by Emma Tallon
Anna bent over in pain as she came to the end of her rant. She didn’t care anymore. Nothing mattered except for the burning hate running through her veins. If she achieved nothing else she would put an end to the psycho who had taken so much from her and she no longer cared if she burned in the fires of hell for it.
His eyes glinted with cold amusement. ‘Well, well, well. I didn’t think you had it in you, Anna,’ he said. ‘You’ve always been such a good girl, such a straight player.’ He tilted his head, studying her.
‘Even good girls have their limits,’ she said, staring back at him with blind hatred.
Diego stepped out of his room behind them, rubbing his eyes. ‘What’s going on?’ he asked.
‘Tool up. Someone triggered the motion sensors down the bottom of the lane. I saw two cars coming this way. They’ll be here any second,’ he replied.
Anna felt a spark of hope. It had to be Freddie. She saw worry flit across his face and a manic smile began to form on her own. She laughed out loud.
‘He’s here, isn’t he?’ she asked, hope and wonder colouring her tone. ‘Freddie’s found you.’ She shook her head with glee. ‘Everything you’ve worked for has been for nothing,’ she spat, taking a further step towards him.
Anger flashing in his eyes, he grabbed her and turned her round, forcing her further down the hallway. ‘Get in there,’ he shouted, shoving her into his office. ‘I’ll be back soon and then we’ll finish this business together.’ Slamming the door behind her, he locked it from the outside.
Anna tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. ‘Shit,’ she cursed. Ignoring the pain in her stomach, she spun around wildly and looked for anything that might help her. The monitors on the desk caught her attention and she sat in the chair to look at them more closely. There were five screens in total. One of them showed her bedroom, empty now. The other four were angled around the outside of the house and down the long, winding lane leading up to it. Her eyes scanned these quickly and she made a noise of excitement as she saw the two cars pulling up just outside.
With renewed hope she looked around for a weapon of any kind. She opened the top drawer of the desk and her eyebrows shot up. There was a handgun in there, the one she had seen him use earlier. He must have forgotten to take it in his haste to move her.
Picking it up she checked the magazine. It was empty. Her heart dropped. Rifling through the rest of the drawer, she paused as a movement on the screen caught her attention. They were here. Her heart skipped a beat and she leaned in closer to watch.
50
Freddie stopped the car at the front of the old farmhouse and Fraser pulled up nearby. They had turned their lights off a mile away, but even so he was pretty certain that Anna’s kidnapper would know they were here by now. The house was in darkness, not a sound to be heard. It didn’t fool Freddie one bit.
He indicated to the others to fan out around the house. There were six of them, but he didn’t know how many men they were up against. Every one of them was armed with a gun. Freddie wasn’t taking any chances.
Keeping the car door between him and the house, he called out. ‘I know you’re in there. I know it’s you. Come out here, now.’
Freddie saw the window open and the gleam of gun metal. He froze momentarily as he caught sight of the naked hatred in the face just beyond it. The pause was all the other man needed and he cocked his gun.
‘Freddie!’ Fraser yelled. Freddie didn’t move. ‘Shit.’ He started running towards him, closing the short gap between them. The other man took aim and Freddie stepped back, looking around for cover. ‘Move,’ Fraser yelled, his police training coming to the fore.
He reached Freddie and shoulder-barged him as hard as he could to the ground just as they heard the shot ring out.
Paul cocked his gun and pointed it up at the window, but the shadow disappeared. Freddie swore as he stopped rolling and sat up.
‘Fred, you OK?’ Paul ran over to his brother.
‘Yeah, just,’ Freddie replied, checking himself over. ‘Bastard,’ he seethed, looking up at the empty window. ‘That was no warning shot. He was shooting to kill.’ His lips formed a hard line as Paul helped him up.
‘Thanks for the shove, Fraser.’ Freddie turned to the other man gratefully. Fraser was still lying on the ground a couple of feet away. Freddie walked over to help him up. ‘Come on, we’ve got to move. We’re sitting ducks out here.’
He paused as Fraser didn’t respond.
‘Fraser?’ He lay on his side, facing away.
Freddie crouched and pulled him onto his back. Fraser’s eyes stared up into the sky, unseeing. Blood trickled out of the small bullet wound in his skull. He was dead. The bullet hadn’t missed them – he had just taken Freddie’s place.
‘Shit,’ he muttered, closing his eyes and groaning. Paul joined him and let out a long breath as he saw Fraser.
‘It’s not your fault, Fred.’ He knew Freddie would be beating himself up. ‘He knew what he was doing. There are always risks in this game. Things just didn’t work out this time,’ Paul said soberly. He stared down at the dead man’s face. At least it had been quick.
Freddie growled in anger. Fraser had been on his payroll for years and although he didn’t usually have much respect for two-sided plods, Fraser had always been the exception to the rule. He trusted Fraser and liked the guy. Fraser had always come up trumps and had never been afraid to actually earn his money. Men like that were hard to find. Freddie shook his head and glanced back at the house darkly.
‘We need to move.’ Freddie looked around at the others’ faces. Shock, grim determination, sorrow, but no one’s face showed fear. He nodded. They were ready to move forward. ‘We’re going to make him pay for that,’ Freddie vowed. ‘No one shoots one of my men and gets away with it.’
‘Paul, Bill, you go round the back and do a sweep of that barn. Seamus, Sammy, come with me.’
Paul and Bill slipped off into the darkness and Seamus and Sammy fell into line behind Freddie.
‘You sure you’re up to this?’ Freddie asked Seamus. The boy still looked peaky.
Seamus nodded. ‘You already got the bastard that poisoned me. I need someone to take my frustrations out on,’ he replied. Freddie tilted his head in acceptance.
Taking one last look at Fraser’s body, he turned away and moved towards the house. He tried the front door. It was locked. They crept silently around the side to see if they could find another way in.
Paul and Bill reached the barn and entered through the side door. The stench from the bodies hit them and each of them knew straight away what it was. They exchanged a knowing look. Turning on the light on his phone, Paul headed straight to the back of the barn – the most logical place to dump them, he figured – beyond the abandoned Corvette with its smashed side window. He made a sound of disgust as the light revealed the four bodies.
‘Jesus…’ He moved aside so Bill could see. Bill looked down and shook his head.
‘He could have at least disposed of them. What a mess. It’s not like this place is short on fields; we’re surrounded—’ A noise made him pause and turn around. ‘Did you hear that?’ he whispered.
‘What?’ Paul replied quietly. He cocked his head and listened.
In the silence they could just make out the sound of someone breathing nearby. Their breath came out with a strange rattle, sounding laboured. There was someone in here with them.
Bill signalled for Paul to go down one side, whilst he took the other. They silently crept forward, keeping their guns cocked and their senses alert.
As Paul trod carefully around the junk that was strewn around the barn, the breathing got louder. He was close to whoever it was. He shone his light forward, expecting to be met with a fight, but as he turned past the boot of the old car his mouth opened in surprise at what he found.
‘Shit, it’s Tanya! Bill, get over here,’ he yelled. He dropped to his knees next to Tanya’s inert body and pushed her hair out of her face. She w
as grey and unconscious but still just about breathing. He shone the light down on the rest of her body and grimaced. Tanya was holding an old rag against her stomach. It was drenched in blood. He guessed she had been trying to stem the bleeding. She was leaning up against a stack of sandbags and there were bloody drag marks for a few feet. Paul calculated that she must have pulled herself over before she passed out.
Bill bent down and looked her over. He tapped her face, trying to get her to wake up. ‘Hey, Tanya, can you hear me? Tanya?’ There was no response.
‘We need to get her to a hospital – quickly,’ Paul said. ‘Help me get her to the car.’ He slipped his arm under her back and started to lift her.
‘Try not to scrunch her up; it’ll make the bleeding worse,’ Bill replied as he grabbed her legs. Paul slipped his second arm underneath her as they lifted her from the ground, trying to keep her as flat as possible as they walked.
They moved as fast as they could without jogging Tanya around too much until they reached the cars. Bill glanced up at the dark house. It was eerily silent.
‘Take Fraser’s car,’ Paul whispered, glancing over at the dead man’s body. ‘He’s not going to need it now and you can dump it after. No trace.’
Bill nodded. They gently lifted Tanya into the back seat and laid her down. With a nod, Bill set off and Paul turned back to find Freddie. He marched off towards the back of the house, praying to God that he didn’t stumble across Anna next.
Freddie, Sammy and Seamus walked through the back door of the property with caution. It was the only door that had been unlocked and they made their way inside down the long hallway. Freddie moved forward, keeping to the front. All his senses were on high alert. He had no idea what to expect. The house was large and rooms went off in every direction.
Suddenly, in front of them a young man came running out with a baseball bat above his head. He ran towards them with a yell and Seamus pushed Freddie out of the way. Without hesitation he aimed at the head and shot him dead. The man dropped the bat and fell backward, blood seeping out onto the floor from the small hole in his forehead.
Seamus blinked and lowered the gun, looking at it in shock. It was the first time he had ever shot at a real person. It was the first time he had killed a man. He looked to Freddie, unsure what to do next. Freddie gripped his arm and nodded at him, his expression silently indicating that he knew how Seamus felt. The first time always felt surreal, no matter how hard you were, and it would be something Seamus would have to come to terms with in his own time.
‘No!’ There was a high-pitched scream as Izobel launched herself out of the kitchen onto the man’s body. ‘No, no,’ she moaned. She looked up at them with hatred. ‘You killed him! He had no choice and you killed him.’
Before anyone could answer, Izobel screamed with hot rage and launched herself down the hallway. There was a glint of metal as the moonlight shone on the carving knife she wielded. Freddie tried to stop her, grabbing her arms and turning her round. There was a struggle as he realised in shock that she was a lot stronger than she looked.
‘He had no choice, we had no choice, you bastards!’ she cried. Freddie tried to restrain her, but Izobel kicked out at his shin and he lost his balance. The pair went down like a pile of bricks, Freddie landing on top of her. He quickly rolled off and braced himself to stop her again, but she didn’t move.
‘Izobel?’ he said. ‘Get up. Where’s Anna?’
He paused and looked closer, pulling her over onto her back. The carving knife stuck out at an odd angle just below her chest. She had fallen on it in the struggle. Izobel was dead. He blew out heavily and looked up at his companions with a grim expression.
‘Fuck,’ he breathed.
‘You tried to stop her, Fred,’ Sammy whispered.
Freddie nodded. It couldn’t have been helped. He had only been trying to restrain her, to get some information. He hadn’t meant for her to die. So many wasted lives littered their path towards Anna. He had to put an end to this – now.
Freddie stood up and they continued slowly down the hallway, checking each room as they went.
He unlocked the door and Anna threw herself at him.
‘Easy, Anna,’ he said through gritted teeth as he grabbed her arm and steadied himself. He held a knife up to her neck. ‘Did you really think I wouldn’t come prepared? Now stay still,’ he snarled.
He was starting to get worried. Things weren’t going as planned. He hadn’t intended for Freddie to find out it was him yet, not until he was safely behind bars, out of the way for good. But somehow he had worked it out. How? he wondered.
Now it seemed that two of the three people he had working for him had gone and screwed things up. It was down to him and Tom and they had no way of contacting each other. He didn’t even know where Tom was right now. But he had one last game up his sleeve, one that he knew Freddie wouldn’t be able to get out of. He dragged Anna through the hallway to the top of the stairs and called out.
‘Oh, Freddie,’ his voice was mocking, a sing-song tone to cover his fear. ‘I’ve got your favourite toy up here. Aren’t you going to come and get it? Now, now,’ he said as Freddie ran into view. ‘Not a step closer or I’ll slit her throat right here.’
Freddie stopped and held his hands up, his heart momentarily lifting at the sight of Anna still alive. His eyes flicked over to the man holding her and his gaze burned with anger. The two men stared at each other for a moment, a myriad of dark emotions radiating out from them, through the hallway. He stared back at Freddie with naked hatred and Freddie wondered how on earth it had come to this.
‘Michael,’ he growled. ‘Let her go.’
Tom walked into the hallway behind them, breaking the thick tension. Seeing the three men in the hallway he immediately tried to turn and run. He tripped over Izobel’s body and sprawled to the floor. Sammy grabbed him and pulled him upright.
‘Tom? What are you doing here?’ Freddie asked. Tom stayed very quiet, all his earlier bravado disintegrating now that he was faced with Freddie for real.
‘Oh, haven’t you worked that out yet? Tom works for me,’ Michael said. ‘How do you think I’ve been getting my information? He was under your nose this whole time. And the funny thing is, if you had just taken him seriously, his loyalty would have been to you. But you didn’t.’
Freddie turned to Tom, shocked and disgusted. ‘How could you?’ he said.
Tom jutted his jaw out in defiance. ‘You treated me like a joke. You all did. Even my bitch of an ex-girlfriend.’
Freddie’s eyes flashed at his words. Sammy clamped a hand over Tom’s mouth, sick of hearing him speak already.
‘That bitch of an ex-girlfriend is worth ten of you, you piece of shit. You don’t get to bad-mouth her, and you certainly don’t get a chance to do this to anyone else ever again.’ Freddie curled his lip in disgust. ‘When we get out of here, your life is over.’ He turned away.
Sammy relaxed his grip a little as everyone turned their attention back to Michael and Anna. Feeling the slack in his hold and realising Sammy was distracted, Tom swiftly twisted his body around. Sammy’s hold broke and Tom ducked before Sammy could grab him again.
‘Hey!’ Sammy shouted. In one fast movement, Tom turned and punched Sammy in the face. No one had been expecting the move and Sammy fell back against the wall. Tom turned and ran, this time jumping over the bodies in his way.
Sammy recovered and set off after him at lightning speed. Seamus fought the natural urge to join him and help. He knew his boss needed him here. The sound of the two men faded away into the distance.
Freddie pursed his lips. He would deal with Tom later. Right now he needed to get Anna away from his psycho of a brother.
‘Let her go, Michael. Now,’ he ordered.
‘Oh, I don’t think so. At least not yet. I want something from you first. A few things, actually,’ Michael responded.
‘What do you want?’ Freddie asked.
‘Well…’ Michael began to walk
Anna down the stairs slowly, the knife still tight against her throat. Her breathing was fast and ragged as adrenaline coursed through her. She looked around, trying to calculate how to get away from him. ‘The first thing I want is for you to get out of my way, so Anna and I can go for a little drive.’
‘Not going to happen,’ Freddie replied firmly.
Michael ignored him. ‘Then I want you to call up the local police station and admit to all of your crimes. I want to hear that you’ve made a full statement and that you’ll be relocating at Her Majesty’s pleasure for the rest of your miserable life. And then,’ Michael said, smiling, ‘then I’ll bring Anna home, safe and sound. And don’t worry.’ His dark eyes were eerily blank in the shadowy light. ‘Both she and the business will thrive under my management.’
‘You’re fucking mad!’ Freddie exclaimed.
‘Oh, no one’s challenging that. But in this life you have to embrace a bit of madness if you want to survive.’ He cocked his head. ‘I’m curious. What gave me away? I wasn’t expecting you here just yet.’
‘The farm. The car was registered here. I remembered the address,’ Freddie replied.
A few years before, Michael had taken Freddie out to the farm to ask the owners if they were interested in selling. He had come across it by chance one day and had taken a liking to it. He’d told Freddie it was the perfect safe house, hidden from general view with lots of barns and no neighbours for miles. Finding a gem like that so close to London was rare; it would have been a good addition to the Tyler portfolio. But the elderly owners had not wanted to sell, even for a price way above the odds. They had a son who they wanted to pass it down to one day. Michael had not taken kindly to this and had brooded over it for days.