Chapter 25
"Mum, what's wrong is it Elsa? She's okay right" Freddie asked in a worried tone.
"Yeah she's fine, they're keeping her in overnight for observation. I've just been a rubbish mother to her once again. I'm never going to be able to forgive myself for this" Sandy said in a saddened tone.
"Non of this is your fault. She's just a very inquisitive little girl that's all, she's going to be okay. That's the main thing" Freddie said reassuringly, Sandy smiled hopefully at what Freddie said, but quickly looked down at the ground.
"There has to be a reason why she climbed up there, she wouldn't have just done it for nothing. She has a fear of heights, something must have made her do it. I knew it was a bad idea her staying at the pub" Sandy said abruptly, Freddie looked at her oddly he didn't know what she was getting at.
"I have loads of trust in Darren looking after Ruby, him and Nancy always take good care of her whenever they baby sit for me and Linds. What do you mean something must have made her do it? What are you trying to say. You don't think somebody tried to take her do you" Freddie proclaimed.
"When she's up to it we're going to have to ask her what made her climb so high" Sandy added.
"I'll go and speak to her, you go to the canteen get something to eat I'll keep an eye on her while you're gone" Freddie offered with a smile. Sandy seemed grateful, and took him up on the offer.
"Thanks Freddie, if she's awake tell her where I've gone wont you" Sandy said.
"Of course I will" he beamed, pulling her into a hug. Once Sandy had gone, Freddie made his way to go and see Elsa, she was sitting up in bed when Freddie walked in to her ward.
"Hey you, why aren't you asleep" he whispered, as he sat beside her bed, her bed was situated in the middle of a bay. Due to it being a children's ward parents and close relatives were able to come and go as they pleased all through the night.
"I don't like it in here Freddie, I want to go home please" Elsa announced looking sad.
"You only have to stay for a few more hours, why don't you go to sleep and when you wake up you'll be able to come home" Freddie said with a smile.
"Where's mummy and everybody else, I hope that nasty man hasn't taken them" she said with a look of fear in her eyes, this worried Freddie and awful lot.
"She's gone to get something to eat, what nasty man Elsa?" Freddie asked softly.
"His name begins with a T he shouts at mummy sometimes, he came again today and wanted me to go with him" Elsa announced, Freddie knew exactly who she was referring to.
"Have you seen him in the village?" he asked her.
"Tonight, I heard him so I went to the bathroom to escape him" Elsa's eyes filled with tears, she thought Freddie would be cross with her. Freddie's initial thought at that moment was the safety of Ruby, he needed to go and make sure that she was safe.
"Was he in Darren's flat, don't worry Elsa you're not in trouble I promise" Freddie said with a smile.
Elsa nodded enthusiastically, meaning Trevor was seen inside the flat.
"Why don't I tell you a story hey?" Freddie said with a beaming smile, he needed to settle Elsa before he went to sort this out, he was furious. Why couldn't Trevor leave his family alone.
"Yes please" Elsa said, sitting up in bed waiting for Freddie to start.
Part way through the story she fell asleep, once he had tucked her into bed he quickly made his way out of the hospital and phoned Darren, he needed to know what had gone on. Despite the later hour Darren picked up the phone near enough straight away:
D: Hello
F: Trevor was seen in your flat tonight, is Ruby okay?
D:What! Don't be daft we look the door after 10pm, I'll go check on her now.
F:What! He must have got in before then, she'd better be okay I swear if anything has happened to my baby girl!
D: Don't panic I'm sure she's fine...
F: Darren? Darren!
D: Ruby's not in the bed Phoebe put her in!
F: What do you mean? I'm on my way now.
Freddie quickly hung up the phone and rushed to The Dog, he needed to phone Lindsey but she probably wouldn't pick up due to be being slightly drunk because of their date. When he arrived he barged through the door, he pushed Darren against the wall.
"If anything happens to my daughter I will blame you and only you" Freddie spat.
"Honestly it isn't my fault, now get off me" Darren shouted. Freddie dropped Darren from his grip.
He rushed upstairs and into the room he believed Ruby should be in, he noticed that there was a window open and Ruby's stuff had been taken too. Somebody had taken her and Freddie immediately pointed the blame on Trevor.
"Darren! Phone the police now, I'm going to get Lindsey. We need to get Ruby back and tonight" Freddie announced, with worry at the thought of their little girl out there somewhere.
Darren did as Freddie asked, Freddie rushed home to wake Lindsey up.
"Linds, wake up" Freddie gently shook her, she stirred smiling at Freddie as she woke up to him.
"What time is it?" she moaned as she sat up and stretched.
"It's pretty late, there's been an accident. Elsa's in hospital and Ruby's been taken" Freddie announced with tears in his eyes, he hated being the barer of bad news but when it involved his beautiful little girl the hatred became extreme, he knew that when he got hold of Trevor he knew that he would make him pay somehow. He didn't care how but he would soon drum up a plan in his head. Lindsey eyes instantly filled up with tears.
"What do you mean an accident? I don't understand the girls were fine when we left them" she said.
"Trevor's taken her, me and mum think he came to take Elsa. Elsa heard him so she went into the bathroom and climbed up on the windowsill so he wouldn't get to her, she fell out of the window. I think he's taken Ruby thinking she was Elsa" He said as he pulled Lindsey into a hug, rocking her back and forth in a comforting way.
"No! Not my Ruby! What if we never see her again, come on we need to get out there and find her, Trevor could have taken her anywhere you know what he's capable of" Lindsey sobbed, Freddie tightened his grip on her, kissing her head gently.
"We will find her okay! Get yourself ready and we'll go" Freddie said reassuringly, it hurt him a lot seeing Lindsey in emotional turmoil. While he waited for Lindsey to get ready he tried phoning Trevor's mobile, surprisingly he picked up straight away. Freddie could hear Ruby in the background talking to somebody, she seemed completely fine, he sighed with relief at that thought:
T: Well well well it's Freddie Roscoe, what can I do you for?
F: I wanna know what on earth you're playing at! Why have you taken Ruby?
T: I realised when we got onto the M56 that we had the wrong kid, she'll do though.
F: I want you to tell me why you have taken my daughter! You better get her back to us in the next hour, if not I'll end you! Do I make myself clear.
T: I can't do that, it'll ruin the surprise. Just sit tight and we'll bring her back once we've finished with her, you've got yourself a bright kid here you know.
Trevor hung up the phone mid conversation, Freddie rushed into the bathroom to hurry Lindsey up.
"Linds, we need to go now! I think I know where he's taken her" Freddie proclaimed.
"Okay, how do you know!" Lindsey asked as she quickly walked into the bedroom to pick up her handbag. Freddie followed her and began talking.
"I phoned Trevor, I heard Ruby in the background, she's okay I know but I think they're on the M56. He confirmed that he was after Elsa. We need to go in the car and see if we can find them on the motor way somewhere, I promise we're going to find her" he said.
"Okay lets go! Did he say why he's taken her?" Lindsey asked.
"No, he wanted Elsa for something I don't know what" Freddie said shaking his head.
Freddie and Lindsey rushed to the car, Freddie and Lindsey sped off and soon found themselves on the motorway, Freddie was driving carefully and Lindsey was keeping an eye out for any signs of Trevor's car. After 3 hours on the motorway they still hadn't found them. The police were out there on the look out as well, they advised Freddie and Lindsey to go home and just allow the police to find the vehicle themselves but they wanted to be involved in the search.
"Where are they Freddie" Lindsey cried as they carried on driving.
"We'll find them, come on we can't give up!" Freddie said, he pulled over as he saw how upset Lindsey was. He pulled her into a hug, and calmed her down after 10 minuets they were able to carry on driving.
Suddenly Lindsey saw a car parked on the hard shoulder, there was men, a woman and a small child waiting at the side of the road.
"Freddie stop!" Lindsey called, Freddie pulled over just behind the small congregation of people.
They watched for a few minuets to observe what was going on, it turned out to be Trevor, Grace and Ruby. Lindsey tried to open the door and rush out to get her daughter, but Freddie stopped her.
"Linds no, any sudden movement could be fatal. We have to take it slow" Freddie proclaimed.
"I can't just sit here" Lindsey spat, Freddie put his hand on hers.
"Trust me on this one" Freddie said, he kissed her forehead. Luckily Trevor and Grace hadn't seen Freddie's car pull up, Trevor lifted Ruby over a gap in the crash barrier, Grace climbed over and made sure that Ruby was safely over the barrier. Freddie put his fingers to his lips so Lindsey wouldn't make any noise.
"Right, come on we can go now. We have to be quiet" Freddie whispered.
"Okay" she said, they both got out of the car and crept up behind them. As Freddie climbed over the crash barrier he turned back and helped Lindsey over it, they then found themselves following them onto a field. At the end of the field was another vehicle, there was somebody tied up to the door of the Jeep. Lindsey felt unwell as she saw who the person was, all she wanted to do was grab her daughter and get as far away as possible, Freddie wanted the same but Lindsey and Freddie made a mutual decision that, that wouldn't be the best thing to do. They continued to sneak behind Trevor, Grace and Ruby. Freddie was walking in front of Lindsey, she was holding onto his hand. Freddie so badly wanted it to be one nasty nightmare. Grace was walking pretty quickly, Ruby was struggling to keep up despite holding onto Grace's hand. Ruby suddenly tripped, Trevor turned around and caught sight of Freddie and Lindsey.
"Grace move now!" Trevor shouted, Grace picked Ruby up and began running. Freddie and Lindsey did the same, but they were unable to keep up with them.
Ruby saw Freddie and Lindsey as Grace ran with her.
"Mummy, Daddy" Ruby cried, holding her arms out.
Freddie and Lindsey spoke back but Ruby couldn't hear what they were saying.
Grace kissed Ruby's head and continued to run. When they came to a dead end, the person tied up to the Jeep looked as white as a ghost. Lindsey stopped suddenly not being able to go on any longer.
Not being able to cope with the sight in front of her she fell to her knees. Freddie helped her up and put his hands on the sides of her cheeks.
"Lindsey you need to be strong for our baby girl" Freddie soothed.
"I can't do this any more Freddie" Lindsey sobbed, looking away.
"You can, I know you can" Freddie said softly.
Lindsey looked into Freddie's eyes and smiled, he managed to get her back down to earth. She was still shaken up but his small pep talk paid off.
"Linds?" the person tied to the Jeep said as Lindsey came into view, Lindsey burst into tears, she couldn't believe her eyes. Nor could Freddie, all of his days of happiness with Lindsey were now in jeopardy, Grace put Ruby down. Freddie tried to approach her, Trevor put a gun to the person's head.
"Step away from the child! Or he gets shot" Trevor spat.
"No!" Lindsey cried, Freddie locked Lindsey into his grip, she was trembling with fear. He held her so tightly she stopped shaking.
What Freddie decided to do next was a huge gamble, he knew he only had a few seconds to carry it out. Once he did it, he picked Ruby up and gestured for Lindsey and the person once tied up to follow him. They all ran out of the field and back into Freddie's car.
Ruby was screaming with fear at what she had just witnessed, Freddie regretted what he had done but he needed to do it in order for his family to stay safe.