“How are we going to get her to the room?” The man holding the gun broke the silence, forcing Laura to open her eyes and confront the situation she was in.
"We could carry her?” The man to the left suggested. Laura noticed that neither of the men had a distinct accent. She suspected it was all part of their training to be a gang member. Nothing about them could single them out, they had to all look and act alike.
“Just undo her legs but keep a hold of her. She won’t go far with that cast on her.” With the order given, the men reached into their pockets and each pulled out a penknife before cutting the ropes that bound her. The more Laura witnessed, the more scared she became. These men knew what they were doing, she couldn’t rely on them making mistakes to escape. She cursed the cast on her leg. If she hadn’t been so foolish that day then none of this would have happened - she never would have met Luke. Or perhaps she was always going to meet Luke? After all, he had been at the homeless shelter. She thought she had remembered seeing him before the bus hit her. He had been tracking her before she arrived at the hospital. As Laura thought back to that day, she remembered how tired she had been leaving the shelter. Luke had drugged her. Anger clouded her vision as she conjured up Luke’s face in her mind. How could he have been so cruel and heartless?
As the van came to a halt, they threw open the doors, and to Laura’s disappointment it was pitch black outside. She had hoped that wherever they had driven to would be somewhere she recognised. With some difficulty and a lot of pain, the two men pushed Laura towards the door and out of the van. She landed on her feet with such a jolt that it sent pain through her broken ankle, making her cry out around the tape that was still covering her mouth. Laura bit down on her tongue, trying to ignore the searing pain in her ankle, as they immediately forced her to walk. Two of the men stood on either side of her, helping her to walk since they had left her crutches by the side of the road as they bundled her into the van. She forced herself to concentrate on her surroundings, rather than the pain. She would need to remember the route they took if she ever stood a chance of escaping.
Although it was dark outside, the moon was out, casting a waxy glow over everything. Laura could just about decipher that they were in a carpark of what appeared to be an industrial estate. They were walking towards a warehouse which looked like nobody had stepped foot inside for decades. There were shattered windows and boarded up doors. It didn’t look like a place anyone ever went, which meant that Laura couldn’t comfort herself in thinking people might find her in the morning. She wondered whether this was where they had brought Sean. Perhaps he had died before he had even left the flat. Laura had to shake her head to stop her thoughts running away with themselves. She had to be completely in control of herself. Her life, and possibly Sean’s, depended on it.
They walked through one of the open doorways. The door had been smashed in some time ago. Laura shivered as the cold air enveloped her and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. The man with the gun was standing behind her and she didn’t have to turn around to know that it was millimetres from her back. Unshed tears filled her eyes, making it almost impossible to see where she was going. With her eyesight compromised, her other senses heightened and a sudden overwhelming smell of damp hit her. She dreaded to think what she was walking over as the debris crunched beneath her. It was dark, but the man at the front and the man at the back each had a torch, casting an orange glow. They followed a maze of hallways. Laura tried to make a mental note of where they turned and how many flights of stairs they climbed, but it was impossible. Each corridor was the same, dark, smashed in windows, broken lights hanging from ceilings, and now and then the sound of rats scurrying around would break the silence. Laura’s hands shook behind her as the rope continued to rub against her skin. She could feel the wounds opening on her wrists.
Eventually, they walked into a large room, where they had placed a chair in the middle. The windows to the room were all situated up high, close to the ceiling. It reminded Laura of a public swimming pool. Moonlight flooded in from the windows. Before Laura could take in the rest of her surroundings, the men shoved her into the seat and quickly tied her to it. Laura could see the shadow of someone walking through a set of doors at the back of the hallway. Dread filled her as she recognised the silhouette.
“Why didn’t you just stay at the hotel with me, Claire? Or should I call you Laura? Which do you prefer?” Luke walked towards her as someone flicked on the overhead lights. In the harsh artificial light, she looked into his face and wondered how she had ever been attracted to him. Perhaps it was because she now knew what was behind that sickly sweet smile. The inquisitive eyes that once drew her in now repulsed her. He continued to walk towards her, until he was standing over her, leering down at her. In one swift motion, he tore the tape away from Laura’s mouth. She winced in pain. It had been a while since she’d had her top lip waxed.
"What do you want?" She spat at him. He was the last person she wanted to see. The men surrounding her were armed, and yet they didn’t scare her as much as Luke did. He was the real animal here - completely lacking a heart. He had listened to her cry, been a shoulder to cry on, encouraged her to trust him and had even tried to seduce her, and yet here he was about to kill her.
“Do you not want to ask some more exciting questions? Perhaps like how we knew where you were?” The smile on Luke’s face was smug as he knelt down in front of her, forcing her to make eye contact with him.
“I don’t care.” She shrugged her shoulders and forced her face to appear blank. Of course she wanted to know how they had found her, but she wouldn’t let him see that. The last thing she wanted was to show Luke any sign of weakness.
“I put a tracker in that backpack of yours. Although we didn’t know what house you were in so we had to be patient until you reappeared.” Luke laughed. It was a horrible noise. If Laura had been able to move her arms, she would have placed her hands over her ears to block out the sound. Laura breathed a sigh of relief. They didn’t seem to know that she had been at her parent’s house.
With the mention of her backpack, one of the men came forward and thrust it into Luke’s grip. Laura breathed a sigh of relief that she had thought ahead enough to hide the letters. The only thing left in the backpack were clothes and a framed picture of herself and Sean. She’d even left the teddy behind in the shed. Luke turned the backpack upside down, allowing its contents to tumble out onto the concrete floor. The picture hit the ground and Laura winced as she heard the glass shatter.
"Oh bless, she took a picture of her pig of a boyfriend. He wasn’t a very good police officer. It was quite entertaining that his cover was blown by one of his own. Shame we had to kill the informant.” Luke let out a dark chuckle as he picked up the broken frame and threw it to the other side of the room. Laura cringed as she thought about how much she had once loved that frame. She would look at the picture every night before going to sleep. Life was different now though, Sean wasn’t here. She had to forget about such a sentimental thing. She watched as Luke rooted through the pile of clothes on the floor. He was so sure he was going to find something. Despite the fear and pain, Laura couldn’t help but feel a little bubble of smugness rise within her - he wouldn’t find a thing.
“Where is it?” he shouted at her, his face millimetres from hers. Laura refused to flinch, instead she kept staring directly at him as she replied.
“Where’s what?” she asked, her tone of voice as sickly sweet as she could manage.
“Whatever you found in the flat,” he shouted at her again, spit spraying her face as a vein in his forehead throbbed. He was fuming.
“I didn’t find anything.” She shrugged her shoulders, enjoying seeing him getting so wound up. There was no way Luke was the mastermind behind all of this, he was just one of someone else’s minions and the longer he went without any success the more trouble he would be in.
“Liar!” he screamed back at her. Before Laura could brace herself for what was
to come, he lifted his hand and swung it. The thump echoed throughout the room as his fist connected with her head. Laura lost consciousness before she could even scream out in pain.
Chapter Eighteen
When Laura regained consciousness, it was light outside. She could hear birds singing through the broken windows. Whilst she was grateful for the light, the sound of birds and little else emphasised the remote location. She moved her head to see who was in the room with her, but a piercing pain resounded throughout her skull. Her head was pounding and her vision still a little blurry from when Luke had hit her.
“She’s awake.” Laura recognised the voice from the previous evening. It was one of the men who had been in the van with her. She turned her head to where the noise had come from, trying to ignore the pain. The man had been speaking into a phone, but he quickly shut off the call and put the phone back into his pocket. The phone was identical to the one Luke had given her. Thankfully, she had left it behind at his flat in London. The man still had the gun clutched in his hands. Perhaps he was afraid she might try to fight back. Unfortunately, the most Laura could do in a fight was to trip someone up with her cast.
A few minutes later, footsteps echoed down the hallway. They were coming towards the room. Laura took a deep breath, steeling herself for whatever was to come next. She didn’t care how much pain they put her through, she would do everything she could to protect Sean, just in case he had somehow escaped. Laura’s heart sunk as she watched Luke walk back into the room. He was the last person she ever wanted to see.
“I see you’ve finally decided to wake up.” His snide remark made the anger inside her boil, but Laura knew not to rise to it. She had to be the adult here. Instead of replying, she just watched him as he grabbed a chair and came to sit in front of her, leaving a few feet in between them.
“We have some things we need to talk about.” Laura’s insides churned as she watched his mouth move and she thought about how she had kissed his lips. What had she been thinking? Perhaps he had drugged her to make her susceptible to falling for him.
“Shall we play twenty questions then? I’ll go first. Why are you such an arsehole?” Although Laura had promised to be the adult, she couldn’t help herself. Sometimes she had no control over her mouth, especially when she had kissed the brute sat in front of her.
“I think that sense of humour is probably why Sean left you for dead.” Luke knew his statement would send her mind racing. Sean would never have left her for dead. She had to control her thoughts - Luke was good - he knew which buttons to press and she had to avoid walking into his trap. She had opened her soul to him, told him of her heartbreak, and he would try to use all of that against her.
“Shall we count that as your first question?” she quipped back, not missing a beat. She would not show Luke any sign of weakness.
“I like it when you’re feisty." Laura had to stop herself from gagging as he leaned forward and placed his hand on her knee. His touch, that once gave her butterflies, now made her sick to her stomach.
"Two questions down. Do we get to stop for a coffee break halfway through?” As the words slipped out, Laura almost regretted asking as it reminded her of the hunger eating away at her insides. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten.
“Where are the drugs, Laura?” Luke’s playful manner had disappeared almost immediately, his face stoney as he retracted his touch.
“What drugs?” Laura asked, her mind flitting back to the safe inside their hallway cupboard. Surely all this wasn’t over a few bags of cocaine?
“You know exactly what drugs.” Luke stood up from his chair and closed the distance between them until he was kneeling down in front of her again.
"What drugs?” Laura repeated the question. Despite Luke’s anger, she also wanted answers, and it seemed that this entire situation revolved around these drugs.
“The drugs that your stupid boyfriend stole from us!" He was shouting in her face again, but Laura barely noticed, she was too busy focusing on the words he was saying. Why would Sean have stolen drugs from an organised crime group? Laura lacked the years of police training that Sean had, but even she knew that stealing drugs was like signing your own death warrant, whilst also obliterating your career. Perhaps that was what the letter of termination had been about. Had Sean stolen these drugs? Laura suddenly wondered if the drugs were the reason behind Sean’s erratic behaviour over their last few months together. Surely he wasn’t stupid enough to have used the drugs.
"You spent so long trying to get me to trust you. I told you everything I know.” It was almost true. During her time spent with Luke, she had told him everything she knew. However, since escaping from him she had learned more about what was going on - he didn’t need to know that though.
“I don’t believe it. That’s okay though, we don’t need your information. We just need you.” The smirk had returned to Luke’s face. A chill ran down Laura’s spine - they obviously had a plan.
“What am I supposed to do?” she asked, thankful that Luke had retreated to his seat again.
“Oh, you don’t have to do anything. We just need you to stay sat there. Once message gets to Sean, he won’t be able to help himself, he’ll have to come and save you. Well, at least we hope so. I hope you haven’t been lying to me about how much he loves you.”
The room spun around Laura. What did they mean? Could it really be true? Was Sean really still alive? Luke laughed as he watched the turmoil on Laura’s face.
“Oh. yes, sorry. Did I forget to tell you? Sean’s alive.” He stood up to leave.
“Wait! How is he alive?" Laura shouted. She couldn’t just let him leave without getting any answers.
“He was shot at the flat, but somehow he got away. Over a year now we’ve been trying to find him. We don’t know where he is, but we’ve got connections that can try to get a message to him.” With that, Luke left the room, ordering one of the men to get some food for Laura.
The room continued to spin as Laura tried to make sense of what she had just been told. She couldn’t help but wonder if Luke was right. Surely Sean would have found her if he was still alive? He must have known that she would be vulnerable on her own and that the group would target her to get to him? He was either dead or he didn’t love her. Either way, Laura couldn’t imagine any explanation that would result in Sean turning up to save her.
“Eat!” One of the men shoved a smoothie into her hands. It was shop bought and sickly sweet looking, but it was probably just what Laura needed. She allowed the man to bring the bottle to her lips and tipped her head backwards so she could drink. If she could satisfy the hunger pains she was feeling, then perhaps she could organise her thoughts enough to figure out how she could get out of this situation alive. If that was even possible.
Laura didn’t stop for breath until she had finished every drop of the smoothie. It was strawberry and banana, her favourite. She wondered whether Luke had remembered a late night conversation they’d had one evening about their favourite food and drinks. It was hard to imagine this Luke was the same man as the one who had cared for her in London. As Laura tried to fight the memories, she realised her vision was blurring again and her thoughts were becoming harder and harder to hold on to. She fought to hold on to her consciousness, but it didn’t do any good. They had drugged the smoothie.
Chapter Nineteen
When Laura next regained consciousness, it was dark outside. She didn’t know how long she had been unconscious for, it could have been hours or it could have been days. Her entire body hurt from sitting and sleeping on a wooden chair. She vaguely remembered them rousing her to use the toilet. Her memory was hazy, but they had shoved her towards a corner where a curtain and a bucket were situated. Laura was thankful for the drugs in her system as she didn’t recall what had happened next. She scanned her body, checking for any further injuries, however she didn’t find any. Her ankle was enjoying the rest. Laura’s mind was foggy from the cocktail of drugs that they
had been plying her with. Although it was dark in the room, she could sense several other people there with her, most likely watching her. Laura concentrated on regulating her breathing and kept her head hanging so that it looked like she was still asleep. As soon as they realised, she was awake they would try to drug her again and right now she had too much to think about to risk losing consciousness again.
Sean was alive. That was something Laura was still trying to get her head around. Deep down, she knew it had always been a possibility. After all, there was no body, he had only been presumed dead. Despite this, she had always assumed that if he had been alive, he would have tried to find her, even if that meant being found. He always said he would do anything for her, and yet he had left her fighting for her life for over a year now. Laura was slowly realising that perhaps she didn’t know Sean as well as she had thought.
"Still no sign of your beloved boyfriend.” A chill ran down Laura’s spine. How could the sound of a voice provoke such a response? Especially a voice that had once captivated all of her senses. She refused to give Luke the satisfaction of an answer, instead she remained sitting there with her head positioned towards her lap.
“Perhaps we should start harming you. Maybe that will encourage him to come and save you?" Luke’s voice was full of venom, he was obviously under a lot of pressure from someone higher up the chain. He was unrecognisable from the man she first met.
Laura was bursting with questions, but she refused to give Luke the satisfaction. Somehow, she still had some control over herself. She heard his footsteps echoing throughout the room as he came closer to her.
“Come on Laura, don’t ignore me.” He crouched down in front of her and pulled her chin up to look at him. Every inch of Laura recoiled from his touch against her face.
“What more do you want from me?” she hissed back at him.
Finding You Page 9