Red Rider (Little Ruby Red Book 2), page 22
“You’re drinks boys,” I smile as they take one each, Benji raises a brow curiously before taking a sip, his lips smacking together as he nods.
“That’s pretty good actually, you do know your stuff,” he takes another small sip, savouring the flavour.
“I told you she knew her stuff dad,” Dante kisses me softly.
“Right, I am going back to my book, enjoy your night guys,” I smile waving at them all before settling back into my seat, Maisey lying beside me asleep as my hand glides through her soft fur absentmindedly.
I must have fallen asleep reading as the next thing I knew was Dante was carrying me upstairs, hearing the boys all laughing in the dining room still.
“Hmm… What…” I say in a sleepy daze.
“You fell asleep, I thought I should bring you to bed, you’ll be more comfortable baby girl,” he says quietly taking me to bed as I snuggle into his chest.
“Thank you, I love you, where’s Maisey?” I murmur softly.
“Maisey, come girl,” he whistles as I hear her follow him. He takes me into the bedroom, helping me take off my clothes before putting one of his t-shirts on me, tucking me into bed and patting the bed for Maisey to climb up as she curls happily by my feet.
“I love you,” I smile as he kisses my head.
“I love you too baby, take care of her Maisey,” he ruffles Maisey’s short fur on her head before leaving us to sleep.
It was hours later that my phone woke me from my slumber, groaning as my hand felt for Dante beside me, only to hear the boys all laugh downstairs. Peering at my screen with blurry eyes I see it’s two in the morning and Bobby was calling me. Something had to be wrong.
“Bobby? Is everything ok?” I ask, wiping my eyes of the gunk that came with sleep, sitting up in bed.
“Ryan’s missing! We don’t know where he’s gone, there’s a storm raging outside, please we need your help to find him!” he booms, I can hear the panic in his voice.
“Calm down Bobby, we’ll find him. Have you called the police? What was the last thing he said before he disappeared?” I ask grabbing my clothes quickly.
“Yes, I called the police and they are short-staffed tonight, they are making sure any of their officers who are out tonight are keeping a lookout for him but they can’t get a squad car over here. We argued, we had a report of a suspicious moving bag at the old farm a few miles out, but my van broke down and I couldn’t get us there. He wanted to walk there and I said no, it would be too dangerous with the storm,” he says.
“Ok, I’ll head there first, I’ll call as soon as I get there, Bobby stay calm we’ll find him, stay home with Lou and Kate just in case he comes back home,” I say shoving my trousers on and hurling myself out of the bedroom, rushing down the stairs.
“Thank you,” he says before I hang up, running into the dining room.
“Have any of you not had a drink and still able to drive?” I ask quickly.
“I had one hours ago, why? What’s going on?” Alex frowns at me, clearly seeing I was in distress.
“Grab your keys, Ryan’s gone missing,” I say as he rushes out of his seat grabbing his keys and phone.
“We’re coming with you,” Dante says getting up.
“Ok, but hurry, Alex we’re heading towards the old farm near Bobby’s the one I would take Patch sometimes for a walk,” I tell him as he nods.
“Have you seen the weather out there?” Shaun says looking outside to see the rain pouring down.
“That’s exactly why we need to hurry up, he’s on foot!” I shout before grabbing the keys to Dante’s 4x4 which he didn’t mind me driving.
“I’ll call your mother,” Shaun says as we all head to the cars.
“Christ I can’t see a fucking thing!” I exclaim driving down the road.
“Slow down baby, the last thing we need is to have an accident,” Dante caresses my leg gently as he, Benji, Shaun and Cain ride with me, all looking out for Ryan once I shared a photo of the kid.
“Ev’s on her way to Bobby’s, she was off tonight but she wants to help, she’ll stay with them and keep them calm,” Shaun says.
“Thanks,” I gulp as we near the old farm, we hadn’t seen a sight of him anywhere.
I pull the car through the thick mud, having to stop when it was getting too much for the car to get through, with all the rain it was too sloppy. I put the hazards on so Alex would see that I had stopped.
“We’ll have to split up, this area is huge, there’s an old barn over to the right and the old farmhouse over on the left, otherwise it’s overgrown fields and the trees surrounding it,” I say as we all huddle together in the rain.
“We’ll go to the barn and split up there, you lot go to the house,” Alex nods taking Zuri, Colby and Cameron with him.
“Come on,” I say leading the others to the old farmhouse.
“Benji and I will go check the tree line, he’s only small, he could be taking shelter under them!” Shaun shouts through the thunderous rain.
“Ok!” Dante nods to them as they rush off, the rain had certainly sobered them up and if not, then the fact a kid was missing had.
“RYAN!” I shout, cupping my hands around my mouth hoping it would make it louder.
I take my phone out calling his phone but it goes straight to voicemail.
“Be careful! That house was condemned a long while back, watch your step,” I say before Cain steps up onto the porch of the house.
“RYAN!” Dante’s voice booms as he walks around the side of the house, Cain heading inside while I take the other side.
My eyes spot something on the ground as I rush to it, finding Ryan’s phone.
“Shit… RYAN! DANTE! I FOUND HIS PHONE!” I bellow as he runs around the corner.
“Where did you find it?” he asks as I point.
“RUBY! You should see this!” Cain shouts from the front door as I run over to him as he holds a bag that was writhing in his hands, I undo it finding a single puppy, cold and shivering, fur soaked from the rain.
“Take him to Colby, have him get in the car with it, he’ll know what to do, then get straight back here, I found Ryan’s phone,” I say as his eyes widen before he pelts out of the house and across the others.
“RYAN!” Dante begins walking inside the house carefully, the floor creaking like it was ready to break at any moment.
“Dante, that floor won’t take your weight, it barely took Cain’s, let me go, you head on around the house again, call your dad and Shaun back here,” I say as he nods, kissing my head softly.
“We’ll find him, be careful,” he says heading out.
I walk across the creaking floorboards, taking it carefully with every step.
“RYAN! It’s me, Ruby! RYAN!” I shout, shining my phone's torch around.
“RUBY! HELP ME!” My head darts to where his voice came from upstairs, screaming for help as I ran across the hall and taking the stairs two at a time.
“RYAN!”
“SHUT UP YOU LITTLE BRAT!” I hear another voice boom before a hard thud and a cry.
“Oh, shit…” I get out my phone, messaging the boys to get in here now and to call the police, creeping around as I find the room where Ryan was, peering through a crack in the door to see a man in a thick black coat throwing him onto a bed, arms tied, head bleeding.
“Time to find your little friend. Sounded like a girl, I’m not fussy, I’ll have fun with both of you,” he chuckles creepily as my eyes widen, seeing him come towards the door as the floorboard creaks beneath my feet. He opens the door quickly, a creepy grin on his scar-ridden face.
“Shit,” I cry out as he goes to grab me, my foot stepping through a weak spot in the wood, hissing in pain as he grabs me throwing me across the floor before the wood gives way completely and we both fall through. I scream as I grab hold of a beam while he falls to the ground below.
“RUBY!” Dante booms, seeing me hang from the ceiling.
“NO! Stay put! The woods all rotten, you’ll get hurt too!” I cry out as he looks at me with a panic-stricken face as he knew I was right but he wanted to help me.
“Come here you little bitch,” the guy appears out of nowhere, grabbing my foot as I kick out at him.
“GET OFF RUBY!” Ryan crawls over to me, avoiding the holes, his hands still bound as he manages to throw a chunk of wood at the guy, hitting him straight in the face.
“RUBY! Shit, move big guy!” Cain pushes past Dante, rushing towards the asshole below me as he pummels him in the face.
“Shit! I’m going to fall!” I cry out, my hands slipping.
“I’ve got you, fall!” Cain says as I let out a shaky breath, falling towards him with a scream as we both end up on the ground, groaning in pain.
“Ryan,” I groan crawling painfully away from Cain.
“Don’t move!” Cain says, feeling the wood beneath us shift slightly.
“Fire engine’s on their way with the police, hold on guys!” Shaun shouts from the house doorway.
“Ruby… I don’t feel so good,” Ryan says above us.
“We’re going to get to you Ryan, I swear, you’re going to be just fine, just stay awake for me ok?” I call out, giving Cain a look of pure fear as I hear a thud.
“Ryan! Ryan you ok up there?!” Cain shouts but we get no reply.
“Cain… I have to get up there,” I gulp.
“Ok, move extremely slowly,” he nods as I shift carefully, my foot searing with pain as I move.
“Ruby! What happened?” Dante booms hearing me hiss out in pain.
“Ruby… What hurts?” Cain asks.
“Nothing, I’m fine,” I say stubbornly, moving once again.
“What the hell is… Ruby! Are you bleeding?” Cain says as I hear him grab something, the torch on his phone turned on as it lights up the floor, blood on the ground coming from my shoes.
“That’s it I’m going in,” I hear Dante say.
“NO!” Cain and I shout at him.
“You can’t, you’ll risk them all if you do,” I hear Shaun tell him.
“I can’t just leave them in there!” Dante booms.
“You don’t have to. The fire engines are here!” Zuri calls out from outside.
“RYAN! Come on buddy! Wake up! Help is coming!” I shout.
I scream out as someone grabs my foot, the light of Cain’s torch lighting it, seeing the man was awake once more, crawling at us with a sickening grin, pulling a gun from his pocket.
“PUT THE GUN DOWN!” My mum’s voice shouts before she shoots when hearing the click of the man's gun, his body dropping hard as the floor beneath us gives way just like the other.
We land with a thud, wood all around us, rain pouring in from the outside, I groan, I had hit my head on the way down, I could feel the blood trickling down my face.
“NO! RUBY! CAIN!” I hear mum cry out.
“Cain,” I cough out, hissing as I move slightly.
I couldn’t hear a thing down here and it was too dark, my hand sloshed around in the muddy water around me, we were in an old basement, the windows smashed in, letting the water pour down the wall.
“Cain, come on, answer me!” I cry out as I lift a beam off of my leg.
My phone shrills in my pocket, I forgot I had put it back inside, the screen was cracked as my hands shook to answer it.
“Mum…” I cry out.
“Oh thank god, we’re coming baby, we’re coming, we need you to tell us what it’s like down there,” she says, I can hear her voice wobble.
“Hold on, I need my torch, I can’t see,” I say turning on the torch and loudspeaker.
“What can you see baby?” she asks.
“Not a lot, Cain’s not replying mum and the whole place is filling with water… Wait there’s a hatch to the outside…” I say spotting it nearby.
“Get out there, there’s a hatch!” Mum calls out an order.
“Mum, have you got Ryan?” I ask.
“They are working on it, just focus on getting yourself out of there, stay calm baby,” she says as I whimper.
“Mum, I’m scared,” I cry.
“I know, I know, deep breaths, keep calling out for Cain, tell me what you can see,” she replies.
“Mum the water’s getting deeper, if he’s knocked out, he’ll drown,” I begin to panic, shining my torch all around for a sign of him.
“GET THIS FUCKING DOOR OPEN NOW!” I hear a voice as the hatch rattles.
“There’s a bar… A bar on the inside… It’s locked from the inside,” I cry out as it continues to rattle. I can hear mum relaying a message.
“CAIN!” I shout, using one arm to push me up a little, moving a plank of wood out of the way.
“Can you see him?” Mum asks.
“I… Wait… CAIN! Oh shit! Cain! I need two hands, I’m going to have to put the phone in my pocket a minute,” I say quickly shoving it inside, hearing her muffled voice.
I cry out as I move my legs, trying to get onto my knees to crawl through the gaps, body soaked to the bone and my foot in agony, blood tainting the water. I feel dizzy as I get to my knees, taking a moment to catch my breath before inching my way forward, using my mouth to hold the phone for the torch.
I let out a muffled scream while holding the phone in my mouth as I shift a piece of wood and a hand comes out of nowhere, the guy's cold dead hand flopping onto my shoulder.
I keep going, managing to get to Cain as I sit beside him, lifting him, propping him on my knees so he didn’t drown.
“Cain, come on, wake up, Cain, please, you have to wake up,” I cry tapping his cheek.
“Ruby, I need an update,” I hear mum say through the phone.
“I got to Cain, he’s unconscious, he won’t wake up,” I cry.
Just then I hear the loud shrill of a saw cutting through the hatch doors. It sent vibrations through the wood as I looked around in a panic.
“STOP! The wood will shift!” I bellow as the saw stops within seconds.
“Can you get anywhere safe in there?” Mum asks in a panic.
I look around seeing an old workbench, if I could get us both under it, we would be ok, but I had to get us there.
“There’s an old metal workbench, but I don’t know if I can get us to it,” I begin to shiver from the cold.
“Ruby!” A voice shouts from one of the broken windows, a beam of light hitting the room, looking for us.
“Alex! HERE!” I cry out as the light hits us.
“I can see them!” He booms as several other faces peer in with torches, covering my eyes from the bright lights.
“I can fit through the windows, let me go in and help them,” Zuri says before he comes in, squeezing through the gap, feet first, barely getting through the window, landing on the ground with a thud as the wood shifts. I put my arms over my head and cover Cain too. Zuri stills until the wood around us stops shifting. He climbs over, taking every step carefully.
“The hatch, you need to get that bar out,” I point to the hatch as he nods, making his way over, but he slips, swearing as his arm slams against the wall.
He makes it to the hatch, lifting the bolt, groaning at the pain in his arm before the hatch flies open.
“SHIT!” I cry out as the force makes the house shudder.
“RUBY!” voice shout as more beams fall, pressing us back against the ground.
“Ru-Rub-Ruby,” Cain groans.
“Cain! I’ve got you, thank fuck, ZURI! Zuri! You ok?!” I call out, my eyes filled with tears of pain, but I wouldn’t let them out, no we had to get out of here first.
“I’m fine, we’re coming guys!” He replies as I hear more footsteps, wood being moved before they get to us finally. They take Cain first before I’m lifted carefully into the arms of a firefighter, passed through the hatch and placed onto a gurney.
“Oh, baby girl!” Mum, Shaun and Dante rush to my side, following the gurney to an ambulance.
“Ryan?” I ask looking around.
“They already got him, he’s on his way to the hospital, I’m so proud of you baby girl,” mum cries kissing my cheek.
“Ruby! Get the fuck off of me! Where is Ruby?!” Cain bellows, wheezing between words.
