“We tried, Lorne.”
Hearing the commotion coming from inside the house, North came sprinting back into the room, looking angrier than when he’d left it. He strode up to Lorne and stood in front of her. Her gaze latched on to his and she neglected to see the back of his hand coming her way. She cried out as his hand connected with her cheek and sent her off-balance. The force flung her sideways, and she landed on the couch. “Dumb, bitch. That’ll teach you to try your superwoman antics with me. You won’t be so fucking foolish the next time, will you?”
Lorne put her cool hand to her blazing cheek and winced at the harsh lesson she’d just been handed. Bide your time, girl. Let him think he’s dealing with an amateur, and then pounce when he’s least expecting it. If the opportunity ever arises.
Lorne, Katy, and Jai San were tied up with their hands behind their backs and taken out to the van one by one. Sansom took Katy out first and stayed with her while North took Jai San and then Lorne out of the house. Between North taking Jai San and returning to fetch Lorne, whom North had tied to a heavy bureau, she begged with Angela a final time to reconsider helping them. “Please, Angela. You don’t have to go to the police—just ring my husband, that’s all I ask,” Lorne said, desperation lingering in her voice.
“I can’t! There’s my sister to consider. You heard what he said.” Tears of frustration welled up in Angela’s eyes and Lorne nodded her understanding. She totally understood the woman’s dreadful predicament. But, if Angela couldn’t or wouldn’t help them, then who would?
Chapter Eighteen
After being thrown into the back of the van, almost crushing each other, there was a slight delay before the van moved off while Samson dumped Katy’s car in a nearby lane. North sat on the one seat available in the back, glaring at his captives.
Lorne glanced at Katy with an expression that said, ‘we’re in deep shit now, girl.’ Inhaling a large breath and wishing she hadn’t after filling her lungs with the fumes from an oily cloth lying next to her, Lorne asked, “Where are you taking us?”
“Ever the inquisitive one. You’ll see when you get there. We’re going to teach you a lesson or two about how not to interfere in my lucrative business.” North sneered at her and then turned his attention to Jai San.
The young woman was shaking violently now. Lorne feared she knew what lay ahead of her. Something they’d all be finding out soon enough. She wished she still had her mobile phone in her pocket; she could have figured out the number pad through the cloth and opened up a line so Tony could listen in to what was happening to them. But North and Sansom had frisked her and Katy and removed both their mobiles before they’d bundled them into the back of the van.
They must have been travelling for about twenty to twenty-five minutes before they arrived at their destination. From her obscure position, Lorne caught brief glimpses of the area, she knew exactly where they were. Her stomach twisted and turned itself in large knots.
Katy nudged Lorne’s foot and mouthed, “We’re at the warehouse.”
Sansom jumped out to open the gates, with North distracted watching the driver Lorne nodded at Katy. “I know.” Her heart sank as the driver got back in the van and pulled it into the yard.
“Here we are, ladies—I use the term loosely, of course. It’s time to see what you’re really made of.” North moved to the rear of the van and waited for the doors to open. They heard the gates clang shut and then the doors sprang open. Jai San was the first to be yanked from the vehicle. She was crying and shaking uncontrollably. The two men merely laughed at the young woman, and then North disappeared with her.
“What the fuck are we going to do, Lorne?” Katy whispered.
North reappeared before Lorne could answer her. He grabbed Katy’s leg and hauled her out of the back of the van, she landed on the concrete with a sickening thump. Katy—being Katy—refused to cry out in pain. Lorne felt proud of her, and hoped that she would be able to remain strong throughout the torment that she imagined lay ahead of them.
Lorne twisted and turned in the confined space, trying to get into a better position to avoid going through the same as Katy when North came to collect her. He rounded the open door and his mouth turned up into a knowing smile. “You’re a quick learner. I’m going to enjoy teaching you most of all.”
“Bastard! You lay a finger on either of us, and I swear you’ll live to regret it.” Just in case North knew who the Unicorn was, she added, “A few years ago, a man in the same line of business as you, paid the ultimate price when he kidnapped my daughter.”
“Ah, the lioness has roared. I’d better watch out for those nasty claws of yours, hadn’t I?” North laughed callously. He pulled her out of the van, shoved her in the back to make her walk in front of him and into the warehouse.
Inside, the other two girls had been locked in a cage. A quick scan of the area told Lorne that they were alone, and the other girls they had witnessed being brought here had already been shipped out to God knew where.
North threw Lorne behind bars with the others, and then he and Sansom moved away from the cage to hold a whispered conversation, which ended with both men laughing loudly. Then the two men returned and stood in front of the cage, eyeing Lorne and the other two captives with pure lust in their beady eyes.
North approached the cage door and opened it, stepping through the doorway and walking over to where Lorne was standing. His eyes ran the length of her body, and under his creepy gaze, she struggled to prevent the shudder running up her spine. Her shoulders straightened in determination and as North’s gaze met hers, she spat at him, hitting him directly between the eyes.
Angered by the insult, North swiped her across the face again. However, this time Lorne had prepared herself for the strike, and remained bolt upright.
“You’ll pay for that, Warner. First, you’re going to watch what we do to the other two, and then I’ll have pleasure in teaching you how to behave around men. Obviously it’s a talent lacking in your extensive repertoire.” North’s gaze remained on Lorne as he reached out and found Jai San’s arm.
The young woman screamed as North led her from the cage and locked the door behind them.
“Shit! Katy, what are we going to do?”
“My advice half an hour ago would have been not to antagonize him, but I think it’s too late for that.”
“Shit!” Lorne said for a second time as they observed the two men pushing the girl between them. Each time she left the arms of one man, they heard her clothes tear, until finally Jai San stood naked between the two men. Lorne tried to turn away, desperate not to see what the girl was about to be subjected to, but she felt that if she did that, Jai San would feel she had deserted her.
North forced Jai San to bend over and placed her face near his open fly while Sansom dropped his trousers and entered the woman from behind. North fiddled with his crotch and exposed his erect penis, then forced it into Jai San’s mouth. The terror and humiliation that haunted the young woman’s eyes tore at Lorne’s heart, yet she was thankful that Jai San didn’t put up a fight. Had she resisted, the punishment would have been ten times worse. Is this what she’s had to put up with every day of her life since she turned up on the Norths’ doorstep?
Bile rose and burned the back of her throat. “Fuck!”
She heard Katy gag and spit on the floor next to her. “I can’t…I won’t let them do that to me, Lorne,” she said through gritted teeth.
“I’m not sure you’re going to have a choice, Katy,” Lorne said reluctantly. She searched the cage for any form of sharp edge with which to cut the rope tying her hands, but came up blank.
She heaved when she saw North shoot his load in Jai San’s mouth at the same time that Sansom reached his climax. Thinking they’d finished with Jai San, Lorne was devastated when they threw the girl on her back and North dived on top of her. She couldn’t watch anymore and shut her eyes, but she could do nothing to block out Jai San’s pitiful cries for help.
Oh God, what have we done to deserve this?
Chapter Nineteen
Tony was anxiously pacing the floor with one of the pups in his arms when Sam walked into the kitchen.
“Something wrong?”
“It’s Lorne. She said she would ring me throughout the morning—you know, after the scare she had with that lunatic trying to drive her off the road the other day,” Tony replied. He bent down and placed the pup gently beside its siblings, then sat down at the table.
Sam sat beside him and thumped his upper arm gently. “This is my daughter we’re talking about, Tony. She’ll be fine—you know she will. Has Katy gone with her?”
“Yes. It doesn’t alter the fact that she told me she’d call in and hasn’t, Sam. If Lorne says she’s going to call me, she always—always—sticks to it.”
“Okay, let’s think logically about this. She was going to the agency first thing, wasn’t she?” Sam asked.
“Yep. I have no way of knowing if she turned up there or not. Her phone is switched off.”
Sam looked up at the clock on the wall; it was almost midday. “Maybe she hit trouble there. Can you ring the agency?”
Tony nodded. “I have. There was no answer. Which, again, doesn’t bode well.”
“Now, don’t go thinking anything bad has happened to Lorne and Katy. Let’s get the facts sorted out first. It might be wise if you took a trip over there.”
“I can’t leave this place. The pups need feeding every few hours, and we have some visitors coming here this afternoon to view some of the long-term boarders—”
Sam held up a hand to stop him. “I can look after things around here.”
“But Lorne said I wasn’t to trouble you because you weren’t feeling well,” Tony replied, concerned.
“Here’s the plan: we’ll have some lunch, and then if she hasn’t made contact with us by one o’clock, I want you to go over to the agency and see what you can find out. Deal?”
“Deal. Thanks, Sam.”
The next hour flew past as Tony threw himself into his chores and wolfed down the sandwich Sam made him. When he still hadn’t heard from Lorne by the agreed time, he bid Sam goodbye, picked up the keys to the van, and set off for the agency.
During the journey, his mind sought through the numerous questions he was going to ask the woman at the agency when he laid eyes on her.
At one forty-five, he parked the rescue centre’s van outside the agency and ran up the steps. Although he wanted to barge into the woman’s office and demand to know where Lorne and Katy were, he took a few deep breaths to calm himself and knocked gently on the agency door. The outer office was empty, so he knocked on the second door.
“Come in,” came a woman’s abrupt response.
Tony entered the room and instantly frowned at the woman sitting at the desk. “Tara Small?”
“Yeah, who wants to know?” she asked cautiously.
Tony approached the desk and extended his hand. The woman stared at it, totally disinterested. “Tony Warner.”
“And? Should that name mean anything to me? You mind getting to the point?” She paused to look down at the papers spread across her desk. “I’m kind of busy here.”
Tony moved around to the side of the desk, and that was when something caught his eye. In the wastepaper basket, he saw a handful of bloody tissues. Time to stop being the nice guy and start getting the answers I need.
“Have you had an accident?”
Small’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “What?”
He pointed down at the bin in front of him.
“Oh that. It was nothing. What do you want, Mr. Warner?”
Tony leaned on the desk placing his face a few inches from hers. “My wife.”
Small shot back in her chair. “You’ve lost your wife and need one of my girls to fill her shoes, is that it?” she queried perplexed.
“Is it fuck! You know damn well who I am and why I’m here. Now where’s my bloody wife?”
The woman got out of her chair to challenge him. “How the fuck should I know, you creep? She left here hours ago. Maybe she’s desperate to get away from you harassing her.”
“I’ll ask you one more time before I force you to tell me.”
Tara Small’s hand opened the drawer to her desk and disappeared inside. She pulled out a small-bladed knife and thrust it in front of Tony’s face. “Bring it on, big boy.”
Tony backed up, ensuring the desk wouldn’t hamper his next move. He held his hands up and shrugged. “Okay, you win.”
As soon as Tara’s hand relaxed its grip on the blade, his arm shot out and gave her forearm a karate chop. Shocked to see the blade fly out of her hand she backed up towards the wall behind her. “I don’t want any trouble—I’ve had enough of that for one day.”
“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Tony moved around the desk and saw her eyes widen in fear. “I have no intention of hurting you. Just tell me where my wife is.”
“I have no idea. I told you, she left here hours ago. I have no idea what people do after they leave these premises.”
“What trouble have you had today? What’s with the blood-soaked tissues?”
Small shrugged and her eyes drifted down to the wastepaper basket. “An unhappy associate caught me off-guard this morning.”
“Nice business you run here, if that’s how an associate treats you. Was this before or after Lorne visited you this morning?”
“Before. I repeat: I have no idea where she went after leaving here,” Small told him, appearing to relax a little.
“Answer me this: why would an associate attack you like that? I presume that’s what happened.”
“Because I’m in the wrong line of business, I guess. Like your wife suggested. Please, you have to leave. They watch this place and the punters who come here. If you stay around too long, more trouble will land on my doorstep.”
“Okay, but first you need to tell me who this associate is,” Tony said, thinking what Lorne would’ve asked the woman and where her next line of questioning would have likely taken her.
“I can’t. I’m sorry.”
Tony pinned the woman against the wall. “No more Mr. Nice Guy, lady. Tell me who the associate is—now.”
Small’s arms tried to release Tony’s forearm from pinching her throat but her efforts proved to be useless. In a croaky voice, she gave him the name. “Roger North.”
Tony stepped back, and Small immediately rubbed at her neck. “Have you got an address for him?”
Small shook her head warily. “No, only a mobile number.”
“Let me have it.”
Small scrolled through the Rolodex on her desk, plucked out a card, and handed it to Tony. He wrote down the number on a pad and then pocketed the piece of paper.
“Thanks for your help. For your sake and mine, you’d be wise to keep your mouth shut about my visit.”
Small nodded her understanding and Tony left the office. The first thing he did was ring Lorne’s father. “Sam, Lorne and Katy left the agency hours ago. The woman had a visit from one of her associates who attacked her.”
“Shit. What are you going to do now, Tony?”
“Here’s the thing: the associate was Roger North. Angela North’s husband.”
“Please tell me you’re on your way to his house.”
“That was my intention, yes. I’ve only got a mobile number for him, though. Can you check in the diary for the address? I’m sure Lorne wrote it in there. If she didn’t, can you give Jade a call? Try the diary first; I don’t want to cause Jade any unnecessary concern at this point.”
“Righto, hold on a mo’.”
Tony drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while he waited.
“Here you go.” Lorne’s father relayed the address and then said, “Let me know what happens when you get there, Tony. Be careful.”
“Just as a precaution, if you don’t hear from me within the next hour, call the police and send them to the Norths’ house.”
“I’ll do that.”
Tony hung up and pressed his foot down hard on the accelerator.
He pulled into the drive and knocked on the front door. Receiving no answer, Tony took the path around the side of the house. When he reached the back of the house, he looked through the French doors and was surprised to find a middle-aged woman sitting in a winged chair with her arms wrapped around her knees. He tapped lightly on the French doors and she leapt out of her seat in fright.
She wiped away the tears that glistened on her cheek, her voice shook when she shouted, “Who are you and what do you want?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m looking for my wife, Lorne Warner.”
The woman quickly ran to the door and pushed it back. “Oh thank God. I didn’t know what to do…my husband will kill me if he finds out…but those poor women.”
“Whoa! Now hold on a minute; you’re not making sense. Has Lorne been here today?”
“Yes…yes, she was here with another woman several hours ago.”
“So they left. Do you know where they went?” Tony felt relieved, but then the fear emanating from the woman’s eyes warned him not to count his chickens just yet.
She collapsed back into the chair and averted her eyes. “They all left.”
“You’re not making any sense. Who?”
“My husband and his friend took the three girls.”
Tony’s heart rate spiked and his mouth suddenly went dry. “Who do you mean by three girls?”
“Sorry, I mean women. Lorne, Jai San, and your wife’s friend. They’re in terrible danger. He’s going to kill them. I wanted to ring you, but he threatened to hurt my sister if I contacted you,” Angela said in between sobs.
“Where have they taken them?”
“I don’t know. All this is a shock to me. I knew my husband had a violent streak, but I never dreamed he could be caught up in something like this.”
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