Free Through Fire (Portland, ME #3) by Freya Barker Page B

questions through my mind. And to top it all, sitting heavy in my chest, is jealousy: irrational, unexpected jealousy.
    I take a few deep breaths to calm down when Viv slides a coffee on the table in front of me, after checking on the pub. Matt’s closing shop, brushing off the last remaining patrons.
    “Thanks,” I automatically reply, and her hand gives my shoulder a quick squeeze.
    “Was that necessary?” I ask a guilty-looking Mark, when I finally trust myself to speak. His eyes meet mine over the table and I can see regret in his eyes.
    “No,” he admits quietly. “It wasn’t.”
    “Look,” Ike pipes up. “Why don’t you tell us what that was all about?”
    “It’s this damn case,” Mark says, his hands running restlessly through his hair. “This young girl, a witness. She was found dead this afternoon. She was sexually assaulted just days before. She wouldn’t talk, wouldn’t testify, and within hours, the FBI walked in and took custody of her.”
    “You told me that,” I remind him. “It doesn’t explain why you went off on Ruby.”
    “Seven months ago, Carlos Delgado was shot execution style in a warehouse, just outside Boston. Delgado was a big man in the Boston sex trade. Owner of three clubs, and by all accounts, controlled most of the street action in Boston. A witness to his murder was captured on video and later picked up. She was questioned by local police and released after seventy-two hours, when they had nothing to hold her on. She disappeared from sight and her picture has been circulating police departments up and down the coast for months. It’s a picture of Ruby”
    A sharp intake of breath from Viv draws my attention. Her face is ashen and her hands are covering her mouth.
    “What?” Ike wants to know, tilting his wife’s face with his hands.
    “She told us,” she mumbles behind her hands. “She said she’d witnessed a violent incident and ran.”
    “What else did she say?” Mark jumps on it, but Viv shakes her head.
    “Try asking her,” she bites off, challenging him.
    Mark is the first one to break their stare down and looks up at me with a mix of regret and frustration on his face.
    “What does Ruby have to do with that sexual assault victim?” I ask him, my eyes never leaving his.
    “Nothing. Everything. I don’t know, but I know the FBI had the girl listed as a potential informant in the Delgado case.”
    “And she’s dead,” I point out unnecessarily, reeling with the information and trying to sort out what it all means.
    “Dead?” Ruby’s soft voice sounds from the doorway, where she stands with Dino’s large frame behind her. His hands resting on her shoulders.
    Mark pushes up from his chair, just as I get up from mine. But by the time I move around the table, Mark has beaten me to her. With eyes as big as saucers, she looks from one to the other. Ignoring my brother, I step around him, grab Ruby’s hand and gently pull her away from Dino. I don’t miss the way the corner of his mouth twitches. Asshole. I also don’t miss the way she takes a wide berth around Mark, her body instinctively pressing against mine. Not going to complain about that.
    “Come sit,” I coax her to the chair next to the one I was sitting in and leave my arm to rest on the back of it.
    Mark sits down again across from us. “I’m sorry I went off on you earlier.”
    “Who’s dead?” Ruby’s voice is soft, but filled with determination, as she chooses to ignore Mark’s apology.
    “A young girl. Victim of sexual assault.” This time he is much more careful with his words, and his tone, as he briefly explains. Still Ruby winces at the words, but before she can react, Mark continues. “Why did you run?”
    Her derisive snort sounds harsh in the kitchen as everyone quietly listens. “No offense, but the ones I’ve come in contact with over the years have hardly been upstanding citizens. There was no help to be found there,” she states matter-of-factly, before