by June Gadsby
“Good evening!” A small, polite voice made them jump and when they swivelled round they found that the owner was a short, comfortably built man in his seventies who was regarding them with unbridled interest from the flat opposite. “Can I help you? You know, I don’t think there’s anybody at home in number seven. It’s been very quiet for some time.”
“Look, old man,” Gavin went to the old fellow and laid a hand on the padded shoulder that was no higher than his own waist. “This is an official emergency. I’ve got to gain access to this flat. You wouldn’t have the spare key would you?”
“Oh, no!” the man shook his head violently and his smooth rosy cheeks vibrated with the action. “He would never trust me with a key. Too nosy you know. I am. It’s quite true and I’m the first to admit it, but then I always say that God gave me a nose and meant me to use it.”
“So you don’t have the key, Mister….?”
“Arthur.”
“Mr. Arthur…”
“Just Arthur, dear boy. Can’t stand being addressed as ‘Mister’. Makes me feel old.”
“Okay, Arthur. Look, this is very important and…”
“You’re American, aren’t you? Why don’t you do like they do in the movies? Go on, let me see you do it. Kick the door down.” He lifted his foot as he spoke and went through the motions of a lethal kick-boxing step, nearly overbalancing in the attempt.
Gavin looked from the old man to Sally, then stared at the door. Sally saw him take a deep breath just before his foot lashed out and the door splintered from the jamb.
“Gavin! Oh, my God!”
The old man was rubbing his hands together and laughing heartily. “My dear girl, don’t stop him now. Good heavens, isn’t this exciting? Do you mind if I come in with you? I’ve always wondered what the inside of the dear boy’s flat was like. He’s never invited me you know. I think maybe he’s afraid that I’m an old queer since I live alone.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t think any such thing, Arthur,” Sally said over her shoulder as she followed close behind Gavin, picking her way delicately over the caved-in door.
“I’m not you know…Oh!” Arthur had bumped into her because she had stopped suddenly, watching Gavin’s face as he reached down and picked up a small red shoe.
Sally recognised the shoe instantly. It was one of a pair and they were Anna’s favourite shoes. She had worn them often. She watched Gavin turn it around and around in his hands, saw the agitated twitch of the muscle in his cheek.
“Oh, that must belong to the little girl,” Arthur came forward and pointed to the shoe. “Pretty little thing she was.”
“You saw her?” Gavin demanded and Arthur flinched nervously. “You saw a little girl here in this flat? Come on, old man! This is a matter of life and death.”
“Oh, my goodness! Well, there was a little girl here this morning. She came with a tall, rather ugly looking fellow. Not much hair and a big nose. Eyes were too close together. Never trust a man whose eyes ride too near the nose. The poor little mite wasn’t at all happy. I got the impression that she was frightened.”
“Where was Rob in all this?” Sally wanted to know. “Was he with them?”
“No, but I know he hadn’t left the flat at that point. And he didn’t leave later after the woman arrived.”
“Woman? What woman?” Gavin was sounding more and more threatening and the old man’s chin began to quiver.
“A fancy looking piece – all blonde and big jewellery.”
“Nadine!” Gavin muttered darkly.
“Good looking, some might say,” Arthur went on, “but she had a hard face beneath all that make-up. The three of them left together half an hour later. I got the feeling that the little girl was an unwilling passenger, though she never uttered a word.”
“What car? Did you see the car?” Gavin persisted and Sally took hold of Arthur’s arm and gave it an encouraging squeeze, which won her a grateful smile.
“Yes, of course I saw the car. Why that’s my hobby. From my window I make a note of all the cars I see during the day. Make, colour, registration, occupants when I have enough time. The car the woman was driving was a metallic green BMW and if you’ll just come across to my flat for a second I’ll give you the registration… Good heavens! What was that?”
They all spun around at the sound of a groan and a hollow thump coming from the bedroom.
“It’s coming from the wardrobe!” Sally said as a second thump came, followed by a third and a fourth and further groans that were beginning to sound more like muffled words now that their attention was caught.
Gavin crossed the room in two great strides and yanked the wardrobe door open. Sally gasped and ran forward as a very crumpled Rob rolled out onto the carpeted floor. He was gagged and hog-tied and looking positively purple in the face from lack of oxygen and the effort to free himself.
“Oh, Rob!” Sally was fumbling with his fastenings, but was pushed aside by Gavin who tore off the broad Elastoplast that was keeping him quiet and almost suffocating him.
“Poor boy!” Arthur murmured and went off to explore the kitchen, announcing his intention of making a pot of tea.
“Who’s he?” Rob looked from Gavin to Sally with round, worried eyes.
“Never mind who I am,” Gavin barked at him, making him blink. “You’re going to have some explaining to do to the police later about aiding and abetting kidnappers. Now, tell me what you know as quickly as possible.”
“Aye, all right – anything you say, but get me out of these ropes.”
“First the answers!”
Sally bit her lip as she saw Rob wince. He wasn’t the most courageous of souls at the best of times, but she felt utterly sorry for him now. He had been cruelly used and Gavin was prolonging his agony.
“Who was this Bruce fellow? He wasn’t your brother, was he?”
Rob shook his head. “No. I don’t know him from Adam, but he made me do it. He was the one who invented the story about my broken foot. He threatened to do all sorts of things to the kids at The Rose Carousel if I didn’t do what he told me… I – I believed him. He was rotten to the core that one.”
Rob’s voice cracked and he turned his face away so they couldn’t see his tears. Sally got down on her knees beside him and put her arms about him, hugging him tight.
“It’s all right, Rob. You’re safe now.” She looked up at Gavin’s stern face and saw no mercy. “Well aren’t you going to cut him free or…?”
“There’s no time for that. The old man can do it when we’ve gone.”
“Where are we going?”
“After Nadine and her boyfriend, who is undoubtedly one of Macey’s henchmen. At least we have a description of the car. Arthur!”
Arthur appeared in the kitchen door, teapot in hand. “Any idea where the car was heading? The one with the child in it?”
“North, dear boy! I’m afraid that’s all I know…”
“You’ve done just great, fella!” Gavin forced his mouth into the semblance of a grateful smile and Sally relaxed a little, seeing the human being coming back into the mean machine. “Release Rob here, will you – and then I want you both to give all this information to the police.”
“The police!” Sally was running after him as he bounded down the stairs and out into the street. “But Gavin, won’t that cause trouble for you? Gavin, you kidnapped a child. You’ll go to prison!”
“Get in, if you’re coming!” Gavin ordered as he pulled open the passenger seat door of his car. She did as he said and he slammed the door shut then got in behind the wheel. The car seemed to take off instantly, tyres screeching and gears grinding.
“Isn’t there some other way…?”
“I’m past worrying what they do to me. I just want to make sure that Anna doesn’t land back in the hands of that pervert. You understand that, don’t you, Sally?”
Of course she understood. He was a father who loved his daughter. He couldn’t stand back and let her life be ruine
d, physically and mentally. He had to do what he had to do and she was right there with him.
“What do you want me to do, Gavin?”
“There’s a map there in the pocket beside you. Take it out and find the freeway for Scotland – sorry, motorway, main road, whatever. There’s a place called Glen Tor just north of Dumfries. You can map-read, can’t you?”
“I’m a female,” Sally grimaced, trying to lighten the atmosphere between them. “We’re not noted for our talents at navigation.”
“Do your best. I’ve driven there once before, but it was a few years ago.”
“How do you know where they’re headed?”
“I don’t. I’m just taking a guess and following my gut feeling. Macey has a hunting lodge up there on the edge of the moors. It’s his private hideaway.”
“Lucky man!”
“He won’t be lucky when I get my hands on him.”
“Just promise me one thing, Gavin,” Sally laid a hand on his arm, feeling the taught muscles beneath the material of his jacket. “Promise me you’ll be very, very careful. I don’t want to…”
Goodness, she was about to blurt out something like not wanting to lose him, but that was hardly the kind of thing to say in the circumstances. After all, they didn’t really have a relationship, did they. It had almost started, but had been curtailed before getting beyond the basics. Besides, what would have been the point in starting a relationship with a man like Gavin Calder? He wasn’t even from her world.
“You don’t want to what?” He glanced at her swiftly, then turned his concentration back to the busy road ahead.
“Oh, nothing. I just don’t want Anna to end up visiting you in prison.”
His hand sneaked out, squeezed her thigh. She nearly choked on her emotion. Instead, she took a deep breath and hurriedly found the place in the map that he had told her. Thank heavens it seemed a pretty straightforward route. To Dumfries at least.
What they were going to do when they got to this place that Gavin knew about – this hunting lodge – heaven only knew. Sally was aware of her heart pumping at a quickened rate and her blood racing through her veins. The nearer to Scotland they got, the worse it became. Fear and excitement made a heady cocktail.
It was already dark and drizzling a fine, misty rain as they reached Dumfries. Gavin negotiated heavy traffic through the town centre, then they headed north over the River Nith and took the Kilmarnock road.
“You can put that map away now, Sally,” Gavin told her softly and in the dark she felt his fingers squeeze her hand. “Well done. We’ve made it.”
“Oh, it wasn’t that difficult,” she said, feeling her face flush red and glad he couldn’t see it.
“No, but you made it easier for me. Thanks.”
“What about the rest of the journey?”
“It’s not on the map, but I think I can remember the way from here.”
“I hope so. And I hope your gut feeling is right. About them being there, I mean.”
He tossed her a smile that was picked up in the headlights of an oncoming car. “Me too.”
Chapter Nine
“So what do we do now?” Sally whispered hoarsely as Gavin switched off the car headlights and the motor.
“You stay here while I go in.”
“I’m coming too!”
“I’m not having you put yourself in danger on my account.”
“Who said it was on your account? I’m thinking of Anna.”
“I still want you to stay here where you’re safe.”
They were sitting outside a low, log cabin that had been constructed more like a small mansion and must look, Sally thought, very attractive in the daylight. Right now it looked dark and sinister, apart from one small chink of light that escaped through the heavy drapes at the main window.
The car they had been hoping to see, the metallic green BMW, was parked outside the main entrance towards which Gavin was now heading. He moved stealthily on trained feet and Sally felt her heart lurch uncomfortably as he reached the door and looked back at the car where she was still sitting. He was obviously checking to make sure she had stayed put.
As soon as he disappeared, which told her that the door had been left carelessly ajar, she got out of the car and went after him. Her trainers crunched slightly on the gravel, but she could already hear loud music coming from inside the lodge. Somebody liked traditional jazz and liked it hot.
Gavin was just inside the hallway when she slid in. He spun around, ready to attack or defend himself, but then seeing it was her, he tossed his eyes to the ceiling and motioned to her to be quiet.
Keeping close behind him, masked by his bulk, Sally crept forward, with Gavin every step of the way. When he pulled up abruptly at the partly open door that was spilling out bright light, she bowled into him. One of his hands came back and thrust her against the wall, his body pinning her there for an instant. Then he released her, pulled her forward and nodded towards the light.
She peered in curiously, fearfully, then drew back with a gasp. Inside the room, which was sumptuously furnished with tapestry throws and wall-mounted stuffed deer heads, a couple were embracing before a roaring open fire. Their bodies swayed to the rhythm of the background music.
It was the woman Arthur had described to them. And her partner was none other than Bruce, the man she had thought to be Rob’s brother. And Nadine, Anna’s mother, appeared to be making a meal of him.
Gavin put his mouth close to Sally’s ear and whispered. “Behold the mother of my child, my ex-wife and her little playmate.”
Just then, Nadine broke away from Bruce and they could see Anna sitting huddled in the corner of a sofa, her face full of misery, her eyes full of hate and fear as she clutched a cushion to her and watched the two people who had abducted her.
Nadine had her bag and was pulling out an envelope, which she handed over to Bruce. He gave a snake-like grin and opened it, taking out a wad of bank notes that even from where Sally stood, looked like a small fortune.
“Services rendered, big boy!” Nadine said, throwing back her head and laughing. Now you can go.”
She jabbed one, well manicured finger into the man’s chest and indicated the door with a jerk of her head. He looked reluctant to move at first, but she jabbed again and her expression became instantly ugly and menacing.
“Okay, okay! Thanks for the dough!” He waved the wad of notes beneath her nose, laughed sibilantly, then headed for where Gavin and Sally were standing.
Sally felt herself being almost lifted bodily from her position to the other side of the door and as Bruce came through, Gavin’s fist shot out in a fast uppercut that looked too good to be real. However, Bruce was instantly felled. He slithered to the floor with a mildly surprised grunt and lay there looking dead.
“What the hell…!”
Gavin had stepped into the room and was facing his ex-wife who was trying to decide how to arrange her face for best effect. Sally stepped over the comatose henchman and came to Gavin’s side, which earned her a look of stupefaction from Nadine.
There was a sudden commotion from behind Nadine as Anna recognised the two newcomers. She slithered off the sofa and projected herself across the room, ending up hugging Gavin’s knees, tears washing over her pale cheeks, sobs racking up through her small chest.
“Hi, baby! You’re going to be just fine. Go to Sally, sweetheart. Let her look after you, eh?” He pushed her gently across to Sally, who knelt down and hugged the little girl and felt her throat tighten as Anna hugged her back.
“So who’s your girlfriend, Gavin?” Nadine asked, head to one side, hand on one tilted hip.
Sally could see how the woman could fool any man into thinking she was beautiful and desirable. All that was skin deep. Not far beneath the attractive veneer she was ice cold and ugly and right now it was showing through. She wondered how long it had taken Gavin to find out.
Right now, Gavin was looking as mean as he could get. “You can forget your littl
e game, Nadine. You’re not going to use Anna to get you back in favour with your pet millionaire.”
“What do you plan to do, Gavin? Kidnap her again? As far as the authorities are concerned, she’s his official daughter and I’m still his wife. He wants his little family back together again. If you try to take Anna away they’ll arrest you and throw you in prison. What are you, anyway, but a cheap security man! Nobody would believe your word against ours, against the official documents.”
Sally could see Gavin’s jaws clench, together with his fists. “I have the DNA evidence that Anna is my daughter. I also have evidence against your fine, upstanding husband that proves just what kind of father he is. Eye witnesses and even one member of the family who can no longer bear to keep quiet after what they saw. And how do you think the public will react to that – and to the fact that you knew about it and didn’t do anything other than run out on your own three year old child.”
“You can’t do this to me, Gavin. You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
“If you go against me I can see to it that you lose your silly security firm. You’ll never work again. How would you like that? You who always put work first and me second. Do you wonder I left you?”
“I had to work to pay your bills, Nadine. You left me because you found someone who had enough money to keep you in the way you wanted to be kept. But it’s dirty money you’re living off. There’s not an honest dollar anywhere in your husband’s account and when you get back to the States I think you’ll find there are certain government bodies waiting with leading questions.”
“I want my daughter!” Nadine shrieked the words and suddenly there was a gun in her hand and it was pointed, not at Gavin, but at Sally.
Sally got slowly to her feet, her heart thumping, her legs turning to jelly. She grabbed hold of Anna and pushed her behind her, shielding the child with her own body. At the same time, Gavin stepped in front of Sally and spread his arms in supplication.
“No guns, Nadine. That way people get hurt - killed maybe.”
Sally tugged at Gavin’s jacket. “Gavin, for God’s sake, be careful. She’s crazy.”