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I looked at a map of the area, noted a number of coastal towns and figured she must be somewhere there but I didn’t have the time to go to all of them. I needed to find a way to narrow the options.

Then I got a call from Dennington, saying he’d had a lucky break. One of his men had found an aide at the hospital who said Ruby’s mother had asked about buses going to Cape Falls.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Not only was Ruby’s mother still alive and well, but now I knew where Ruby was.

I had not a second to waste.

Within the hour, I stood outside a white-washed hotel close to the sea. I knew Ruby was inside. I could feel it. I could feel her. The sun had started to set and it was cooler now, the air positively mild. It was quite a sweet town, I had to admit, if you went for that sort of thing. Quaint houses, fishing boats, restaurants and a promenade. Sea gulls, the sound of the waves. Romantic, in a way.

I was thinking about how to approach Ruby when I saw her and her mother leaving the hotel. I followed them down to the pier. They bought ice cream from the man at the stand and I came as close as I dared. It was still the South, I didn’t want a scene.

Ruby must have felt me because she turned around and looked right at me.

“Luc!”

She ran towards me and hugged me, awkwardly holding the ice cream. I had not expected such a warm response from her, but my arms instantly closed around her in a warm embrace.

“You’re safe,” I said. “And you’re blonde! I like it!”

She touched her hair self-consciously.

“Is your mom here too?”

“Yes! I found her!” an elated Ruby said. “Come and meet her!”

I picked up a much less friendly vibe from Charlotte Lucas, but she shook my hand and said, “I hear you’ve gotten Ruby out of quite a few scrapes. Thank you for that. Will you join us for dinner?”

I told them that we would have to get out of Cape Falls right away.

I kept my voice low as I didn’t want my words overheard.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Mrs. Lucas said with narrowed eyes. “We just got here.”

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked me, ignoring her mother.

“I can’t tell you all the details but it’s not safe here.”

Ruby faced her mother but her mother turned away.

“Tell your friend, we thank him for his concern, but we are fine on our own.”

I held back, thinking how I was going to convince her but Ruby was ahead of me.

“No, mom. If he says we need to go, we must.”

I could see the surprise in her mother’s eyes.

“Ruby, listen to me,” her mother urged her. “I am your mother… and he is…”

“I trust him, completely,” Ruby said, interrupting her mother. “If he says we need to leave, then we do.”

She turned to me without waiting for an answer from her mother.

“We’ll go,” she said to me.

“I have a helicopter landing in an hour, it will take us to the capital. I have organized accommodations for you,” I said.