Ruby turned on the lights, and taking off her coat, she tossed it on a chair before kicking off her shoes. More than a little OCD about her apartment's tidiness, Ruby bent to pick up the low-heeled pumps and noticed something red on her palm. “What the hell?” Ruby went into her bathroom, and under the brightness of the fluorescent lighting, she scrutinized the splotch and then paled. “That isn’t paint.”

Ruby quickly washed her hands and then examined both for cuts or scrapes. Finding nothing, she retraced her steps in her mind. She’d been wearing her gloves until she reached the front door, so what had she touched after she came inside the brownstone? Ruby straightened, and in stocking feet, she left her apartment and made her way down the stairs.

This time, Ruby didn’t use the handrail as she traveled from floor to floor. Other than the doorknobs, it had been the only other thing she’d touched. Ruby saw a smear of blood on the oak rail one flight down, and as she kept descending, more came into view. With every other step she took, there was a smudge of blood on the rail or drops on the treads, and Ruby didn’t stop her investigation until she reached the entryway. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it when she came into the building, for the amount on the rail near the first step was in the shape of a handprint. Ruby paled. Someone in the building was hurt. “Shit.”

Adrenaline trumped Ruby’s exhaustion. She climbed the steps, mindless of her long day and her even longer evening. The trail of blood led her back to the third floor, and it was a floor with only one resident.

Ruby crept over to Bennett Archer’s apartment, her eyes drawn to the blood coating the doorknob. She saw more on the floor and even more on the baseboard. “Jesus.”

It was late, and the building was quiet, so for a few moments, Ruby stood like a statue listening intently for any sounds coming from the apartment while she debated on what to do. Bennett Archer had made her lack of feelings toward Ruby crystal clear, yet if the woman was bleeding this much…did that even matter?

Ruby raised her hand to rap on the door, only to stop an inch before her knuckles met the wood. There was a gap around the edge, so while someone had attempted to close it, the latch had never fully met the keeper. Ruby’s mouth went dry because she couldn’t believe what she was about to do. With one finger, she pushed the door open and stepped into Bennett Archer’s apartment.