Chapter 62
"I need your help"
Georgina Watson looked up briefly at the sound of her senior constable's voice though she looked back down at her work almost immediately, a heavy sigh escaping her "Yeah...Doesn't everyone?"
"I'm serious!" Charlie stated firmly though her voice was laden with unshed tears "Ruby and Summer are missing Watson!"
"Again?" Watson frowned as she looked up from her work at the three women in front of her "Where are they?"
"If I knew that they wouldn't be missing!" Charlie snapped irritably "Now are you going to help me or not?!"
"What happened?" Watson asked as she leaned back slightly in her chair "Were you arguing before they left or something because..."
"Ruby would never run away!" Charlie exclaimed as Cameron averted her eyes to the ground, thinking back to her argument with Summer before she had left the house "It's him...Grant! He has them"
"Whoa!" Watson held her hands up in a sign for her to slow down "You don't know that Charlie. Let's not jump to any conclusions here okay? Just...Calm down"
"Calm down?!" Charlie asked in a high voice "You're seriously telling me to calm down when my daughter and Cameron's sister are out there with a perverted RAPIST?! You have absolutely no idea what he could be doing to them right now..." she choked on a soft sob and squeezed Joey's hand tightly as unwanted thoughts filled her head.
"Charlie..." Joey whispered, her own eyes brimming with unshed tears.
"The rules..."
"I don't care about the rules!" Charlie yelled tearfully "I just want her back!" unable to suppress her tears any longer she turned into Joey's arms.
"Georgie please..." Cameron spoke up for the first time pain etched into her features "Summer's my Sister. Ruby is Charlie's daughter. We can't just sit around and do nothing...We have to find them!"
Watson exhaled deeply as she looked at Cameron thoughtfully "I'll put out a search warrant on Grant right away and I'll have a team start looking for them"
"I'm going to go and look for them" Charlie stated as she pulled away from Joey's arms "I can't just do nothing..."
"Charlie you shouldn't..." Watson trailed off and sighed heavily as Charlie turned and walked out of the door anyway, completely ignoring her protests "Do one of you want to go after her? I need one of you here to tell me what happened"
"Cam...I think you should go" Joey said surprising both Watson and Cameron "You know what she's going through because of the Grant thing. You might be able to talk some sense into her"
"Are you sure?" Cameron asked hesitantly "I know you must want to go after her..."
"I'm sure" Joey nodded slowly "Just...Make sure she's okay"
"I will" Cameron promised before she ran out of the door after Charlie. She spotted her in the distance and sped up to catch up with her "Charlie! Wait up!"
Charlie stopped walking and waited until Cameron had caught up to her before she started walking again.
"So where are we going?" Cameron questioned as she looked nervously at the darkness around them.
"We're going to find them" Charlie answered firmly "I don't know how or...or" she stopped suddenly causing Cameron to stop next to her "I don't even know where to start..."
"I know" Cameron whispered looking just as defeated "Maybe we should start looking first thing tomorrow morning when we can actually see where we're going..."
"No" Charlie shook her head adamantly and narrowed her eyes at Cameron "I'm not giving up. I can't believe you would even suggest it Cam!"
"I'm not saying that you should give up" Cameron defended quietly "I'm just saying that tonight isn't the best time to search and if you don't get some sleep you're going to be no use at all tomorrow"
"How can you be so calm about all of this?" Charlie asked incredulously "Your sister is out there and it's like...It's just any other case"
"I'm not calm" Cameron said softly as she averted her gaze to the ground "Believe me Charlie, I'm anything but calm right now. I'm just...Trying to do the right thing for them. I owe them that much"
"We have to keep looking" Charlie insisted strongly though her tears were once again resurfacing "Do you seriously want to leave them alone with him after what he did to us?! There's no way of knowing what he's doing to them right now..."
"Charlie..." Cameron stepped forward and enveloped the older girl in her arms as she burst into tears "I know. We'll find them..." she felt her own tears begin to spill once again as her thoughts flitted to Summer and Ruby and where they could be.
"You don't know that" Charlie sobbed quietly "They could be anywhere by now...And I can't stop thinking about..."
"Don't think about that" Cameron ordered as she pulled back to look at Charlie "I'm not thinking about it because I know I'll break down if I do. So just...Don't think about it. Focus on getting them back instead, okay?"
Charlie hesitated for a moment before she nodded slowly "Okay..."
"You should head home" Cameron said softly "You'll need some sleep for when we start looking tomorrow..."
Charlie looked like she was about to protest before she nodded reluctantly. She gazed thoughtfully at Cameron noticing her unusually calm demeanour "Are you...Okay?"
"No" Cameron shook her head instantly in response to the question "I'm not...I'm just trying to be strong...I'm trying to focus on getting them back. I can fall apart then..."
"Oh" Charlie frowned fully aware of the fact that Cameron was holding something back from her "Are you sure that's all it is?"
"Yeah" Cameron nodded though she refused to meet Charlie's gaze "That's all" she gestured behind them "Maybe we should head back to the station so Joey can take you home?"
"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked in surprise "You're coming with us. There's no way in hell you're staying alone tonight"
"But..." Cameron began to protest but stopped at Charlie's look "Fine...I'll come with you...If you're sure you don't mind?"
"Of course I don't" Charlie said instantly before they began to walk back towards the station.
---
Ruby winced as she stirred in her sleep becoming instantly aware of the pain in her neck "Ow..." she blinked her eyes open and lifted her head wearily from an already awake Summer's shoulder "Ugh...Remind me why we slept on the floor when there's a bed right over there?
"I didn't notice it last night" Summer said quietly "I was kind of preoccupied"
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked quietly as she stretched slightly. She winced when she noticed that the bruise on Summer's cheek had darkened slightly over night "that looks like it hurts more than it did yesterday"
Summer shrugged and offered her a small smile "It kind of does"
"I can't wait to get out of here" Ruby sighed as she leaned back against the wall "Charlie, Joey and Cameron will probably be freaking out right now..."
"Yeah" Summer nodded slowly "They'll have probably called a search party to look for us by now..." she stopped as something occurred to her "Called..." she reached forward and began searching the pockets of her jacket which was currently covering Ruby.
"What are you doing?" Ruby asked in confusion.
"Ha!" Summer exclaimed triumphantly as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. Her smile quickly faded when she tried to switch it on and was greeted with a blank screen. After a moment the screen flashed low battery before it faded to black again "Damn it!"
"Summer..." Ruby began slowly as she noticed frustrated tears beginning to well up in the older girl's eyes.
"Stupid phone!" Summer growled as she chucked the phone to her left and dropped her head into her hands "I thought it would actually work..."
"It'll be okay" Ruby soothed quietly as she placed her hand on Summer's back "We'll get out of here. I promise"
"I wouldn't count on that"
Both girls looked up in surprise at the voice to see Grant leaning casually on doorway to their left.
"What do you want with us?" Ruby asked sharply as she struggled to her feet with Summer at her side "Why did you bring us here?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out" Grant smirked at them as he placed two bottles of water on the floor "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually though..."
"Let us..." Ruby trailed off in shock as Grant turned and left the room "Go...Damn it!" she leaned back against the wall tiredly.
"Are you okay?"Summer asked in concern as she grasped Ruby's arm to steady her "You look a bit pale Rubz..."
"I'm fine" Ruby reassured her quickly "I just need to sit down"
"Right" Summer nodded and gently guided Ruby over to the bed to sit down "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine" Ruby lay on her back and closed her eyes briefly "I just need to lie down for a while..."
"We need to get out of here" Summer said quietly as she lay on her stomach next to Ruby and fiddled idly with her bracelet, which used to bare a small silver 'S' "Soon"
"Hmmn" Ruby nodded in response but found she couldn't find the strength to say much else. Instead she grasped Summer's hand for comfort and hope that Charlie, Joey and Cameron would find them soon.
TBC
