Demons

by Beth Abbott

  JT tapped his mic.

  “Guys, we’ve got three of them in a room at ground level, but the two that were orchestrating this are in a room one floor down from us, which puts them a floor above you.”

  “We’re just about to come through the door at the lowest level.” Kellen’s voice was barely a whisper. “If you can do something in about thirty seconds to attract their attention and bring them out onto the landing, we can take them from behind.”

  “Roger that.” JT confirmed, checking his watch. “Starting countdown now.”

  He grabbed hold of the first guy and dragged him to the door.

  “When I give the signal, I want you to call your friends and tell them they need to come up here.” JT pointed the gun at the guy’s head to make sure he understood how seriously he should take JT’s request.

  He watched as the seconds tick down.

  “Now!” He instructed.

  “Reggie? Jay? Get up here, fast!” The guy yelled, his voice hoarse as though it’d been a long time since he’d shouted anything.

  JT listened for any sound, but there was only silence from below.

  “Again!” He instructed. “Louder, this time.”

  “Reggie! Jay! Get up here!” The man yelled louder. “We got ‘em.”

  This time there was a definite sound of movement below, and as they heard footsteps on the stairs, Luke and JT stepped back into the room, dragging the idiot with them.

  “What the fuck are you talking about, saying you got them?” A voice sounded excited.

  “Man, you’d better not be pissing me about!” Another voice followed on. “I’ll beat the shit outa you if…”

  There was the clear sound of some heavy thuds followed by a series of grunts.

  “Well, howdy fellas.” Kellen’s exaggerated Texas twang was unmistakable. “What would you two be doing taking a stroll this late at night, hmm?”

  JT stuck his head out of the door to find Kellen and Hollywood, each pinning one of the assholes to the floor.

  “What do we have here?” Logan picked something up from the floor. “Someone dropped their phone. And the screen’s unlocked.”

  “Give it to me.” JT reached for the phone as fast as he could. “I need to change the password before the screen shuts down.”

  He quickly accessed the settings and realised it required a fingerprint to change the password. He called up the screen where he needed to enter the ‘old password’.

  “Who dropped the phone?” He asked Logan.

  “This guy.” Kellen pushed one of the men forward.

  JT grabbed the man’s hand and pushed his right thumb onto the screen.

  It immediately changed to ‘new password’, and JT grinned before adding his own thumbprint.

  “Hey, you can’t do that!” The man protested. “That’s against the law!”

  JT looked at the guy in amazement.

  “And what do you call kidnapping two women?” He snorted a laugh. “Besides, all of my friends here just watched you voluntarily help me change your password. Nothing illegal about that.”

  “Grab whatever phones and shit they’ve got on them and invite them to unlock them for us.” Luke instructed, as he started to frisk the man closest to him, pulling a small knife from a leather holster attached to the guy’s belt.

  “Before we turn you over to the cops, why don’t you tell us who put you up to this?” JT asked. “Give yourself a chance of a single digit prison sentence by co-operating.”

  The man who’d been so kind as to give them Reggie and Jay’s names earlier sat on the floor, whimpering something about not knowing the bitch’s name. The rest of the men sat in stony silence.

  “Nothing?” JT looked around him. “Nobody wants to see their kids again outside of a prison visitation room before they’re grown-up?”

  Luke shrugged.

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m done with this shit.” He moved towards the door, tapping on his mic. “Hannah, can you let the police know they can move in now, sweetheart? Five kidnappers, all locked down. They’ll need scenes of crime officers to process the van and the room Suzy and Megan were in, to retrieve whatever evidence there is.”

  “No problem.” Hannah’s voice came through JT’s earpiece. “SOCO have been on standby, as well as the armed tactical unit, for the last half an hour.”

  Each of the Alpha-Guardian men dragged one of the kidnappers out through the main door, with JT playing doorman and clearing the way. When they got to the carpark, the kidnappers were pushed to the floor, and made to lie down with their hands on their heads.

  By the time the police arrived, JT’s suppressor had been removed from his weapon, and all of them had holstered their guns.

  As the first cars pulled up, the Alpha Guardians stood easy with hands spread wide, so the police officers could see they weren’t a threat.

  “We’re Alpha Company.” JT shouted. “We didn’t bring any handcuffs with us, but these are your kidnappers.”

  When David Roan stepped out of the second vehicle with the Chief Superintendent, JT breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I thought I’d better come and ID you, so none of the police mistook you for criminals and started shooting at you.” David smiled.

  “Nice touch.” JT grinned.

  “What have we got here?” David nodded towards the five men on the ground.

  “The brains behind it, if you can call them that, are Jay and Reggie.” JT pointed to the two men. “The others are just hired help.”

  “Were they acting alone?” David frowned.

  “No, I think there was at least one more person behind it, a female, but we’ll know more in a little while.” Luke smiled.

  David gave JT a searching look, but obviously guessed that they were holding something back that they didn’t want shared with the Chief Superintendent.

  “Can I give you all a ride back into town?” David smiled. “Suzy and Megan are on their way to hospital as we speak, so I’m guessing you’d like to give Matt some support?”

  “That sounds like an offer we’d like to accept.” JT nodded.

  David turned to his fellow senior police officer.

  “Well, Burridge?” He smiled. “I’ll leave you and your men to arrest the kidnappers and process the scene. It should improve your arrest record if nothing else.”

  He didn’t wait for Burridge to respond, instead turning back to the vehicle he’d arrived in.

  “Now where’s that driver gone?” He looked around, moving towards the van. “Now that you’ve done all the hard work, I rather think it’s time I got you out of here.”

  JT followed behind with the Alpha Guardians, reaching the van at the same time as a uniformed constable.

  “Get us back to the city, would you?” David smiled at the driver. “We have some family members being taken to hospital, and we’d like to get there as quickly as possible.”

  As the rest of the men climbed into the back of the police van, David turned to JT with a pointed look.

  “And then maybe you’ll tell me what you’re up to that you didn’t want that numbskull to find out about.” He murmured.

  “No problem.” JT nodded. “But can we stop off at the Alpha offices on the way to the hospital to collect Hannah? There’s something I’d like to pass on to her, so she can get working on it straight away.”

  Realising there was more to that statement than needed to be discussed in front of the constable, David just shook his head and sighed.

  JT would explain all about the phone to him in due course, but possibly not until after Hannah had retrieved what she needed from it.

  Chapter 65 – Matt

  The fifteen-minute flight to the hospital must have been the longest fifteen minutes of his entire life.

  As soon as they’d gotten back to the helicopter, Megan had taken charge, and even while Vicky had been taking off, Megan had been barking instructions to get Suzy’s coat off, and for Matt to strip off his stab-vest and jack
et.

  Once they were both down to a single layer of cotton clothing, Megan had gotten Matt to wrap his wife up tightly in his arms while she, Evan and Danny wrapped them both up in blankets and the sleeping bag.

  Once they were snuggled up tight, Megan constantly rubbed her hands over the sleeping bag covering Suzy’s back, almost as though she was trying to encourage circulation.

  “Hypothermia 101.” Megan smiled at Matt. “Body contact is the best way to warm someone up if you don’t have anything else.”

  “Why don’t you let Danny rub Suzy’s back, and you get over here, so I can warm you up?” Evan growled. “Suzy isn’t the only one who’s freezing.”

  Danny took over from Megan as the woman fell into Evan’s arms. His rubbing was obviously more robust than Megan’s, because a minute or two later Matt heard Suzy make a little groan.

  “Careful not to jostle her foot.” Megan reminded them. “And just rub her back, not her arms and legs. She needs all her blood in her core, not at her extremities.”

  Matt tightened his arms around Suzy’s slender frame.

  “It’s Ok, baby.” He kissed the top of her head. “We’re nearly at the hospital now. You’re gonna be just fine.”

  He could’ve sworn he heard her mumble something, but it was disguised by the full body shudder that threatened to rip her from his arms.

  “One minute out.” Vicky shouted from the front.

  Matt braced himself for a jerky landing, like they’d had when they’d arrived at the field earlier, but to her credit, Vicky put the chopper down without so much as a bounce.

  As Evan pushed the door open, Matt could see a bunch of medical staff running towards them with a trolley, and he watched Evan jump out first, so he could lift Megan out before Danny helped Matt climb down with Suzy.

  Against his better judgement he allowed them to take Suzy from his arms, and he watched as they lay her down carefully, covering her back up with the blankets.

  “Moderate hypothermia and a broken ankle.” Megan barked at the medical team as they rushed her away.

  Matt ran alongside them as far as the doors, and then held back while they wheeled the trolley inside.

  They moved her straight into a trauma suite, and while all their attention was on Suzy, Matt slipped into the room unnoticed.

  He watched in silence as they peeled the blankets from her, biting his tongue as they cut the rest of her clothes away leaving Suzy in only her underwear.

  Within seconds she was being covered by a warming blanket, and someone was checking out her ankle.

  “I don’t think there’s a blood supply to the foot.” The guy examining Suzy’s ankle proclaimed. “She’s gonna need a scan to check what damage there is, and we’re gonna have to get her into surgery as soon as she’s warmed up enough.”

  As the doctor turned away from Suzy’s foot, he noticed Matt standing in the corner.

  “And you are?” The guy scowled at him as though he was responsible for Suzy’s condition.

  “I’m one of the team that just rescued her from kidnappers.” Matt explained carefully. “I’m also her husband.”

  The physician looked back at Suzy and then stared at Matt for a moment.

  “She’s got moderate hypothermia, which we’re looking to address with warm blankets and a warm intravenous drip.” The doctor explained. “We don’t want to bring her temperature up too quickly, but as you heard, I’ve got some concerns about the blood supply to her foot. Do you know how she got the injury?”

  “She was pushed or fell down some stairs, and the other woman who was kidnapped with her fell on top of her.” Matt explained, his eyes never leaving his wife. “That was probably about twelve or thirteen hours ago. She may have made it worse when they tried to escape, about two hours ago.”

  “Ok, then we need to get a move on.” The doctor nodded. “Do you have anybody with you that you can wait with?”

  “When she goes into the OR, I have family who’ll stay with me. They’re either already here or on their way.” Matt nodded. “Until then, I’m staying wherever she is.”

  The doctor looked like he was going to argue, but then, probably given Matt’s size, and the scowl he was wearing, he thought better of it.

  “You can stay with her for now.” He agreed. “It’ll probably be half an hour at least before a theatre will be available.”

  Matt watched a nurse pull a stool from under a desk and place it by Suzy’s head.

  “Why don’t you have a chat to your wife while we fix her up?” She smiled at him. “By the look of you, you’re about to collapse with exhaustion, and I don’t think there are enough of us to pick you back up.”

  Matt sat on the stool as close to Suzy as he could be, without getting in anybody’s way.

  Someone slipped an oxygen mask over her face, and a couple of nurses partially uncovered her to slip on a hospital gown. Thankfully they were female, and quite mature, and gave some consideration to Suzy’s modesty.

  He looked around and noticed that most of the medical team had moved on to the next patient.

  “We’ll take care of her now.” The oldest of the nurses smiled at him. “Warm air, warm intravenous fluids and lots of nice thick heavy blankets to get her core temperature up. By the time they’re ready to scan her foot, she’ll be as warm as toast.”

  “Don’t be surprised if she starts shivering again, or even trying to take her clothes off.” Another nurse grinned at him. “It’s just the brain sending out funny signals because her body is so cold.”

  “Yeah? And I always thought it was the sound of my seductive voice that had her getting naked.” Matt murmured, hoping Suzy could hear him. “And all this time it was just because the central heating had gone off.”

  “Your voice would probably do it for me.” The older nurse grinned at him. “Although, I don’t suppose my stripping for you would have quite the same effect on you as your wife doing it. She’s a pretty little thing.”

  “She’s the most amazing woman you’ll ever meet.” Matt leaned in to kiss Suzy’s uninjured cheek. “She’s been my everything for almost twenty years.”

  “Then I’d say you’re a very lucky man.” The nurse smiled at him as she tended to Suzy. “Do you have any kids?”

  Kids! Carol!

  “Shit! I need to make a call.” He looked around him. “Can I make it from here?”

  “As long as you’re very quick.” The older nurse nodded.

  Matt pulled out his phone and dialled his home number.

  It barely rang once before Charlie picked up the phone.

  “Hello?” He sounded so wary.

  “Hey, Charlie. It’s dad.” He murmured.

  “Dad?” Charlie sounded close to tears. “Is mum Ok? Have you got her?”

  Matt rubbed his hand over his eyes. He should have known his son would find out what was going on. He was too bright not to guess something was amiss, especially with Ellen there.

  “Mum is right here in front of me.” He reassured his son. “She’s asleep at the moment, and they’re trying to warm her up because she was freezing cold, but it’s nothing life-threatening. She’s got a broken ankle from where she fell down some stairs, and they’re gonna have to operate on it, but that’s just a minor injury. Otherwise, she’s absolutely fine. She’s gonna be as good as new in no time.”

  There was a pause before Charlie spoke again.

  “They didn’t… do anything…” He couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “Absolutely not!” Matt insisted. “They were just after money, Charlie. Megan and your mum were just random victims apparently.”

  Matt could hear what sounded like Charlie crying in the background, and his heart cracked open.

  “Matt, it’s Ellen. Is Suzy gonna be Ok?”

  “Yeah, she’s going to be fine once they’ve operated on her ankle.” He said quietly. “Is Charlie Ok?”

  “He’s gonna be just fine, Matt.” Ellen reassured him. “He’s just having a cuddle wi
th his grandma at the moment. I think both of them needed to let out some tears.”

  Matt was torn between wanting to be at the hospital for his wife, and at home for his son.

  “Taylor doesn’t know anything about this, does she?” He asked quietly.

  “No, she knows absolutely nothing.” Ellen said quietly. “We let one of her schoolfriends come for a sleepover to distract her, and they only fell asleep about an hour ago.”

  “That’s great, Ellen.” Matt murmured. “I can’t thank you enough…”

  “You don’t have to thank me at all.” Ellen interrupted. “We’re family, remember? I’ve been on the receiving end of the family’s help myself, don’t forget, so it’s always my pleasure to be able to give back.”

  “Ok, then can you put Charlie back on the phone for just a second?” Matt asked. “There’s something I need to say to him.”

  Matt waited for his son to come back to the phone, staring at his wife all the while.

  “Dad?” Charlie sounded so choked up.

  “Hey, Charlie.” He said sadly. “Look, I just wanted to thank you for looking after your grandma and Taylor and Rory today. I know it can’t have been easy for you, but you’re almost grown up now, and you stepped up and acted like a man today. I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks, dad.” He could hear the emotion in his son’s voice.

  “I know I haven’t been setting the right example lately, and I’ve let you guys down more than I should’ve.” Matt felt a rush of guilt flood through him. “I’m so sorry, son. But I promise I’ll do better from now on. I’ll be there when you need me, and not blow you off when work gets crazy busy again.”

  “Ok.” Charlie mumbled. “That’d be good for everyone.”

  “Ok.” Matt coughed to clear the lump from his throat. “I’ll call you in the morning to let you know how your mum is, but make sure you tell your grandma not to worry. Everything’s gonna be just fine.”

  Matt ended the call and tucked the phone back in his pocket.

  He’d just moved the stool a little, so he could be closer to Suzy, when he looked down and noticed she was staring at him, eyes wide open.