Chapter 7

Stan paced back and forth in the kitchen, chewing on a bacon rasher. Ruby sat and watched him, anxiously. Waiting for him to calm down.

He stopped suddenly and stared at her "I still can't believe it" he said, finishing off his bacon. "Turner saved his ass and lied to all of us. Beth shoulda just killed his ass when she had the chance!"

"I know baby, I know baby…" said Ruby, who'd clearly heard him say this a number of times in the last hour or so. Ruby had dropped the kids off to let Stan have a few moments alone to process the news. Unfortunately, this was as far as he'd got.

Stan reached for another bacon rasher and began pacing again. Ruby rolled her eyes and grabbed a piece too. Five more minutes, she thought, I'll give him five more minutes of freak-out time.

"Unbelievable!" he said, pacing again.

"Okay", said Ruby. "Just. Stop. We need to focus, keep it together. Sit down."

Stan walked over and sat down at the kitchen table and let out a long sigh.

"So, what's the plan" he asked, finally.

"Well…" began Ruby, "we have two options. One, we build a case against Turner. Fast. Rio's convinced he's got some skeletons in his closet. Two, Rio's - favored option by the way – is to… " Ruby then did her best impression of Rio, "pop a cap in his ass".

Stan chuckled, despite everything. "The Turner I saw in that interrogation room definitely has some skeletons in his closet. Option two probably has a higher success rate. If I'm being honest."

Ruby reached out to grab his hand, he took it and there they sat: holding hands, in silent support, processing the enormity of the task ahead of them.

"So… ", began Ruby, cautiously

"So, what?" replied Stan, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"We thought… you bein' a cop and all… might be able to help dig out some of them skeletons…" Ruby cringed inwardly, hoping Stan wouldn't freak out.

Stan nodded. "I'm in".

"Just like that?" said Ruby in a skeptical voice.

"Needs must", smiled Stan, squeezing her hand. "This is our family we' talking about. All of us. You, me, the kids, Beth and Annie. We need to stick together."

Ruby visibly relaxed and smiled, eyes tearing up. "Thanks, boo"

"Now, Ruby. Be honest. Is there anything else I should know?" Stan looked her straight in the eyes.

Ruby sighed and gave him an awkward smile. "Beth and Rio appear to be… a thing again…"

"Ah fuck" swore Stan and put his head in his hands.

The day after Ruby held a barbecue, inviting her neighbors including Annie and Beth.

The three ladies stood around the barbecue, as Ruby pushed the burgers around.

"So," she said, in a low voice. "Stan is in. He'll be looking into Turner, keeping a low profile… Rio said he had a few people on the inside too, though right?"

"Yeah…" replied Beth with a sigh, chewing on a pickle. "He's got a couple of cops on the payroll… even a fed."

"So, err… when are you seeing him again?" asked Annie in a casual tone.

Beth gave her A Look. "Day after tomorrow".

"I'd still feel better if we could be there too" muttered Ruby

"It's better this way", replied Beth, "it means I can keep you two out of the picture as much as possible."

"Ha", scoffed Annie, "I see… better for who?" She shared a knowing look with Ruby.

Beth rolled her eyes "Turner is only interested in me, let's keep it that way. He'll know something is up if the four of us keep meeting". She sighed and huffed, feeling uncomfortable as she tried to stretch her back. "Do you mind if we sit down? My back is aching like crap and my feet are like watermelons".

Ruby motioned to Stan who took over barbecue duties. They sat down on some benches in the shade. Beth sighed and closed her eyes. "This pregnancy thing… officially sucks right now" she groaned softly.

Annie rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll them eyes at me Annie Marks, I know what you're thinking. But you're not so perfect. You slept with an FBI agent, remember?"

"How did you know I was rolling my eyes…?"

"You're my kid sister" replied Beth, eyes still closed, "trust me, I can tell".

Annie turned away and rolled her eyes again, taking a deep drink of her wine. "How come you haven't got anything harder than this, Rubes?"

"It's a family barbecue, Annie. Anything stronger feels… inappropriate."

"Well it just means I have to drink twice as much, then" smiled Annie, draining her glass and walking off in search of a refill.

"That girl can drink like a fish…", muttered Ruby. They sat silently for a few moments.

Suddenly Beth sat up, wide awake. "She slept with an FBI agent!" she cried. A few people nearby looked up from their conversations, puzzled.

Ruby laughed awkwardly. "The latest book in our book club is a killer" she smiled "full of deadly twists!"

Ruby glanced at Beth, who was sat blinking, thinking, looking more awake than she had all afternoon. Almost a little manic.

"Girl what is wrong with you?! You need to chill" Ruby hissed out of the corner of her mouth. She smiled at the people staring nearby "Have you tried my homemade potato salad? My mama's recipe. It's to die for". The people nodded and smiled and made their way to the buffet table.

"Can you stop talking about killing and dying, Ruby?" laughed Beth.

"Freudian slip" replied Ruby. "Now what are you talking about?"

A few moments later, Annie arrived with a large refill of wine, eating a hotdog.

Ruby and Annie looked up and smiled sweetly at her.

"What?" said Annie, mouth full.

Evening had drawn the barbecue to a close and the women were in Ruby's kitchen. Beth was sat on a chair, feet elevated, shoes off, watching the other two clean up. Annie was still seething. Drying the dishes as aggressively as she could.

"Annie…" began Beth

"No! Don't you Annie me! What the fuck is wrong with you two?!" Annie was brandishing the kitchen towel like a weapon, angrily thrusting it first in Beth's – then Ruby's direction.

"It makes sense" pleaded Beth. "He was willing to spend his life with you… it's Turner's fault he got sent to backend of nowhere… What's the harm in reaching out to him? All that could happen is he…"

"Rejects the crap outta me? Tells me how he's moved on and how is life is so fuckin' amazing?" interrupted Annie. "Or… he smells something's up and he gets in touch with Turner!? Didn't think of that did ya, Boss Bitch?" Annie fell silent and with a shuddering sigh went back to drying the dishes.

Ruby and Beth looked at each other.

"But what if he hasn't moved on, Annie? Don't you miss him? If he can find some dirt on Turner, he might have more say on where he works? He could relocate?" suggested Beth.

"He has a kid who lives nearby…" said Annie in a small voice. "And you know, I'm bad news… I don't wanna mess things up for him. Like I mess up everything."

Ruby rolled her eyes "Enough with the pity party, Annie".

Annie looked at her, eyes welling up.

Ruby walked over and took the towel from her and grasped her hands. "Have you made some bad decisions? Yes. But when it counts, you are there, you woman up and you are there."

"That FBI dude was undercover. Girl you're so awesome he fell in love with your ass. You're an amazing parent, and you always stick up for your family."

"And look at it this way… we all mess up. I mean, look at your sister… having gang-friend's baby for the love of god". Ruby crossed herself as Beth yelped a protesting "hey!".

Annie started laughing, wiping away the mix of sad and happy tears. "Thanks, Ruby" and gave her a big hug.

"Hey what about me? Where's my hug?" pouted Beth. The two women laughed and moved over to Beth for a group-hug.

Stan came in and saw them women hugging and slowly backed out again. He knew when to steer clear.

"So," said Beth, once they'd hugged it out, "whaddya say?"

Annie gave her a teary smile and then laughed "my god you're relentless! Okaaaay. I'll do it. I'll get in touch with Noah".