“Jon Evans?”
“Yes.”
“This is Sergeant Hawkins at the police station. We found your missing grub.”
“I’ll be right there,” Jon said, hanging up the phone.
He raced to the bus stop, but when he didn’t see any buses coming, he began running to the station. It wasn’t until he was almost there that he realized he could be running into a trap. Sarah’s father wasn’t the only one who knew Miranda was Jon’s sister. Ruby knew, also. And if she’d told the police, they could be waiting for him.
I’m a claver, Jon thought, rehearsing his arguments for the police. She’s a grub. There’s no proof Miranda and I are related. Ruby was lying. All grubs lie. Or maybe, to be charitable, she misunderstood something Lisa had said. Or maybe she was making it all up because she hated Lisa, hated Jon.
The important thing was what had she done to Gabe. That was what the police should be concentrating on. Where was Gabe?
When Jon walked into the police station, he saw the police had been trying to find that out without his prodding. He winced at the fresh bruises on Ruby’s face.
“What’s she told you?” Jon asked. “I’m Jon Evans. It’s my half brother who’s missing.”
“I’m Sergeant Hawkins,” the police officer said. “I called you a few minutes ago, Mr. Evans. You sure this is your grub?”
Jon nodded. “Her name’s Ruby,” he said. “She used to look prettier.”
The sergeant laughed. “This is Officer Summers,” he said. “He’s been having a little talk with the grub about everything she knows.”
“Mr. Jon,” Ruby said, “I don’t know where Gaby is. I swear I don’t. I woke up with a terrible headache, and the gun went off and Gaby was gone. Honest. I looked all over for him and I couldn’t find him. I went outside to look, and I kept looking and looking, and I never could find him. You believe me, don’t you, Mr. Jon? You know how much I love that little boy.”
Jon could see the terror in her eyes. He only hoped no one could see the fear in his.
“Why don’t I take her home?” he said. “I might do better getting the truth out of her there.”
“Sorry, Mr. Evans,” Sergeant Hawkins said. “No can do. This little grub’s a runaway.”
“I understand that,” Jon said, the way a friend of Tyler Hughes’s would. “She ran away from my home, and that’s where I’ll take her back to.”
The sergeant shook his head. “Grubs don’t contract to people,” he said. “They contract to the enclave. She didn’t run away from you. She ran away from the enclave. Grubs that do that get punished. That’s the law.”
“What’ll become of her?” Jon asked, trying not to look at Ruby, at the bruises and the tears and the terror.
“Jail, until we got a truckful to send to the mines,” Sergeant Hawkins replied. “Once she gets there, well, a pretty girl like this one will keep busy enough.” He and the officer laughed.
“How long will that be?” Jon asked. “Before there’s a truckful?”
Officer Summers shrugged. “I’d say we’re about halfway there,” he said. “Enough potka, enough Sundays off, a couple of weeks maybe.”
“Please, Mr. Jon,” Ruby said. “I’m begging you. Save me.”
Officer Summers slapped her. “Keep your mouth shut, grub,” he said. “This is none of your concern.”
Jon didn’t want Ruby to be sent to the mines. None of what had happened was her fault. But even more than that, he didn’t want Ruby stuck in a jail cell telling whoever would listen that Miranda was Mr. Jon’s sister, Mrs. Evans’s stepdaughter. By now Sarah was probably safe in Virginia and Alex was on his way to the town Matt had told them about. They were all right. But Jon wouldn’t be.
“What if I marry her?” Jon asked, almost as startled by the words as the policemen seemed to be.
“Marry her?” Sergeant Hawkins said. “Marry this grub?”
“Yes,” Jon said. “Right now.”
“I never heard of that,” Officer Summers said. “A claver marrying a grub. Can he do that?”
“I don’t see why not,” Sergeant Hawkins replied. “No law against it that I know of.”
“Fine,” Jon said. “Good. Give her to me, and we’ll get married. Then I’ll take her home and find out what she did to Gabe.”
“Wait a second,” Ruby said. “Maybe I don’t want to marry you.”
“So what?” Jon said. “We’re getting married. Let her go, Sergeant Hawkins. The church is only a couple of blocks away. Reverend Minter can perform the ceremony.”
“Not so fast,” Sergeant Hawkins said. “Yeah, you can marry the grub. No law against that. But you can’t take her home and act like nothing’s changed. You marry a grub, you can’t be a claver. It’s that simple.”
Jon wasn’t going to be a claver much longer if Ruby started talking. “Fine,” he said. “We’ll go the church, get married, go home, get my things, and leave Sexton.”
“You’d do that for her?” Officer Summers asked. “Give up being a claver for some little grub?”
“It’d be worth it to me to find out where my brother is,” Jon said. “Besides, she looks better in bed. Can we go now?”
“You can’t go back to the house,” Sergeant Hawkins said. “That’s the rule. You marry a grub, you can’t go back. Understand? I’ll go to the church with you, and we’ll find the reverend and he’ll marry you. Then you give me your claver ID badge and get the hell out of here.”
Jon knew the sergeant was making up the rules as he went along, but he also knew he had to get Ruby as far away from Sexton as possible. He needed to protect them both.
“Look, the kid is probably dead,” Sergeant Hawkins said. “The grub killed him, or maybe his mama did. You still want to get married? You can change your mind, and we’ll put the grub in jail, where she belongs. There are plenty of other grubber girls, and they look pretty much the same in bed.”
“I’ll marry her,” Jon said.
“Don’t say you weren’t warned,” the sergeant said. He grabbed Ruby’s arm and pulled her off the chair. “It’s your wedding day, grub girl,” he said. “Congratulations.”
“Here are the cuffs,” Officer Summers said, tossing a pair to the sergeant. “Don’t want the bride making a break for it.”
Jon watched as the sergeant cuffed Ruby’s wrists. He told himself it didn’t matter, none of this mattered. He loved Sarah, but she was in Virginia, lost to him forever.
If he wanted to stay alive and out of the mines, this was the only thing to do. The marriage was meaningless. Somehow he’d shake Ruby off and find Miranda and Alex.
The sergeant half dragged Ruby the few blocks to the church. “She sure isn’t crazy about marrying you,” he said.
“Yeah,” Jon said. “I’m the only one who’s crazy.”
The sergeant laughed. He laughed pretty much all the way to the church.
Lisa’s funeral had been there the day before, Jon thought. Reverend Minter had said the eulogy. Now he was being approached by the sergeant and asked to perform a quick but legal marriage ceremony.
“You sure about this, Jon?” Reverend Minter asked. “I don’t want you rushing into something if you’re not one hundred percent certain.”
“I’m certain,” Jon said. “Look, Reverend, I’ve known Ruby for a while. I have very strong feelings about her.”
The sergeant laughed even harder.
Jon ignored him and Ruby, who looked like she wanted to kill all of them. “Just perform the service,” Jon said. “Then we’ll leave Sexton and get out of your hair.”
“Keep it short,” Sergeant Hawkins said. “This one is real impatient.” He held up Ruby’s cuffed arms.
“Do you have a ring?” Reverend Minter asked.