by Beth Abbott
“Honey, despite what I said, we all know there’s no way Matt has been having an affair with Lacey. It’s just not the way he’s made.” Danny insisted. “And I’m sure Suzy knew that all along. But that being the case, and knowing he was innocent, I suspect that Matt didn’t give as much consideration to Suzy’s concerns as he should’ve. The fact that she felt their relationship was threatened in the first place, should have been a red flag to Matt that he needed to give Suzy more reassurance than she was getting.”
“Yeah, but when he should have been at home, reassuring his wife, instead he was feeling sorry for ‘poor Lacey’, and going behind Suzy’s back to make Lacey feel better.” Hannah scoffed. “What was he thinking? Asshole!”
“Maybe so. But look at it from Matt’s point of view.” Danny reasoned. “Unbeknown to the rest of us, he’s been under massive pressure for the last year, trying to get these contracts and keep everything else ticking over. Of course, being a typical guy, he didn’t want to admit to anyone that he was struggling.”
“Being a typical macho asshole, you mean?” Hannah corrected him.
“Same difference.” Danny agreed happily. “Anyway, Lacey has been the one person helping him through everything, so in Matt’s mind, he owes her some kind of loyalty. He knows there’s nothing going on between them, so he doesn’t think how it might look bad that he’s sticking up for her all the time and favouring her.”
“But what I can’t get my head around, is that Suzy’s effectively been missing for hours, and Matt said nothing to anyone.” Hannah growled.
“He didn’t know that, Hannah.” Danny reminded her. “And he was too embarrassed to admit that they’d had a fight to tell us she’d gone awol. Besides, if Suzy hadn’t left her bag in Matt’s car, I wouldn’t have put it past her to have had a shopping frenzy and blow up his credit card buying stuff for the kids and the house. It’s the sort of thing she would do to get back at him, knowing that Matt couldn’t really complain because she hadn’t spent a penny on herself.”
“Dammit!” Hannah hissed, as she wrapped her arms around Danny’s waist and hugged him closer. “It’s killing me to think what Suzy might be going through. Robbie’s sister, too.”
“This is not the same as what happened to you, baby.” Danny murmured into her hair. “Whoever took them has already been in touch with the family to make sure we know they’ve got Suzy and Megan. That means they’re after money, pure and simple.”
“That doesn’t mean they won’t hurt them.” Hannah sniffed. “Men who do shit like this aren’t known for their morality, Danny. Moral turpitude is more like it.”
“Sweetheart, if you’re gonna talk dirty to me, can you at least use words I can understand?” Danny leaned down to nuzzle into her neck.
“I wasn’t talking dirty, Danny.” Hannah growled.
“I know.” She felt his laughter through his chest. “But any time you want to, just know that I’m right here for you.”
Hannah pulled back and glared at her husband.
“Take a breath, Hannah.” Danny smiled. “If you let your mind wander down dark roads, you’ll end up in a bad place. Do your job working with what we know, and we’ll get them back. Worrying about shit that may never happen will cloud your thinking.”
Hannah nodded.
“You’re right.” She stopped to take a deep, cleansing breath. “I just need to focus on what we know and work the problem from there.”
“Could you do something else for me?” Danny ran his fingers down her arms until he could take her hands in his. “Could you go and give Matt a hug? He’s already blaming himself, but this isn’t his fault. It’s just shitty bad luck. He needs to feel our love and support.”
Hannah felt the anger drain away.
Matt was probably sitting in the conference room, petrified as to what could be happening to Suzy, scared to death that he might never get her back, and convinced that everyone in the room blamed him for everything.
“Ok.” She stood on tiptoes to kiss Danny softly. “Suzy wouldn’t want us to be mad at Matt. We have to pull together.”
They walked back to the conference room, and Hannah noticed that the Guardians, Evan, Logan, Kellen and Hollywood were still sitting in front of screens, staring intently at them. Robbie was watching them all carefully, biting his fingernails as he tried to follow what they were doing.
Matt was sitting at the table staring into the distance, a frown causing deep gouges on his forehead.
Hannah walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“We’ll get Suzy and Megan back.” She whispered into his ear. “You just wait and see.”
She felt Matt’s shoulders give a shudder, as though the weight of the world had been pressing down on them.
“How’re we going to do that when we don’t know who has them.” Matt turned to look up at her, and Hannah noticed he had Suzy’s phone in his hand. “She has nothing on her to help us track them.”
Hannah was about to argue, when something clicked in her head.
“No, but Megan does.” She spun around. “Has anyone started tracking Megan’s phone yet?”
All the faces that turned towards her looked at her blankly, and Hannah sighed.
“Ok, people. We need to forget that we’re trying to find one of our own, and instead, try and start looking at this whole thing unemotionally.” She said loudly. “We’re so caught up in this being about Suzy and Megan that we’re not thinking straight. Everyone is doing the same thing. We need to split up the tasks to save time.”
She walked up to Robbie and Evan.
“I need you to track Megan’s phone signal. I’ll get you into one of my systems that will help you track it. You put the full number in but replace the initial zero with forty-four.” She turned to Abbey. “Abbey, you and Logan work on tracking vans prior to the kidnappers arriving at the stadium. Danny? You and I will focus on the vans from the point they leave the stadium. As soon as we can be sure we know the vehicle’s registration number, we’ll plug into the police’s system to track it down. Kellen and Hollywood, keep going through the stadium footage for any other angles we might have missed.”
She glanced back at Matt.
“Get us everything the police have given you about the threats that Robbie was sent. We can’t be sure the threats are connected because this was such a random kidnapping, but we can’t rule anything out, either.”
Hannah glanced around the room to see everyone still staring at her.
“Well, come on people! What are you waiting for?” She half-smiled. “We’re Alpha Company… let’s fucking act like it!”
Chapter 46 – Megan
“I really don’t understand how they’re gonna extract money from Robbie and your husband.” Megan kicked a bit of dirt on the floor. “It’s not like they can just look up their number in the directory and make a quick call. I don’t know about your husband, but Robbie’s number isn’t listed.”
Suzy frowned.
“That’s true.” She nodded. “But then again, his number would be in your phone wouldn’t it? In your bag?”
“It’s in there, but he’s sure as hell not listed under Robbie Jones, superstar footballer.” Megan grinned. “Besides, my phone has one of those security pattern things on the front to get into it. I might have gotten a bit carried away when I was setting it up. You’d never guess your way in.”
“Ok, so that means one of two things is going to happen.” Suzy sat forward, gingerly. “Either they’re gonna come and get the phone number from me and the unlock code off you, or they’re not. That will tell us a lot about what’s going on.”
Megan stared at Suzy, wondering how badly she’d hit her head.
“Ok, run that by me again, I’m afraid I missed something important.” Megan frowned. “What will it tell us?”
“Ok, they have to make contact with our families, right?” Suzy began.
“Right.” Megan nodded, relieved that she was keeping up so far
.
“And to do that, they need our families’ contact details, right?” Suzy continued.
“Right.” Still with her, Megan nodded.
“So, if they haven’t actually asked us for the telephone numbers, but they manage to make contact with Robbie and Matt, that will tell us something about who’s had us kidnapped.” Suzy smirked.
Megan frowned.
“What will it tell us?” Suzy had lost her again.
“It’ll tell us that it’s an inside job by someone that already has access to those numbers.” Suzy grinned. “That will narrow the field down somewhat, because it’s got to be someone who knows us both.”
As the reality sank in, Megan’s stomach churned.
“I don’t know whether that thought is better or worse than the idea that it was a case of mistaken identity, or we were just some randomly selected target.” She scowled. “I really don’t like the thought that someone connected to us would do this.”
“Honey, I hate to burst your bubble, but I doubt that there’s a soul alive that doesn’t know someone who’d do this sort of thing for the right financial reward.” Suzy shrugged. “The sad truth of it is that most people have at least one person in their family and friends’ circle that might actually wish bad things on them, but thankfully, very few people realise that they actually know someone who would help them go through with it.”
“I don’t think I know anyone who would be so callous.” Megan shook her head. “Do you?”
Suzy snorted a laugh.
“Matt’s PA, Lacey the Bitch?” She smirked. “I think I’ve pissed that little madam off more than enough recently to make her want to take a contract out on me.”
Megan stared at Suzy for a moment, trying to put some jigsaw pieces together.
“Hold on a second…” She sat up straighter. “You said your name is Suzy Johnson, right?”
Suzy nodded.
“In the flesh.” She smiled.
“So, that means your husband is Matt Johnson of Alpha Company.” She frowned.
“Yep. That’s him. The gorgeous hunk of manhood that pisses me off constantly.” Suzy nodded. “Why does that make a difference?”
“Because my husband actually works for him. You. Alpha… Well, the Guardians, I think they’re called.” Megan exclaimed.
“Your husband?” Suzy stared at Megan’s naked left hand pointedly.
“Well, technically, he’s my ex-husband.” She admitted. “But we just kinda rekindled things somewhat. I guess you could put our relationship in the ‘it’s complicated’ category.”
“Who is your husband… ex-husband, or whatever?” Suzy frowned.
“Evan Williams.” Megan smiled shyly. “We were childhood sweethearts.”
“Oh, my God!” Suzy grinned. “I didn’t know Evan had ever even been married!”
“No.” Megan scowled. “Apparently my existence has been a closely guarded secret.”
Suzy sat chuckling to herself for so long that Megan wondered what was so hilarious.
“Ok, can you please tell me what you find so amusing?” She eventually asked. “I didn’t think being kidnapped and locked in a basement was much cause for mirth. Or is it my hitherto disastrous relationship with my ex that you find so funny.”
“I was just thinking to myself that whoever those guys are that kidnapped us, they sure don’t know anything about our connections.” Suzy grinned. “I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes if any of the Alpha Company guys get hold of them. But I seriously wouldn’t want to be one of them if either Matt or Evan catches them first. I swear those guys will rip them limb from fucking limb for even breathing too close to us.”
Megan couldn’t help but smile, realising that Suzy was probably right.
Evan had shown himself to be totally devoted to her over the last few days. She could only imagine what he’d do to the men that kidnapped them.
“What about the woman on the phone?” She asked suddenly. “Do you think she’s behind this?”
“Could be. It sure sounded like she was pulling the strings.” Suzy shrugged. “No doubt we’ll find out in due course.”
“So, what do we do now?” Megan asked. “Wait patiently for them to come back?”
“Not exactly.” Suzy glanced around. “Is there any chance you can see out of the windows and tell me what’s out there?”
Megan climbed to her feet and moved to the high basement windows.
“I’m about six inches too short.” She groaned, looking around for anything to stand on. “All I can see is cloudy sky.”
“Try walking to the far side of the room and looking across.” Suzy suggested. “You might get a better angle from over there.”
Megan did as Suzy directed, and tried to stand on tiptoes to get a better view.
“I can see a single storey building.” Megan confirmed. “It’s old, like this one, and most of the windows are smashed out. I guess we should think ourselves lucky that the windows in this building aren’t broken. We’d be freezing to death otherwise.”
“True.” Suzy nodded. “Can you see anything else? Signs, or vehicles?”
Megan walked up and down the room, looking for something. In the end she gave up on doing it the ladylike way and started jumping up and down like she was pogoing to the Sex Pistols.
“I wish I had my camera to film you.” Suzy chuckled. “I’m guessing Evan hasn’t seen much of this side of you.”
“Evan hasn’t seen anything of me for a decade, so you’re probably right.” She grinned. “But then…”
Suzy glanced up as Megan jumped again.
“What is it? Why did you stop talking?” She demanded.
“There’s a sign.” Megan hissed. “Well, half a sign. Some of the sections are missing.”
She jumped again.
“Shep-something-Farm-something.” Megan relayed.
“Shep?” Suzy frowned. “You’re sure it starts with Shep?”
“Positive.” Megan nodded. “Why?”
“Did I tell you I studied history for my degree?” Suzy asked.
“I didn’t even know you had a degree.” Megan shrugged.
“My thesis was on the Second World War, and specifically the effect it had on various types of industry in Britain, before, during and after the war.” Suzy explained.
“And that helps us how?” Megan frowned.
“It helps because while I was doing my thesis, I visited quite a few local sites that had been used for secret operations during the war.” Suzy explained. “Shepton Farming Equipment was one of several identical sites. It was supposed to be making farming equipment during the war, as the name implies, but instead it was manufacturing radio equipment for the soldiers being dropped overseas. Spies and such. It’s built on a network of tunnels, with rooms below ground used for different bits of the manufacturing process.”
“And how does that help our situation?” Megan asked.
“It helps, my dear Megan, because not only do I know exactly where we are, I’ll wager Matt’s Range Rover that I know this place a whole lot better than those assholes upstairs. I visited here a few times before they shut the site down when funding ran out, and I’ve been to some of the other sites dozens of times. Unfortunately, not that much of historic interest happened at Shepton, so they just closed the gates and let the place rot.”
Megan nodded.
“That’s great news that you know your way around.” She frowned again. “But how the hell are we gonna get out of here and escape, with your ankle swollen to the size of a watermelon?”
“Yeah, I’m working on that.” Suzy scowled. “One problem at a time, Megan. One problem at a time.”
Chapter 47 – Matt
“Have you found anything of interest in the threatening letters?” Hannah flopped down into the chair next to Matt.
He glanced up, and Hannah could see the desperate look on his face. It wasn’t like he could hide it.
“I’ve sorted them into piles ranging from
least likely to be connected, to most likely to be connected.” Matt indicated four piles of papers in front of him. “The large pile on the left is the least likely, which is why it has the most letters in it. The pile on the right is the most likely to be connected.”
Hannah leaned forward and picked up the single letter that sat in the ‘most likely’ pile.
“This is it?” She glanced at the letter.
“Yep, there’s just the one that mentioned anything remotely like a kidnapping, and the only reason I picked that one is because they mention a woman with blonde hair.” Matt shrugged. “Suzy is blonde.”
“So is Cerys.” Robbie pointed out. “We’ve always worked on the basis that all the threats against my sister refer to Cerys, which explains why there’s a reference to blondes. They’ve never mentioned a brunette, which was why we thought Megan was safe.”
“I’m still a hundred percent certain that this was a random pickup.” Evan shook his head. “I don’t think either Suzy or Megan were targeted. It was either a case of mistaken identity, which I doubt, or they were the next best thing.”
Matt frowned at Evan.
“Explain both statements.” He instructed.
“Ok, well, one of them could’ve been mistaken for the wife or girlfriend of someone at the club. A player or management, maybe?” Evan shrugged. “And because the two of them were standing together, the kidnappers figured they might as well bag two for the price of one.”
“It’s possible, although we’d have to see pictures of all the wives and girlfriends to narrow it down.” Matt frowned. “What did you mean by ‘the next best thing’?”
“Well, maybe they were expecting someone specific to be outside in front of the gates, and when she wasn’t there, they decided anyone would do. After all, both women were dressed smartly, hanging around outside the non-public entrance to the club.” Evan frowned. “Perhaps the kidnappers figured they were probably ‘somebodies’, and worth having a crack at.”