Thanks for the reviews Everyone.
Harry approached his house and swallowed when he saw the door ajar. He slowly went through the house but nothing much was out of place. He walked upstairs with his heart beating extra fast. He didn't know what he wanted to find. Opening the door he swallowed as he saw a lot of his things thrown on the floor haphazardly. Clearly she had struggled when they took her and hadn't gone easily. And then he saw it. A splattering of bright red blood on the carpet and his heart stopped. When it started again he called Tariq.
"Get forensics over to my house immediately. There's blood on the floor and I want it checked against Ruth's," Harry said.
"They're on their way," Tariq said. "Anything else?"
"No. I'll be in soon." Harry hung up the phone and put his head in his hands. No, he couldn't afford to fall apart. Not when she was still in danger and he had no idea of how to get her back. He couldn't give them the file. If nothing else, he had no way to get his hands on it and no one would give it to him, and anyway he wasn't going to hand over a list of every weapon the country had. He had forty minutes before their first hour was up. Twenty five before they made contact again. He couldn't stay here. He left his house and went back to the grid, breaking the speed limit almost constantly.
Ruth started shivering. It was freezing here and she was starting to wonder when anyone was going to find her. She knew she hadn't been here long but it felt like forever. She wrapped her arms around herself trying to warm herself up when the door of what she had come to think of as her prison cell flew open. She stood up, not wanting to be on the floor when her captors approached her. Three men walked in front of her and she stared at them more bravely than she felt. They didn't say a word and she was shocked when she felt one of them slap her round the face.
"That was for stabbing our friend," one of them said as she put her hand over her stinging cheek. "And your friends better deliver what we want otherwise you'll be praying for a slapped face."
"What do you want?" Ruth asked.
"Sparrowhawk."
"Oh no," Ruth breathed. No one would give that up for her. Which meant she was in serious trouble.
"So you know what Sparrowhawk is?" her kidnapper asked.
"Of course I do. Its my job to know." They looked at her for a few more seconds and then left her alone, locking the door behind them. Ruth closed her eyes and brushed the tears away from her face. She was never going to get out of here. She was never going to see Harry again and her heart ached for him. Why had they wasted all that time? All those years! She kept her eyes closed and focused on how she had felt that morning, wrapped in his arms.
I'll try to get Chapter 4 up at some point later today, fingers crossed.