Page 98 of No Safe Place

Sunday | Evening

Callum

‘Tell me why you’re doing this.’

The girl ignored him, pacing back and forwards in front of the door to the dining room. She held the knife in her left hand, but he noticed she winced whenever she lifted her arm above elbow height.

He couldn’t remember her name. It was there, on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t remember it. Paige had spoken about her sister a lot. “Basically twins” – ten months apart. Callum couldn’t believe he hadn’t spotted it from the start.

Her eyes – she had the same big dark eyes as Paige.

Lily whispered something behind him, but he missed it. He turned his head slightly towards her, indicating he needed her to say it again.

‘Ruby,’ she hissed, and the girl turned around.

‘Remembered my fucking name then?’

Ruby.

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.’

Callum picked it up and stared at it. It was Paige’s, he was sure of it. Sometimes she would scratch at her throat when she was having a panic attack, and she’d wear the purple scarf to cover up the marks.

Why is she doing this, P?

Callum held an end in each hand and passed the scarf over Lily’s head.

Lily squeezed her eyes closed as he tied the gag at the back of her head. When she opened her eyes again, her lashes were wet with tears.

Ruby gestured. ‘Come here.’

‘Wait, leave Lil here, and we can—’

Ruby took two steps towards Lily and seized the end of the cable tie, pulling it as tight as it would go. Lily let out a yelp, as the plastic cut deep into the skin of her wrists.

‘Don’t move,’ Ruby snapped at him, pressing the knife against Lily’s neck. ‘And don’t fucking speak, either of you.’

Ruby led Lily into the dining room by her hands, pushed her towards the stairs. From the doorway of the kitchen Callum saw Lily fall forward, unable to catch herself with her tied hands. She hit the stairs with a sickening thud, her arms twisted at awkward angles.

‘Oops,’ Ruby said, with a laugh, pulling Lily backwards by the hair so she could right herself. ‘Now get upstairs.’

Lily was whimpering in pain.

‘Don’t follow us,’ Ruby called over her shoulder. ‘And don’t move, or I’ll slit her throat.’

He listened for the steps on the stairs and dashed into the dining room.

Callum didn’t dare run to the living room for his jeans. He wrenched open the door of the tumble dryer, and pulled out a pair of jogging bottoms. When they were on, he felt instantly better, less vulnerable.

He should make a dash for his phone, call the police. He should run out of the front door, screaming for help.

Should

Should

Should

He couldn’t focus long enough on one train of thought to weigh up a rational decision.

And then Ruby was back.

She blew air upwards, but her hair was stuck to her forehead with sweat, and didn’t move.

He hated her, Callum realised. He hated her, and if he got the chance, he’d kill her.

‘Front door,’ she said, simply.

Callum didn’t move.

‘Move that big cabinet in front of the front door,’ she said. ‘Now.’

She made sure she stayed a few metres away from him, knife raised.

As he walked through the dining room, Callum looked up at the ceiling. Imagined Lily lying on her bed upstairs, straining to listen to what was happening.

He didn’t bother taking the crap off the sideboard, letting things fall from it as it moved. It wasn’t as heavy as the fridge, but it was another narrow space to navigate.

Ruby swiped at her fringe with the back of the hand that was holding the knife, and inspected his work.

The cabinet was slightly wider than the hallway, so it wasn’t flush against the door, but it was wedged against each wall. The door wouldn’t open more than an inch from outside.

Two years. He’d finally escaped the house after two years.

And now he was trapped inside it again.