Hours passed. The sky outside turned deep red, and soft rain began to fall gently against the windows. Ruby sat on the couch, her phone clutched tightly in her hands, staring blankly at the flashing clock on the wall. Every second stretched like an eternity.
Finally, near midnight, her phone buzzed.
Her eyes widened, and she answered almost instantly. "Adrian!" she breathed, her voice trembling with relief. "Where were you? I called you all day! You didn't even—"
"Wife, calm down," came Julian's tired but gentle voice from the other side. "We're safe. Everything's fine now."
Ruby let out a shaky sigh, her shoulders dropping as tension drained from her body. "Thank goodness… I was so worried. What happened? Did you find anything?"
