Chapter 12: Seclusion

About an hour and twenty minutes outside of London Ruby pulled up to a small log cabin that was sitting on a lake. The cabin had been bequeathed to her as an inheritance from her late grandfather almost ten years ago. Ruby parked the car, taking the cat out of the backseat, walked up the red flagstone pathway to the porch.

The cabin had never been painted on the outside as everyone had always preferred the rustic look and it was less maintenance. Ruby took out her keyring, selected the right key, then unlocked the door.

There was a TV area to the left when she walked in, a wood burning fireplace was tucked into the corner. A futon and a rocking chair completed that side of the room. Her grandparents were big fans of the open concept living and dining areas so there were no walls between the two.

Crossing over to the living area, Ruby unlocked the sliding glass door, seeing that the old Adirondack chairs had rotted out completely. She would have to haul those to the dump at some point. The old grill that had once sat on the deck was long gone-stolen a few years ago but Ruby had never used it.

After the cat box was set up, Ruby released Cassidy, who was delighted at the scents of long dead mice that she could apparently still smell.

Ruby occupied herself with unpacking her clothes and groceries she'd bought along the way. Her anger at Jim had petered out a bit but she knew she was doing the right thing by taking herself away from the situation entirely. It was the health and welfare of her unborn child that she needed to consider before her own now. As much as she loved Jim he just didn't seem to get it.

Going down to the dock, Ruby observed that the new dock she'd bought for the property was still holding up very well. It was ten years old now and out of the water at the moment, but she would be able to put it back in.

Both of the boats were still on the shore upside down where she left them. There was a red painted wooden canoe and an old rowboat made out of metal with the bow painted deep green.

That night with a mug of hot chocolate and a roaring fire blazing in the fireplace, Ruby settled down to watch some TV. Cassidy parked herself in her mistress's lap, purring happily.

Ruby scratched her ears and gave a little grin. When she'd first inherited the place, after she'd met Jim, she'd had contractors renovate the kitchen. The kitchen was like stepping into a 1950s style one which she'd never liked. Now it was fully modernized, much like the wiring in the old place. Her grandparents had never believed in smoke detectors so she had one put in every room, upgraded the bathroom, threw out the old furniture, etc.

The cabin had four bedrooms, all upstairs. Two had twin beds in them and a dresser, the other two had queen beds and a dresser as well. The men in Ruby's family were all on the tall side so queen beds worked well for them.

She went to sleep that night hearing the sounds of the loons on the lake. It always comforted and soothed her, so she went right to sleep.

Jim had a hard time sleeping that night, his thoughts full of his wife. He rolled over in a restless sleep only to be confronted with the fact that Ruby just wasn't there on her side of the bed. He'd sent a text to Seb, asking him to at least keep an eye on Ruby, knowing she would not be willing to see him any time soon.

What Jim didn't know was that Seb, being fond of Ruby, had already put a tracker on her car. He had been checking the tracker from his laptop and discovered her whereabouts. Seb wrote down the directions to her lake cabin, intending to drive up there within a day or two.

In the meantime, Seb had checked the city over for any clues regarding the Mama character who had been building and selling weapons to the Italian brothers. He'd turned up some other buyers from various places who pointed him in a general direction.

One night Seb had gone to the location he'd been pointed out to reconnoiter and assess the logistics of the area. He'd been surprised when it turned out to be a small new looking shed behind a local cemetery. Surprised at first, he peeked into the windows of the shed and when he saw them assembling explosives, he knew that it was the base of operations.

The Italian men hadn't been seen anywhere but Seb knew they wouldn't be far behind. First task would be to ransack the shed and shake down the employees who worked there.

Seb checked his cell phone, seeing that Jim had texted him, asking if he would track down Ruby. Replying to Jim, Seb told him that he already had tracked her down and based on the location, she would be safe for the time being. A reply told him that he and Seb would go to the shed at the cemetery that next day to get information.

The sniper smiled to himself. Jim sure was eager to get Ruby back and the best way would be to eradicate the threat to their lives. He knew all about the situation that they were in-including Ruby's pregnancy.

Jim was wild about Ruby but Seb wasn't really surprised that Ruby had gotten up and left when he did. She had a fierce protective streak in her nature which was not to be tested. Unfortunately Jim did and he was paying the price for it.

The next day Ruby rose up from bed, blinking in the bright sunlight streaming in from the windows. Cassidy shook herself out and purred, nudging Ruby's hand with her face. She petted her cat as she completed her morning routine, then her phone buzzed.

Clicking it on, she found a text from Seb: Found the "Mama" location, am going to shake it down tonight for leads with Jim. R U doing OK?

Yeah fine, she texted back. I'm OK.

As the day progressed, Ruby took a swim in her bikini, surreptitiously looking at her figure, but nothing was evident yet. She walked out of the water onto the little sandy beach, grabbing her towel and knotting it around her waist.

"Hi there-oop, sorry!" a tall middle aged man paddling a blue canoe bumped into her silver canoe moored at the dock. Ruby turned to him and laughed as he sorted himself out at the dock. Ruby gave him a hand as he tied up and got himself out of the canoe at her invitation. He was indeed tall, as Ruby just came up to his mid shoulder.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Ruby Gray."

"Andreas but everyone calls me Drew Stevens." Drew had receding brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Pleasure, Drew. What brings you around?" they walked up to the cabin and the screened in front porch. Ruby fastened the door to the outside, opened the sliding glass door so Cassidy could come out to roam a little bit.

"Not much. Just my week long vacation before I head back to the drudgery of work." Drew leaned back in the Adirondack chair and sighed. "Then the wife comes back from her business trip."

"Don't I know it.." Ruby giggled. "my husband is closing some big business deal and I take my vacation when I can find the time."

"You said you were a doctor? Me too! I'm a gastroenterologist."

"Nice! I'm an internist but I did want to go into dermatology."

"What happened then?"

"My abusive ex boyfriend cut me off from society and I couldn't do anything. Fortunately I met my husband around then."

"Great. My wife is a nurse and we've been together for 28 years. You?"

"Five."

"Still not bad. Any kids?"

"That's a bit of a story," Ruby admitted, sitting down next to Drew as Cassidy jumped in her lap.

"I've got nothing but time."

"Well, I got pregnant the first time but the baby was born without a brain. I donated the organs to other babies."

"That was a very noble thing to do." Drew approved.

"Thanks. Well, the second time I was raped and conceived a child from it. My husband and I opted for adoption, met a suitable couple, and the child was born to them. Right now I've just found out that I am pregnant."