by T L Swan
“Yes,” replies Max from the front seat.
I nod. “So whenever we have been alone I have called Natasha Cinderella as a pet name.”
Cameron frowns. “And nobody knows this but you two?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No, because if anyone knew, including Joshua, we couldn’t use the code anymore.”
Ben rubs his fingers over his lips, deep in thought as he drives, and Cameron rubs his hand over his stubble as he processes the information.
“Today, when Amelie was talking, she said that Joshua had lost his Cinderella. Nobody knows that but Natasha,” I murmur. “It has to be her. She has to know what happened to Natasha.”
Cameron frowns. “Amelie is a bitch but she’s not capable of this. It’s not her,” he snaps. “No way.”
“She’s turning off,” Max replies from the front seat. “Slow down so she doesn’t see us,” he adds and Ben slows the car down.
I shake my head. “I know it’s a long shot, but I know Natasha would not have told Amelie our code word. I think Natasha is trying to send me a message.”
Max smiles with renewed purpose.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Ben snaps and once again we fall into silence. For four hours we follow as we vent. Nicholas has had to stay at the prison and Bridget and Abbie have gone to visit Joshua and pick him up. Joshua is low and Cameron just wants to get back to his brother’s side. We are all very worried about him and out in the countryside hours from anywhere, this could be stupidity. It’s eight at night and dark, the roads have gone to dirt and we are well off any highway.
“What the hell is she doing out here anyway?” Cameron frowns as he cranes his neck to look ahead.
“Hiding a body,” I murmur.
Cameron puts his hands up and drags them down his face. “You know what. Just stop talking. You’re stressing me the fuck out,” he snaps.
Ben smirks into the rear-view mirror as his eyes flick to us.
“What are we going to do when we get to her anyway?” Cameron holds his hands up in question.
“Just watch what she is doing?” Ben replies calmly.
“She’s probably here to see a sick horse. Did anyone think of that?” Cameron scoffs, disgusted. “She’s a fucking veterinarian you know. This is where horses live, you know, in the countryside.” He gestures to the paddocks surrounding the car with his hands.
“Pull the car over. I’m going to fucking bury you in a minute,” I snap, annoyed.
“The car has stopped,” Max replies as he looks at the screen.
Ben pulls over. “How far away are we?” he asks.
“Ten kilometres,” Max replies. “Get closer and we will ditch the car and go by foot.”
Cameron and I exchange horrified looks. “By foot?” Cameron frowns.
“Just shut up,” Ben replies.
We amble up the road slowly and Ben turns the car headlights off.
“Oh my god, this isn’t James Bond,” Cameron whispers.
I nod as I frown. It does seem very dramatic.
“Why are you whispering then?” Ben asks, amused.
“I don’t know,” Cameron whispers back. “But if you crash the car into a tree ‘cause we can’t see I am taking your gun and shooting you in the head.”
Max smiles from his seat in the front.
We keep ambling up the road until we get to a little laneway and Ben pulls the car off the road. “Leave the car here and we will walk up,” Ben says to Max who nods.
Cameron and I exchange looks again. “What will we do?” I ask.
“You two can stay in the car,” Max replies.
My eyes dart out into the silent darkness. “I’m not waiting here. Anything could happen here—this doesn’t feel safe,” I whisper mortified.
Cameron shakes his head. “The only thing that is going to happen to you is that I am going to run you over you idiot!” Cameron snaps as he points at me.
I open the car door. “I’m coming,” I reply.
Cameron frowns. “Well, I’m not staying here by myself,” he replies as he gets out of the car.
“No, you two stay here in case we need you to pick us up,” Ben replies.
Cameron shakes his head as he looks out into the dark forest. “This is fucking sketchy man. I don’t like it. This place gives me the creeps,” he mutters.
I nod as I look around at our dark surroundings. “Me too,” I reply. “Shit, this is heavy.”
We get back into the car and Cameron sits in the front seat and I sit in the back. His phone rings.
He looks at the screen and screws up his face. “Oh, fuck it,” he whispers. “It’s Callie, I forgot to ring her. Shit.” He drags his hand over his face and answers the phone. “Hey babe,” he answers casually as he screws up his face.
He listens for a moment. “Um.” He pauses as he listens. “Yeah about that, I can’t come tonight.”
He holds the phone out from his ear as the girl on the other end explodes. “Look, I’m at the prison. Some shit has come up that I didn’t know about,” he replies.
I smile and sit back on the seat with my hands behind my head. This new girl Cameron is seeing has a lot of demands for someone who is supposed to be casual.
He listens and shakes his head as he rolls his eyes at me. “I will see you tomorrow night. It’s only a work party—just go alone.” He frowns. “Stop being a fucking drama queen,” he snaps.
She says something and he narrows his eyes.
“Fine, don’t see me tomorrow night then!” he snaps. She says something and he shakes his head.
“See you Cal,” he snaps. “Have a nice night now that you’ve ruined mine.” He hangs up and throws the phone onto the front seat as he shakes his head angrily. “Demanding little bitch,” he snaps. “I’m not taking her shit. Who does she think she is?”
“Funnily enough she sounded like she thinks she’s your girlfriend,” I reply sarcastically.
He fakes a smile. “Shut up,” he murmurs. “She knows the score.”
“Where were you supposed to be going?” I ask.
“A work party thing.” He sighs.
I raise my eyebrows. “Meeting the work friends, very domesticated Cam.”
He looks at me deadpan in the rear-view mirror. “It’s a work party, not a wedding, you cock,” he replies.
I smile as I throw my head back against the seat. It’s now about ten at night and the rain is hammering down. They have been gone for what seems like hours. The car windows are all fogged up and I’m starving.
“Do you think she did this? Amelie I mean, do you think she is really capable of this?” Cameron sighs.
I shrug. “I wouldn’t have thought so,” I reply.
“How would she know that, the Cinderella thing?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I don’t know, did she even say it or did I imagine it?” I ask.
“She said it, I heard her. She knows that name but maybe she has just heard you call Tash that.”
I nod. “Maybe.” My mind goes to Tash and whether I have ever been with her and Amelie in the same room. I really don’t think I have.
Max bangs on the door in the darkness and Cameron nearly jumps through the roof in fright. “Scared the shit out of me,” he whispers as he opens the door.
Max jumps into the car out of the rain. He’s out of breath and panting heavily.
“What’s wrong?” I frown. “Did you see anything?”
Max shakes his head. “Something’s going down, I don’t know what. They are at a huge house at the end of the road and Amelie and a young man are searching the forest around the house with floodlights and Amelie is screaming at the kid.”
“Screaming what?” Cameron whispers.
“I don’t know. We can’t hear what they are saying over the rain, but Amelie has a gun.”
“A gun,” Cameron shrieks. “Why the hell does she have a gun?”
“Call the police,” I snap. “This bitch is tapped.”
“
No. We have no proof of anything. All that will do is alert Amelie that we are onto something. You two go and find a hotel close by, we can’t let her see the car and it’s only a matter of time before they find you both,” he replies.
“You can’t stay out here in the rain all night. You will freeze to death,” I murmur, horrified.
“We are ok. This is what we are trained to do. But we need you close in case we need the car. Give me a charged phone in case ours runs out,” he replies.
I fumble the code off my phone and hand it over.
“We are just going to follow them and see what they do. Is the phone on silent?” he asks as he passes it back to me.
I switch the sound off and hand it back.
“Stay close but out of sight,” he replies. “Find a hotel and then tomorrow start checking the neighbours to see if we can find out who owns that house at the end of the street.”
He leaves the car and runs off into the darkness and into the rain. Cameron jumps into the driver’s seat and starts the car and I jump out and into the front seat. “Where to?” Cameron asks.
I shake my head. “I don’t know,” I whisper.
We pull out onto the dirt road with the windscreen wipers going full speed and head off in the direction we came from. After about another five kilometres in the darkness we see a driveway off the main road disappearing up the hill. “What do you reckon is up there?” I ask.
Cameron slows down in the torrential rain and we both crane our necks to see up the hill. “I don’t know, a house it looks like,” he replies.
“Shall we go up there and ask if we can lodge for the night?” I frown.
Cameron thinks for a moment. “No, we had better not. We don’t know who lives there. Let’s try and find a hotel for the night and if we can’t find one we will camp in the car away from here where the car is out of sight.”
I nod. “Ok, good plan.”
Natasha
It’s 4 pm on my wedding day and distraught doesn’t even come close to how I’m feeling. I wanted so badly to be home for my beautiful Joshua today. I know he would be suffering, today worse than any other. I am sitting on the floor and freezing in the back garden shed of the house I have found, my two shotguns and ammunition by my side. It’s still raining so heavily that I can’t leave the protection of the house but I know if I stay in there and someone comes… I’m a dead woman. At least if I stay out here I can see a car if it approaches and run into the forest behind me without being seen. The garden shed I am in is really only a shack of a building. A tin roof and three falling down walls, the opening is at the back facing the forest, ready for my escape.
My mind goes to what I’m supposed to be doing now.
As long you love me
We could be starving
We could be homeless
We could be broke
I softly sing the words of the song I wanted as my wedding song. As long as you love me.
My mind is on autopilot and I’m singing to distract the negative scared thoughts from entering my psyche. I keep repeating the words again and again as I sit alone on the floor. And then I hear the crunch of tyres on the pebble driveway and slowly pick up the gun and clutch it in my hand. Oh my god, oh my god. I squeeze the gun in my hands as fear starts to make my bottom lip tremble. I slowly stand and peer through a gap in the metal wall.
I gasp. Oh my god. No.
Chapter 29
I dip my head, shit. What am I going to do? Like clockwork the damn rain speeds up and hits torrential. I watch as a person in a large black hooded raincoat gets out of a car and walks up to the front steps of the house. Damn it, why did I smash that window next to the front door? I’m such a fucking idiot. Now they know for sure I’m here or at least have been here. My eyes flick to the forest behind me—should I just run? My eyes look at the skies, rain. Where is all this fucking rain coming from anyway? I would have been miles from here if it wasn’t so damn wet. With my heart pumping adrenaline heavily through my body I start to do an internal risk assessment as I look between the forest and the house. If I run, my back is a target. I can’t get away and watch them at the same time. I will most likely get shot in the back. If I stay here, they can’t see me but I have a gun. I only hope I loaded the bloody thing right and it works. What will I do, what will I do? I look back at the house through the crack in the metal. Maybe it’s the owner of the house and he will call the police to report a robbery and they will come to the house. That’s a best case scenario—yes please, let that happen. Think Natasha, think. I look down at the gun and put my finger on the trigger. You just pull it right? Yes, you just pull it. I practise pulling the trigger and I hold it up as if I am going to shoot something out in the forest to try and get the feel for it. Oh my god, I’m so out of my depth here. Shit.
For fifteen minutes I watch the house with my heart hammering. What in the hell is going on in there? Who is it? My eyes flick to the car in the front yard. It hasn’t moved so they are still here. My eyes widen—shit, can they see me and are sneaking around in the forest behind me to catch me unawares? My eyes dart around the dense trees behind me. I look up at the sky and realise it will be dark in an hour or so. If I’m still here I’m going to run when it gets dark but maybe I should just go inside and knock and ask for help? Shit.
The back screen door slams and I duck away from the hole in the tin so they can’t see me as I hold my breath. The rain is so loud on the tin roof it’s deafening. Oh god, just fuck off rain. Shit, shit, shit.
“Natasha,” I hear a woman’s voice call out.
I frown. What?
“Natasha, I’ve come to save you. The police are looking everywhere. We have caught them,” the voice calls.
Really, oh my god? My heart starts to race as I try to place the voice. I’ve heard it before… I know I have.
I hold my breath with my back to the tin, oh god. Who is it? Can I trust them?
“Natasha, you killed him. He’s dead, you did a good thing,” the voice echoes over the hammering rain.
I screw up my face as my tears come. I killed him—Carl’s dead. Oh god what have I done?
“Natasha,” the voice calls and I hear a trace of an English accent.
My eyes widen and my face drops. Is that Amelie?
“Natasha, please come out so I can take you back to Joshua,” her voice calls over the rain.
I shake my head as anger starts to pump through my veins. Don’t tell me that fucking bitchvet has done all this. Why? Why would she do this?
“Natasha!” the voice screams angrily.
Shit, she’s close, oh my god. I have to move so I can see her. I turn back to look out through the small crack in the tin. It is Amelie and she is looking on the other side of the yard out into the forest and has a pistol in her hands.
I swallow the lump of fear in my throat. Bitch. How dare she?
What do I do? I have no choice but to stay here and fight. My eyes close and I picture my beautiful Joshua in prison on our wedding day. Please be ok, baby, please be ok. It will be dark soon. I have to step out of the shed or she is going to have me cornered. My heart is racing out of control and I grip my chest. I don’t have to worry about her killing me because I’m going to have a damn heart attack before she gets the chance.
I hear the crunch of tyres again on the pebble driveway and my face screws up. Shit, there’s more of them. I will be outnumbered. “Joshua, baby, I love you,” I whisper as my eyes fill with tears and I grip the gun with white-knuckled force. This is it—it will all be over soon.
I keep looking, through the gap in the tin, towards the car that has just pulled up around the front of the house. I frown as my eyes flick to Amelie who is now hiding behind a tree. They are not with her. She doesn’t know who it is either. I grip my gun with renewed purpose and then I hear a familiar voice.
“Hey, look, the glass has been broken,” Cameron calls out.
Oh no, it’s Cameron. Cameron, she has a gun. Get out of here. Where’s
Ben and Max?
I watch in horror as Adrian walks around the car. I put my hand over my mouth. It’s Cameron and Adrian. A phone rings and I hear Cameron’s voice. “Hey,” he answers. “Shit. They lost her,” he calls out to Adrian. “Yeah, ok. We will be there in a minute,” he replies.
What the hell are they doing here? My eyes flick back to Amelie who is now sneaking toward the other side of the house to take them by surprise. She’s going to kill them but it’s me you want. No.
I step out into the rain with my gun. “I’m over here,” I call.
She stops, turns and smiles a sadistic smile when her eyes find me. I’m sopping wet in men’s clothing and I’m holding a rifle. This is just like a fucking horror movie.
She lets out a sickening laugh and my blood runs cold as I raise the rifle and point it towards her. Her face drops and she raises her gun.
“Drop it,” she yells.
Fury drips from my every pore and I keep the gun aimed at her head. The rain is running into my eyes and I try to blink it away.
“I said drop it,” she yells again over the sound of the rain on the tin.
I keep the gun still and try to focus. Pull the trigger, pull the trigger. What are you waiting for? Pull the trigger, Natasha.
The back screen slams shut and her eyes flick to the verandah but I keep my eyes firmly on her.
“Amelie, what are you doing?” Cameron yells.
“Go Cameron,” she yells in reply.
My eyes go to Cameron and his terrified face as his eyes flick to me with the gun.
“Amelie, you don’t want to do this,” he calls. “We can get you some help… it’s ok,” he calls as he walks out into the rain and toward the stairs.
Cameron stop. Stop where you are, I whisper to myself. My eyes flick to the side of the house where I see Adrian sneaking down toward me and I grip the gun tighter.
Amelie points the gun at Cameron. “I will kill you too. Get in the house,” she yells at him.
“Amelie, calm down,” he replies as he keeps slowly walking down the steps towards her. She seemingly loses control and fires the gun and he runs up the stairs. She sprays bullets at him as he runs back into the house and Adrian lies on the ground. The sound is deafening.