Rue: Web of Deceit - Part 29

Criminal Activity

With The Dingo subdued, Rue and Rani are confronted by the mysterious Mr Silva and his men, hoping to hold them off long enough for backup to arrive.

Wordlessly, The Dingo puts her hands up and gingerly sits back on the chair, staring daggers at Rue the whole time. By contrast, Rani seems positively in awe, her glistening eyes looking up at Rue with the deepest adulation, practically screaming through the mask of tape as she strains against her bindings.   Rue doesn't lower the gun, their gaze locked on the Dingo as they walk backwards towards Rani, crouching down beside her. They gently lift their hand, carefully removing the tape from Rani's mouth, ''Are you hurt?'' They ask softly before they sharply change their tone to address their kidnapper, ''Keys. Hand them over.''   "I'm okay," Rani says, quietly as the tape is pulled away from her face, "My head hurts a little, but I'll be fine."   With slow and deliberate movements, Ava reaches into her trouser pocket and pulls our a small set of keys on a generic key chain, before throwing them to the ground, not dropping eye-contact for a moment.   "Hope you don't think I'm going to keep quiet about your little gifts, Kid," she says, spitting venom with every syllable, "By the look on her face, this is some big secret of yours."   Rue telekinetically retrieves the keys, using one of them to make a cut into the duct tape on Rani's wrists, careful not to nick her skin. Once she's free, they pull the drawstring from their hood, walking over to the Dingo.   ''Hands behind your back.'' They instruct coldly, suppressing the panic that rises at the woman's threat. As they walk around the chair to tie her wrists to it, Rue whispers in her ear, quietly enough that Rani can't hear. ''You know who I work for, what makes you think I won't cut off your hands and burn out your tongue? Hell, what makes you think you're getting out of here alive?''   Satisfied that her wrists are thoroughly bound to the seat, Rue tucks the gun into the top of their jeans and starts patting the Dingo down for a phone, at the same time ensuring she has no other weapons hidden away.   "Well, you haven't shot me yet," Dingo mutters, rolling her eyes again. Soon satisfied that she's otherwise unarmed, Rue pulls out the cheap burner that the Dingo had and flips it open, seeing just one number named "Silva", though the device seems otherwise unused.   "What're you gonna do, Rue?" Rani says, rubbing her wrists as she pulls the last remnants of the tape off of her wrists, "Can we go home soon?"   “I promise we’ll get you home soon,” Rue takes a moment to sit back down as they dial Doug's number by heart, holding the phone between their ear and their shoulder as they work on removing their boot.   They patiently wait for their flatmate to answer, taking off their right sock and turning their nose up at the smell of it before pulling the shoelace out of the boot as well. Standing back up and hobbling over to the Dingo, they can’t help the smirk that pulls at their lips as they stuff the dirty sock in the woman’s mouth as a makeshift gag, tying the shoelace around their head to keep it in place, “That ought to shut you up for now.” They mumble, lightly tapping the woman’s cheek.   The call is answered as Rue wrestles the makeshift gag into their captives mouth, hoping this wasn't going to be something Rani ends up remembering them for, though the girl does seem oddly amused by the cruel and unusual punishment, "Hello?" the familiar, if confused, voice of Doug speaks from the handset.   “Oh hey, it’s me,” Rue says, a little flippantly. They hobble back to their discarded boot, not sure if it would be worth putting it back on without their laces, “Don’t suppose I could trouble you for a ride?”   "Oh, hey Rue," he says, pausing a moment to contemplate, "I'm actually on shift at the moment. I could give Tara a call and see if she'd be up for it?"   “Ah…” Rue says, momentarily wondering how Tara would deal with the current situation. For some reason, an image of one of Tara’s stilettos stomping down on the Dingo’s face comes to mind, “No, that’s fine, I can call someone else.”   "Since when do you have other friends?" He asks, laughing at his own humour, "Alright then. Everything alright?"   “Ouch. Everything’s… well, it’s under control...” They say, glancing at the bound and gagged woman in front of them, then at Rani. They let out a weary sigh, the bravado that they were putting on faltering briefly, “It wasn’t all in my head, though.”   "Oh, shit," Doug exclaims down the phone line, "You okay? Haven't gotten into too much trouble, have you?"   “I’m fine, it’s just-“ They take a deep breath, the anger that they’d felt upon first entering the warehouse flaring up, “She took Rani. She’s fine, too, or as well as she can be… I’m taking her home soon, it’s fine… We’re fine.”   "Bitch!" he cries, before composing himself, "Look, I'm glad you're okay, and I trust you'll do what you think is right. Just... know I have a contact who can hide a body. Just putting that out there."   “I’ll take it into consideration, thanks,” Rue scoffs, knowing that their previous threats to the Dingo had been just that - threats. “Anyway, I’ve got to make a call before our buyer gets here, I want to make sure I give him a warm welcome in her stead. Plus I promised Rani I’d get her home soon.”   "Yeah, okay," he says, "Just keep me in the loop, Kid, and be safe."   “Will do, speak soon.” Rue ends the call, listening carefully and taking a moment to look through the walls of the warehouse to ensure no one was approaching them yet. They dial another number they memorised, their heart racing as they wait for the detective to pick up.   "Detective Upton speaking," the voice on the other end of the line picks up with a stiff tone, though it sounds like he's outside, the wind buffeting against the receiver.   “So, funny story…”   "RUE! You motherfff-" he stops himself short, taking a deep breath to soothe himself before continuing, "Where the Hell have you been!? I've been calling you for hours! I was just about to head to The Six-Nines to try and hunt you down!"   Rue winces and pulls the phone away from their ear as Alec shouts down the line.   “Yeah, about that, turns out I really was getting lessons from the Dingo,” they say, “She kidnapped another kid and was looking to disappear again after she finished her sale, but she’s a little tied up at the moment. I’m at warehouse 18 near the docks, there’s a buyer on his way here now. Think you can get here before then, or shall I take care of it?”   "I may not be able to get there in the car in time..." he says, thinking for a moment, "But... Blue might. You okay with that?"   “There’s a car right here if needed,” Rue says with a smirk, swirling the set of keys around their finger. “I’m sure Mister Silva won’t mind if there’s an extra guest.”   "Well, I can tell you, he'll like this one," he says, "Give it five minutes."   Rue quickly says their goodbye to Detective Upton before ending the call and turning towards Rani, “I promise we’ll be leaving soon, okay? Someone’s on their way to pick us up.” They say calmly, offering her a reassuring smile.   They scan the room for any spots to hide until the buyer arrives, but the warehouse is frustratingly empty, having very little in terms of cover. Pursing their lips, Rue makes a decision and hands over the keys to Rani, “I want you to go to the car and hide in the backseat, okay?” they start, “Make sure you lock the doors and stay hidden, don’t come out unless you either have to run or I come over and let you know it’s safe to do so.”   "O-okay," she says, looking worried at the older teen as she moves towards the door, "Are you gonna be okay?"   “I’ll be fine,” Rue reassures her, “help is on the way, I can manage things by myself for a few minutes longer.”   "Alright," she says, giving one last, sorrowful look towards Ava before heading outside, leaving Rue alone with the Dingo.   Rue watches as Rani hurries towards the car and gets inside, the locks clicking back into place as she curls up between the seats. They will have to talk to Rani once they’ve dealt with Mister Silva - it’s a prospect that causes them far more dread than they care to admit.   Taking a deep breath, Rue looks over at the Dingo one more time, disgust evident on their face. They walk up to her and snatch the balaclava from her head, putting it on before they take up a position next to the door, awaiting the arrival of the buyer.   A few minutes pass and the inevitable sound of a car pulling up echoes outside. Rue quickly readies themself and peers through the wall to see three men emerge from a plain white van. Well-dressed, and clearly coming from money, they look quite out of place alongside the van and the dilapidated buildings of the Seafaring District. They take a cautious look in all directions before making their way over to the door of the warehouse.   Rue presses themself against the wall, their body tense with anticipation as they stick to the shadows, waiting for them to step inside. They silently hope that Blue is not far away, not particularly keen to be fighting three men on their own.   The door swings open and the first of the men peeks inside, "Holy shit!" He cries as he sees the bound and gagged form of the Dingo towards the centre of the room. He rushes in, quickly followed by the two other men, the taller of which shouts, "Dingo, what the hell happened to you?" the three of them clearly too distracted to notice Rue's hiding spot for now.   Just before they can reach the Dingo, Rue seizes the opportunity and telekinetically flings one of the empty chairs at the taller man’s head, knocking him off-balance as he reels from the assault. They don’t waste any time, immediately preparing their next attack, hoping that if they move quickly enough, they can get them all before they even know what hit them.   The sound of cursing echoes around the warehouse, and the taller man falls to his knees, injured as the other two search the room for any sign of their assailant, beginning to pull weapons from their belts as they look.   Not in any rush to get shot again, Rue makes the chair twist in mid-air and launches it towards the second man, simultaneously diving through the open door. They lock eyes with the third man for a brief moment before they step out of his line of sight.   Mindful of Rani hiding inside the car, they turn in the opposite direction, taking stock of places to take cover whilst they wait for the men to take the bait and follow them. A shot rings out and the brickwork above Rue's head explodes into powder and they duck down out of reflex. "Over there!" one of the men shouts, as Rue hears the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. They quickly scour the area and see that the only real hiding spots are the van and car, and several other buildings around the place that they won't be able to make it to before the men get out and start firing.   Opting to direct the men away from Rani’s hiding place, they quickly take cover behind the other vehicle, barely noticing how the dirt on the ground digs into the sole of their foot. They draw the gun they’d taken from the Dingo and fire a round the moment the first man exits the building, intentionally aiming just next to him and hitting the doorframe which splinters on impact.   Hopefully these guys, much like them, don’t feel like getting shot today, and they can draw this out a bit longer by keeping them pinned inside the warehouse.   "Jesus, fuck!" The man yells, taking cover behind the doorframe, "They're armed!"   The trio fire a few blind shots towards the van, but without being able to see, they fly wildly off-course. One of them takes the initiative though, and runs to behind the car as his companion fires, giving Rue two angles to worry about, though it seems that Rani has managed to keep out of sight for now.   “Shit…” Rue mutters, prioritising the man near the car. Glancing around, there’s not a lot that they could telekinetically wield to knock the man unconscious. There’s not a lot of distance between the two vehicles, but with the other two still gunning for them, they have to rely on their speed if they want to get closer to the man by the car.   Crouching low as if they’re at a starting block, Rue focuses on building up the heat beneath their right foot, using the force of the blast to propel themself forward. They awkwardly skid to a halt by the car, locking eyes with the perplexed assailant before hitting him with the sheer force of their telekinesis.   The man flies backwards, coming to a halt as he hits against the brickwork of the warehouse. He groans as he tries to pick himself up, "Bitch has... powers."   "Hey, man. You didn't say anything about fighting no superheroes!" the other man shouts to his taller companion.   "I didn't know!" The taller man says, hand pressed against his bruised skull, "Just go around the car! Give them nowhere to hide!"   Rue ducks low as one of the men, the one they’d just flung into the wall, fires a couple more rounds at them, their blood running cold when one of the bullets shatters the windscreen.   Their hearing picks up on the quiet, but frightened yelp coming from within the car, and before they know what they’re doing, they blast themself out of their cover and towards the man, feeling the man’s nose cracking under the force of their kick. His head harshly crashes against the brickwork once more before he slumps to the ground, blood lazily oozing from his face.   From the corner of their eye, Rue senses movement, and when they turn their head, they see the other goon has stepped through the door, aiming his weapon at their head.   They are frozen in place as the man’s finger starts to squeeze the trigger, fear and adrenaline pulsing through their veins. As they await the deafening shot, they can’t help but wonder what will happen to Rani.   To be continued...