Jessie Humphries - Killing Ruby Rose

It was a pleading, and the caption read “In the Matter of the Custody of the Minor Child Hailey Bracken.” It was a Notice of Hearing on a Petition to Terminate Parental Rights. I dropped to my knees, desperate for more information. I found pieces of the Petition with my mom’s signature, then another signature on a paper titled “Affidavit of Guardian Ad Litem.” She hadn’t had physical custody of the child but had closely monitored the girl’s care, nutrition, and well-being. That much I got.

Through the scattered and blood-soaked puzzle pieces, a story started to unfold. Fifteen years ago, my mom was appointed temporary Guardian Ad Litem of a baby. The baby’s mom was on drugs, the baby had been neglected, and my mom terminated the bio mom’s rights. No mention of any dad. All I could find was “Abandonment by biological father, name unknown.”

During my mom’s Family Court days, she must have been appointed Guardian Ad Litem for dozens of children. Did this have something to do with Silver? Was he the one who’d abandoned his child? Was my original theory correct, and he was paying my mom back by slowly taking away everything she had? Did he intend to destroy her by destroying me, too?

Suddenly, her phone rang, the high-pitched ringtone frazzling what was left of my nerves. I followed the sound back to the bed and picked up her cell. Unknown number.

“Hello?” My voice cracked.

“Hello, Ruby,” a male voice said. It sent shivers down my spine.

“What do you want?” I demanded.

“Do you remember the last day you saw your father?” he said in a deep Batman-type whisper.

Of course I remembered. I remembered it every day. “Why? What are you planning to do to my mother?”

“Do you remember?” he repeated.

“Yes! OK, I remember.” I tried to remain calm. “Listen, whatever she did to you and your family, she’s sorry.” It wasn’t working. I was losing control. “ We’re sorry—”

“Then remember last night, because unless you get here fast enough to save your mother, it will be her last night.”

I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

“Just so you know, Mr. Violet is also waiting for you.”

My heart sank. He must’ve taken Violet right after I left. Or maybe Silver had been there when I visited earlier.

“We are both waiting for you,” he said carefully. “I know I don’t need to tell you this, but if you call the police, you might as well call the morgue, because she will already be dead. We’re going to finish this just as it began—on Grissom Island. The place your father tried to bury the truth. More detailed instructions will be sent to your phone. Good-bye, Ruby.”

I held my mom’s phone long after the line went dead.

I had no idea what kind of delusional truth Silver was referring to, but a sharp reality lodged itself inside of me: This man had killed my father. I was sure of it now. My dad was murdered. Assassinated. By the same man who’d officially destroyed my life.

I’d believed knowing the truth would finally set me free. Instead, it crushed me. And hardened me. I vowed to make Silver pay.

If there was one way I could honor my father, it was to remember what he’d taught me. I couldn’t react emotionally. I had to be logical and strategic.

Silver had said he’d know if I called the police, so either he had a scanner or a rat on the inside who would tip him off. In any case, he couldn’t expect me to go in there alone. I longed for Liam. He was smart. He saw things I didn’t. I needed him, and my own mom had made sure I couldn’t have him.

I checked the call history on Mom’s phone. One name stood out among all the others: Mark Mathews—the man who let my dad die and then took his place as SWAT Sergeant. Why was my mom talking to my dad’s old best friend at 11:25 p.m.? And again at 11:52? Plus several missed calls through the night?

Was she sleeping with him, just like she had with Martinez? Or could it be they were working together on catching the man behind all this madness? Or both? My mom was a lot of things, but she wasn’t stupid. She’d probably known from the night I killed LeMarq that there was someone manipulating me. That the same man who killed her husband was following me, luring me, torturing me. And she’d never said a word.

She’d betrayed me so deeply for so long. Lied to me, hidden things from me, imprisoned Liam—when none of it was even my fault. It was hers. This madman was tormenting me for her crimes. Her secrets. She’d destroyed his family, and now he was destroying hers, and mine. And also destroying Liam’s to spite me.

Yet, she was my mother, and I wouldn’t do to her what she had done to me. I wouldn’t abandon her—I had to save her. I stared at the phone in my hand, weighing my options.

Go in alone, like he said.

Call 911 for help.

Trust Mathews—my dad’s best friend, my mom’s ally, the man who used to be like a second father to me but still refused to speak to me. Even after he came to the hospital after the fire.

Maybe all three. I would do whatever it took to bring Silver to justice.

I touched the screen over Mathews’s name and waited for the ring.

“Jane, why haven’t you been answering? I’ve been calling—”

“It’s Ruby.” I stopped him. “She’s gone. He’s taken her.”

He paused, like he needed some extra time to process my voice.

“ Ruby ? What happened? Where are you?”

“I’m at home—in her room,” I said. “There’s blood, and papers. A man called and said to come to where my father tried to bury the truth. Grissom Island. And if I called the police, she’d be dead.”

I switched hands holding the phone, thinking my hand was sweaty from nerves. But when I looked down at my pants, I realized sweat wasn’t making my hand slippery—it was blood. Her blood.

“Listen, Ruby,” he said calmly, just like my dad used to even when he was stressed. “Don’t move. I’ll send a team to your house to protect you. I’ll take care of this.”

“No, that’s not how it’s going to happen,” I said with surprising authority. “I’m going in. Alone. That’s what he wants. He’s too smart. Too prepared. Anything else and she dies. Wait for my call. Then and only then you can move in.”

“Honey, please don’t—”

“Don’t call me honey!” I snarled into the phone. “I’ve been through too much to be treated like a child. And you know me better than that.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, backtracking. “I just need you to understand who you’re dealing with.”

What? Did he know about Silver, too? Did everyone but me know my mom’s secrets?

“Oh I understand who I’m dealing with all right,” I snapped. “I think you and the whole police department are the ones who don’t understand.” I felt a wave of long-building anger rolling in. “It’s been nearly a year since my father was murdered, and you and your SWAT brothers have conveniently forgotten about him and his case. So much for honor, courage, and commitment.” I felt for the Challenge Coin in my pocket. “You let him die, and now you’ve let his memory die by ignoring the justice he deserves. I thought you loved him. I thought you loved me! How could you keep denying me the information I deserve and …sleep with my mom?”

Wow, where did that come from?

“Wait right there, Ruby.” Mathews’s tone shut me down. “First of all, I am not sleeping with your mother. That was Detective Martinez’s mistake, not mine. Second, I did love your father. He was the most courageous man I ever knew. He taught me honor and commitment. And I love you, too. It was your mother who forbade me—forbade us all—to speak to you. She told us to stay away. That in your emotional state you couldn’t bear it. I respected her wishes to keep you protected from the darkness surrounding their very public lives and your father’s very public death. I see now that it was a mistake, and I’m sorry. As soon as I get the chance, I’ll give you the whole truth. But not now. So please, just let me take care of this. Do you hear me?”