Page 135 of No Safe Place

Callum took a breath. ‘Look, Ruby. I don’t know what you think we’ve done or why you’re here, but we can work this out.’

‘Yeah,’ she said, with a laugh. ‘Yeah, we can.’

Ruby stopped pacing.

‘Can I say something?’ Lily said, softly, trying to push past Callum, and stand in front of him. He put an arm out to stop her.

‘No. Actually you can’t.’ Ruby pointed. ‘Move the fridge.’

‘What?’ Callum frowned. ‘The fridge?’

‘Don’t you know what a fucking fridge is?’ Ruby’s voice rose to a shout, and she pointed at their old, heavy fridge with the knife. ‘Push it in front of the back door.Now.’

Callum looked at Lily. She was shaking with fear, and it hardened his resolve. He wouldn’t get anxious. He wouldn’t fuck this up. All he had to do was keep Ruby calm, find out what she wanted, and protect Lily. At any cost.

The fridge hadn’t been unplugged since his nan installed it in the early Nineties, and he strained to pull the plug from its socket. It gave way suddenly, and he stumbled backwards.

Ruby flinched, raising the knife instinctively, but Callum caught himself, hands up again.

Lily had to press herself against the cabinets, so Callum had room to push the fridge in front of the back door. He could hear jars sliding around on the shelves, clinking into each other. The muscles in his arms strained with the effort.

One of the fridge’s feet caught on the lino, tearing a chunk out of it and sending the whole thing teetering, almost straight through the kitchen window.

Lily put her hands up to help steady it, and finally Callum got it into position, in front of the broken back door.

‘Good,’ Ruby said.

He hadn’t noticed the bag at Ruby’s feet, until she leaned down and dug around in it. She pulled out a handful of cable ties and threw them onto the kitchen floor, where they scattered around his feet.

‘Tie your girlfriend’s hands together.’

‘Ruby. Let Lily go – we can sort this out between us. I just want to talk to you.’

Ruby put the index finger of her left hand onto the tip of the knife, and Callum watched as a bead of blood formed.

She was fucking cracked in the head.

‘It’s okay,’ Lily whispered, holding her hands out to him, her wrists touching each other. ‘Do what she says.’

Callum blocked Ruby’s view as he did the cable tie up, trying to communicate through his eyes that Lily should hold her wrists apart, so she could slip her hands out.

Lily looked up at him, and despite her fear, there was a glint in her eye. It was a look she’d given him many, many times before.

Be careful, Callum.

‘Hurry up,’ Ruby snapped.

He pulled the tie tight, but not too tight. Before he moved out of the way, Lily gave an experimental movement of her wrists, and gave him a tiny nod.

‘Good,’ Ruby said. She beckoned Lily towards her. ‘Time to split you two up, I reckon.’

Lily shot Callum a look.

Ruby laughed. ‘Not like that – you can be star-crossed lovers if you like. I don’t give a fuck.’

Callum’s whole body was vibrating. He didn’t understand what was going on, or what he was supposed to do next. His feet were cold, and he looked down at them, amazed he had even noticed.

Next from the bag was a dark purple silk scarf. Ruby threw it on the floor at Callum’s feet. ‘Gag her.’