Public Property

by Mandy Baggot

  ‘What?’

  ‘Are you having a baby? I don’t usually believe what I hear on some of those news channels, but I’ve had five or six customers asking me about it this afternoon and…’ Jolie began.

  ‘It’s true, we’re going to be parents. We were trying to keep it under wraps but that seems impossible in our lives.’ She let out a sigh and grabbed another two chocolate bars.

  ‘Well, I think it’s wonderful news. You two are going to make great parents.’ She moved from behind the counter to put her arms around Freya and hug her.

  ‘I’ll be needing all the advice I can get. Particularly on the whole getting it out of my body stuff, because I’m really no good with pain.’

  ‘You’ll be fine.’

  ‘I was fine with the getting it in there thing. I enjoyed that, a lot. I suppose what goes up must come down, one way or another. Perhaps I should abuse my privileged status and demand a C-section.’

  ‘I think you’ll find they’re not all they’re cracked up to be. My sister could tell you a thing or two about them.’

  ‘Please don’t give me her number.’ Her mobile phone began to ring.

  ‘It’s Nick…hello.’

  ‘Hey, could you pick up some bottled water? We’re all out.’

  ‘I will. I’m nearly done here.’ She smiled at Josie and picked up the brown grocery bag.

  ‘OK, well everything’s ready to go. Roger’s going to take us to the airport and I’ve arranged flights. We leave in a couple hours.’

  ‘I can’t wait to be on that island. I can’t wait to be away from alarm systems.’ She waved at Josie, left the store and headed for her car.

  ‘No, me neither. It’ll be good to see Emma and Yiannis again. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Sasha called around earlier. She bought some baby clothes. She wanted to drop them off to surprise you. I put them in the guest room for now.’

  ‘Sasha? Well, what was she doing out of the office? She was supposed to be meeting with someone at two. What time was this?’ She opened the car door and put the groceries on the passenger seat before hopping up into the driver’s side.

  ‘Come on, Freya. Get out of Boss Lady mode. It was a nice thing for her to do. She said after you finding the wreath and stuff she wanted to do something to cheer you up.’

  ‘She said what?’ She exhaled and felt a chill run up her.

  ‘She said after a shock like getting sent a wreath with your name on, you needed something to take your mind off of it.’

  ‘Nick, I didn’t tell Sasha about the wreath.’

  ‘Well, she knew about it. I bet you, despite what Harry promised us, he’s been spreading that information around.’

  ‘Have you heard it reported? Did any of the press at our gate ask you about it? Have the police released any details about it? Because no one’s said a word to me about it. But they’ve all been more than keen to ask me about the baby.’ Her mind was working overtime. She was certain she hadn’t mentioned the wreath to Sasha. It could only mean one thing but that couldn’t be true.

  ‘What are you saying?’ Nicholas asked her.

  ‘I think you’ve said enough to him, don’t you?’ Sasha spat.

  Freya felt something press in to the back of her head and she held her breath. She flicked her eyes up to the rear view mirror and saw Sasha sat in the back seat of the car. The hard object at the back of her head was the barrel of a gun.

  ‘Nick, it’s her! It’s Sasha!’ Freya shrieked at the top of her voice.

  ‘Freya? Freya, are you there?’

  Sasha snatched the phone from Freya’s hand and ended the call.

  ‘Stupid, stupid Freya! Always such a big mouth and never knows when to keep it shut!’ Sasha yelled.

  The gun pressed harder into Freya’s head and she winced.

  ‘Now, are we going to be adult about this or not? Are you going to behave or am I going to have to make this even more unpleasant for you?’ Sasha hissed, her mouth close to Freya’s ear.

  Freya’s heart was racing and her head began to swim. She couldn’t faint now. She had to remain in control.

  ‘Didn’t you hear me?! I said, are you going to behave?’ The gun stabbed into her skull.

  ‘Yes. Yes, please don’t hurt me.’ She held in a whimper that was threatening to slip from her lips.

  ‘Ooo please Sasha, don’t hurt me! You sound so pathetic.’ Sasha climbed over into the passenger seat, dropping the grocery bag to the floor.

  Freya made a grab for the handle of the door. Sasha immediately locked all the doors.

  ‘Didn’t you hear what I said, bitch? Anymore stupid moves and I’ll finish this here and now.’ Sasha grabbed Freya’s arm and squeezed it hard.

  Freya fought back the tears and just stared at Sasha. The woman’s face was a picture of rage and hate and almost unrecognisable from that of the helpful, dutiful assistant she worked with every day.

  ‘Right, I want you to drive. I’ll give directions. Start the car,’ Sasha ordered, keeping the gun trained on Freya.

  ‘Where are we going?’ With shaking hands she turned the key in the ignition.

  ‘You’ll know when we get there. Take a right at the junction.’

  Suddenly there was a knock on the driver’s side window. Freya jumped as she saw Brian’s face looking in at her.

  ‘Wind down the window and talk to him. Tell him everything’s fine, then get rid of him.’ Sasha concealed her weapon.

  Freya did as she was told and fixed a smile on her face as she greeted her neighbour. She turned the ignition off.

  ‘Hi, Brian.’

  ‘Hello, Freya. I saw you parked here and I thought I’d take this opportunity to ask you about a merchandising idea I have.’

  ‘Merchandising? Well…I…perhaps you’d better talk to Nick about that. He’s more into that sort of area. He’s at the house if you wanted to go there and see him. Tell him I sent you.’ She winked heavily, hoping he would realise something was wrong.

  ‘Well, you know Mayleaf has a baseball team - the Mayleaf Maulers - well I thought to drum up support and in recognition of the team reaching the quarter finals of the county league, I could print some t-shirts.’

  ‘T-shirts.’ She looked past Brian towards the store, in the hope Sam or Jolie would come out.

  ‘Yes, I was hoping you’d agree to the slogan “Baby Kaden says Go Maulers Go”. I mean obviously he/she/it wouldn’t actually say that, but I’d like to think one day he/she/it might join the team and…’ Brian carried on.

  ‘You know what, Brian, I think it’s a great idea. I really think you should speak to Nick about it and…’ Her eyes pleaded for Brian to come out of his world and join hers. It wasn’t happening.

  ‘Hey, Freya, hadn’t we better get going? We don’t want to be late for that appointment,’ Sasha spoke loudly, leaning over Freya and smiling at Brian.

  ‘Yes. Yes, we’d better get going. Brian, why don’t you go up to the house and…’ Freya began again.

  ‘Bye, Brian,’ Sasha interrupted. She closed the window up.

  Brian smiled and waved.

  ‘Simpleton. How unlucky are you, Freya? Someone comes right up to the car when you’re being held at gunpoint and of all the people it has to be him. And he asks you about t-shirts,’ Sasha laughed.

  ‘Look, what the hell is all this about? Why are you doing this?’

  ‘Shut the fuck up and drive! No more small talk.’ Sasha poked the gun into Freya’s cheek.

  She had no choice. She re-started the car.

  Thirty Two

  ‘Shall we have some music? I think I’d kind of like some music right now. What have we got in here? Urgh, Aerosmith. How very rock chick of you.’ Sasha began to flick her way through the CD collection.

  ‘Actually that one’s Nick’s.’

  ‘Is it? One of his favourites? Now that’s something I didn’t know about him. An admiration of Steve Tyler. Well, I suppose I could live with that.’ She pushed the disc into the player.


  ‘I don’t understand this, Sasha. When did you start hating me so much?’

  ‘When did I start hating you? Hmm, let me think about that. Well, I think it was probably about the time you started dating my guy.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Nick’s my guy, you know. He doesn’t really know it yet, but it’s only a matter of time.’ She nodded her head to the beat of the music.

  ‘You’ve got a crush on Nick? That’s what all this is about?’

  ‘I don’t have a crush on him. I’m not some sort of deluded teenager. I’m in love with him. And, if it wasn’t for you pushing yourself on to him, he’d be in love with me,’ Sasha informed her.

  ‘This is very bizarre. I mean I’ve liked guys before, all sorts of guys and believe me I’ve been let down by more than a few. But I’ve never felt the need to take a gun to someone’s head.’

  ‘Aren’t you listening to me you stupid, fat bitch? I’m in love with him! Don’t you know what that means? It means that he’s going to be mine and you are surplus to requirements. You and that brat.’ Sasha let out a scream of hysteria and aimed the gun at Freya’s stomach.

  Freya swallowed and tried to remain focused on the road ahead.

  ‘This wasn’t how it was supposed to end up, you know. It was supposed to go on a lot longer than this, but you had to ruin that for me too. Making plans to get married and this afternoon, trying to jet off to Corfu,’ Sasha remarked, tapping the gun on the dashboard in time to the music.

  ‘How can you possibly know about Corfu? We only decided that half an hour ago.’

  ‘I know everything, Freya! I admit things got a little patchy when you lost your handbag, but I still had the wire in the house. I know absolutely everything you and Nick have discussed over the last few months.’

  ‘My God.’

  ‘Now, perhaps you’ll have a little respect for me, instead of treating me like someone with no brain. I’ll have a cup of tea please, Sasha. I’ll have another calorie loaded pastry, Sasha,’ Sasha spoke.

  ‘That isn’t how it is at all. I’ve been nothing but nice to you. I gave you the job even though you were the least qualified for it. I’ve told you things I know about photography I haven’t passed on to anyone else. I thought we were friends.’

  ‘I know you did. That was the plan. You had to trust me for any of this to work.’

  ‘I still don’t really understand why you’ve been doing all this. Was it all you? The broken windows? The photographs? The letter and the wreath? What about Mike? Did you arrange for him to be attacked?’ Freya wanted to know.

  ‘I’d like to say that it was all me, but no. I had nothing to do with poor Mike’s attack. That hurt Nick, didn’t it? He treats all his staff well, just like friends. I saw how that affected him. I couldn’t do anything that would hurt him,’ Sasha replied.

  ‘You couldn’t do anything to hurt him?! What d’you think all this has been doing to him? He’s been worried out of his mind. He loves me, Sasha.’

  ‘Shut up! He does not love you! He’s just got confused. You’ve made him confused. You turned up in his life when he was vulnerable over his cancer. He was an easy target and you manipulated him into a relationship with you. The poor guy didn’t stand a chance. But I’m going to save him from that.’

  She was sounding unhinged. Nothing like the person Freya thought she had got to know over the past few months.

  ‘Look, Sasha, I know how you must feel…’

  ‘Know how I feel?! You have absolutely no idea how I feel! Do you know how sick I’ve felt having to work with you every day? I’ve had to listen to all that boring camera talk in the office and watch you fawning all over Nick. And as for listening to the two of you at home…the sex actually turned my stomach. I pity Nick, having to put up a pretence of enjoying himself. It just shows what a fantastic actor he is.’

  ‘You’re twisted,’ Freya said through gritted teeth.

  ‘Like you’re one to judge! I heard the conversation with your “brother”. I have to say that gave me great amusement. I listened to him telling you, you completely freaking out, so much so you had to go to hospital! Imagine! Sleeping with your brother! Now, that is twisted.’ She laughed.

  Anger boiled up inside Freya and she pulled hard right on the steering wheel of the car. The SUV veered across the road towards the embankment. It hit the bank and came to a halt.

  ‘You stupid bitch! Get out the seat! Get out the seat. You’re getting in the back,’ Sasha screamed, pointing the gun at Freya.

  ‘Whatever you have planned for me doesn’t really matter. Nick will be on his way here with the police and you’re going down for kidnap, harassment and breaking and entering at the very least.’

  ‘And, pleading insanity, how long do you think I will get? You are the sentence expert after all.’ Sasha pushed Freya into the back seat of the car.

  ‘Whatever you get, you won’t be getting Nick.’

  ‘Hmm, you don’t think? With you not here, with him needing support and a shoulder to cry on…with me explaining what I did, I did for us? I can picture it all now. Nick, me and our future.’

  ‘You’re seriously deluded.’

  ‘Don’t forget, Freya, I’m the one with the gun. So I’d think twice before making any more comments. Now, put your hands behind your back.’ Sasha pulled a roll of twine out of her bag.

  ‘This is pointless, you know. I really don’t see what you’re going to achieve,’ Freya continued as Sasha began to tie her hands together behind her back.

  ‘I told you. I’m going to get rid of you. I’m doing this for Nick as much as for me.’ She pulled the wire tight around Freya’s hands.

  ‘You keep telling yourself that.’

  ‘You can’t really think he’s in love with you! Look at you for God’s sake! What would he see in an oversized frump like you?’ She took Freya’s face in her hands and squeezed her cheeks.

  ‘You can do what you like to me. But just think about what you’ll be doing to Nick’s baby.’

  Sasha’s nails dug into her flesh and Freya could feel her breath on her face.

  ‘Do you really think I give a damn about that? It’s just another obstacle in the way that’ll be removed. In fact it will be killing two birds with one stone. And how appropriate that is.’ A smug smile spread across Sasha’s face.

  ‘You might have heard everything we’ve done over the last few months, Sasha. But you won’t have seen Nick’s face when he saw our baby on the monitor at the hospital. He was overjoyed. There were tears in his eyes and he looked at the image as if it were the most amazing thing he’d ever seen. To him it was only one stop short of a miracle.’

  ‘Oh quit with the dramatics. It’s just a baby. I can give him a baby. I can give him a baby and get my figure back afterwards. I don’t hold out much hope for you.’ She jabbed Freya in the stomach with the gun.

  ‘What sort of person are you? Don’t you care about anything except this ridiculous obsession with my fiancé?’ Freya wanted to know.

  Sasha slapped Freya’s face. The force of the blow had Freya reeling back into the seat.

  ‘He is not your fiancé. Not anymore. Now, I don’t want to hear another word from you or I’ll end this right here…right now.’

  Freya sat still on the seat, unable to move with her hands tied behind her back. She watched, helpless, as Sasha got into the driver’s seat of the SUV and restarted the engine.

  Thirty Three

  ‘We’re here,’ Sasha announced, turning to face Freya and smiling at her.

  They’d driven a little more than fifteen minutes, according to the clock on the dashboard. There had come off the main road and headed up what felt like a dirt track. Freya’s hands were aching and the wire was cutting into the skin. She’d had to lie on her side to relieve the pressure but now she was stuck there.

  Sasha got down out of the car and opened the back door. She grabbed Freya’s arms and pulled her up into a sitting position.

  ‘Get up, bitch. I
said we’re here.’ Sasha pulled Freya down and out of the car.

  She managed to land on her feet but smarted as the twine tightened on her wrists. She looked at her surroundings. They were next to a patch of wasteland that was instantly familiar.

  ‘We’re at County Bridge.’

  She could see the black bridge just a hundred yards or so away. It was so cold. The wind was whipping underneath her jacket and her fingers were starting to numb.

  ‘Yes, don’t sound so surprised. I know how much you love this place. You’ve spent hours here taking photographs, all of them dull and boring by the way. But, it seemed a fitting place for it all to end. A last tribute if you like.’

  ‘Look, Sasha, this is stupid. You don’t hate me. You certainly don’t want to kill me. Why don’t we just talk about this like grown-ups?’

  ‘You are kidding right? You think talking can resolve anything? Did I not make myself clear enough earlier? You have my man. You are standing in the way of our happiness together. The only resolution to this is for you to be gone...completely gone.’

  Sasha was becoming more and more unstable from what Freya could remember about captor behaviour. She only had her vast Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger DVD collection to reference from but it wasn’t looking good. She was really scared. What if Sasha was really going to try and kill her? It sounded completely far-fetched but the look in the woman’s eyes told Freya this wasn’t some sort of prank. Sasha was serious.

  Sasha reached into her bag and drew out a white piece of cloth. She started to toy with it in her hands.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ Freya asked.

  ‘You’ll see. Come on, there’s not much time.’

  Sasha pushed Freya forward and jabbed the gun into the small of her back, urging her on towards the bridge.

  Freya looked at the landscape in front of her. It was just grassland, the old ruined church and nothing else. Just wild open space and not another soul in sight. She had a thought. The fishermen! There must be some fishermen a little further up the river. She could shout or make a run for it or something. She had to do something.