by Beth Abbott
“Honey, I don’t think anyone has explained to you yet that I can do this shit in my sleep.” Hannah crouched next to Robbie and rested her hand on his. “Someone really should have told you that in our family, I’m known as the Queen of Badass. It’s partly due to my superior intellect and my genius with computers. It’s also partly due to my devotion to our family, and the mile-wide protective streak I have down the middle of my back that I share with my gorgeous husband. It’s also a tiny bit to do with my attitude towards anyone who would do harm to those I love… namely that I’ll happily fuck them over in ways they never dreamed could happen.”
Hannah glanced up at Danny, who was grinning at her.
“Right, baby?” She winked at him.
“Absolutely.” Danny nodded in response.
“But I like to think it’s mostly down to my modesty, and quiet, self-effacing nature that makes people constantly underestimate me. Obviously my size and sweet disposition throw people off.” She squeezed Robbie’s hand. “Now, why don’t you and Evan keep searching for locations, and I’ll get back to my satellites, and between us, we’ll track down Megan and Suzy, and get them back safely. Hmm? How does that sound?”
As Hannah stood up, she patted Evan on the shoulder.
“Keep at it, Evan.” She nodded. “I promise you… perseverance pays off.”
Evan and Robbie watched the tiny woman walk back to the corner, replace her headphones, and start fiddling with her laptops.
“Is she really as good as she says?” Robbie whispered to Evan.
“No, she’s a hundred times better.” Danny answered for him. “She’s helped us rescue people all over Europe, Colombia, the Gulf of Mexico and America to name but a few. They’re just the ones that have involved our family and friends. There have been dozens of other operations where she’s helped bring about a successful outcome.”
Robbie glanced back at Danny, looking a little embarrassed at having been caught questioning his wife’s credentials.
“I didn’t mean…” He began.
“It’s Ok, Robbie.” Danny smiled. “Hannah wasn’t kidding when she said about being underestimated by people, and I guess, because of her size, it’s almost understandable. But Hannah’s the real deal, Rob. Believe me!”
“Then we’d better get back to finding places for her to look.” Robbie nodded, pulling the screen closer.
As Robbie glanced towards the screen, Evan looked up to see Danny still watching the teenager.
When Danny looked back at Evan, he could tell Danny was showing a fatherly concern toward the boy.
Evan nodded to Danny, to let him know that he would be watching out for Robbie, and Danny patted him on the shoulder in acknowledgement, before turning and heading towards Logan and Abbey.
“What’s this place?” Robbie brought his attention back to the maps.
Evan stared at the map but couldn’t quite figure out what they were looking at. It almost looked like a stately home, but there was nothing flagged up by Google to let them know what they were looking at, and when they tried to zoom in closer, the map just scrambled.
“Matt?” Evan looked up at his boss. “Can you have a look at this for us? You’re a local, so you might know what you’re looking at.”
Matt walked around the table to stare at the screen over their shoulders.
“I think it’s one of the factories they used during the second-world war.” Matt guessed. “The fact that you can’t zoom in, and there’s no tag letting you know what it is, usually points to it being a former military base. It’s probably still owned by the Ministry of Defence, and nobody has gotten around to taking it off the ‘Sensitive Sites’ list yet to declassify it.”
“I’ve heard of some of those places.” Evan nodded. “Didn’t they sometimes use stately homes?”
“They used all sorts.” Matt shrugged. “The Midlands has dozens of them dotted around. Of course, a few of them have now been opened up to the public as museums you can visit, but there are loads more that haven’t. Some of them were doing mundane shit, some of them were involved in spy stuff of the ‘Top Secret’ variety, and some of them were simply back-ups for the departments in London, in case they were ever bombed and put out of commission. That’s why certain parts of the Midlands were targeted by Hitler’s planes. They were almost as vital to our success in the war as London itself.”
Evan realised his chin had landed on his chest when he saw Matt smile at him.
“And you know all about this shit, how?” He asked, impressed with his boss’s knowledge.
“When Suzy did her degree, her thesis was on all that shit.” Matt smiled, but his eyes were distant, as though he was remembering something. “She would go on all these field trips and come home and tell me all about them. I forgot how excited she used to be to learn about all this stuff.”
“Do you think it’s possible the kidnappers might know about these places?” Robbie wondered. “Or are they still Top Secret?”
“A lot of the locals will know of their existence, I would have thought, even if they didn’t know exactly where they were all located.” Matt shrugged. “You’ve only got to drive around the area on the country lanes, and sooner or later you’ll come across some fencing and a rusty old sign that says, ‘MOD land – Keep Out’. It always struck me as strange that they’d keep all that land and not sell it, because some of it is prime real estate. But I guess it would cost a lot to put it back to a condition where it could be built on without fear of collapse.”
“Why would it collapse?” Robbie frowned.
“As I said, these sites were a prime target for the German bombers, so a lot of it was built underground. There are escape tunnels and underground bunkers beneath some of the more strategically important sites. If they haven’t been maintained for the last seventy-five years, there’s a distinct possibility they could collapse. They might even be flooded by now, if nobody has been maintaining the sites properly. A lot of them were more below ground than above. All it would take was a collapsed roof or smashed out windows for the rain to get in, and over a few years the basements would eventually fill up.”
“Would it be worth getting the addresses of the ones closest to Birmingham?” Evan wondered. “They sound exactly like the places Hannah was talking about, and if they’re not named or identified on the maps, then we’d never list them.”
“It’s worth a try.” Matt nodded. “I’ll get JT to speak to his father-in-law. Joseph works with all the MOD people, so I’m sure he could get hold of a list for us.”
Evan watched Matt head over to where JT was talking to Claire.
“I think that was a good shout, Robbie.” He clapped the boy on the back. “See if you can find us a few more gems like that one.”
Chapter 50 – Megan
Megan stood by the doorway, listening to the noises from outside.
“I think someone’s coming.” She hissed as she darted back over to where Suzy was now lying on the floor. “Remember, play dead, and if they try and rouse you, groan and retch like you’re gonna puke. Those are classic symptoms of concussion.”
“Don’t worry.” Suzy grinned up at her. “I can put on a BAFTA winning performance if I need to.”
As they heard footsteps getting closer, Suzy lifted her hand to her head, partially shielding her face, and Megan watched her visibly relax her muscles, her eyes closed.
The key in the lock startled Megan, and she stared at the door as it was pushed open, and two masked men walked in. Gary Barlow and Jason Orange, or was it Howard Donald? She never could tell the difference between them.
“Get up, both of you.” The guy with the Gary Barlow mask barked.
Megan made a big deal of scrambling to her knees.
“She can’t get up.” She mumbled. “I think she’s got a concussion from where she banged her head.”
“Get up!” He barked again, walking over to Suzy and nudging her none too softly with his boot.
Suzy groaned and grabbed her head, as though
the sound itself was painful.
“I told you!” Megan insisted. “She’s got a nasty bang on her head from where she fell. I’ve been trying to keep her awake, but it’s been almost impossible. She’s going to need proper medical attention, or she could die.”
Megan watched the two men look at each other.
“Bullshit!” The other man snorted a laugh. “Get the fuck up!”
He walked towards Suzy as if he was going to kick her harder, but Megan staggered to her feet and jumped between them.
“It’s not bullshit!” She gasped. “Look, I’m a nurse. I know about stuff like this. You bang your head and you get bruising inside, maybe a dangerous swelling. You don’t mess around with this kind of injury, because it can turn fatal really quickly.”
“You’re a nurse?” Gary scoffed, looking at his partner. “You’re trying to tell me we kidnapped a nurse?”
“You’ve got my bag.” Megan pointed out. “My hospital ID is in my wallet if you want to check it for yourself.”
“If you’re a nurse, who’s she?” He pointed to Suzy.
“I have no idea.” Megan shrugged. “We never met before today. I was waiting outside the stadium for my lift to work, and she was waiting for her husband to come and get her bag out of the car. He dropped her off to catch the train to work and her bag was still on the back seat. He’s a security guard or something, working for the club. We’d just got chatting.”
The second guy turned his back on her as though that suddenly meant she couldn’t hear him.
“What the fuck is going on, Reggie?” He growled. “Jay said we had a couple of rich bitches down here, with husbands who’d pay a fortune to get them back.”
“I don’t even have a husband.” Megan muttered under her breath.
Suzy groaned again, and Megan struggled not to smile.
“Look, could you get me my bag and some water.” She stared at Gary Barlow, or Reggie, as the other guy had called him. “I have some tablets in there that might help. Some painkillers and some anti-inflammatories that might help reduce the swelling. It’s not much, but it’s all I can do for her if you’re not going to get her to a hospital.”
Megan held her breath, hoping that neither of the numbskulls would have the first clue whether she was telling the truth or not.
Giving someone with a severe concussion an ibuprofen, was about as useful as giving someone a sewing kit when they’d just hacked their arm off with a chainsaw.
“Go and check the ID in her wallet.” Reggie instructed the other guy. “If she’s telling the truth and it says she’s a nurse, bring her bag back down with you.”
The second guy left, leaving the guy called Reggie staring at them.
“I don’t understand why you’ve taken us.” Megan said quietly. “Did you think we were rich or something? I’m lucky if I’m still in the black when payday comes around.”
“You don’t have to understand anything.” Reggie pointed out. “All I need to know is that the person we’re working for seems happy that we’ve got the two of you, and we’re still gonna get paid the same.”
“So, this person has confirmed we weren’t who you were after?” Megan leaned forward. “Then who were you hoping to snatch?”
Reggie shrugged.
“Just some bitch who had access to someone with big bucks.” He answered candidly. “I didn’t have her name, so it doesn’t matter now.”
“How do you know they’re not just stringing you along, making you think that we’re worth something?” Megan suggested. “Maybe they’re trying to distance themselves from you, so you take the fall without them when you realise that we’re worthless.”
“There won’t be any chance of that.” Reggie insisted arrogantly. “My brother knows who she is, and who her contacts are, and we’ve got proof she was the one who hired us for the job. If we go down, she goes down harder.”
“I see.” Megan didn’t really. “I guess as long as she’s happy, then presumably she’ll find the money to pay you from somewhere.”
Reggie turned as the other guy walked back in, her bag under his arm as he went through her wallet.
“She’s telling the truth.” He nodded, handing Reggie her ID. “She’s a nurse in Birmingham.”
Reggie grabbed her bag and opened it, rummaging around inside.
“Where’s her phone?” He asked.
“It’s still upstairs, switched off, like you said.” Jason/Howard confirmed.
Seemingly satisfied, Reggie threw the bag to her.
“And some water, to help her swallow the tablets?” Megan asked, clutching her bag to her chest.
“We got Coke, but no water.” Reggie shrugged.
“Coke will be Ok for now.” Megan nodded. “But is there any chance you can get bottled water? She’s gonna need quite a few litres of it to keep her hydrated. Coke will be Ok to get the first of the tablets down, but it’s no good for hydration because of the high sugar content.”
“I’ll get some water brought in for later.” Reggie nodded, turning back to the door. “We’ll bring you some Coke in a few minutes. Just keep her alive. Understood?”
As the door slammed shut behind them, and their footsteps faded away, Suzy’s head popped up and she grinned.
“Wow! You are absolutely amazing at feeding those assholes bullshit!” She chuckled. “I think they’d have believed you if you told them you could cure a brain tumour with aspirin.”
“They were pretty stupid.” Megan acknowledged. “Look, stay in place for the moment because they’re gonna come back with some Coke in a minute. Once they’ve gone again, we can see if my work phone is still in my bag and try and get hold of someone.”
“Just don’t say anything else that’s so ridiculous it’s funny.” Suzy warned. “I almost snorted with laughter when you said you were gonna fix my concussion with anti-inflammatories.”
“I’ll do my best.” Megan grinned. “Besides, I guess we should be grateful that they’ve got a bunch of idiots watching us. It would’ve been a whole lot worse if they’d have had an ounce of common sense between them.
Suzy lay back down as they heard footsteps.
Megan didn’t know how long it was going to take before these guys realised that both she and Suzy had family with money, but hopefully, they would have been able to at least put out a mayday call before that happened.
Chapter 51 – Matt
“How’re you doing, Matt?” Claire stood behind him, holding out a fresh cup of coffee.
He stood up automatically and took the hot mug from her.
“I’m doing Ok.” He placed the mug on the table and turned back to the woman who’d been their second mother for almost fifteen years. “How are you doing?”
“Honestly?” Claire pulled out the chair next to Matt’s and sat down. “Right now, I’m feeling every one of my years, and it’s just reminded me I’m getting too old for this shit. I used to be able to work through these situations and leave the analysis until it was over. Right now, all I can think of is that those girls are God knows where, and there’s not a damn thing I can do to help them.”
“I kinda know how that feels.” Matt slumped back into his chair. “All I feel like I can do is watch, while Hannah and the tech smart-cats do their shit. Once they get an idea of where she is, and we have a mission to go on, I’ll know what to do, but until then, I feel like I’m the dumb fuck in a classroom full of brainy kids.”
Claire smiled sympathetically.
“Matt, you’re hardly dumb.” She pointed out. “You’re simply like the rest of the family… just one cog in a big machine. We all have our parts to play, but because of the nature of things, it always seems like Hannah and her techies start the ball rolling, and then the rest of you take over. At least you know that at some point your skills will come into play. These days I think all I’m good for is making sure there’s a constant supply of tea, coffee and sandwiches. I’m starting to feel like a spare part that nobody needs. Maybe it’s time
I was put out to pasture.”
“The day you retire, the whole of Alpha Company will fall apart.” Matt smiled. “You’re the glue that holds us together. We’d be lost without you.”
Claire leaned forward and patted his hand.
“You’re as full of shit as you were fifteen years ago.” She smiled. “But I appreciate the effort.”
“Every word is true, I swear.” Matt smiled. “And if she was here, Suzy would tell you the same thing.”
“She’ll be here soon enough.” Claire nodded. “You’ll get her back, don’t you fret. Just like you rescued Hannah, and CJ, and Tuck and Candy. Hell, you’ve always got them back. Knowing your wife, I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets back all by herself.”
“Maybe she’ll start giving them hell for spoiling her day.” Matt grinned. “They’ll send her home in a pre-paid cab.”
“Now that would be funny.” Claire grinned. “And so typical of that little spitfire.”
“You have no idea.” Matt’s smile faded. “Although, she’s not been so much of a spitfire lately. She’s lost some of her spark, and that’s all down to me. I fucked up, Claire, and now, when all I want to do is apologise and make things right, there’s nothing I can do to let her know how sorry I am.”
“She knows you, Matt.” Claire shook her head. “She knows how much you love her, and that’s all she’ll be thinking of right now.”
Matt shook his head.
“We had a fight in the car this morning, when she found out Lacey was coming with me to the meeting.” He grimaced at the memory. “We said some horrible things to each other. I said some awful things to her.”
“You’re a married couple, Matt.” Claire patted his hand. “All couples fight from time to time. It’s just a fact of life that if you live together long enough, you’re bound to go through these rough patches.”
“She really had a bee in her bonnet about Lacey.” He shook his head. “It was completely ridiculous, and Suzy knew it, but she wouldn’t let it go.”
“Was it?” Claire asked bluntly, staring him straight in the eye. “Was it completely ridiculous, Matt?”