GOLD RUSH : a good girl's guide to murder oneshots

ANYWHERE BUT HERE

Ravi stood in front of him, his eyes wide and scared, a splatter of blood covering his shirt.

There, on the ground, was the DT Killer. Jason Bell. Pip's kidnapper.

And there, beyond the body, beyond the river of blood, was Pip.

Pip, still tied to the pole, still trying to escape, still wearing the Death Mask that Jason Bell had made for her.

"Shit," Ravi said under his breath, and Pip froze. She couldn't speak, though she wanted to, but she could move. Just barely, she could thrash against her restraints.

She kicked her legs out, pushing against the pole and pushing into the divot of the floor.

That got Ravi's attention, brought him back down to earth, reminded him why he was here. "Oh my god," He whispered, avoiding the body and the blood as he ran to Pip's side.

"Oh, my little Sarge," He said, shaking as he stared at her taped-up face, hurrying to rip the tape from her wrists.

From under the mask, he could hear her wince ever so quietly, muffled from the tape.

"Shh, it's okay, Pip," He said, entwining their fingers as soon as he freed her wrists from the tape. One of her hands flew to her face, immediately trying to pull the mask from herself, breathing too fast now. "Breathe, please. Slower than that, Pip." He said, gently taking her hand from her face and searching for the start to the tape.

When he found it, he gently began to unwind it, whispering to her that it would be okay, not to worry, and that this might hurt a little.

When her eyes were met with the soft light of the evening, and Ravi's sweet face - the one she thought she'd never see again - she began to cry.

"Oh, Sarge, don't cry please..." He whispered, continuing to unmask her, as her eyes scanned the room. "Don't look over there," Ravi told her, watching her eyes drift to the door.

When the tape was fully discarded from her face, he turned to un-do her ankles as she took deep breaths, heavy, grateful gulps of air.

"How did you..." She finally asked, looking at him as he gently pulled the tape from her ankles.

"I put it together myself - when you hadn't answered your phone, I called Nat, and that's when I realized that something bad must've happened; since you hadn't gone round her's, and you hadn't come to mine. I drove around town to try to find you, and I saw Jason Bell with your backpack in his car..."

"So you followed him." Pip said, finishing his sentence.

"Yeah. I took the backroads," he told her. "Jason did, I mean."

Only, Pip wasn't listening now. Her eyes had drifted to the door, mostly in fear that Jason was here, somewhere, and then they found each other; her eyes found the pool, the body found her eyes, and her eyes found the knife still stuck in Jason Bell's back.

"Oh my god."

"I - Pip..." He said, shaking. "No, Pip, look at me." He told her, his hands on her cheeks, moving her head gently to face him.

"You..."

"It was either you or him, I couldn't lose you. I can't lose you. You're my Pip."

The tears fell before she felt them, hurling herself into his arms and whispering, only once, "Thank you," and she was silent for a moment, enjoying the comfort of being held, but the reality hit her. "You didn't do this." She said, slowly. "We can cover this up."

And almost in sync, they said, "Max Hastings."

—

Their alibis were in motion.

The time of death was pushed back.

The evidence was hidden.

Everything was going to plan.

And everything did. Max was arrested and charged, it was only now the matter of whether he was guilty or not guilty.

The trial was taking too long to come, and Ravi was getting worried. He had to protect Pip. He had to...

It took him fifteen minutes to get ready — to pack a bag with his and Pip's favorite things. Clothes, their photos, anything Pip had left at his house, and an extra bag with various things that he wasn't sure he could leave behind.

Pack a bag, he messaged Pip. Anything you want.

Ravi, she'd responded, it's one A.M.

If it's one A.M., then why are you awake?

He turned off his phone and slipped it into the pocket of his sweatpants, grabbing Pip's headphones — she'd left them at his house — and slipping on his shoes.

He would give Pip fifteen minutes to pack.

Of course, if she wasn't ready, he would wait.

Ravi would wait a thousand years for
Pip. A thousand lifetimes for her, actually.

Ravi was silent as he hauled his bags down the stairs and slipped out the front door, leaving a tender note on the kitchen table for his parents to read, come morning.

He willed his car to quiet down as he started it and pulled out of the driveway. The drive to Pip's was quiet; he couldn't play music without her. It never felt right. Instead, he listened to the hum of the motor and the rush of the wind.

He parked along the sidewalk, his head back and his eyes shut as the breeze brushed against his face. Before Pip, Ravi loved nothing more than a late night drive with the windows down.

In a way, all those years ago, it had been an escape. Without Sal, it was the only thing that made sense.

While Ravi waited for Pip, he reached into the back seat and pulled a blanket from his bag, resting it over her seat. If he knew Pip, she would be needing a blanket on a car ride like this.

She would be needing a lot, in truth.

Are you here? Ravi's phone lit up with the message.

Yes. He replied, glancing up to her house and at her bedroom window.

Ravi watched as the light in her room flickered long-short-long, and he knew to pull closer to her driveway.

He could picture it: Pip quietly hurrying down the stairs, skipping the third step. Her shoes stuffed in one of her bags. One must've been slung over her shoulder, he thought, while the other would likely be weighing her down as she held the top strap with three fingers. Ravi couldn't see the dim light from her phone in the kitchen, but he knew she must be grabbing a drink and leaving her own note.

Surely enough, all of that made itself clear.

With two backpacks — one on either shoulder — and both hands full, Ravi had to reach to open the back door for her.

She handed him the warm travel mug and her water bottle while she slung her bags onto the seats behind him.

"Hey," she whispered, her voice raspy and unused. Once everything was packed into the back, she got herself situated in the front, immediately leaning over to press a gentle kiss to Ravi's plush lips, shivering with how heavenly his against hers felt.

"Hi, Sergeant." Ravi breathed, his forehead against Pip's for just a heartbeat.

In the midst of that tender moment, he handed her her travel coffee mug and put her water bottle in the cup holder.

By the time they'd pulled away, Pip had pulled her legs onto the car seat and the blanket over herself.

Something itching in her chest told her that she and Ravi wouldn't be coming home again. At least, not anytime soon.

It was only as Ravi began to slowly drive away that Pip saw the light flicker on in her parents' bedroom, and her heart had to have crumbled then and there.

"Where are we going?" Pip asked, throat still raw, eyes slowly falling shut.

"Anywhere," Ravi whispered. "Anywhere but here."

It was then that she let her mind slow to a stop, and finally succumbed to a much needed sleep.