, cardboard, and early afternoon sun baking the cement filled his nostrils as he dashed across the street. He'd seen the gunshot flash from the abandoned high-rise on the corner. Inside, he took the stairs two at a time, but kept his steps light. Dust coated the stairs and the faint hint of decay closed in around him. Fresh footprints on the stairs showed someone had been here recently.

The smell wasn't new to him; it had been the same dead scent when he helped load two corpses in the van with the Uncles to fake Crystal and Ruby's deaths after he found their foster parents dead in a house full of carbon monoxide. He wanted to kill the bastard Westridge himself and his whole company.

Back on the street, a motorcycle revved and skidded down the road. s**t! He turned around, but with no windows in the stairwell, he was caged in. Could be the assassin. If he ran, his truck wouldn't catch up. Still, he had to scope out the building, just to make sure.

A squeak sounded on the stairs below him. Tommy jerked back into a dark corner, ready to attack. His breath coming out in pants, he focused on what he needed to do and clenched his fists.

Again, the sound of rubber sliding across cement stairs. What the hell? He stole a glance over the banister and spotted Ruby bouncing up the stairs. Stubborn. She'd gotten compliant since Westridge was arrested. And discovering her fiancé Paul conned her by working with Westridge and his company the entire time they dated made her wallow in self-pity too long.

He waved a hand back for Ruby to stay in the shadows. Without looking, he knew she shot glares at him - he could feel it across his back. When they were little, she'd been a spitfire too... that hadn't diminished with maturity. If anything happened to her, Uncle Gustin and Uncle George would not be happy and they were not men to have as enemies. She and Gustin were second cousins by marriage but she'd always called him Uncle. If anything happened to Ruby...he swallowed the lump in his throat and clenched his fists. George and Gustin would blame him, and hell he'd hate himself if he didn't protect her.

A flock of pigeons took flight from the building next door. Tommy knew better than to ask her to wait again. She wouldn't listen anyway. He needed to keep her safe, and she was safer here with him. He'd seen the reflection of the gun a split second before the shot was fired. It was pointed towards Ruby. Still, he had to be sure.

"At least stay back." Tommy gave her half a smile when she scooted closer to him. "Whoever fired that shot is probably up there if we haven't missed them."

The edge of her mouth twitched. "Let's go then."

If she'd kept up her training the past six months. He'd feel more confident in her ability. There was too much of a chance she'd lower her guard or miss something. The shooter could have been aiming for Ruby as revenge against Tommy. Lord knows he had plenty of enemies. He snatched her elbow. "Behind me. And try not to make so much noise this time."

He eased his bowie knife from his boot, and she gave a nod even though her frown deepened. Leave it to Ruby to want to be the frontrunner and have him trail behind her. Tough.

"Are you going to let him get away?" Ruby nudged his back as they waited outside the third story office that faced the back of the warehouse, where the gunman must have been.

"No." He grinned when she pulled out her switchblade. At least she hadn't forgotten everything he taught her. "Let's try not to get shot and be smart about this."

She gave a nod and tucked her red hair behind her ear. Would she grow out the color to her natural blonde color now that Westridge was pending trial? The red suited her better, but she looked amazing either way.

Using the shadows, they crept past the doorway. The doorknob was missing and rusted around the edges. Inside the office, one huge open window let in light from outside, and Tommy readied his knife. No sounds accept the slap-slap of blinds against an open window. No one here.

He scanned the room and glanced behind the door. A dead rat. "Empty."

He sheathed his knife, and Ruby followed his lead. "Let's take a look anyway. Maybe there's a clue." At the window, blurry footprints in the dirt and dust revealed size eleven, maybe twelve. Unless the guy had big feet, he was probably just under six foot. Tommy ducked down a few inches

and squinted out the window from the angle the gunman stood until he saw the bent blinds into their gym. s**t he'd been meaning to fix those since the night Westridge had been arrested. From his vantage point, his throat dried. The gunman could have only seen Ruby clearly...and he had fired. That told Tommy his gut was right and the man was after her – either directly or a way to punish Tommy.

Later, he'd scope out Ruby's home and make sure there was no one lurking around. He wanted Ruby and her sister to put in an alarm system, but they never had, insisting their neighbors would alert them to danger. Hell, her neighbors were too busy fighting or watching movies to notice a stranger in the area.

Maybe Ruby would let him sleep on her couch. He sure as hell wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight without knowing she was safe. He'd also check to make sure her ex-fiancé Paul hadn't made bail or something stupid. The guy was sleazy. Despite Tommy's efforts to make Ruby see sense, she hadn't listened to him at the time. Telling her the guy was no good didn't work, not without concrete proof. Gut instinct meant nothing.

With a shooter on the loose, he needed to renew his handgun license.

Tommy signaled to Ruby to check the perimeter, but he knew the culprit was probably already gone. Still, the unease wouldn't let up in his gut. Someone had tried to kill Ruby and he needed to know who and why.