Chapter 8

Ruby was promptly brought to the hotel's reception room on the first floor. Liam still had his mask on, so she did not know who he was. But she recognized Mason, the police captain. Feeling wrongly accused, she said, "I have no idea who she is, I swear. She was wearing a mask, and I didn't get a good look at her face." "Why did you help her if you didn't know her? Think before you answer. You should know the gravity of the situation if I'm working this case personally," Mason drawled, his words laced with threat and authority. "B-Because she threatened me. She, uh, held me at gunpoint," Ruby said vaguely and evasively, wincing. Mason pointed out flatly, "If she had held you at gunpoint, your instinct right as you reached the first floor would have been to cry for help, not pretend to be wounded and stop the hotel staff from entering the elevator." He sneered, "I suggest you tell me the truth before I suspect you're acting as the suspect's accomplice. She launched a grenade while escaping the hotel just now, and seven people got hurt. If she gets away, you're…" Ruby blanched and trembled with fear. "I'm not her accomplice, I swear! I really don't know her!" "Then tell me why you helped her. This is your last chance," Mason warned. At times like these, he couldn't care less that he was acting like a brute. "S-She blackmailed me with my secret. I had no choice but to help her." "Your secret? What is it? How did she know about it?" Mason frowned, surprised by the answer. Liam's gaze flickered. "I-I had an abortion," Ruby confessed, not that she would dare to lie at this point. Mason's expression shifted as he glanced at Liam, who lifted his brow. "I-I'm telling the truth! I've already told you about the abortion. I wouldn't lie about anything else," Ruby insisted anxiously when neither man said anything. "Oh, I remember there was a man who went into the elevator with her! She'd blackmailed him too!" Mason's eyes widened. Hunter had been blackmailed, too? "How do you know?" he demanded, his gaze burning as he looked at Ruby. Ruby explained, "I saw her approaching the man while we were on the third floor, and he hadn't wanted to entertain her. I was closest to them at the time. Although the music was loud, I overheard her talking about the Quinns. "I didn't catch anything else after that, but the man's whole demeanor shifted. I saw him grab the woman's wrist and demanded her identity. He sounded terrifyingly angry." For a moment, Liam and Mason fell silent. Ruby let out a quiet breath. Fear made her talk faster. "The woman didn't seem scared at all. She didn't say a word to the man, but I saw him compromise and agree to help her. After that…" She glanced at Liam, who was still wearing his mask. "I'm sure this man knows what happened next. I was startled when the woman ran over to me, covered in blood. She dragged me into the elevator and blackmailed me with my deepest, darkest secret. I didn't have a choice." "What could she possibly use to blackmail Hunter? Was it a secret from the Quinn family?" Mason sounded grave as he said, "It couldn't have been something ordinary, and it must be kept from the public. "But then, how would that woman know about it? Why would she be familiar with the Quinns' affairs?" He cast a questioning look at Ruby. "And how did she know about your abortion?" The Quinn family's secrets, whatever they might be, and Ruby's abortion were extremely private matters. Mason doubted the general public would have known about these. As such, he concluded, "She must know you and Hunter personally, from the look of things." Ruby nodded vehemently. "Yes, she knows me. I was using a mask at the time, but she called me by my first name. I was so shocked, and I didn't think much of it." In that case, the woman didn't just know Ruby; she was probably on familiar terms with her, too. If Ruby was to be believed, the suspect must have recognized Hunter at the costume party when she blackmailed him, too. Liam considered the facts and asked straightforwardly, "Do you know anyone who has a special relationship with Hunter or even the rest of the Quinn family?" "Ella Grant. She's Oscar Quinn's fiancée. Their families agreed to the engagement when she was 11 or 12," Ruby answered frankly. Only then did Mason recall having heard about Ella. One of his cousins had brought up the subject a few days ago. His cousin had a crush on Oscar and was jealous of Ella for snagging him, so she said some unkind things about the young lady. "Ella Grant?" Liam repeated the name and gave Ruby an assessing look. "You know her?" If Hunter and Ruby knew Ella, then the young lady would be highly suspect. "Of course! She's the eldest daughter of the Grant family, and she's…" Ruby sighed and continued reluctantly, "She's gorgeous." Ella wasn't just gorgeous; men would gladly go to war for her. "Gorgeous, huh?" Mason appeared to have gotten the wrong point. He was excited now that he knew the woman Liam was pursuing was a total beauty. Liam shot him a withering look, but Mason grinned mischievously. "Did you hear that, Liam? She's gorgeous." Incensed by Mason's reaction, Ruby pointed out seethingly, "But Ella's a total bimbo! I was her classmate in high school, and I've never met anyone more dimwitted. She flunked all her school tests and had never scored more than 30 on any of them. "On bad days, her scores were single digits! She barely passed the SAT with a score of 430, which was the lowest score in the history of our high school. "She's an airhead, and rumor has it that the Grants won't be leaving any of their assets to her. Oscar's been wanting to call off the engagement, too." So what if Ella was gorgeous? Her beauty certainly couldn't make up for her lack of brains. "Well, if you put it that way, Ella doesn't seem like she could pull off something like this," Mason inferred slowly, a little stunned as his excitement waned. "Not necessarily," Liam suddenly said as his gaze darkened with thought. He knew many influential families who hid their heirs' capabilities. They would even go out of their way so that the heirs to their prestigious legacies would come off as clueless or below average. Most of the time, the families did so to protect their heirs or to accomplish some hidden goal. Perhaps Ella was one of those heirs. Ruby had mentioned Oscar's ongoing intention to call off the engagement. Perhaps that was Ella's or even the Grants' plan all along. "No way, Liam. It was a miracle that the young lady scored a 430 on her SAT alone. How could someone like her escape you?" Mason was skeptical. "Have your men bring Hunter to the police station," Liam ordered, changing the subject and not bothering to argue with Mason.