rr (ON HOLD)

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Clancy rung Ruby as soon as he could.
"Ruby? Rube? Please pick up..." he muttered.
"Hey buster, what's wrong?" came a voice from the other end of the line. Clancy breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh thank lord. I'm coming to yours', I need to speak with you urgently. I'll be there in ten at the very most."
Just before the line went dead, Clancy could have sworn he heard quiet, heavy breathing, and a click, almost as if someone had bugged the line.
But Clancy payed no heed to it; there wasn't time.
He hopped on his bike and began peddling furiously to Ruby's.
Halfway there, a large black truck pulled up in front of him.
"What the?..." he muttered, skidding off his bike.
Someone kicked open the door and jumped out of the truck, a gun in one hand. They shot something at Clancy.

... Clancy awoke and gave a groan. He looked around.
Not again.
He felt sick. It was dark, in the back of the van, and the road was real bumpy.
"Hey," croaked Crancy. "I think I'm gonna puke."
"Tough luck, kid. Hope it smells good," a voice growled from the front. It sounded feminine.
"Can I open a window without you shooting my head off?" pleaded Clancy.
The woman gave an irritated sigh.
"Don't do no funny business, or I'll push you out of them windows," her voice sounded rough, like she was from downtown Chicago.
Clancy scrambled to open the window and stuck his head out. He felt better as he breathed in the fresh air.
Suddenly, he was jerked back into the van.
It skidded to a halt.
"What the," shouted the woman angrily. Then she gave a gasp.
"How did she find..." she lost her Chicago accent for one second, and instead it was a normal Twinford one.
Giving a noise which sounded like a snarl, she stepped on the pedal and did a 180.
Clancy slid around in the back of the van, slowly turning green. He gave a loud groan.
"Kid, don't dare or I'll rip them damned limbs from you," the woman snarled, her Chicago accent back. Fortunately for her, Clancy had been too busy trying not to be sick to notice her accent slip for a second.

Another twenty minutes on the road and Clancy Crew was feeling ready to die. He had no idea where this van was taking him, or who this crazy woman was - who was she even working for? The Count? It didn't seem like it. Lorelei von Leyden? No, she was more of a do-it-yourself person than get others to do your dirty work type.
So why had this Chicago woman decided to kidnap him out of the blue?
And then Clancy thought back to when he had phoned Ruby - he was sure he had heard a click on the line, and breathing, but he had dismissed it, reasoning he had to get to Ruby's first.
Had their call been bugged?
If so, by who?
Clancy's thoughts were interrupted by a shout.
"STOP THE VAN."
The Chicago payed no attention, and instead rammed the wheel.
And they were off again, Clancy sliding around the back. He gave a hurl, a sickening choke.
"Gee kid, that reeks," the woman tried not to gag. "I'll kill you for that, once you've had your use."
"Yeah well, why don't you tell me why we're under attack," muttered Clancy in anger.
"I'm losing them," she hissed. She gave a curse as the van slammed into a tree. Clancy feebly looked out of the window and saw that a car was behind them, the driver's glasses making them indistinguishable.

Meanwhile, Sabina and Brant Redfort were having some people over...

...Ambassador Crew and his friend Mr Pérez greeted them at their door.
"Hello there!" Sabina said excitedly. "Please do come in!"
Ambassador Crew gave a thin smile; he wasn't looking forward to spending the next couple of hours with those dumb Redforts - but they had to meet Mr Pérez, since Mr and Mrs Redfort were very much the most influential people in Twinford.
"I'm sorry my wife couldn't make it," Ambassador Crew said to Brant Redfort. "She had a hair appointment, and you know how she is with her hair."
Brant gave a laugh, as he opened the door for his visitors to come through.
"Of course, of course, hair waits for no one."
They all went into the house, and Mrs Redfort smiled and shook Mr Pérez's hand.
"It's so nice to meet you," she gushed. "I'm sure the girls won't mind being introduced."
Mr Pérez's face registered surprise.
"You have children?" he asked in his foreign Spanish accent.
"Well," Sabina frowned. "I have one child. A lovely girl, though I wish she'd use her manners more."
"And the other?" Pérez raised his hand in gesture.
"Our butler, Hitch, she's his niece. Very nice girl, quite similiar to Ruby."
Mr Pérez gave a 'Mm' and walked into the living room, presumably to talk to Ambassador Crew.

Ruby and Kaina were upstairs, talking.
"Problem?" Kaina asked curtly. "You seem - stressed."
"I'm fine," Ruby shot back. "It's just that Clancy should be here by now."
Kaina raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Do you have a date or something?" for some reason, she sounded British, and that was really beginning to irritate Ruby.
"Of course not," Ruby said loudly, going red.
"So explain."
"I don't have to explain anything to you."
"But it might help if you do."
Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Alright, so, I got a call from Clancy. 'Pparently he needed to speak to me urgently, but obviously since it was on an unsecured line, he needed to speak to me in person. And his house isn't too far from mine, so I don't know why he hasn't arrived yet. I'm worried that something has happened to him."
"What," Kaina's throat suddenly felt very dry. "Like - like the Count got him?"
"Yeah."
Kaina shook her head.
"But anyhow, I doubt Viscount... sorry, the Count, would go after your puny little friend. Clancy Crew has sisters, yes? So why don't you call them, see if they know what happened?"
"Good idea," Ruby began dialling in a number on her squirrel telephone.
"Hi Minny," she said eventually, giving a sigh of relief. "I was just wondering - do you know where Clancy is?"
"Yes," came a voice from the other end of the line. "I found a note left in the kitchen; apparently Dad made Clance go on the Wichitinos camp... yeah, dorky, I know... he'll be gone for at least two weeks."
Ruby gave a groan of annoyance.
"Honestly? Clancy's got to learn to stand up to his dad. Ah well, thanks anyhow Minny," Ruby hung up and turned to Kaina.
"Well, we've got our answer, then."
"Yeah," Kaina seemed uncertain. "But don't you think it's a little odd, that Crew would go to some dumb camp instead of telling you about some urgent thing? I mean, why not tell his dad he'll go to that camp, as soon as he's talked to you?"
Ruby rolled her eyes.
"No, you're just being paranoid."
"I'm not!" said Kaina. Ruby ignored her and carried on.
"Like, I get it, don't worry, I'd be worried too if the Count was after me."
"He is after you," Kaina interrupted.
"Yeah but you're his kid so it's gotta be pretty scary right. Anyhow clearly you don't know Ambassador Crew, because if you did you'd know that Clancy had no chance against him. The poor sucker's gone with the Wichitinos and that's that."
Kaina was about to reply with an angry retort, but was stopped when she heard the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs.
"Girls," Sabina Redfort began, as she opened the door to Ruby's room. She frowned as she saw the two girls sitting on the floor - why couldn't they sit on chairs like normal children? Sabina shook her head and continued. "Ambassador Crew has came over, and he has a government minister with him from Spain. Can you two come down and meet them?"
"Why, though?" asked Ruby. She wasn't in the mood to see Clancy's dad and she doubted Kaina would be either.
"We need to set a good example." Ruby could see her mother was getting stressed, and gave a reluctant sigh.
"Okay, Mom, we're doing it."
Sabina gave a squeal. "Thank you sweetie!"
Ruby held in a laugh as she saw Kaina shudder at the word "sweetie."
"Relax," Ruby said to her as they went downstairs. "The Australian is dead. Gone for good."
"Yeah," Kaina muttered. "I just can't help it."

Kaina was out in the hallway when she heard someone's footsteps. She'd managed to escape seeing Ambassador Crew and his friend, though unfortuntely Ruby had not.
Kaina turned her head to see who was coming.
Mr Pérez stared at the girl and froze. Kaina had gone ghostly white and she backed up against the wall.
"N-no, no, no," she muttered.
"Estás bien, nina? Te ves como si hubieras visto a un asesino," Mr Pérez lowered his shades and looked straight at the girl.
"No! Alejarse de mi! Aléjate!" she cried hoarsely. She recognised those eyes, those harsh black, shark-like eyes.
Mr Pérez gave a smile which looked genuine, as if he really were pleased to see Kaina, and put his shaded glasses back on.
As he walked past her, Kaina slumped against the wall in horror. She gave a sniff.
She recognised that scent.
That scent, the scent which always made her feel safe, though she never knew why.
When Pérez had walked past her, she had suddenly felt safe. It was weird, it was strange, and Kaina didn't understand it. But she recognised that smell, she'd recognise it from anywhere. It was his signature cologne, and he had put it on so slightly that only she, Kaina, with her trained sense of smell, would be able to smell it.

That cologne unmistakably belonged to the Count.