by Shaw, Vicki
The locks on the door click open and in walks The Boss, Steve and this time Jayce. Great they are all here to make my life a little more hell than it already is. I wonder if Steve knows who Jayce is and that he is the one I lost my virginity too. It was always a big deal to Steve who it was, but I never told him. Before Steve, there was only Jayce and it killed Steve not knowing who it was. Maybe that is the way I can stall for some time. “Great so both my ex’s are in the same room. I’m sure you both know each other so I don’t have to introduce you, but I just wonder how much you both know about each other. Steve, you know all the times you wanted to know who my first was? Well now, you don’t have to wonder because Jayce here is the one I gave my V card to.” I held my breath to see if Steve was going to take the bait. Right on cue Steve’s face turned red as he looked at Jayce. I swear I could almost see steam coming out of Steve’s ears. “You’re the son of a bitch that slept with her and then disappeared?” Steve said as he shoved a finger in first Jayce’s face then pointed it at me. “Chill out man. It was years ago and Boss wanted me to leave.” Jayce responded with a shrug of his shoulder. Steve looked from Jayce to The Boss than back at Jayce. Steve must have decided not to take on The Boss. “I don’t think you would have been told to sleep with her. Do you know how much emotional damage you done to her? Do you even give a shit?” Steve pushed Jayce in the chest and Jayce stumbled back a few steps. It didn’t take Jayce long to find his footing and lurch himself at Steve. Jayce landed a few punches on Steve’s face giving him a bloody lip and a small cut above his eye. Jayce, however, did not fare much better Steve landed a few good hits to his jaw and bloodied his nose. The whole time this is going on The Boss and Andrew are standing there looking amused at the show in front of them. The Boss clicked his fingers at Andrew and pointed at the two man still fighting. Andrew pulled them apart and held them by their shirts at their chests. “As much as I’m enjoying the show we have work to do. You two can pick this up later on your own time, or better still, we will organise a cage fight. Yes, that sounds fun let’s do that and I think we will make it to the death. What do you think Andrew?” Andrew just surged his shoulders still holding Jayce and Steve. “Do you two think you can work together without getting into another fight?” Andrew questioned before he let them go. They both nodded. Andrew gave them both a hard shove apart. “You better or I will tie you both up until I get you in the cage.” I can’t believe I just witnessed that. Surely The Boss isn’t serious about tying them up and less so about the cage fight to the death. Shit deep down I know that he is that sick and twisted that he would do that and make it a big show to make money out of it. I didn’t want this to happen. Now someone is going to die all because of me.
“Right, now let’s get back to work. Ms. Wilson here has a file to find, don’t you Ms. Wilson?” The Boss grabs my arm and starts heading towards the door. I try to fight to break his hold, but he is too strong. Not that I know what I would do even if I did get free. I would not get far because there are another three strong males in the room. “I don’t know why you will not listen to me. I… DON’T… KNOW… WHERE… IT… IS!” I strung out and shouted the last part. Maybe they might start to listen if I say it louder and slower. The Boss swings me around so I’m face to face with him so fast I don’t know what just happened. “And I don’t know why you will not listen to me. You will find that file within the next 48 hours or I will be shipping you off to a whorehouse on the other side of the world, where no one will ever see or hear from you again. However, before you are put on that plane, I will fuck and beat you to within an inch of your life. I may even let Jayce and Steve here have a go at you as well as a farewell gift. Do you hear and understand me now, Ms. Wilson?” Bile just rose up to my month. As I swallowed it down, I nod my head in understanding. I need to get out of here and fast. Maybe I should be done with it and show them where the time capsule is. Deep in my gut, I know that even if I do give them the file they still will not let me go. It may not even be in there. My only hope is that Jake and Martin are not too far away.
I half walk and am half pulled up the stairs. Once in the house The Boss takes me into Dad’s office. “I have already looked in every file there is in here and there was nothing,” I tell him. “I don’t care if you have looked in here I want you to look again. I want every drawer pulled out, turned upside down and searched as well as the drawer cavity. I also want everything to be put back where it belongs just in case Andrew can’t keep his buddies away and they want to have a look around. Andrew, you stay here with them. Jayce and Steve come with me upstairs. You two can start up there.” The Boss walks out with Jayce and Steve on his tail. “Do you know what we are looking for? I mean I know it is a file but is it paper or and hard drive, an SD card? What?” I hear Jayce ask as they are walking up the stairs. “All I know is that it is not paper. It could be an SD card or a flash drive. Anything that holds data I want. I will take it and get my tech guys checking them out to find what is on them.”
It is not as time-consuming this time because when Martin and I were here I threw away all the really old stuff and only left the stuff I thought I might need. I have a pile of SD cards and USB sticks put aside. I know they have nothing that The Boss would want because Jakes team checked them all out when they were here. Thank goodness Jake got them to back them all up on ‘the cloud’ for me or else I would lose all the photos and things that have been saved on them. While I am going through the drawers, Andrew is looking in every container, penholder and anything else he can find. He even opened the stapler and hole punch and checked them. Someone brought Andrew a sandwich and a bottle of water for lunch at one point. I did not get anything to eat, but I was lucky enough to get a bottle of water. It was starting to get late. I could tell by the changing colours of the sky outside. I did not have a clear view because they made sure the curtains remained closed so no one could see in. By the time The Boss came to the door, the whole office had been searched. There was not a wall, drawer, book or inch that was not looked in or at. The Boss took all the SD cards and USBs with him.
I was taken back down to the basement. “You only have one more day so you better hope to god one of these are the files I am after or you find the right one tomorrow. I meant every word I said to you earlier.” With that, The Boss turned to walk out the door. “Jayce you can stay here for a while. I have a job for Andrew and Steve has never done this before. I don’t know if he could handle it.” He ordered over his shoulder as he started going up the stairs. Andrew and Steve followed like two good little puppy dogs. I wish Steve had of been the one to stay. I may have had a chance to get him to help me or at least of overpowering him. I do not think I stand a change with Jayce.
I walk over and sit up against the wall under the window. I wonder if I can engage Jayce in a conversation and get him to drop his guard. Anything at this stage is worth a shot. “So Jayce did you ever end up married, girlfriend, kids.” I did not know what else to talk about. He looked at me as if I had grown another head. “What’s it to you? You want another chance to have a go at this.” He ran his hand up and down his body as if he has the hottest body in the world. I had to keep the shutter from running through my body for him to see. It was not a good shutter at all and I did not want to give him the wrong idea. “Uu mm, No, just trying to make conversation, to make the time go quicker.” “What, so now I’m not good enough for you?” Wow, this has just gotten bad. He is making his away over to me with a look in his eyes that I can’t read. I do not know what his intentions are when he reaches me. His eyes have gone as black as midnight with no moon. I scramble to try to stand up but before I can find my feet, Jayce is there pulling me up by my elbows. I try to pull away, but he crunches me to his chest. The next thing I know his mouth is on mine trying to pry my lips open with his tongue. His teeth are bruising my lips with the force he is using. I try to pull my head away but as soon as I do, he lets go of one of my elbows and knots his hand in my hair forcing my face closer to his. I try to scream,
but that only gives him access to the inside of my month. His tongue is running over mine. I feel bile rising and try to push it down. I am trying to hit him with the hand that is free, but he easily captures it and my other hand in one of his. He lifts them up and pins them above my head. I try to knee him in the balls, but his hard thighs and knees are pinning my legs up against the wall. I can feel his erection pressing into my stomach. He pulls his month of mine. “You know what Roxie I think I’m going to chain you up and fuck you like you have never been fucked before. I think you would enjoy a good, hard fuck.” I did not think the look in his eyes could get any darker, but oh, how wrong I could be. He now looks evil. He drags me over to where the chains and cuffs are. “You better behave yourself while I get these cuffs on you or not only will I fuck you I will beat you till your black and blue. You understand me?” I nod my head in understanding. What else could I do. I cannot believe this is happening. I thought I had to be worried about The Boss doing this to me, not Jayce. I thought I had time to come up with a way out of here or that Jake and Martin would find me and get me out before I had to worry about this happening. Again how wrong could I be? I guess these are the bad guys so I should have expected bad things to happen.
Once I am below the chains and cuffs, he lifts my arms up. This time instead of cuffing them separately, he cuffs them together. Maybe with them together I might have a chance to pull them free. Once he is finished on my arms, he bends down to cuff my feet. My fight or flight instincts kick in. I can’t use the flight just yet so my only option is to fight. As he is bending down, I give my arms one almighty pull. To my surprise, they come free and I stumble on top of Jayce. That is when my flight instinct kicked in. I jump up and run for the door. Before I even get there, Jayce is on top of me pinning me to the hard floor. “I told you what I would do if you didn’t behave yourself. Where did you think you were going anyway? The door is locked.” He rips my shirt off and throws it to the side then starts to remove my shorts. I feel a sharp pain in my jaw and it takes me a few seconds to realise that he had punched me in the face. The next blow gets me in my ribs. My breath whooshes out of my lungs and I scream out in pain, but that does not stop him. He just laughs and keeps punching me. Some land on my face others to my body. It is not long before I taste blood in my mouth. I am having trouble keeping my eyes open. I feel the blackness trying to drag me under. My whole body is in pain. The punches stop and I feel him rip off my bra and panties. I brace myself for what is to come. I have closed my eyes tight even with the swelling and pain I can feel in my eyes. The weight of Jayce is suddenly gone. I try to open my eyes but with the swelling, they only open to slits. I turn my head trying to see where he has gone but cannot see him. That is when the darkness finally takes me.
TWELVE
Martin
The second the plane touches down Jake turns his phone back on. All of a sudden, it starts sounding over and over again letting Jake know he has messages. Whoever has left them really wants to get hold of him. He does not have a chance to listen to any of the messages before it starts to ring. “No. We have just landed. I will go to the station now. I do not want you to do anything I will go and talk to the Sargent myself. I’ll be there in twenty. Let him know we are on our way.” Jake hangs up without so much as a good bye. He lets out a breath, runs his hands through his hair and glanced over to me.
“You’re not going to like what I what I have just been told. I want you to keep a cool head when I tell you. Rushing off is not going to help Roxie.” He is starting to piss me off. “Just bloody tell me, Jake,” I said through my teeth. I am trying to keep my shit together, but it is getting harder and harder with each hour that is ticking by.
“That was one of the boys that I left at your place. He rang the police station here just to make sure that there was still someone patrolling Roxie’s house and that Roxie had not been seen in or around the house. When he explained to the Senior Sergeant that Roxie had gone missing and we knew she landed in Rocky, the Sergeant filled him in on an internal investigation involving two of his officers. They have been investigating the involvement in the running of drugs and guns. Every time these officers bring someone, in they have been getting away with what should be a straightforward arrest or when it goes to court, the evidence has gone missing. There are always two names that keep coming up, Constable Andrew Barden and Constable Carl Jones. Either of them names ring a bell for you, Martin?” “Isn’t Andrew the one that was at the house when we were there the other week?” My blood is starting to boil. That bastard was so close to Roxie and now it looks like he has her. The way he was looking at Roxie has my blood running cold. “Yes, but you have not heard the last part yet. He has been the one put in charge of making sure no one goes near the house except authorised officers. The only other one that has been near the house is this Jones guy. The Sergeant is not going to inform any of his staff what is going on until we get to the station. My bet is that they are holding Roxie there so she can find the file for the one in charge.” “Well, what are we waiting for? The longer we fuck around, the longer they have Roxie, doing god knows what to her.” We all pile into the waiting cars. Jake leaves instructions with one of the airport staff to have all our bags and gear sent to our motel and organise a car for Carly and Matt. He tells them to go to the motel and wait for us there and that we will be in touch as soon as we know anything.
On the car ride to the station, my mind wonders off. I cannot imagine what Roxie must be going through right now. She must be scared shitless. To have someone we thought we had come to know, at least a little, kidnap you and God only knows what else would be terrifying. God, I hope they have not hurt her. I cannot bear the thought of someone laying a hand on her for any reason let along to course her pain. I am snapped out of my own thoughts when Jake slams his door. I climb out of the car and follow Jake into the Police station. The Sergeant is waiting for us as soon as we walk in the door. He shakes everyone’s hand and introduces himself than leads us to a private room. I can feel my anger risings by the second. This crap is taking too long. All I want to do is go back out to the car and drive to Roxie’s house. I am struggling to take in anything the Sergeant is saying. “Martin, are you listening to anything that is being said?” I know Jake is just as worried about Roxie as I am, but he is cool and collected while I am a mess. I can see why he is the cop and I’m not. “No Jake, I’m not really listening. All I know is that the woman I love is being held, but god knows who and all this shit is taking too long. Why are we still here anyway? We know where she is so why aren’t we out getting her?” I am pacing back and forward running my hands through my hair. I have never felt so useless in my whole life. “I know how worried you are Martin, but we cannot just barge in there. We don’t know how many are there with her or if they have guns. Jones is on duty right now and is expected to be here any minute. Once he gets here, we are going to have a word with him and find out what he knows. It looks like he will be the weakest link and the best bet to get information from. So please sit. There is nothing we can do until we get more information. We do not want to put Roxie in any more danger than she already is in.”
As soon as Constable Jones arrives, the Sergeant ushers him into another room. Jake and I follow. The rest of the team are working with some of the other officers at the station to put a trace on Andrew’s phone and get his phone records. There are only a couple long-serving officers that the Sergeant trusts, as he does not know how far the corruption has gone. Once Jones is in the interview room, it does not take long for him to start talking. A few threats about what happens to cops in jail and the promise of a deal and he cannot talk fast enough. Although he only knows the basics of where they are and how many are keeping guard on her, it is enough for Jake to get a team together. They are going to use Jones to get the ball rolling.
The teams are all in position when Jake gets Jones to ring Andrew. It rings out the first two times. I am starting to get to the point where I am just going to go in, stuff everyone
else. Jake must feel the tension rolling off of me with every ring that goes unanswered because he puts his hand on my forearm and shakes his head. Finally, we hear Jones. By the sounds of it, Andrew is not happy Jones is calling him. “Sorry, but you told me if I heard anything at the station about the AFP coming back from Brisbane to let you know straight away. I just went into work and the talk is they are going to arrive first thing in the morning.” There is silence on Jones end so Andrew must be speaking. “Ok well ring me and I will help you.” Jones ends the call and just stands there looking at us. “Well, what the fuck did he say?” I lunge towards him but before I could touch him, Jake has pulled me back. “He is ringing The Boss. It looks like they are going to try to move her before you get here. They still have not found the file and The Boss is not happy. Andrew is going to ring when he knows what is going on because he wants my help to keep everyone away.” Jones said timidly. “Well, I guess there is not much more we can do until we get that phone call,” Jake said then turned away. “Ok, everyone we need to stay out of sight and lie low for a bit until we know where and when they are going to move her,” He tells everyone in his team. Then he talks to the team leaders on a conference call because he does not want to use the police radio just in case Andrew has one. I hate this waiting. If feels like forever since I have laid eyes on Roxie and even longer since I have been able to hold her in my arms.