Ruby Redfort 1 - Look Into My Eyes (28 page)

Ruby had many hiding places, all of them good ones. As soon as she got back she would choose the best . . .

But she had forgotten something.
Clancy!
She had promised she would help with his assignment.

Drat! OK, Clance my old pal, I’m coming.
She made a detour at Rose and turned left up Birchwood.

It would be nice to see Clancy — although she wasn’t in the mood for French. However, she wouldn’t say no to a tall, cool glass of lemonade. She was just turning the corner onto Ambassador Row when she saw a dark silver car pass by. She watched as it drove a little beyond the Crews’ house and came to a stop just in front of the neighboring wall, its engine idling. She wasn’t sure but wasn’t that . . .

Hitch?
She smiled.
Just in the nick of time too!

She pedaled fast up the road toward the car. Boy, was Hitch going to feel pretty stupid for ignoring her now! Maybe she would confess about blabbing to Clancy — how she had
had
to tell him all about Spectrum. After all, Hitch was going to be so impressed by her detective work, he probably wouldn’t even get mad. She had her line all worked out, as soon as that butler guy opened the car door she was going to deliver her smart remark.

Ruby hopped off her bike and propped it against the huge brick wall, skipping toward the car. She had her hand on the door and was about to open it when she noticed something strange. This car that looked silver in the moonlight was
not
silver, it was gray.

It was not a convertible.

And the man who had just wound down the window was not Hitch.

Ruby froze as she looked into the friendly green eyes of Baby Face Marshall.

And the words of Agent Blacker came shooting back to her.

If you see Baby Face, don’t bother calling for Mommy
—
run!

Clancy watched as Ruby rode toward a silver car parked in front of the Smithsons’ luxury home. He saw her jump off her bike and lean it against their wall.

What are you doing, Ruby?

He saw her skip over to the driver’s side as whoever it was wound down the window.
Hitch!
thought Clancy. Then Ruby got in a little awkwardly and the car zoomed off into the darkness.

“Darn it, Ruby, you promised!” said Clancy, slamming his bedroom window. “Now I’m really in trouble!”

He sank back onto his chair and stared at the blank piece of paper in front of him. Now the only thing to look forward to was getting an F from Madame Loup.

THE NEXT MORNING
Hitch walked into the kitchen.

“Well, hello there, stranger,” said Sabina warmly.

“Nice to have you back on board,” said Brant. “Things haven’t been the same without you.”

“Glad to hear it,” said Hitch. “Now where’s that short kid? She not bothering to get up these days?”

“Oh, you know how it is,” said Sabina, rolling her eyes. “Trying to get Ruby out of bed early on a Saturday morning is next to impossible.”

“I’ll offer her French toast,” said Hitch. “She’ll be down those stairs before you can say ‘maple syrup.’”

Hitch knocked on Ruby’s door and was not surprised to be met with silence.

He knocked again, a lot louder, and when there was still no answer he opened the door a crack and let Bug bound over to her bed.

“Hey, kiddo, rise and shine, it’s a big day for . . .” his voice trailed off.

It was clear to anyone who knew Ruby that she had not slept in her bed — it being perfectly made and Ruby being no maker of beds.
That’s strange,
he thought. He picked up Ruby’s donut phone and dialed the Crews’ number. The maid answered and put him through to Clancy, who was brushing his teeth.

“Clancy, it’s Hitch — I don’t suppose Ruby is with you, is she?”

“No,” replied Clancy. “And the weasel can collect her own bike — thanks to her I’m sure to be getting a big fat F.”

“Her bike?” asked Hitch. “She didn’t ride her bike home last night?”

“You
know
she didn’t. She left it leaning against the wall — didn’t lock it or anything.”

“Why would I know that?”

“You picked her up in the car,
remember
?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yeah, you did — I saw you with my own two eyes.”

“It wasn’t me, kid.”

“Look,” said Clancy Crew, “one thing I know about Ruby is she wouldn’t have just gotten into some stranger’s car, and one thing I know about me, I got pretty good eyesight.” But there was no answer from Hitch because Hitch had already hung up. He pressed the tiny button on his wristwatch phone and was instantly connected to LB.

“We have a situation.”

LB took a deep breath, “What kind of situation?”

“I think Ruby has gotten into the wrong hands.”

“The wrong hands? What do you mean by that?” asked LB.

“Someone has taken her.”

“But why? How would anyone have caught on to the kid? No one knows she’s been working for us — I made sure of that.”

“I think it could have something to do with the redhead she was talking about. We knew the kid was smart, but I think she might have even better instincts than we credited her with — I think she found something out and I think she got clocked doing it,” said Hitch.

“Where was Froghorn when all this was happening? I specifically asked him to keep Ruby safe.”

“Beats me, but wherever it was, he certainly wasn’t keeping an eye on the kid.” Hitch was feeling horrible — the kind of guilt that causes nausea.
Why didn’t I listen? I never should have let LB assign that numbskull.

“Get ahold of him,” said LB. “And tell him to get his wretched behind in here before I start thinking about using him as shark bait.”

“I think shark bait should be
my
fate,” said Hitch. “I’m the one who should have been looking after her.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself — it was Froghorn’s responsibility. He was assigned to keep her out of trouble.”

But Hitch couldn’t agree.

“Please tell me Klaus Gustav is safely in Twinford?” said LB.

“He is — Blacker flew him in yesterday. I hear he’s not exactly all things nice — no wonder he’s a recluse. But at least he
is
secure and all tucked up at the Grand Twin.”

“And you?”

“I’ve been working with the security squad and everything looks as locked down as it’s ever going to be,” replied Hitch.

“Well, that’s something,” said LB. “So this kid Clancy — do you think Ruby might have confided in him, told him everything?”

“There’s a good chance,” said Hitch. “Ruby can keep a secret, no doubt about that. But Clancy
is
her closest friend; if she’s going to tell anyone it’s going to be him.”

“Speak to the kid, find out everything he knows.” With that she was gone.

Hitch got in his car and drove the short distance to Ambassador Crew’s elegant residence.

He swung the car through the main gates and parked. As he climbed the carved stone steps he smelled the fresh scent of blossom and felt the warm sun on his back; it was hard to believe anyone was in peril on a morning like this. The housekeeper answered the door and asked him to sit in the hall while she went to fetch Clancy.

Hitch perched uncomfortably on a delicate French chair and gazed around at the imposing portraits of ambassadors and dignitaries — they all looked back at him with accusing eyes. He was feeling bad. OK, so it wasn’t his fault that Froghorn was an incompetent idiot and had let Ruby slip through his fingers, but the truth was he should never have left her with him in the first place.

Should have listened to her. Someone else could have gone to brief the security staff
. And it had to be said that as far as working with thirteen-year-old kids went, you could do worse than Ruby . . . She was one cool customer, funny too. But now she was gone and he could only blame himself.

Kid, if you’re still out there, I’m gonna find you. You can count on it.

Hitch was pulled out of his circular thoughts by the appearance of Clancy, his face displaying considerable mistrust.

Hitch stood up. “Shall we go outside?”

The two of them sat down on the warm stone steps facing the twisty gates, Ruby’s bike visible through the bars.

Hitch looked at Clancy. “So what do you know?”

“What I
know
is that Ruby was meant to be coming over last night. She arrived OK but then
you
showed up and now I am wondering
where
she is.”

“You don’t believe me when I say that didn’t happen?”

“I got no reason
to
believe you — a lot of weird things have been happening since you showed up.”

Hitch shrugged. “So what do you know about HQ?”

“I know HQ stands for headquarters,” said Clancy.

“OK, let’s try another one. How about Spectrum, you know anything about that?”

“Well I know about the color spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green . . .”

“Smart, very smart — how about the Jade Buddha?”

“Well,” said Clancy, “I know that the Museum is having a big launch because the Jade Buddha of Khotan is coming to Twinford, everyone’s talking about it.”

“Kid, cut the choirboy act would you and just tell me what you know.”

“I’m sorry,” said Clancy, shrugging, “but I am not sure what you are getting at.”

“What I am
getting
at, is what do you know about this case, about Ruby’s undercover work?”

“I guess we have our wires crossed because I don’t have a clue what you want me to say and I don’t know anything about any undercover stuff.”

The boy’s face was a mask. It was hard to believe that Clancy knew more than he was letting on. “You got a problem with me, kid?” asked Hitch.

But Clancy said nothing.

Hitch looked the boy square in the eye. “Your dad has security cameras trained at the house and the road in front. Why don’t we take a look at the tape — see if that car was mine?”

Clancy Crew got up slowly and led the way into the office where the security monitor was kept. He clicked the tape and rewound to about eight o’clock the previous night. The image was grainy but it was easy to see the figure of Ruby riding into the frame, and seconds later Hitch’s car pull up. He saw Ruby happily walking toward it, saw the window wind down and a hand appear. He couldn’t see the driver, nor could he make out Ruby’s expression, but . . . was that a little step back she took?

Clancy paused the tape and looked hard at the car.

“Does that look like my car? Look closely,” said Hitch.

Clancy looked closely; the car was parked at an angle and the vehicle plates were not in the shot but even so there were things about it that did not seem very “Hitch-like.”

“Do you honestly think that I would drive a car with
those
hub caps?” said Hitch. It was true, they were a little flashy, and now that he came to look closely, Clancy could see this car was no convertible.

Suddenly he felt very cold and very unsure.

Hitch turned to go. “When you’re ready to talk, kid, call this number.” He placed a card on the table and walked out of the house. All Hitch came away with was the knowledge that as far as Clancy Crew was concerned, Ruby had told the truth — the boy would take a secret to the grave.