Chapter 49
Mehmet finished his smoke, entered the outhouse and leaned against the other end of the bench. He stared at Celile, she stared back. She watched as Mehmet glanced over at Eve. “Look what you did to me you bitch,” he said as he wiped mucous from his nose.
“Oh just shut up you little Daddy’s boy. You threw yourself in front of her so it was your fault.”
“I hate you, I hate all of this. I hate you all, when this is over you are not going to see me for dust.”
“Get lost,” Celile yelled as she pushed the young man towards the door, opened it and shoved him out. “Stay there and keep a look out for your dad. I need to think.” Mehmet shrugged, slid down the wall and sat on the floor; legs out in front of him. “Let me know if we are needed, I’ll keep an eye on this one.” Celile said as she closed the door, turned then looked down at Eve.
“So, Little Miss Special, think you are so good everyone wants you?” Celile said as she traced Eve’s cheek with her knife. “I forgot, you can’t speak.” Celile pulled down the gag.
“Please help me. I just want to get back to my little boy, he is my everything. Look at him,” she replied.
Celile looked down at the photo and stared for a moment. Everything she’d ever wanted was in that picture but every man she’d ever met had let her down.
“He’s only little, he needs his mother, he needs me,” Eve said as she began to weep. “Please. Have you got children?”
“No, and don’t think this ‘poor me’ routine will make me let you go.” Celile said. Eve began to cry. “Why do you keep crying? It won’t change anything.” Celile stood and walked over to the bench. She leaned over the back of the bench and pulled Eve’s rucksack up to the surface, then she unzipped it. “Water, my we did come prepared, I bet you’d love some of this,” she laughed as she unscrewed the bottle and took a swig.
There was no way she was going to allow Eve to see her pain. Yes she wanted what she had so much to the point she could easily drive the knife through her flesh and end her life. She had watched Eve earlier that evening, her man had stayed by her side all night, devoted, in love. She'd never felt a love like that; she shivered as she zipped up the bag and rummaged through one of the side pockets. Anyway, her man would now be eliminated so ending it for Eve was probably the kindest thing to do.
“You know you have a message?” Celile said as she held up Eve’s phone. “I suppose you’ll never get to see it though.” Eve’s phone beeped. “Low battery, what a shame,” the woman grinned, she threw the phone back in the rucksack.
Despite her conversation with Sadik she would not let this wait; she would take control like she had in the mountains. She would not let him bring her down even if it meant going alone, no Guz, no Sadik just her, away from all this. She would go back to where she came from and start again, maybe then she would get the life she truly deserved. She gripped the knife and closed her eyes as she visualised what she was going to do.
*****
As Celile turned away Eve began to wriggle again, all her persistence was paying off. She felt her blood trickle down as she kept rubbing away, tiny strand by tiny strand, she had found a weakness, almost one finger was out. One finger, then two finger, then a whole hand. Get a hand free and at least she would be able to defend herself from the knife blade. If one hand was free then the other should slip out. She rubbed again, the coarse rope splintered and dug into her sore, she yelped. A wave of nausea crept through her, the room momentarily swayed. She needed a drink, her dry throat was hurting.
“In pain there?” Celile said as she turned and laughed. “Let me help.” Celile stepped over to Eve and kneeled down with the knife held out in front of her. “He liked you, I saw what was happening. He wanted you, despite what an ugly mess you are, that sickens me more.”
“Please, he doesn’t like me. He’s just an animal. You don’t have to be like him. He assaulted me, I didn’t want it,” Eve said, her voice crackling with every word. She had to get the deluded woman to see the truth. The man she worshipped did not feel the same about her.
“Just shut up,” Celile yelled as she held her head, knife up by her ears. “Shut up. He does love me. The problem is that they both love me,” Celile dropped to her knees and slid towards Eve so that their faces were almost touching. “Isn’t that a good thing?” She grinned as she traced the knife down Eve’s chin, neck and chest.
Eve felt the cold metal tickle her as it travelled down to her stomach. She held her breath and waited for the plunge. She was tired, weak and all she wanted was to go to sleep and for this nightmare to end. She smiled as she thought of her little boy. “I didn’t desert you Harry,” she babbled.
“I know Mummy. I know,” he replied in her dream. She smiled; he knew she hadn’t left him. That was enough for her, now she could go in peace.
The door burst open, Mehmet stood in the doorway. Eve could hear what she thought was Sadik yelling in the distance. Mehmet began shouting fast in Turkish; Celile looked up at him, stood and ran towards the door.
“I’ll be back for you in a minute,” she said as she pointed the knife at Eve before closing the door. As soon as she heard them running off down the path she began to grapple with the twine in the rope.
Chapter 50
Kevin held the gun above him, Sadik grappled with his hand. “Ahh,” he yelled as he felt the tip of the knife pierce his side. The knife from the table, he tried to force his other hand between him and Sadik, he edged it forward until he felt the tip of the knife. He followed its shaft, grabbed it and slid it up between them. Kevin's head turned as Sadik punched him in the face. He gripped the gun hard but was blocked from raising it by Sadik’s hand. He wrenched the knife up between them. As Sadik reached back to throw another punch, Kevin pulled the knife in front of Sadik’s stomach. “Get off me,” Kevin yelled.
The man’s eyes widened as he felt the tip of the knife pierce his tee-shirt and tease his flesh. He jerked to the side but Kevin felt his hand clasped over the gun. There was now a gap between Sadik and the knife tip.
“I said get off me,” Kevin yelled, the veins on Sadik's forehead became more prominent. The man stared back, sweat dripped off the end of his nose and landed onto the side of Kevin’s neck. Both men panted, exhausted. Sadik lifted his hand off the gun leaving it clasped between Kevin’s fingers before raising his hands in the air. Should he be trusted? Was he surrendering? Kevin had the gun, Kevin had the knife pointed towards Sadik’s chest, yet Sadik still straddled Kevin.
A gust of warm air filled the room as Celile barged through the door. Kevin turned to see her wild eyes as she fell to the floor brandishing a knife of her own in her hands. He watched and trembled as she brought the knife above her head and thrust it down towards Kevin’s chest as she yelled words he couldn’t understand. He could’ve brought the gun up and shot her; he could’ve taken the knife off Sadik’s chest and tried to attack her back. He chose to drag Sadik’s body directly in front of his as the knife plunged. He heard the man yell as the knife pierced his back. The full force of Sadik’s weight dropped onto Kevin, blood began to trickle from the side of the man’s mouth as he gasped for air. He could only imagine that Celile had reached his lung. A crackling breathy noise came out of Sadik’s mouth, the man’s eyes were panicked but he was helpless. For a moment Kevin was taken back to the day he was fighting with Stephen. There was a difference though. Stephen stood up and ran to his mother. Sadik could not stand up and the poor woman who may be his mother had probably slept through the whole thing. He imagined what Stephen’s mother would’ve thought, how she would’ve panicked when she saw her little boy running towards the kitchen door covered in blood. He then imagined what the old lady would think once she’d awoken, seeing death, blood and crime all around her. The death and injury of people that she knew. Was she innocent? Had she been aware of their operation? Operation, there was more to this he remembered. They were coming, whoever ‘they’ were and he didn't want to stick around to find o
ut. Eve? He rolled Sadik off his chest and watched as Mehmet entered and Celile sat in a ball on the floor sobbing, broken. She rocked back and forth as she stared at Sadik, not once averting her gaze.
Mehmet yelled as he kneeled down to Celile and shook her. Kevin dragged his weary body towards a chair. Mehmet looked across at Kevin; Kevin brought the gun smoothly in front of him and pointed it at Celile and Mehmet. “Just you stay there or I promise, I will put a bullet through you both." Mehmet stood and yelled as he ran towards Kevin, without hesitation Kevin fired at Mehmet’s knee cap. The young man fell and yelped as he landed in a heap. Celile remained rocking back and forth ignoring the yelping that was being expelled from Mehmet’s mouth.
“I didn’t want any of this,” Mehmet yelled. “She is in the outhouse at the end of our land out the back. Please leave my grandmother, please. She knows nothing of this.”
Kevin brought the gun down by his side. With ringing ears from the blast he had just about made out that Eve was in an outhouse. He dragged his weary body closer to the chair before pulling himself to a standing position. Celile had stopped rocking and turned her head towards Kevin. He pointed the gun at her; she screamed and continued to rock. Then she began to lash out at the cupboards, at the floor then finally at Mehmet. He grabbed her and flinched as his knee bled. The woman flapped, Kevin held the gun up towards her.
“No, please. There has been enough hurt,” the young man yelled. I will deal with her. Get the woman and go.” As per his word, Mehmet grabbed Celile's arms and held them down before nodding at Kevin to leave.
He hobbled across the kitchen, out of the door, then around the building where he grabbed the bag containing the sat-nav and The Prick’s phone. He grabbed the shovel, his crutch and began the journey over the lumpy, weed laden garden in the dark. The only light came from the kitchen that he had left behind.
In the distance he heard the humming of an engine, 'they' were coming and they weren’t too far away. He hobbled faster, needing to get to Eve.
Eventually he met a wall of darkness, his eyes adjusted to reveal a wooden out building. His heart thumped and the crack in his glasses distorted his vision. He pointed the gun in front of him as he reached the door. “Eve,” he yelled.
He kicked open the door to reveal a torch pointing towards the ground. On the ground lay a heap of bloodied ropes attached to a metal ring and a clasp was attached to the side of the building’s frame. Aside the ropes lay a small picture of Harry and a scarf. “No,” he cried. Tears filled his eyes as he dropped to the ground. It had all been for nothing. They had moved her, where he might never know. He held his head in his hands and wept as he cried harder and louder. His love, his Eve, his new life, all gone. He struggled to inhale and his heart boomed. His arm flopped in front of him and the gun’s weight pulled him forward, hand first. All his efforts had been in vain. All his efforts for a dream, a life, for love, all his hope – gone.
“Kevin,” said the croaky whisper that came from behind him. He turned to see Eve’s bloodied and bruised face. “I thought I heard you so I ran back. He looked up at his love, her wrists bleeding, her clothing torn, her rucksack open. She pulled out half a bottle of water and held it to his mouth. “You came for me,” she said as she kneeled beside him and held him tightly.
He flinched. “I’m sorry,” he said as she withdrew from their embrace. “I had to shoot them Eve, I had to shoot them. But for now, we have to get out of here. There are some bad people coming now.”
Kevin heard the engine come to a halt by the front of the house. Car lights lit up the lemon trees that stood alongside the drive.
“Come on Kevin. Let's go,” she whispered as she helped him to stand and positioned his crutch. He held it, smiled at her and followed. She ran over to the heap of rope and grabbed her photo of Harry, kissed it and placed it in her bag.
They stepped over the lumps and bumps of the baron land that vastly filled the space beyond the house. They rested on a rock and looked back. They could see the house in the distance, warm, inviting, light; they knew it was anything but.
They watched as four burley men ran around the building, they saw the old woman come out into the garden screaming. They watched as one man held a gun out and put a bullet through her leg. In the distance they heard Mehmet and Celile scream, two more shots followed. The burley men walked out with several bags, Kevin recognised them to be their bags; the men threw them into their car. They shouted and held their hands up before getting into the car and speeding off down the dirt path.
“I’m glad you shot them. Any more time wasted and we wouldn't be here, now. We survived Kevin, we made it,” she said as she cried and fell into his arms. He held her like nothing he’d held before. Their pained, battered bodies entwined without any worry of the actual pain. The real pain for him was the thought of never seeing Eve again. He should’ve listened to her earlier that day. She knew, she had warned them, she had sensed it, she had trusted her instincts. From now on he vowed to himself that he would spend his life trusting Eve’s instincts. She was his angel, his lover, his best friend, his everything and he couldn’t wait to get back to reality, to his normal life, but with her in it for the rest of his life. He didn’t know if a few days was enough to decide whether you could be with someone for life but when he looked to his future, all he could see was Eve. Every other alternative just didn’t exist.
“I love you Kevin,” she said as she leaned forward and kissed him. The sun began to rise; it was going to be a beautiful day. Birds squawked from the trees above and he heard a cockerel in the distance.
“I love you too, more than anything,” he replied as he kissed her head and stood. “For now, we have to find civilisation.”
“What about Rachel? I dragged her out of the clearing and into some bushes. Did they get her?”
Kevin pulled out the sat-nav and turned it on. "I pinpointed their location. We need to get to the police and get Rachel.” They began the long trek back towards the main road. Everything swayed in the distance as dehydration set in, they had to get to a road. It was already getting hot and they had no water left. Eve held Kevin’s hand, steadying him as they walked.
“Wait,” she pulled her phone from her bag. It was flashing an angry red. For a split moment she caught the message on her screen.
Kevin grappled for The Prick's phone; he looked down, a circle with a bar. Great.
Eve read her message aloud and smiled as the battery died.
‘I'm sorry about the last message, it was uncalled for. Harry made me send this for him. 'I love you Mummy. See you when we all get home’
Maybe Justin had a small amount of decency in there after all. She placed the device back in her bag. “Harry loves me,” she smiled.
“Of course he does,” Kevin replied as he squeezed her hand.
Chapter 51
“I can’t go much farther,” Kevin whispered.
“Yes you can, you have to. Give me the bag,” she said as she took the hessian bag off him, stopped for a moment and placed it in her rucksack. It was probably only about nine in the morning but the heat was intense, about twenty five degrees she guessed and it would only get hotter. The sky above them was a cloudless blue. As they got further across the next plain she felt Kevin lean on her more. His weight was slowing her down but she persevered, encouraging him to plod on. The shovel scraped along the stones below. Dust caked over their shins and ankles. “Do you hear that Kevin,” she yelled.
“I can’t hear a thing. Are you with me Eve?” He said as his eyes closed. She knew he was losing it. He was dehydrated, had lost a lot of blood and had almost fought to the death.
“I’m still here,” she said as she turned to kiss his cheek. She had to drag him a bit further towards the traffic noise. One laboured step after another, one sharp twinge followed another. Eventually they reached a verge. Eve lowered Kevin to the ground; he flopped back with his eyes closed as he lay there motionless. She felt his pulse, it was faint. As she bent down she f
elt every ache. She rolled Kevin onto his side and staggered out into the road. The sun was coming over the hill and blinded her. She looked away flinching at the intensity of the light that had flooded her eyes. Staggering up the road she wiped her brow with her arm; a car came from behind her on the opposite side of the road and tooted its horn. Eve waved and tried to look but her eyesight was dotted from the sun. She swallowed, her mouth was bone dry. She needed some help and fast. “Please stop, please help me,” she croaked as she staggered forward. A lorry came from behind and tooted its horn, Eve fell to the floor, her heart almost exploding as the sound of the lorry passed her. The tarmac scorched her knees, she yelled as she turned and sat on her bottom.
A vehicle pulled up in front of her. The smell of diesel filled her nostrils, it was a bus. A woman ran towards her and shouted in Turkish; before she knew it someone was pouring water into her mouth. She gulped, water spilled around her face and down her chin. It was the most welcome drink she had ever received in her life. She pointed towards the verge. “Please help him too, please help.”
Though her eyes, she saw Harry firing his water cannon at her, she laughed. In the corner of their little garden, she watched as two men carried Kevin across the grass and beyond where she lay. She laughed as in her mind she played with her son, enjoying every moment of being blasted by the water. Such a lovely day. Her, Harry and Kevin. She heard sirens; Harry loved his police cars and ambulances. Flashing lights. Everything was going to be alright. Someone tried to prise her rucksack from her back, she snatched it back. “Police, I need to speak to the Police,” she yelled as she opened her rucksack. Now it was time to tell all, about their fight for survival. A medic came towards her with a syringe. “No,” she yelled. Rachel’s life still lay in her hands. “Police first,” she hoped that they’d understood her. The medic withdrew her syringe and called an officer over. Eve smiled, they were going home; they had won the game.
Whispers Beneath the Pines Page 22