rr (ON HOLD)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Mr Pérez made his excuse and left. Mr Crew was slightly put out he had only stayed for little time, but then again Mr Pérez was clearly a very busy man.

As Kaina rushed back into the living room, Ruby saw her face and frowned.
"Excuse me, Mom," she muttered and got up.
"What's up?" Ruby asked Kaina. "You look terrified."
"The Count," Kaina gasped. "I - I saw the Count."
"Where?"
"Here," Kaina almost shouted the word, and Sabrina Redfort raised an eyebrow to her.
"What?"
"Here," repeated Kaina, her voice quieter. "He was in the house. He was wearing some fancy get up."
Ruby gave a strange noise, which sounded like a cough and a snigger.
"Seriously, Redfort," persisted Kaina, "he was here."
"The man you most likely saw was Mr Pérez. He's the ambassador's friend from Spain."
"Mr who?" asked Kaina, looking confused. "Mr Peas?"
"No, Mr Pérez."
"You're pronouncing it 'peas'. It's pronounced 'pear-ez', idiot."
Ruby blushed uncomfortably. Spanish wasn't one of her many strong points.
"Well, unfortunately I'm not fluent in Spanish. What kind of name is that anyway, buster?"
"Really," Kaina's voice was full of sarcasm, "I'd always put you down as someone who knew everything."
Ruby gritted her teeth.
"Why should I believe you, von Leyden, that the Count was here, when it's clear to me you'd still love to see me dead?"
"Why would I lie about something like that?" snapped Kaina.
"Because maybe," Ruby's voice was getting higher now, "maybe, you're still working for the Count!"
Kaina paled.
"How could you..." she muttered quietly. "Redfort, you're full of it. Have you ever wondered if I'm not entirely bad? Or are you just a judgemental prick like everyone else? I saved your stupid ass and nearly got myself killed because of it!"
"Yeah, but what if that was all just part of the Count's plan!"
"Honestly?" Kaina was laughing wildly now. "You think his plan was to lose the one person he's been hunting for months? You think his plan was to be betrayed by me yet again? What sort of prize bozo are you, Ruby Redfort?"
Ruby didn't like that. She didn't like that at all. She was going to do something but stopped as Brant got up from his seat and approached the two.
"You girls alright?" he asked casually. "Because I wanted to ask if one of you would mind babysitting Elaine's kid?"
Ruby shared a still angry glance with Kaina.
"Sorry, Dad," Ruby waved her hand apologetically, "but we're kinda busy right now."
"Oh yeah, sure," Brant sat back down.
Kaina gave a cough.
"What?" snapped Ruby, her temper rising by the minute. "You know you sound crazy, right? In fact, you sound like your little psycho friend Lorelei!"
Kaina's eyes lit up. She grabbed Ruby's wrist and dragged her to the cellar.
Once they were in, Kaina kicked Ruby in the ankle. Ruby couldn't have fought back using kung fu - the room was too small.
Kaina pulled out a small knife from her pocket. She lightly slit the skin on Ruby's arm; blood began to drip. Ruby slumped against the wall.
"Never," Kaina hissed, her clear blue eyes ironically resembling Lorelei, "never speak about Lorelei like that. Not to me, never."
Kaina put the knife back in her pocket. She walked to the door.
Just before she did, Ruby called out,
"I hope you know that you're just like the Count. A soulless monster."
Kaina turned around sadly.
"Oh, I know, sweetie," she said, wickedly adopting the voice of the Australian. "And you're just like the late Bradley Baker. Soon to be dead."
"Where will you go?" whispered Ruby.
"I really don't know," Kaina switched back to her own voice. "But he'll never find me. Not if I can distract him using you. And while he's distracted... I'll be gone. Forever."
"You're not..." Ruby trailed off. Kaina was gone.

Ruby knew what was the right thing to do. She needed to tell LB, to tell her Kaina was going to kill herself.
But honestly?
What was the point? With Kaina gone, things would sure be a whole lot easier. And it might make the Count go away for a while.
It was a weak hope, but it was a hope nonetheless.

In the back of a truck...

Clancy's heart missed a beat.
The driver jumped out of the truck and began talking to whoever had slammed into them. Clancy put his ear to the window; he could hear muffled voices.
"I thought you were supposed to be muerto?"
"I thought you were supposed to be following orders. Drop the false accent, sweetie, it doesn't suit you."
Clancy felt his heart lurch.
'Muerto' meant 'dead' in Spanish.
And only one person he knew used the term 'sweetie'.
A person who was supposed to be dead, frozen in the bottom of a lake.

The other woman gave a sharp intake of breath.
"He didn't give me what I want."
"You tried to double-cross him twice, I highly doubt you're in a place to judge."
"I don't need his money."
"Perhaps not sweetie, but you're still in a contract with him. You either work for him," the woman with the unmistakable Australian accent gave a cold laugh, "or your time's up."
"I did what he wanted. I got the brat and he did what he needed to. My contract is over."
"Oh, didn't you hear? No, turns out he needs Ruby Redfort back. So sweetie, if I were you, I'd hand that nice little boy over to me."
"And why would I do that?" the woman who Clancy now assumed was Lorelei spat.
"Because you're going to use that child to lure that girl to you - then you'll kill her, won't you sweetie? But he still needs her alive, and he needs that boy to lure her to him. So hand him over and you can go freely, job done. I can do the rest."
"And if I don't?"
"Well, let's just say that I don't need you to be alive to get that boy. Nor does he."
"He's in the back of the van."
"I knew you'd co-operate, sweetie," the Australian cooed. "Oh, and by the way, I wouldn't try getting in contact with your little friend, Kaina."
"Why?" snapped Lorelei.
"Because he's watching her. He's watching her very closely. Because he doesn't know," the Australian's voice became a quiet hiss, "which side she's on. And you know what he does to people who betray him... and their friends."

Next thing Clancy Crew knew was that he was being roughly dragged out of the van. He looked up into the Australian's clear steely blue eyes and gulped.
The Australian smiled a kindly smile, for all the world just looking like a friendly middle-aged lady.
But Clancy? He knew better.
This woman had survived death.
This crazy, psychopathic woman, who was a cold-blooded murderer.
This woman, who was the Count's loyal accomplice.
This woman, who would do anything to see Ruby Redfort destroyed.