Lupin the Third: The Del Monte Ruby

Chapter 6

As Lupin and his friends celebrated their victory, Ruby had resumed the position she'd first taken after Goemon had initially deposited her into the car. She lay curled up in the fetal position in the backseat, hat clamped over her head, trembling and whimpering.

After giving Zenigata a well-deserved mocking, Lupin lowered himself back through the sunroof. "Everyone intact?" he asked.

Jigen, who was plucking cigarette butts out of the ashtray, hoping to find one that might still have something left to it, jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Almost everyone."

Lupin turned in his seat to look at Ruby. "Hey, Ruby. It's okay. We made it! There's a cargo car next to this one. We might be able to hop inside and hide out in there."

Ruby had quite the exciting night. But no one could expect a sheltered young girl like Ruby Del Monte to come away from all that had happened without a little traumatization. For a moment, she appeared to be deep in shock. But she heard Lupin speaking to her, though his voice sounded further away than it was.

"C'mon... you're okay, aren't you?"

"N-N-No," she stammered, still curled up and hugging the hat to her head as though it were a security blanket. "I-I mean... I'm feeling kinda queasy. T-That's all..." But it was clear from the tremor in her voice that she was barely holding back tears.

"See what you've done?" said Jigen. "This girl is scarred for life because of you."

"What I've done? You two were the ones who legit kidnapped her!"

Jigen opened the passenger door and stepped out. "Really, it was Goemon's doing. I was just driving the car."

"I believed she was Lupin!"

Jigen grinned at the samurai in the car. "Yeah! A soft curvy Lupin!" he said, talking loudly over the sounds of the train. "You couldn't tell she was lighter than him?"

Ruby was vaguely aware of the arguing surrounding her presence, but she couldn't bring herself to interject. She was still trying to regain some semblance of her former composure – for whatever that was worth.

With a grimace and a flush, Goemon followed Jigen out of the car. With a sigh, Lupin climbed into the back seat with Ruby. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Look," he said, "None of us expected things to turn out this way. And I'm sorry, Ruby. I suppose, if you want me to try and take you back..."

Ruby shot up with a panicked look. Her hands clamped down on his shoulders as she cried out, "NO!" Flushing, she lowered her gaze and shook her head. "No," she said softly. "You can't. There's no telling what he'll do to me."

It was all too obvious the identity of the 'he' to whom she was referring. And after what Lupin had seen tonight, he feared she was right. Antony Del Monte, her own brother-in-law; he had some foul intentions regarding this girl. And Lupin was glad to have intervened on her behalf. He might not have gotten out of the Del Monte estate with any riches, but he did save a sweet girl's life. And, perhaps, that was just as worthwhile.

Sniffling, Ruby wiped at her eyes and nose with a red sleeve that was just a tad too long. When she lowered her arm, her tears were gone, but she'd somehow managed to get a smudge of dirt across her cheeks.

"No," she said determinedly. "I'm the only one to blame for getting myself into this mess. There's no going back. If I do, I'll either get put in jail or... worse."

With newfound resolution, Ruby gathered up her gymnastics ribbon baton, curling it around her arm. Lupin sighed as he watched her climb out of the car.

"Poor girl."