Читать книгу The Complete Ruby Redfort Collection: Look into My Eyes; Take Your Last Breath; Catch Your Death; Feel the Fear; Pick Your Poison; Blink and You Die - Lauren Child - Страница 113

WHEN RUBY GOT DRESSED THAT MORNING, it hadn’t occurred to her that she would wind up sitting in LB’s office justifying her actions. If it had, she would have chosen a different T-shirt – this one read excuse me while I barf.

By the time they reached Spectrum, Ruby was unusually nervous, though Hitch was as cool as ever. He just headed straight to LB’s office as if nothing was about to hit the fan. LB was talking on the telephone and she waved for them to sit down. Whoever was on the other end of the line was getting quite a grilling.

‘I don’t want any more excuses, just make it happen,’ said LB, abruptly hanging up.

She looked at Ruby. ‘So do you want to explain what occurred out there?’

Ruby opened her mouth, but she couldn’t think of a thing to say.

Hitch came to her rescue. ‘As you know, the kid has been listening to the Chime Melody tapes and there’s evidence that the interference is not interference but is actually coded communication, musical notes that can be translated into instructions.’

‘All right,’ said LB. ‘Show me.’

Ruby took the file of papers from her satchel and laid the various communications on the desk. LB leaned forward, studying them.

‘You see, Chime Melody is the only radio station you can clearly receive in the Sibling waters so it makes sense that they would hijack this particular station,’ Ruby explained.

‘I would agree,’ said LB. ‘The part I’m a little hazy about is what led you to believe that the “she” they refer to in the messages was the wreck of the Seahorse?’

Ruby took a breath. ‘Well, that was kind of a hunch based on what I’ve been reading about in the City Library. It just seemed to fit together that these pirates might be after the same treasure that the pirates were after 200 years ago. I mean it’s super valuable.’

‘Super valuable?’ LB evidently did not appreciate this description of treasure. ‘Well, super valuable it may be, but when all’s said and done, you acted on a hunch, a hunch that left one of Sea Division’s most super valuable agents out of action and me with a lot of explaining to do.’

‘But you see, I think someone got there first. I think they already found the treasure,’ said Ruby. ‘I found evidence of it, a gemstone that got left behind, dropped.’

LB looked up. ‘You did? Where is it?’

Ruby bit her lip. ‘Well, that’s the thing.’

‘The kid dropped it,’ said Hitch. ‘Not her fault.’

‘She dropped it?’ said LB. She turned to Hitch. ‘So Hitch, did you see this precious stone?’

Hitch shook his head. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I didn’t.’

‘There were sharks,’ said Ruby. ‘A lot of sharks. And I sorta let go of it.’

‘You let go of the one piece of evidence that might make me believe this whole fairy tale?’

‘It happened, OK? I’m sorry, but you might do the same if you were surrounded by a whole mob of sharks.’ Ruby was feeling the anger rise up in her. Sooner or later she was going to say something everyone would regret.

‘The collective noun is a school or shoal, or if you must be dramatic, a shiver,’ said LB.

‘Well, a mob is what it felt like to me,’ said Ruby, her voice loud and firm. She was on the very verge of telling LB where she might want to stick it. But fortunately, Hitch stepped in.

‘Look LB.’ His voice was calm and steady. ‘I wouldn’t have taken a risk like this if I hadn’t thought there was something sound in the kid’s thinking. Ruby’s a smart kid, we all appreciate that. More importantly, I trust her instincts – maybe these guys already plundered the wreck; maybe we were just too darned late.’

‘Acting on instincts is all very well. Acting on instincts without getting permission from your senior agent is reckless. Let me remind you both that you are not the ones who have to call up Agent Trent-Kobie at Sea Division and explain the actions of their renegade staff.’

‘I’ll give you that,’ said Hitch. ‘But what if the kid had been right? What if the kid is right? Shouldn’t we be trying to track these guys down?’

‘Have you ever paused to consider why anyone would go to all this effort for something as corny as treasure? Is it really worth it?’

‘No,’ said Ruby. ‘It isn’t worth it.’

LB turned to look at her, speechless. She waved for Ruby to continue.

‘Either the mastermind behind this is a madman or the treasure is only a part of it. To my mind, there has to be something more.’

‘Now I’m interested,’ said LB. ‘Continue.’

‘I don’t know,’ said Ruby. She didn’t want to mention her theory to LB yet – that someone was after the rubies in a cave that a four-year-old girl had insisted was real exactly 200 years ago. It would sound too crazy. Too ‘fairy tale’, as LB had put it.

LB stared at her for the longest fifteen seconds ever recorded and then said, ‘Well, come back when you do.’ She picked up the phone, dialled a number and launched right into a whole ’nother conversation.

Meeting over.

Hitch closed the door behind them. ‘Well, I think that went well kid.’

‘She doesn’t give a person a whole lot of slack, huh?’ said Ruby.

‘Never has, never will.’ He patted her on the back. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here. You need to take some time off; you’re growing dark circles around your eyes.’

Ruby sighed. They had found nothing, but that didn’t mean there had been nothing to find. Maybe, like Hitch said, they were just too darned late. Perhaps it was also too late to catch these particular sea bandits; perhaps they had found exactly what they wanted and were now miles and miles away…

Or perhaps not.

Wherever they were though, they had managed to find a pretty secret hiding place. There had been absolutely no sign of them today, neither below the sea nor above.

Ruby was right back at square one. And worse still, she’d managed to get Kekoa pretty badly injured and really annoy the powerful woman who ran the secret agency she worked for.

A great day’s work, thought Ruby. Nice going Redfort.