GUE made a plan to save a life today, and still get some traction on stopping Ruby Pegg. We wanted to put her on the police radar. We executed it about two hours ago.
Elliot and I got a pair of long range walkie talkies, and drove down to Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania last night. We got up early, and I drove down Courtyard Lane at nine this morning, just to make sure I could find 108.
Ruby’s intended victim, Stacey Collins lived at 108 Courtyard Lane, and unless we played our cards right, she would be killed at sometime between one and two in the afternoon. Her body wouldn’t be found until almost three, and by that time they wouldn’t be able to place an exact time of death.
I knew that Elliot must know whether or not we would succeed, because that’s how he knew about the incident at all. If we don’t succeed in saving her, this may be the moment we succeed in helping them catch her. If we do succeed in saving her, we may spook her off entirely.
As I spent my morning prepping by myself—Elliot had his own prep to do— I wondered if he was lying about them finding the body. If I knew the outcome and needed his and Judy’s help, I don’t know that I would reveal the outcome. I would worry about too many people knowing the possible outcome screwing everything up.
Starting at 12:30, I was going to stake out the house from the roof of the Super 8 on the otherside of the river. I would be able to see over the neighbor’s house and monitor 106, 108, and 110. When she walked up, or pulled up. I’d signal Elliot who would immediately dial 911.
We had brought a bicycle, so that after Elliot made the tip call from a payphone downtown, he would be able to bike away quickly.
At one twenty five, I saw a car pulling over on the side of the road a few houses down. I had a camera with a really good zoom lens, and as she was still sitting in the car, I was able to see her face. It had been a while since her yearbook picture that Elliot had shown us,
“Fox in the hen house. Over,” I said pressing the button.
“Got it. Over.”
We hadn’t wanted to say anything else over the walkie talkie in case some random kid or something was on this frequency. I didn’t walkie again, because I wanted to let him deal with 911.
Ruby got out of her car, and the knife glinted in the light. It actually hurt my eye for a moment. She then slid it under the flap of her jacket. She looked around one last time before she started walking at a casual pace down the street to where Stacey Collins lived. She rang the doorbell, and I took my eye away from the viewfinder. I don’t want to see anyone get killed. Especially in this situation.
The sound of the sirens started to wail and I could see the lights flickering two blocks over. I stuck my eye to the viewfinder and saw that she was no longer in the frame. A woman, presumably Stacey Collins, was standing in the doorway looking confused. I turned the lens trying hard to spot Ruby, and saw her walking fast, and then a second later running to her car.
The police rounded the corner as she was pulling away.
The first car followed hers, but I lost sight of them quickly. A second car came a moment later, and pulled over in front of Stacey’s house, and the officer met her on the walkway.
“Hen house is safe. Over,” I said, as I put my camera back into a duffle bag, and walked back in through the door I had propped open for myself.
Elliot and I are rendezvousing in another hour. Then we’ll drive home. I don’t know if the police caught up to Ruby, or if they will make the connection. I suppose that Elliot does.
Michael Christopher Cole 
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