Free Red-Hot Ruby by Sandrine Spycher Page B

escaping and getting the ruby back.
    Williams got in the car with Carter, and Cowley drove with Farrell. They had a long drive ahead of them. Silence had already started invading the cars oppressively. Farrell struggled with her handcuffs. She couldn’t find a comfortable posture, let alone break free from the cuffs. After hurting her wrists in vain attempts to escape her bonds, she sat back with a sigh. Cowley looked at her in the central mirror. A heavy, judgmental look.
    Farrell despised her. Cowley seemed way too posh to be in the police. She was over-judgmental, and over-using that look which said “I captured you so I’m superior to you and I’ll gladly show it.” Farrell stopped fighting with her cuffs and was actually getting used to the cold rigid metal on her skin.
    Instead she started thinking about a way to fool Cowley so that she might have a chance to escape. She wouldn’t talk to the cop because of her haughty complexion. She couldn’t move her hands, and was too closely watched to move her feet. So she focused on the mirror. Each time Cowley glanced at the back seat, she would now see a steady and impassive look.
    Farrell hoped that, at some point, preferably before arriving at destination, Cowley would be somewhat bothered by that look and a sort of crisis would follow, hopefully leading to her escape. That would have been a really good plan if Cowley wasn’t so impassive herself. Farrell was already getting annoyed by her own game.
     
    In the other car, Carter had adopted a similar strategy. As no handcuffs could resist him, his hands were already free, but he was waiting for the right moment to make his move. Meanwhile, he stared at Williams in the mirror and smiled. Smiled his half-smile which meant anything but joy and delight. No, Carter was mocking Williams and the policeman knew it.
    “No escaping this time, pal,” he said.
    “We’ll see,” Carter answered, not losing his mocking expression. “How’s your boyfriend?” he soon continued.
    “What?” Williams yelped. “How do you…” The end of his sentence died in his surprise. He got his eyes back on the road just in time to avoid crashing into the car in front of him. Williams was still recovering from the shock caused by Carter’s question when the latter laughed. Williams raised his eyes to find Carter’s in the mirror.
    “You’re not a very good actor, officer,” Carter said.
    “Why would I need to?” Williams asked sharply.
    “You keep trying to look cool, but you can’t fool me.”
    “I am cool,” Williams countered. “And you’re talking too much.”
    Carter laughed bitterly, but didn’t reply. He looked out of the window. A few more turns and he would get out that car. The streets were blazing with colored lighting from the different buildings. The wet road reflected the flickering blue lights of the police cars. Carter looked ahead. The light was green. Still green. Yellow. At last, red. The car stopped. It was time to move.
    “Say, officer,” Carter said while leaning forward, “why don’t you have these back.” He handed the handcuffs. “I don’t think I’ll be needing them anymore.”
    Williams started up. He reached for his gun and turned back to see Carter open the door and jump out.
    “What the fuck?” Williams shouted despite himself. How on Earth had Carter been able to open a door which was supposed to be locked. No, not supposed to; it was locked, Williams had made sure of it himself. In less than a minute, Carter had disappeared through the traffic, leaving Williams open-mouthed and humiliated.
     
    Carter jumped from one car into the other to escape Williams’ careful—really?—eyes. It was easier than expected to open a back door, slide on the back seat, and get out on the other side. Drivers hardly even noticed him.
    After being sure that Williams had lost sight of him, Carter stopped and looked back over his shoulder. He was free, but had lost the ruby. He’d lost the ruby, but was