“Oh good.” Ruby sighed. They were right about her being a ghost— she was only an empty shell of the person she once was. They were wrong about her count though. Her real number was easily in the thousands. “My level wasn’t by choice,” she added, leaving it at that. It wasn’t their business, and it wasn’t a story she wanted to tell. “If you were at orientation, does that make you an agent?”
Kavya nodded as Ruby’s head cocked to the side. “Why would an agent work on a social media show?”
Crossing her arms, Kavya declared. “He’s your babysitter. I’m his.”
“Understandable.” She had the same locked down look in her eye that Lucas got. Definitely TCA management. Maybe even upper management. She’d have to figure her out later. Turning to Jonah, she asked. “And you?”
He blinked at her, surprised to be involved in the conversation. “Insurance purposes.”
“As in, if you die on camera Kavya gets your life insurance?”
“As in, if I die off camera, people will notice. Kind of hard to cover up my disappearance when the ladies are out there missing this face." He paused. “Why would Kavya get my life insurance?”
Ruby nodded toward Kavya’s hand. “Because you’re married?”
Kavya burst out laughing. Maybe Ruby would like her after all. “My wife would be so offended.”
So she was married, just not to Jonah. Ruby tucked that knowledge away and hoped she would never need to use it. Although she tolerated her job, she didn’t trust the TCA and kepta journal of any information she could use, should something dire happen.
She turned and nodded toward her truck. “It’s a rental. I’ll have the extraction team pick it up.” Ruby tossed the key onto the tire well, sent a quick text to Lucas, and walked toward Jonah’s car. She climbed into the back seat and wedged herself between bags of camera gear. “Mind driving me to my hotel?”
“Sure,” Kavya said from the driver’s seat.
Ruby glanced out the window at the soft light of the rising sun. “Have y’all slept yet?”
“Y’all?” Jonah asked, twisting in his seat to look at her.
“Guess you didn’t read my file that closely. I’m originally from Texas.” Ruby toyed with a pair of handcuffs she found on the floor. “I’ve got the hotel room for another night. Double beds in the next town over, if you two need to crash.”
“What about you?” Kavya asked, glancing at her through the rearview mirror.
Jonah popped open the glove box and pulled out a set of wet wipes. “Thermies don’t need sleep.”
“I’m aware,” Kavya snapped. “I meant would she also be in the room? No offense, but I don’t feel comfortable sleeping in the same room as a thermy.”
“Scared I might eat you?” Ruby lowered her sunglasses, showing off the green blood vessels around her eyes.
“Perhaps. What does it feel like?”
Ruby shrugged. “It doesn’t feel much different. I don’t eat, not like you do. I smoke herbal rolls to inhale phlogiston. I don’t sleep. I heal faster, but I still feel the pain.”
Kavya seemed to chew on her words before nodding. “I slept in the town’s motel last night. Jonah can sleep on the way. Lucas sent over our first joint case while you were cleaning up.”
“Great. What better use for a superhuman soldier than chasing down bond jumpers?” As the car pulled away from the gas station, the first light of dawn crept over the landscape.
CHAPTER FOUR
IF AN ALIENlanded on Earth and demanded Ruby explain the phrase "suburban hell," she'd open her Google Maps, type this address in, and let them take it all in.
She sat in the front seat of the truck, arms crossed, the hem of her tennis skirt brushing against her thigh as Jonah adjusted his grip on the steering wheel beside her. Kavya fiddled with a camera in the backseat, the lens glinting with each pass of sunlight. In front of them stood a cookie-cutter house, white with a gray roof, its immaculate exterior looking like something out of a real estate brochure. The white picket fence was so cliche it hurt, the shrubs along the walkway neatly pruned, the grass the perfect shade of artificial green.
Ruby’s personal favorite—and the undeniable standout—was the bright pink Cadillac parked in the driveway, its vibrant hue clashing boldly against the house's muted, drab tones.
"Well," Ruby sighed. tugging at the sleeve of her vintage Ralph Lauren sweater as she stared at the house, "If I was a criminal, this is exactly where I’d hide.”
Jonah gave her a side glance. "It's a nice house."
"Too nice," she muttered as she stepped out of the car. "Feels like I'm stepping into a creepy dollhouse."
