"What do you think you are doing Ruby? Your mother is very worried about you. Where is your stepfather? What's going on?" asked the man who had pulled her into his car.
Kurt was relieved that the man knew her, or at least he knew Ruby. It seemed he had no malicious intent. He seemed genuinely concerned for Kurt's welfare. "I..... I was just getting a drink. It's hot out there. I was thirsty" She wondered who this man was. He had an accent very much like the man who had visited her in the hospital.
"Well it's not safe around here. Your mother wants me to bring you back home"
Clearly the man thought she was Ruby. Kurt knew little about Ruby, only that 'He' (Kurt was a man at the time) had met her last night at the truck stop. 'He' had thought her a runaway at the time. Kurt decided to play along with the idea that she was Ruby and see if she could glean some more information about this man. She had full confidence that her disguise was perfect
The man continued "You told me on the phone that Nikola was in some sort of trouble. What do you mean?"
"My stepdad said he would come back to the hospital and fetch me. He never did" She had heard enough to know that this Nikola was Ruby's stepfather
"Where was he going?"
"To retrieve this brass necklace. It is evidently a powerful artefact"
"Did he find it?"
"I think so. But the next thing we knew his car was found outside the hospital with a broken window and no sign of him"
"So that's why all the police are there?"
"They are looking for Nikola and the artefact"
"They know about the artefact?"
"The FBI do. They seem really desperate to find it"
"You're safe now. I had better ring your Mom and let her know I have you"
Marco rang Selena. "I have Ruby in the car beside me. She seems safe and unhurt. Do you want to speak with her?" He put the phone on speaker and held it near Kurt.
Kurt answered once more pretending to be Ruby "Hi.....Mom..... I guess I'm safe"
"Do you have the medallion?"
So Ruby's Mom knew about the medallion. That sort of made sense "Not yet"
The man spoke. "I spoke to Alexei just before, he has his team searching for either Nikola or his briefcase. The FBI and local police are also all over the place and appear to be searching Nikola's car"
"Interesting. They must have had the same lead" said the woman at the other end of the phone. "Now you have the girl the priority is finding Nikola's brief case. Nikola has contacted me to say he is safe but will temporarily be out of contact. He wants finding his briefcase to be the top priority. Pull out all stops to find the briefcase"
"Okay. I ring you back if we have success"
He turned to the girl he thought was Ruby. "One more call"
He rang Alexei. "Alexei, Any success?"
"Not yet Marco. We are getting the word out to the underworld but there are cops all over the place"
"That must be why Nikola has gone to ground. I've just spoken to Selena. Priority now is finding Nikola's briefcase. Cease looking for Nikola. We need the briefcase before the FBI find it. He must have something very valuable inside it. And by the way, I've retrieved Ruby, the stepdaughter. I'll look after her from now on and see her home safely"