‘How did you do it without her knowledge?’
‘I took Ollie to work with me when we were here in London, when Eva was born last year. One of my team distracted him while I injected him. Small as the prototype was, it wasn’t small enough. While it was a mild discomfort to me for a few hours, I didn’t factor in how much larger it would feel to Oliver. He bawled his eyes out for ages and I had to let Ellie think he’d been stung by a wasp. I felt awful, it upset me for days. Up until today, I’ve regretted doing it behind her back.’
‘She finds out and you’ll be regretting it for the rest of your bloody life, mate, if she doesn’t kill you first,’ Lucas warned, not telling me anything that I didn’t already know. ‘But this is bloody amazing news! You can find them anywhere with it, right?’
‘In theory,’ I sighed, reaching forward to grab my decanter of scotch and pouring myself a couple of fingers, my hands shaking so hard I sloshed a load over the side of the glass. Andy shook his head when I offered him a glass, so Lucas snatched it off me and knocked it back immediately, passing it back for more. I knew how he felt. I just wanted to sit in a dark room and drain the whole bottle. ‘Marv’s in charge of data tracking and although I’m online, Oliver isn’t.’
‘GPS is affected by heavy cloud coverage and can’t penetrate certain things like thick metal or concrete. Have you ever tried turning on your Sat Nav indoors? It can take ages to get a signal, if at all,’ Andy stated, confirming what I already knew. ‘Could this team be aware he has this tracker in him? They could have removed and destroyed it.’
‘No, only a handful of my key personnel and high-ranking officials were aware, I trust all of them. There was too much at stake if the news was leaked.’
‘It’s a signal issue, Sir,’ said Andy firmly. ‘The child would be my last hand to coerce you, have faith that he’s ok.’
‘I’m really trying, Andy. I’m seriously fucking trying,’ I choked, knocking back my drink to give me something else to focus on. Right now I’d take Ellie screaming “Fuck you arsehole” at me, and ignoring me for days, as long as I knew she was alive and unhurt. I couldn’t bear the thought of what they might do to her, to any of them.
I continued to object as Summer forced me down into my seat and brought the first aid kit to attend to my scuffed and swollen hand. She carefully cleaned it, applied antiseptic ointment, and dressed it, wrapping a bandage tightly around it, then asked Richard, my air steward, for a bag of ice to reduce the swelling. I lifted my undamaged hand to wipe away a few stray tears, hoping no one had spotted them. I remembered damaging my hand back home, punching through the banister of my boathouse veranda, and Ellie showing just as much love and patience when she’d looked after me then. I think that was the moment I knew I’d never get over her.
‘She’s a fighter, Dan. Look at everything she’s been through, this is nothing. We’ll be seeing her again soon,’ Summer murmured as she kissed my cheek.
I gave her a grateful smile. I knew how hectic hers and Lucas’s schedules were, but they’d dropped everything to come back with me. I had the most amazing support network around me and I’d never been so grateful. I checked my phone again, nothing. I refused breakfast when Richard came around to serve everyone. I felt so sick that I couldn’t face any food, no matter how much my stomach was growling. I felt completely drained. It was hard enough dealing with my emotions, but I’d had my mother on in tears, Magda, Brooke, Molly, John, and Edward, too. I wasn’t sure I had the energy to deal with anyone or anything else, but everyone needed me to be strong, they were all hurting, too. Andy had spoken to James’s wife and Jenny’s parents and Dean for me. He assured me that he knew how to downplay the whole deal and make things seem better than they were. The thought of them suffering with worry, like I was, was sickening to me. I jumped up and raced to my desk when a call came in over my system. It was Marv.
‘It’s them, patching through to you now, recording and trying to trace all data as we speak. Good luck.’ My monitor went black, then fuzzy, then was suddenly filled with the upper torso and face of a man dressed in black, with a black balaclava over his face. All I could see of him was a pair of thin lips with slight stubble around them and a pair of dark brown eyes that sent a chill through my body.
‘Mr. Davenport,’ came a distorted voice. Andy had warned me that they’d likely use voice modulators to avoid being identified. ‘As you’re probably aware, we have your wife and son and two of your employees. If you want to see any of them alive again, you’ll deposit eighty million pounds sterling into the bank details that will be shown on your screen at the end of the message. You have twenty-four hours to comply, or you’ll receive the body of your wife. Do I make myself clear?’
‘I can’t pull that amount of money together in twenty-four hours, let alone over a weekend. I need more time,’ I countered, trying desperately to remember every tactic Andy had advised me to use to keep them on the line as long as possible, to give us a chance at finding them. It was true though. I’d anticipated a large ransom, but nowhere near that amount. No way could I liquidise enough assets to comply in that timeframe. The amount I didn’t give a shit about. I’d give them every last bloody penny to my name to get all four of them back alive.
‘Those are my terms,’ he stated flatly. ‘Adhere or suffer the consequences.’
‘Be realistic, I’ll pay you more, but I can’t get that sort of sum together until at least Wednesday. Besides, how do I know that you even have them, or that any of them are alive?’ I shot back, resisting the urge to punch my bandaged hand through the screen into the bastard’s face. ‘I need proof of life on screen right now, or you don’t get a damn thing.’ I held my breath as the camera moved, flashing across a wall, then took a gasp of relief as I saw the four of them sitting on the floor. My eyes homed in on Ellie and Oliver. It looked like she had duct tape over her mouth, but I could see her fighting tears. Her beautiful green eyes looked dull and defeated, it broke my heart. Oliver was sitting on her outstretched legs, his face buried in her chest, but she wasn’t hugging him. Why wasn’t she hugging him?
‘Say hello to your daddy, kid,’ the voice ordered. I saw a black-gloved hand reach to shake Oliver’s shoulder. Ellie flinched, but retaliated quickly with a glare that could kill a man at twenty paces. There was my strong woman. If it wasn’t under these circumstances, that glare at someone other than me would have made me smile. Oliver lifted his head and I clutched mine as I saw the porcelain tracks of tears down his cheeks, cutting through the dirt all over his face. His bottom lip and cheeks were wobbling as he stared straight at me.
‘Daddy,’ he sobbed, his shoulders shaking as he lifted one of his hands to try and touch me on the screen. ‘Daddy, I need you, I’m so scared.’
‘I need you too, big boy. I’ll be seeing you soon, I promise. You, Mummy, James, and Jenny. I love you, all of you, be brave for me,’ I managed to utter before he was gone and I came face to face with his captor again. I felt a white hot surge rush through my body. I’d never been so angry in all of my life. ‘You touch one hair on any of their heads,’ I hissed, my fingernails denting my palms as I tensed up. ‘I’ll find you and I’ll fucking …’
‘What? What exactly can the mighty Mr. Davenport do? You’re an expert programmer, but look how long it took you to crack our virus. You’re incapable of doing anything. The only thing you’re good for is losing people you care about. Pay up in twenty-four hours and they’ll all be set free, or chalk up another to your tally of the loves and losses of Oliver Davenport. It’s already a long list, don’t make me add to it.’
‘I need more time! NO!’ I yelled as his face disappeared and was replaced by a black screenshot with white numbers printed on it. Seconds later it was gone. ‘No,’ I howled, looking around to see Andy, Lucas, Summer, and Richard watching me. Summer was crying and Lucas had his arm around her, rubbing her arm, just how I’d do when Ellie was upset. He shook his head as his mouth opened, but nothing came out. What could he possibly sa
y that would take away the pain I was in right now. What could any of them say? I stumbled, wondering for a moment if we’d hit turbulence, but realised it was my legs. I was shaking so badly I could barely stand. Andy rushed forward and caught me, easing me down onto the sofa.
‘You did good, you hear me? You did good. Do what you can with the ransom, while I watch the feed again and send it over to Chris. I want as many eyes on it looking for any clues we can pick up. There’ll be something. There’s always something. Marv will try and trace the signal back to its source, right?’
‘Yes,’ I whispered, barely able to hear my own reply.
‘We’ll convene when I’m satisfied I’ve got everything I can from the tape and see where we’re at. I need to know now though, who do you trust to handle this if we find them? The police, the military if they’ll want to protect their tech, or a team handpicked by me?’
‘You could get a team together?’ I asked, trying desperately not to see the visual of Oliver and Ellie again in my mind until I’d pulled myself together.
‘One hell of a team,’ he nodded. ‘There’s not one of James's or Jenny’s old squadron that won’t lay down their life to get them back, including me and Chris. Never leave a man behind.’
‘I can’t ask that of them, of you. Look at where James and Jenny are now?’
‘We all know the risks when we take on private security work. I promise you, no other team will be as invested in their safe return, because we have something that the police and military don’t.’
‘What’s that?’ I asked, flexing my hands to try and get them to stop shaking.
‘We give more than a shit about those people. They’re not just statistics to meet crime targets, projects or defence budgets about to implode. They’re our friends, they’re our family, Sir,’ Andy stated with conviction, straightening up and pushing his shoulders back.
‘Well said, Andy,’ clapped Lucas. I looked over at him and he nodded. ‘He’s right, no one else is going to care as much about getting them back safely.’ I slowly stood up, determined that I wasn’t going to be a waste of space in this combined effort to save them.
‘You’re a good man, Andy,’ I nodded, surprising him with a tight hug. ‘I trust you and your judgement. Do it.’
‘Thank you, Sir.’
‘You need to rest,’ Summer warned as I finally flopped back into my seat. She pressed the recline facility and tucked a blanket around me. I was too exhausted to argue. ‘You’ve done everything you can for now. We’ll be home soon and Jonas and Eva are going to need you. You’re no good to them like this. I’ll have Andy drug you if that’s what it takes to make you sleep,’ she warned.
‘I’d listen to her, or she’ll just nag you incessantly,’ Lucas warned. I managed a small smile. How the hell had two guys like us managed to find such amazing women? I closed my eyes and ran through our progress. Marv had confirmed the call was untraceable. Given they’d claimed the virus was down to them, probably to keep Andy and I out of the way, disguising an IP address was low on their rank of skills. While Oliver’s tracker wasn’t online, I’d seen him with my own two eyes. Andy had worked with Marv and Chris on the video and they’d deduced from the lack of light, and from the echo, reverberation, and sound waves of his voice and footsteps, that it was likely that they were underground and surrounded by concrete. It made sense that would interfere with Oliver’s chip. Jenny and James appeared to be handcuffed back to back, their ankles cable-tied. That was probably why Ellie wasn’t holding Oliver, her hands were tied too. He was the only one who hadn’t been tied up. I gritted my teeth as I fought against my urge to get angry again.
James seemed to be the only one who’d been hurt. Andy reckoned he had a broken nose and a black eye. Jesus, what was I thinking letting him fight for me? He was a grandfather and only did this as an occasional duty. He should be enjoying life at his age, not putting himself in danger anymore. If we got him out of this, no, I corrected myself, when we got all of them out of this, he was getting a massive thank you and a very large retirement pot. Money was a worry right now. As I’d expected, I could only pull together twenty million within their timeframe, a mere quarter of what they’d demanded. Andy had suggested not paying it until just before the deadline, which made me nervous. His thoughts were that since the police were conducting their own investigation, as well as some of his team who were already on the case, we might turn something up that negated the need to pay anything. I could pull the rest together by Wednesday, but I had no way of telling them that until they called me back. That made me nervous as hell. I reached for my wedding ring and turned it around and around, focussing on happier times, making myself smile as I thought of our wedding day, of Oliver and Jonas’s first steps and Eva’s first words. We were due all of that happiness and more. We’d had more than our share of sadness. I had to trust that we weren’t due any more.
Day Twenty One
Sunday 13th September
Ellie
I guzzled the water from the plastic bottle as the quietest of our captors held it to my lips. James had told me that his name was Bravo. Each of them had letters on their chests from the phonetic Alphabet, to avoid using their real names. They’d initially left duct tape on our mouths to stop us talking, but given they’d shown some mercy and not tied Oliver up, they soon realised he was capable of pulling it off. Thankfully, they’d not punished him for it. They’d left us with two single mattresses on the floor, so James and Jenny sat on one, opposite to Oliver and I. James had told us to position ourselves with our backs against the wall, but I’d left a gap and made sure to tell Oliver if he heard anyone coming, he was to squeeze behind me. If they wanted him, they were going to have to drag me out of the way, kicking and screaming and biting. They only ever visited two at a time, from what we could hear from the voices before the door was opened. One came in and cut our cable ties, one at a time, allowing us to use the toilet in the corner, hidden behind what looked like an old medic’s screen. We’d been warned that the other would come in and shoot one of us if he heard any sounds of a disturbance. It had the desired effect of no one attempting anything.
I’d lost track of time since we’d been taken. We’d been down here, with virtually no light, for what seemed like days. The LED lanterns they’d left us with were pathetic. Maybe it was because I was too scared to sleep much that the hours seemed longer. I wanted to make sure I was there to reassure Oliver whenever he needed me. He was petrified and it made me so angry. I’d screamed abuse at my captors when I’d come around and seen the state of him. He told me that they hadn’t hurt him, but scaring him like this was just as bad. I’d earned myself a backhand across the face. Bravo pulled a tissue out of his pocket and wiped my chin where water had spilled down it. I smiled up at him, though inside I wanted to tear his blue eyes out of his head. James and Jenny had told me to try and endear myself to them, to make them feel some sympathy for us. It would make it harder for them to harm us if they saw us as human beings, not hostages. He smiled back and craned his head, trying to see Oliver, who was trembling behind me.
‘Does he want a drink?’ he asked. I felt Oliver’s fists clench my jumper tightly as he started crying again. He didn’t want to come out, but he was going to get dehydrated. ‘Does he ever stop crying?’
‘He’s a child, what do you expect?’ I uttered, aghast at his lack of empathy.
‘Bravo, Oliver’s scared to death. He’s only four years old. He needs his mother and you have her cuffed so she can’t even comfort him,’ James called from his side of the bunker. Bravo slowly turned his head and I grimaced, hoping he wasn’t going to hurt James for speaking up.
‘No one asked for your opinion, old man.’
‘Well you’re getting it for free. You’ll have done your homework, you know that we’re the ones with military training. Ellie’s just a mother, a housewife. You’re seriously telling me that you think a slip of a woman like that could take you down? I promise you, if you at least free her h
ands so she can hug him, he won’t be so scared and he’ll stop crying.’
‘You know what else would stop him crying?’ came Alfa’s voice as he swung the rusty metal door open. ‘This,’ he laughed, waving a gun.
‘No,’ I cried, pressing back against Oliver. ‘Don’t you dare touch him. He doesn’t understand what’s happening. He needs to eat and drink and he won’t while he’s so scared. He needs my reassurance.’
‘I’m assuming he’s your ace,’ Jenny chipped in. ‘James and I are both expendable, but you need Ellie and Oliver well enough to reassure Mr. Davenport to pay the ransom.’
‘They have a point, Alfa,’ Bravo added. ‘Not like she could do much damage to any of us.’
‘You’re questioning my leadership skills now?’ Alfa shot back, striding over towards us, making Oliver start whimpering. Even he was more scared of Alfa than any of the others.
‘Close your eyes, baby, it’s ok,’ I whispered.
‘Of course not, boss. But he’s even getting on my nerves and I’m the most placid one. What harm can she do?’ Bravo shrugged. Alfa looked from him to me, then back up to him. I froze as they just stared at each other, wondering what was going to happen. He looked back down at me and pointed his gun at me. I closed my eyes, my chest heaving as I started to shake as much as Oliver.
‘You try anything, one of your friends will suffer, understood?’ he barked.
‘Understood,’ I whimpered.
‘Do it, fucking soft git,’ his voice muttered. ‘Hurry up, deadline’s approaching.’ I gasped for air as I heard his heavy footsteps echoing on the concrete floor as they moved away from me. I opened my eyes and saw Bravo looking down at me.
‘Thank you,’ I whispered.
‘I need to get to your ties,’ he replied flatly.
‘Oliver, Mummy needs you to go and see Uncle James and Auntie Jenny, they need a big cuddle and kiss, just like the ones you’ve been giving me, ok?’ I called over my shoulder.
31 Days of Autumn Page 23