Too bad she was about to lose them anyway.

She’d walked for a good half hour to a billiards hall in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn she hadn’t frequented in over a year. The surrounding neighborhood had taken a turn for the better, college kids attending school in the city taking advantage of the cheaper rent in Brooklyn as opposed to

Manhattan. New stores and coffee shops had popped up shortly thereafter to take advantage of the new blood. Her destination, however, had remained true to itself, standing out among the new developments like a sore thumb at the end of a row of empty warehouses.

A broken-down eyesore, Hildebrand’s Billiards hopefully still drew the same rough crowd it always had, in addition to the newer, younger crowd invading the neighborhood. In fact, Ruby was counting on it.

If she could do something to keep Troy from tangling with Lenny Driscol, she needed to do it. This was her dark, twisted world. She had the kind of access he would never have. And unlike every other man in her life, he hadn’t tried to use her to his advantage. He truly wanted to keep her removed. Safe from harm.

She knew what Lenny Driscol was capable of. Her father, who’d never been scared of another soul or a dangerous situation in his life, had lived with a healthy fear of Lenny. He’d warned her on several occasions to keep her mouth shut about anything she saw or heard pertaining to the man. Had even hinted at the possibility that Lenny might have friends on the police force or in political office who kept him out of trouble.

She couldn’t sit by and watch the same fate befall Troy as it had so many before him. Her own father, even. Not when she could so something about it.

She ducked into the yoga studio she’d looked up online this afternoon after returning from Troy’s apartment. A man in a white robe standing behind the counter looked up expectantly with a welcoming smile on his face. “Welcome. Are you here for the seven o’clock class?”

Ruby ignored his question. “You have a back door in this place?” He looked confused, but obviously interpreting the urgency behind her expression, pointed toward a dimly lit studio toward the back.

“Great. Thanks.” She started walking in the direction he indicated but came up short, turned, and picked up a brochure off the counter. Maybe she’d come back some time and see what all the fuss over yoga was about.

A moment later, she slipped out the back door into the alley running behind the studio. Knowing she only had about an hour before her personal surveillance team realized she wasn’t actually taking a yoga class, she hastened toward the back entrance of Hildebrand’s.

The crack of pool balls and bass-heavy classic rock greeted her as she pushed inside, immediately noting her favorite table stood empty in the corner. She skirted around a group of college students in trucker hats drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon and made her way to the bar, grateful when she recognized the stocky man behind it. Pulling a pint with one hand, Gerard smiled wide in greeting.

“Well, shit. If it ain’t Ruby Elliott. Where you been at, girl?”

“Around,” she said with a mysterious wink. Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned the bar for the man she’d come to find, but didn’t see him. “Mind if I knock a few balls around?”

“Go on ahead. Your table awaits.” Gerard leaned forward on the bar and dropped his voice. “Just do yourself a favor and don’t take any money off my new hipster clientele. They’ll write a Yelp review faster than you can blink, and that ain’t good for nobody.”

“No worries, Gerard. Their money is safe tonight.

I’m only here to practice.”

He straightened once more, suspicion tightening his mouth, but he didn’t comment. Anyone who’d known Ruby a year ago wouldn’t believe she would waste her time in a place like this unless there was a pile of money waiting at the end of the night. Before he changed his mind and questioned her further, she grabbed a tray of pool balls off the counter and headed toward her table.

Forty-five minutes passed without any sign of her man. Ruby tried to appear disinterested in the comings and goings of customers into Hildebrand’s but felt herself beginning to get nervous. She needed to walk out the front of the yoga studio within fifteen minutes or the unmarked car would report back to Troy that she’d ditched them, which would lead to a series of questions she didn’t want to answer.

Just as she was about to give up hope, she saw Tim Keith walk in through the front entrance and park himself at the farthest end of the bar. Gerard automatically began building a pint of Guinness for Tim, a Hildebrand’s regular and neighborhood lifer. If information existed about Lenny Driscol’s whereabouts or what he’d done to put the cops on his trail, Tim Keith would know the details. Now she had to find a way to get the lowdown without trying too hard.

Ruby re-racked her balls, shoved her stick back inside the rolled-up yoga mat, and headed toward the bar. Sliding into the seat beside Tim, she sent a smile in Gerard’s direction. “Ginger ale, please?”

“You got it, honey.” Ruby turned to find Tim watching her closely, so she smiled back casually. “Hey, Tim. Long time no see.”

Tapping an unlit cigarette against the bar, he nodded. “Haven’t seen you in this neighborhood in a while. What brings you by?”

“Just missed it, I guess.”

“Huh.”

Gerard set her drink down in front of her, and she took a sip to wet her suddenly dry throat. Tim had never been anything but friendly toward her, but he now appeared mildly suspicious. She should have gotten up, cut her losses, and walked out right then, but she stayed rooted to her seat. If she wanted to help Troy, she needed information. And besides Bowen, who she definitely couldn’t go to in this case, she had no other way of retrieving it. Ruby leaned back in her chair, trying to appear relaxed, and waited for him to speak.

“Haven’t seen your daddy around in a while, either. Is he still working with Lenny, or is he following your lead and turning over a new leaf?”

She ignored Tim’s question about her father, knowing he’d only asked it to needle her. “Actually, this new leaf I turned over isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’m thinking about asking Lenny for my old job back. I can’t get the same kind of action working solo.”

Her cell phone went off in her pocket, and she ignored it, knowing it had to be Troy. Her time had run out.

“I can’t seem to find him. Any idea where he’s doing business now?”

Tim’s sharp eyes met hers, delved deep for any kind of deception. Her friendly, open expression didn’t waver. He seemed to make a decision then, his body relaxing in the stool. Finally, he pulled out a pen from his coat pocket and scribbled an address on a napkin before sliding it across the bar in her direction. When she reached for it, he held on to the edge. “This place is just a hunch. He dropped out of sight almost a week ago, and no one really knows where he went.” He lowered his voice. “He put a beating on a badge last week for some unpaid debt. Put the freaking guy in a coma. Now he’s got another cop sniffing around, so he’s more than a little paranoid.” Tim shook his head.

“I hear he’s already marked this new cop as next on his list. He’s starting to lose his touch for subtlety.”

When Ruby slipped back into the alley moments later, her mind ringing with Tim’s words, she forgot all about walking back through the yoga studio so her tail could follow her home.