How to Cut a Ruby - Chapter 6

The footsteps of Zack and Julie faded into silence as the portal closed behind them. Ruby gazed at the empty hallway, then carefully twisted her aching body to look at the man standing behind her.

She spoke softly, "No goin' back now."

Reinhold smiled at her, "I never would have went back before..." He slid an arm around her shoulder and leaned down for a long kiss. She turned the rest of her body around and slipped her arms around him to embrace him tightly. He brushed her hair from her face and winked at her. "...But you are definitely going to owe me after all this."

She let her arms slip from their locked position and smirked as she lightly slapped him across the face. "Well, mebbe after I stop feelin' like a piece of tenderised meat."

His mask disguised the concern in his face, and he carefully gathered her into his arms. Her face twisted in discomfort as his arms held her bruised body, but she made no verbal complaint.

Big girls don't cry.

Reinhold placed her upright in bed and turned to close the door. She stripped to her boy-shorts and tossed her clothing into the corner of the room. She laboriously leaned forward to unlace and pull off each boot and set them at the foot of the bed. Reinhold rolled her onto her stomach and began to knead the muscles in her shoulders. She closed her eyes and sank into the mattress, allowing only a soft moan of relief to escape her parched lips.

Ruby's heavy eyelids closed halfway and her vision blurred as Reinhold worked her aching back muscles with his strong hands. She turned her head to the left to stare blankly at his neat desk and the meticulously sorted stack of paper on the corner. She allowed her eyes to close the rest of the way and immediately, her mind started to race.

The District Attorney. The son of a bitch. Ruby shivered as Rein traced her spine with his fingertips and opened her eyes a slit. He was using her like a chump this whole time. She had no idea she would be faced with a choice of life in the Zig, or death by his hand. It was difficult to decide which would be worse.

He never anticipated he'd have to deal with a force like Ruby Phoenix. Another Outcast street thug. No big deal, right? She'd do his dirty work to stay out of the Zigg, and he'd hide her body in his skeleton-filled closet.

Then there was Reinhold. Nobody expected Ruby to associate herself with someone like him. She smiled slightly as she felt his hands run up her back, over her ribs, the sides of her breasts, and onto her shoulders again. She shivered slightly at the sensation of his lips kissing between her shoulder blades. Reinhold was the ace on the river.

Ruby winced slightly as Reinhold applied pressure to her spine, but instead of complaining, she let him work on her sore muscles and released a controlled breath. The DA had to go, but she couldn't kill him. Killing the DA would likely be traced back to her by now, and the last thing she wanted was to be sent to the Zigg after all this effort. She held up her end of the bargain, and despite all the terrible things she did in her past, she felt she was finally on the right path. The last thing she needed was to go back to jail.

She thought about the list. Half the people were dead, and the other half were surely captured, hiding, or on the run. The list would be the key to it all. She yelped in pain as Reinhold put pressure on a rather sizable bruise on her lower back. He paused the massage and placed his flat palm on the small of her back.

"You all right, Red?" He lifted his hand as she twisted her body and nodded slightly. He traced his fingers over the yellowing bruises covering her ribcage, kidneys, and spine, then carefully resumed the back rub.

If they could pin the murders to the DA, his campaign for Mayor would be ruined. They needed to find his itinerary, trace the bodies, and link the two without implicating either Ruby or Reinhold. She squeezed her eyes shut as Reinhold moved his hands to her muscular legs. She spread her toes when he reached her ankle and softly chuckled when he ran a finger along the bottom of her foot.

Surely there was a cop they could trust with the information. Ruby scowled at the idea of trusting anyone in the PPD, but with enough digging, surely the information could make it to someone who wasn't in the DA's pocket. There were hundreds of officers. They couldn't ALL be dirty, could they?

They just didn't have the resources.

Ruby kicked Reinhold's hand as he tickled the bottom of her foot. He chuckled and pressed his thumbs above her heel. Her entire body trembled with relief as the pressure on her foot seemed to relieve stress in other places. She smiled lopsidedly at him and wiggled her foot out of his hands. He crawled back up her body, pausing briefly to kiss the small of her back, and curled up next to her on the bed.

Zack and Julie had resources. The lab alone was state of the art, and definitely not linked to official avenues. Surely, they had to deal with more injuries than they wanted the city to know about. She was positive they had Reinhold's attention, but the fact that he wasn't able to dig up any information both worried and reassured her.

Reinhold snaked his arms around her midsection and pulled her against his warm body. He nuzzled his nose in her hair and inhaled deeply, then kissed the top of her head. She tried to stifle her fatigue, but failed miserably as her jaw relaxed to release a big yawn. Reinhold yawned in turn and chuckled at her. She smiled lazily and wrapped her hands around his wrists to silently assure him she wanted nothing more than to be laying there right then with him.

It had been a dark couple of months, but she almost swore she could see an exit at the end of the tunnel. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. He had removed his mask at some point. She studied his face: he really was quite handsome. A face like his was certainly memorable without the mask. It was no wonder he wore it... and his face was hers alone to see. Her emerald eyes locked to his startling azure eyes, but she couldn't formulate the words she needed.

He moved a hand from around her midsection to the side of her face and kissed her warmly. He was here for her. He had never abandoned her. He took her in when she was stalked by the hitman. He came for her when Burkholder was ready to kill her. He tended her wounds, watched her while she slept, and did everything in his power to protect her. She rolled to face him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"Y'know, Rein," she murmured. "Y'really are somethin' special. Y'always seem t'know what's best. Ain' y'glad y'decided t'slosh 'round in th' sewers that day?" She traced his brow with her fingers, ran her hand through his hair, and closed her eyes halfway.

He simply nodded and kissed her again. "If we make the right moves, it will all be over soon, Red."

He hugged her tightly against his chest and rested his chin on the top of her head. She yawned again, cocooned safely in his embrace, and drifted to sleep.