by Beth Abbott
“Firstly, I had no idea that Megan was Robbie’s sister.” Evan explained. “They’ve got different fathers and different surnames. So, when I saw her again, it was like being hit by a wrecking ball. I never imagined I’d ever bump into her outside of Cardiff.”
“When did you figure out that they were related?” Kellen asked. “And when did Robbie realise who you were?”
“The first time I saw her was at the hospital, when Robbie was giving presents to the kids. I thought my eyes were playing tricks with me.” Evan half-smiled. “Then on Christmas day, Logan and I went to Robbie’s place, and he asked me to give his sister a lift home because she had car trouble. I was gobsmacked when I realised it was Megan.”
“I imagine she wasn’t particularly happy about being given a lift by the asshole who jilted her.” Hollywood guessed.
“No, she wasn’t.” Evan chuckled. “The first couple of meetings ended in her telling me exactly what she thought of me. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever get a chance to explain things to her. I certainly never thought she’d ever be able to forgive me.”
“And has she given you a chance?” Kellen narrowed his eyes, staring straight at Evan.
“It turns out Robbie knew who I was, and for some bizarre reason he wanted me to get a chance to make things right with Megan. Anyway, he managed to persuade her to listen to me, so I was at least able to give her the whole truth about what happened.” Evan admitted. “She’s working on the forgiveness part, but at least we’re communicating better.”
Hollywood shook his head.
“Judging by the blush on your cheeks, I’m guessing you’ve done a lot more than communicate verbally.” He guessed.
Evan’s head spun around, ready to stop Hollywood saying anything bad about Megan.
“I get it, Evan.” Hollywood held his hands out to calm him. “If she was that important to you ten years ago that you felt the only option was to leave her, I doubt that those feelings have gone away.”
“I don’t think a day has gone past in the last ten years, when I haven’t thought about her or wondered how she was.” Evan nodded. “I cut myself off so completely I had no idea where she was or what she was doing. She could have been married with half a dozen kids for all I knew.”
“Have you told her you’re still in love with her?” Kellen asked.
“I have.” Evan nodded. “I’ve also told her I’d do anything for a second chance. The ball was in her court, but when I left her the other night, after we’d been out for a meal together, I had more hope than I’ve had for years.”
“And what does Robbie think?” Hollywood looked back at the teenager. “How did he know about the two of you?”
“He’d seen a picture of us together a while ago and recognised me when he saw me with Logan.” Evan smiled. “He’s been subtly trying to push the two of us back together.”
“Really? After what you did to his sister?” Kellen couldn’t hide his surprise.
“Robbie wasn’t on the scene when I was with Megan the first time around.” Evan frowned. “He was a little kid living with his dad, because Megan’s mum had a habit of deserting her kids and their fathers. They only really connected after I left, and they’ve been close ever since. That’s why Robbie came up here to play football, rather than go with one of the bigger London or Manchester clubs who made an offer for him.”
“He must love his sister very much to make such a big decision.” Hollywood nodded.
“The feeling is mutual. Megan absolutely adores Robbie.” Evan smiled. “Anyhow, Robbie told me he thought I was the only one who was going to make his sister happy. He doesn’t think she’s been with anyone else since we split up.”
“For ten years?” Hollywood whistled. “That’s just… wow!”
“I’d like to think it was because she could never forget me.” Evan nodded, his expression sombre. “But I think it’s more likely to be because she could never forget how badly I hurt her. She never wanted to go through that again. That’s my shame, and if anything happens to Megan, it’s one I’ll have to carry with me for the rest of my life.”
“Nothing is going to happen to Megan or Suzy.” Kellen insisted. “With everyone here looking for them, do you seriously believe we won’t find them?”
“We’re focussing all our efforts on buildings out of town.” Evan pointed out. “What if they changed vehicles and doubled back? What if they’re in a house in the city, gagged or drugged to keep them quiet? We’ll never find them.”
“True.” Hannah’s voice came from behind him, and Evan’s heart sank into his boots knowing that she must have heard him doubting her strategy. “And it’s something that I had to consider when I decided to commit our resources here to properties outside the city. But when did you ever start to think I was one of those people who liked to put all their eggs in one basket?”
Evan frowned, not knowing what she was talking about. He turned to face her.
“I didn’t mean to doubt you, Hannah. But there are just so many possibilities for what could have happened to them.” He explained apologetically.
“I agree.” Hannah nodded. “But the first thing you have to do is weigh up those possibilities and rank them in order of how likely they are to be what a kidnapper would do. I reckoned that the most likely place for the women to be held was out of town, and I based my decision on where they were headed at the time. But I didn’t ignore every other possibility. While we’ve been forging ahead, looking at out of town locations, the London Hub has been looking at what might have happened if they swapped vehicles just after we lost track of them. They’ve looked at all the other vehicles in the area at that time, and one by one they’ve eliminated them from our enquiries. Plus, we’ve checked every bit of CCTV footage available, looking for a vehicle swap.”
“We’ve also had boots on the ground for the last few hours, going around all the local businesses asking to look through any security camera footage they may have.” Danny stepped up behind Hannah. “There’s absolutely nothing to suggest they changed vehicles, or that they stashed the women in a property within the city limits.”
“How many buildings are still on your list of possible locations?” Evan asked Hannah.
“About fifty or so.” Hannah nodded. “Now that we’ve got the co-operation of the police, they’re helping us narrow them down by checking out the ones we think are least likely.”
“Do you have any favourites yet?” Kellen asked. “Places we could be checking out already?”
“I have a list of about a dozen or so that I favour.” Hannah admitted. “But we’ve decided to wait until they make contact with us, rather than just going blundering in without knowing what we’re dealing with.”
“What makes those twelve more favourable than the rest?” Hollywood asked, staring at Hannah as though she was going to shed light on the true meaning of life.
“They’re sites where there are signs of life where there shouldn’t be any.” Hannah shrugged. “And I know that sounds like it should be exciting news, but keep in mind that it’s the middle of winter. These could just be squatters, or homeless people, trying to get out of the cold.”
“And you think waiting for the ransom call will help us find them?” Evan wondered.
“It will help if we can track where the call came from.” Hannah nodded. “We have satellites tracking all of those sites for movement, and we have all of the possible numbers they could call being closely monitored. I also have contacts at most of the big cell-phone networks ready to do some reverse tracing for us as soon as the call comes through. Between them they cover about ninety-six percent of the registered cell-phone coverage in the UK. If they can’t help us track these assholes, then they’re virtually un-trackable.”
“We’re doing everything we can, Evan.” Matt’s voice had Evan spinning around the other way. “Stay positive and stay focussed. We could be heading out at any moment on a rescue mission.”
Evan frowned as he tried to pro
cess that.
“We don’t have weapons or any of our gear here.” He pointed out. “How are we going to rescue anyone?”
“Everything you need is either in that pile there, or it’s locked in the safe in my office.” Matt smiled and pointed to a stack of equipment in the corner. “Plus, the vehicles downstairs have already been loaded up with everything from night vision goggles to stab-vests. When the call comes through, we’ll be ready.”
As the group broke up and went their separate ways, Evan made his way back to Robbie.
“Everything Ok?” Harry asked. “We were watching you and there seemed to be something of a team meeting going on.”
“It’s all good.” Evan nodded, taking the seat next to Robbie. “Everything is as ready as it can be to go and get Megan back. We just have to be a little more patient.”
“Yeah, patient.” Robbie nodded. “I wonder how much more patience Megan has. She’s waiting for you to come and get her, y’know.”
Evan sighed as he leaned back in his chair, ready to wait it out.
Yeah, I know, he thought. She’s not gonna be disappointed.
Chapter 57 – Heather
Heather’s phone finally rang, making her jump.
“Where the hell have you been?” She demanded by way of a hello.
“I’ve been kinda busy. I can’t drop everything just because you demand it.” He sneered. “Anyway, where the hell have you been?”
“Yeah, well, things haven’t entirely gone to plan.” She growled. “Once I realised that they’d snatched Megan and Suzy by mistake, I was hoping to have a ringside seat, so I could keep an eye on what was going on. Unfortunately, the bastards have side-lined everyone except the ‘Alpha Company family’, so that hasn’t happened.”
“So, how are you going to demand the ransom money now?” He asked. “I was supposed to be sending the ransom message.”
“You still will be.” She assured him. “I’ll get my people to film a proof of life video, and I’ll send it on to you. You just have to forward it on.”
“Look, I’m really not happy about any of this. It wasn’t what you said was going to happen.” He grumbled.
“You agreed to do this.” She smiled, waiting for the explosion on the other end.
“I did not fucking agree to do this!” He hissed. “You blackmailed me into doing it. And when I agreed, it did not involve kidnapping those two women. I would never have been part of something like that!”
“Anyone would think you were the innocent party in all of this.” She chuckled. “But who was it who went to the sex club looking for sweet little young things to play with?”
Heather let the silence run on for a few seconds.
“Who was it got off thinking they were fucking a teenager?” She laughed, knowing he wasn’t going to answer. “Honey, if you’re going to do those sorts of things, you really should make sure there are no cameras around first.”
“You know I didn’t have sex with a fucking teenager.” He hissed. “I had sex with you!”
“As you found out after the event.” She grinned. “But when you asked how old I was, you already had your dick inside me, so you couldn’t have cared that much, could you? And my phone picked up your every word so clearly. It’s so amazing the sound and picture quality on those little gadgets.”
“You really are the most disgusting human being!” He growled.
“Now, now!” She purred. “People in glass houses really shouldn’t throw around large boulders, should they? And anyway, partner, we’re on the verge of making some seriously luscious money. We just have to finish off what we started, and in forty-eight hours we’ll have millions stashed away. I’ll be able to move to America, or somewhere where they’ll better appreciate my talents, and you’ll be able to move to one of those countries where they’re happy to cater to people with your appetites.”
“Fuck you!” He snarled.
“Be ready to send the message on when you get it.” She chuckled. “It’ll be in the next hour.”
Heather ended the call, smiling to herself.
It would be a shame to have to share all that money, when all he’d done was send a few text messages.
Maybe she’d keep it all for herself.
After all, what was he gonna do? Sue her?
Chapter 58 – Suzy
Suzy sat huddled with Megan, clutching the other woman’s hands, blinking her eyes against the bright light of the flash glaring at them from someone’s phone.
“Just hold the tablet in front of you, state your names, the day and time, and tell your families to follow our instructions. That’s it.” A voice behind the flash instructed. “Blondie first.”
Suzy took a breath.
“My name is Suzy Johnson. It’s about ten o’clock on Thursday night. I’ve been told to tell you to follow the instructions you’ll be sent.”
She passed the tablet to Megan.
“My name is Megan Powell. It’s ten pm on Thursday. Please follow the instructions they’ll send you.”
The flash was switched off plunging the room into almost darkness, and Suzy watched a man step forward and snatch the tablet from Megan’s hands.
“Ok, that was good.” One of the kidnappers sounded satisfied. “We’ll send this to your families, and you can pray that they know how to follow instructions.”
As the men turned and walked away, Suzy heard one of them muttering.
“I almost hope they fuck this up.” He chuckled. “We could keep them here for months as our own personal sex-slaves. Nobody would ever know about it.”
The door clicked shut and Suzy let out a breath.
“Ignore that asshole.” She whispered to Megan. “He’s just saying that to frighten us.”
“Could you see what was on the tablet screen?” Megan frowned.
“Yeah, I think it was something with the date and time on it. Maybe a news website?” She guessed. “They must have taken a screen-shot of it before they came downstairs, because there’s no way they would have been getting an internet signal down here.”
“That makes sense.” Megan nodded. “So how long do you think they’ll give the families to get the money together?”
“The banks don’t open until nine o’clock in the morning at the earliest.” Suzy shrugged. “I suppose it depends how much they’re asking for, and how they want it to be paid. Assuming it’s cash, and we’re talking seven figures, then not many local branches will have that sort of money hanging around. It may take some time to get it together, and they may even have to bring it up from London.”
“Wouldn’t they want it electronically?” Megan asked. “By bank transfer?”
“They might do.” Suzy nodded. “But that requires a level of pre-planning that I don’t think these guys are capable of. They’d have to have multiple accounts, preferably offshore, for the money to be transferred into. Then they’d have to bounce it around loads of other accounts before making fast withdrawals in far flung, slightly dodgy locations. It really isn’t as easy as you’d think, not if you really expect to get away with it. Money in the banking system is pretty easy to track.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Megan sighed. “I never realised it was so difficult to have so much money in a bank. I get my wages, pay my bills, save a little for Christmas and maybe a holiday, and I’m happy if at the end of the month I have a little left over.”
“Doesn’t Robbie pay for your holidays and stuff?” Suzy asked innocently.
“No, he damn well doesn’t!” Megan huffed. “Sponging off my baby brother is the pastime of my other sibling. I don’t take anything from him. He’s going to need that money for when his playing days are done. Football is a short-lived career, even if you’re lucky with injuries. I’d rather he assured his future than wasted money on me.”
“Are you sure you and your sister share even one parent?” Suzy chuckled. “Every time you mention your sister you refer to her as ‘Cerys the Leach’. You couldn’t be more diffe
rent if you tried.”
“I’ll take that as the nicest complement.” Megan smiled.
They sat quietly for a little while before Suzy started to get anxious again.
“How long do you think we should wait before we try and make a run for it?” She wondered. “It’s been maybe ten minutes already?”
Megan scrambled to her feet.
“I’ll start taking the screws out slowly, and if they haven’t come back by the time I’m done, we’ll make a dash for it.” She suggested. “Well, I’ll dash… you can hobble.”
“Har-har!” Suzy grinned, even though she knew Megan was too far away to see her. “Do you think we should take anything with us? Food or water, maybe?”
“Water, definitely.” Megan agreed. “We can manage without food for a few days, but we need water.”
“I’ll put two bottles in your bag.” Suzy agreed.
“Maybe take one of the sleeping bags as well.” Megan suggested.
“Why?” Suzy frowned. “Are you planning on stopping off for a nap?”
“No, but it’s probably going to be freezing cold outside.” Megan explained. “When we’ve made contact with the outside world, we may have to wait in the woods for them to arrive. We don’t know how long that could take.”
“True.” Suzy nodded. “Smart woman.”
“There’s also the possibility that we might have to hide in one of those rooms downstairs.” Megan was obviously thinking this through. “The sleeping bags are black, so we could hide underneath if someone comes looking for us.”
“Good thinking.” Suzy agreed, starting to roll Megan’s sleeping bag back up.
“Ok, that’s almost done.” Megan whispered. “I’m going to leave my phone on airplane mode for now, just in case it finally gets a signal while we’re trying to get out of here, and we get a phone call as we’re making our escape.”
“Probably for the best.” Suzy whispered. “Could you help me get up onto my feet? Once I’m up, I should be Ok.”