Page 69 of Things We Do in the Dark
That part, Drew did not know.
“And then, of course, once that blog went everywhere—and oh, there’s a word for that—”
“Viral.”
“When her blog went viral, a whole bunch of women who’d worked for Charles came forward. They all had terrible stories. One even said Charles raped her, in his office, after everyone went home for the night. And just like that, Charles goes from victim to villain.”
Ruby hides her smile behind a sip of water.
“It’s funny how quickly the narrative can change,” she says. “No longer is he the good man who was stalked by an obsessed home-wrecker. Now he’s the pedophile who molested his own daughter, the powerful man who assaulted the women who worked for him.”
“You realize that both those things can be true,” Drew says. “He can be a sexual predator,andyou can be the psychopath who murdered him when he tried to end your affair.”
Ruby pauses, then shrugs. “Whatever. There’s nothing to be done about it now. Charles is dead.”
“Because you killed him.”
She eats another chip.
“How did you convince the parole board to let you out?” Drew asks.
“I didn’t,” Ruby says. “Lexi did. She came to my parole hearing and spoke out in support of me. She told the board that while her father’s murder was not okay, she understood the rage behind it. She said as far as she was concerned, her father was a criminal himself, and were he alive today, he would most certainly be in prison. She said I deserved compassion, and that twenty-five years behind bars was long enough. She was very compelling.”
She gives Drew a wide smile. “The whole thing was very dramatic. Suzanne Baxter stood up and called her daughter a liar. Lexi then accused her mother of being complicit. And then, as Lexi was walking out, Suzannespiton her. Imagine that? Horrible mother.”
Takes one to know one.
“Is all this going into your podcast?” Ruby asks. “Because I’d be happy to say it again, if you ever want to record it.”
“Maybe some of it,” Drew says. “But let’s be honest. Enough has been said about you.”
She frowns. “Then why are you here?”
“I want to talk about your daughter, Joey.”
“Wait a minute.” Ruby puts down the potato chip bag and cocks her head. “I know who you are now. My sister told me that after Joey left Maple Sound—and stolealltheir money, by the way—that she moved back to our old neighborhood. That she was living with some Black guy and his girlfriend.”
Drew raises a hand. “Some Black guy.”
“So were you two fucking?”
Ah. There you are. The first real glimpse of the Ice Queen. It’s strangely satisfying, and Drew can’t resist a smile.
“My girlfriend? Yes.”
“What about you and Joey?”
“We were just very good friends.”
“Friends who fucked.”
“Never happened.”
“But you wanted it to.”
“Why wouldn’t I? She was beautiful.”
Ruby stiffens. “So you must have been really sad when she died.”
