A Time To Pay

by David Woods

  Anna heard the car start up and drive away. She tried to free herself by wriggling her arms and hands, but it was no good because the cord was too tight and struggling hurt her wrists. Her half sitting position was uncomfortable and she could not move up or down to relieve it.

  Brian received Venk’s call. “Bring the money to the old cottage in one and a half hours, but be sure you are alone or the girl will die.”

  “I’ll be there but remember, don’t lay a finger on my wife.”

  Venk hung up. Ten minutes later Ben drove into the car park, and Brian ran down the stairs across to the car, sitting in the rear seat as Jan was already in the front seat. He quickly explained the situation and Jan said. “I thought he would use the old cottage. We’ve brought some climbing equipment.”

  Brian saw a coil of rope beside him. Ben announced what he thought they should do, Brian agreed and left the car to get a small case to collect the money in. They agreed to meet a mile from the cottage and Brian drove off in his car to the bank.

  Venk returned to the cottage and sat on the other bed staring at Anna, his thoughts drifting back to revenge and how wonderful it would be to humiliate ‘that man with the piercing eyes’ He returned to reality, looking again at Anna trussed up and at his mercy. He laughed as he sat beside her and cursed her and all women. He slapped her face again, then gripped her collar with both hands, ripped her blouse open and tucked the two loose sides behind her. He let out a high pitched laugh. “I haven’t felt so good in years.” He took off his jacket, displayed a long thin knife and waved it in front of the terrified girl’s eyes. When he looked at her face he could see she was very frightened and grinned, with saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth, He grabbed her bra, sliding the knife behind it and cutting it through. He put the flat side of the knife under her left breast, the cold steel making her shudder and shake, then he lifted her breast and pulled the knife away, making a scratch across the underside with the sharp tip. He repeated his action with her right breast, this time making a deeper scratch and watching her eyes as she winced with pain. He prodded her nipples, whilst telling her. “You are going to die with that animal watching.” Then he said in a husky trembling voice. “Where shall I stab you first?”

  The wind began to blow with rain beating against the window, a gust of wind caught a door downstairs, and when it banged shut Venk looked around, thinking someone was approaching. Anna seized her opportunity, kicked him in the side as hard as she could with both feet, and the force of the blow hurled him to the floor, his head crashing against the wall with a thud. He lay still for about five minutes and then began to stir gradually pulling himself up, rubbing his head and cursing loudly. He looked at Anna, his white face twisted into a scowl, his eyes bloodshot and saliva dripping from his chin as he walked unsteadily across to her. He picked up the knife from the end of the bed and grabbed the waistband of her skirt in one hand, and as he made a strange noise in his throat he hooked the knife under and pulled it up through the material. Anna struggled to kick him again but missed. He put the knife down and tore the skirt its full length, pulled it out from under her and threw it on to the other bed. The colour had returned to his face and he grinned at her, trembling with excitement at the prospect of totally humiliating her. He cut her suspender belt and panties off, and ripped the remaining clothing from her body. She tried to kick him again, but only managed a glancing blow before giving up exhausted. He stood back and gloated for a minute before grabbing one ankle, forcing it to one side of the bed and tying it tightly to the bed frame. He pulled the other leg across to the other side, fastening it tightly to the bed and stood at the end of the bed to gloat over her total humiliation. He quivered with a feeling of total power and satisfaction at the thought of that ‘animal’ seeing her like this. He remembered he once wanted to rape her, then realised he could not, which made him feel inadequate. He moved his eyes from her body and Anna breathed again, relieved he had not seriously injured her but overwhelmed by a feeling of complete disgust and anger. She felt sick and prayed the desecration of her body would end quickly. He bent over her again, prodding her stomach, and down into her dark curly pubic hairs telling her how slowly and painfully she would die, and pointing out where he would stab her first.

  Brian stopped by the side of the road and waited about five minutes until his two Belgian friends arrived. They had a quick conference and Brian watched the other car drive off, but the next five minutes were to be the longest in his life. He could just see the top of the cottage in the distance, and thought about Anna tied up and terrified whilst he waited for the clock to move. His stomach churned over and his pulse raced. At last he could move and drove slowly up the short drive, reversing in and leaving the car ready for a quick get- away. He walked up to the front door clutching the small case and a voice from behind the door said. “Stop, and turn around.”

  He turned to face Venk holding a gun which was steadily pointed at his chest, and thought this cannot be the same man I saw walking through the wood years ago. He seems smaller and has certainly aged, but it was the strange look that worried Brian. “Where is she?”

  “Upstairs, walk slowly.”

  As he walked across to the stairs, he heard the rain beating down, the wind howling through the house rattling the windows, and thought that noise should drown out the sound of any activity going on outside. Venk followed a couple of yards behind, and when Brian entered the room and saw Anna, he ran across to her with tears instantly appearing in his eyes. “What has that bastard done to you, my love?”

  Venk screamed with laughter, slobbering and shaking. He waved the gun around and screeched in a high pitched voice. “I am going to kill you both slowly.” He screamed with laughter again, but as he steadied his hand ready to shoot a loud crash and splintering of wood and glass made him spin around to see de Vere propelling himself on the end of a rope through the window. Venk fired, but had only a pair of commando boots to shoot at and missed. Van Hagen ran through the door and hurled himself at Venk, who turned quickly, landing a glancing blow on the side of his attackers head with the gun. Van Hagen fell against the wall dazed and de Vere dived at Venk, but his feet slipped on broken glass and he crashed into his legs which caused Venk to fall on top of him. Van Hagen recovered, grabbed Venk’s arm and thrashed his hand against the floor which made him release the gun. Venk rolled over and punched Van Hagen on the cheek with his other hand, he collapsed and Venk got up and ran out of the door. de Vere scrambled to his feet and ran after him, but it was too late as the car pulled out of the drive.

  Brian was too shocked to join in the fight. He ungagged Anna, laid the torn clothes over her naked body and pulled the blouse together. She was crying with relief and anger as he cut the cords on her arms and legs. He sat her upright holding her tight and she clung to him, her nails digging into his back. He felt deep remorse as he thought of his precious Anna being violated, but it had happened and now she would need all the love and attention he could give her.

  Van Hagen had recovered and watched as the couple embraced, and de Vere returned to help him to his feet.

  “The bastard got away, I’m afraid.”

  “I heard the car leave.”

  Brian interrupted their conversation. “Jan, get a blanket out of the car.”

  He returned and gently laid the unfolded cover over Anna’s back and shoulders. Brian’s throat had become dry and he croaked, “Thanks Jan.”

  Ben and Jan left the couple and walked downstairs with Venk’s gun. Brian lifted Anna to her feet, arranged the blanket so she was adequately covered and then gathered up all the torn and discarded clothing, rolling it into a ball. He guided his wife out of the room and downstairs with the clothes tucked under his arm, and the bag of money in his hand. He thanked the two men for saving their lives and shook hands, promising to ring later. Anna was pale and silent, Brian could feel her trembling under the blanket and she clung to his arm as they
drove home. Just before they arrived, a car overtook them at high speed and Brian was relieved to see the Belgians, who had watched the couple leave the cottage and wondered if Venk would be waiting at the house, hence the high speed chase. The front door was still open and the two men went in first, but found the house empty. Jan re-appeared. “It’s ok but I’ll come back later and sleep downstairs if you want me to.”

  “Thank you very much.” Brian said gratefully. “It would be a good idea just for tonight.”

  Ben rang Caroline. “Anna’s safe and we’re all ok, but Venk got away.”

  “Wait there until I can get to you in about an hour.”

  “We’ll do that.” The two men made themselves a drink whilst Brian took Anna upstairs. When they had shut themselves in the bedroom Anna whispered. “I want you to wash me all over. I feel very dirty.”

  Brian ran a bath and gently removed the blanket and remaining clothes, which he put with the others. “I don’t want you to see any of these again.” He threw the lot out of the bedroom window. He washed Anna gently but became so upset at seeing all the scratches and swellings where she had been prodded, that tears again came into his eyes and ran down his face. She could see his distress and cried with him, pulling him into the bath to hold him tight. He dried her body carefully, rubbed a soothing cream into the scratches and kissed her gently as she lay on her back on the bed. The thought of Venk threatening her with a knife made him so desperately angry, but he was determined to concentrate on Anna’s recovery. His thoughts were interrupted when she announced she felt a little better and would like to get dressed. He helped her and they walked downstairs together to convey their thanks to the two men.

  Ben and Jan were standing in the kitchen drinking coffee. Brian spoke first. “You have just risked your lives for us. Without you we’d be dead by now. We’re extremely grateful and want to thank you very much.”

  Ben replied. “It was a pleasure to have a go at Venk. Besides we owe you for what happened before.”

  Anna looked at Jan and said in a still very shaky voice. “You could have been killed. When you crashed through the window, Venk shot at you.”

  Jan grinned. “He always was a lousy shot.”

  “If you hadn’t come in at that moment we’d have been killed.”

  They moved into the lounge and continued to talk about what might have happened.

  Caroline arrived and was visibly shaken shocked when told the story. She fussed over Anna, but after a while said. “Come on Anna, let’s go to the kitchen and get these men some food.”

  Brian addressed his friends. “Let’s talk about that bastard, Venk.” The anger was boiling up inside him now Anna was out of sight.

  Ben thought for a moment. “I wonder what he will do now?”

  “He won’t be very pleased with you two, that’s for sure. You were his friends once.”

  Jan laughed. “That nutcase was never my friend. We worked with him, that’s all.”

  “It’s obvious he’s a very sick man.”

  Ben nodded. “He’s not only sick, but extremely dangerous. I wish I knew what to do about him.”

  I think I should take Anna away for a while. It’ll help her to get over the shock.”

  “A wonderful idea” replied Ben. “We’ll try to locate Venk and keep an eye on him.”

  “Good. Then I would like to kill him slowly.”

  “I would be pleased to assist,” added Jan.

  The two women returned with a tray of sandwiches and coffee. They all sat debating about what should be done, finally deciding the police should be kept out of it because Venk might tell them about crimes that happened in the past. Caroline said. “I don’t think they would believe him, but it’s not worth taking the risk. Besides we don’t really want him telling the police anything.”

  Anna was pleased when Brian announced. “We’ll be leaving in the morning for a holiday in Switzerland.”

  “Oh, that will be nice, the alpine flowers are really beautiful at this time of the year,” said Caroline. “You must try to forget about everything and have a complete rest.”

  “We’ll certainly try. All we have to do is pack and go.” Brian left them to talk and went out the back door to find the clothes he had thrown away. They had scattered in the wind, but he soon gathered and put them in the dustbin, covering them over out of sight. He went back into the kitchen and sat down to think for a while. He could picture Venk in his mind’s eye gloating over Anna’s naked body, whilst threatening her with a knife. He felt sick with anger and his knuckles turned white as he gripped a chair beside him. I must annihilate Venk as soon as we return from holiday he said out loud to himself. Our lives are in danger all the time he lives.

  Caroline came in with a tray of dirty crockery and immediately noticed the faraway look on his white face. She put the tray down, walked over to him and stroked his hair. Please don’t dwell on it Brian. Don’t let that evil man make you ill.”

  He stood up. “You’re right of course. I must try to forget it. But it’s so difficult.”

  She took his arm and they stood for a moment. When he finally broke the silence he said. “Would you mind if Anna stayed with you for a while when we get back?”

  Caroline smiled. “We’ll look forward to having her.”

  “Thank you. It’ll be much safer for both of you.”

  Caroline had not thought of herself being in any danger, but agreed it was a possibility. She gripped his arm and said. “Come on let’s go back and join the others.”

  Ben saw Caroline holding Brian’s arm and guiding him back into the sitting room, and felt proud to be married to such a good caring woman.

  Brian was still pale and weak as he sat on the settee beside Anna. They were both very tired and Caroline could see what they needed. “You go up to bed whilst we clear up. I’ll make up a bed for Jan on the settee before we leave.”

  Anna kissed Caroline, and thanked her and the two men again and Brian told her where to find bedclothes. The couple went up to bed and heard a car drive off an hour later. They heard the cars return some time after, Caroline driving Anna’s car, which they found in a field entrance nearby.

  Brian and Anna spent the next hour cuddling as close as possible until they finally dropped off to sleep. Anna woke three times during the night due to terrible nightmares, when she could see that evil man’s face looking down at her with a long knife in his hand. She imagined the knife being thrust into her and woke up with a scream, her body soaked in sweat. Brian mopped her brow and held her tight, telling her it was only a dream and assuring her she was safe with him. She gripped him tightly as he talked her back to reality and finally she relaxed curled up in a ball with Brian’s arm around her, his stomach and chest pressing against her back. They slept this way until morning when they woke and bathed together. Anna saw the scratches she had made when her nails had dug into Brian, drawing blood in one place and she apologised, kissing the marks and promising not to do it again. Brian had not really felt it. “You promise to wake me if you have another nightmare, and hold on to me as tight as you like.”

  “Yes, my love, but I will cut my nails today.”

  They packed two suitcases after Jan had left, and drove off after coffee. The bank was their first stop, as they had to pay in most of the cash. Anna purchased a few things to take with them and then they had lunch in their favourite restaurant. After eating Anna sipped her coffee and looked at Brian. “Where are we going?”

  “I looked at the map while you were packing. We need to find a place where there’s lots to do.”

  “Good idea. Where do you suggest?”

  “I think Interlaken would be ideal. It’s situated between two lakes, as the name suggests.”

  “Oh yes, we could go up the mountains easily from there.”

  They travelled all afternoon, staying at a roadside hotel, and that nig
ht after dinner Brian asked. “How are you feeling now?”

  “Much better.” She moved closer and whispered. “I want you to know that Venk did not want me sexually because he hardly touched me with his hands. And I do not think he is capable of raping me.”

  Brian frowned. “I think his aim was to humiliate you in front of me, and then kill us both.”

  She nodded. “I think he is very sick.”

  “We must try to put the matter behind us, and concentrate on enjoying ourselves.”

  It was six in the evening when they arrived at their destination and found most of the hotels fully booked. They drove just out of town and found a pretty hotel with one double room left. A room with bathroom en suite was offered, and it had a small balcony which overlooked attractive gardens. In the distance they could see a beautiful snow capped mountain which turned pink as the sun set, and which Anna identified as the Jungfrau.

  Dinner was served outside on the terrace with a view across the garden, and Anna was pleased the other hotels had been full because she thought this one was ideal. That night they settled into the large bed, and cuddled for a while before dropping off to sleep. Anna had another nightmare about three in the morning, and awoke screaming. Brian did his best to comfort her, and made her talk about it in an effort to bring her back to reality. She related the grim details which seemed to lift the burden from her mind and allow her to sleep.

  The next day they rested, gathering information about the sight- seeing trips and walked into town after lunch. It was an interesting little town with shops full of beautiful things, some elegant buildings and a river which ran past the railway station where the lake steamers picked up passengers.

  Brian was keen to go up mountains, so they set off early the next morning and motored to Grindelwald, a beautiful village perched on the side of a mountain close to the north face of the Eiger. They parked the car and caught a train to the Jungfraujoch, a narrow gauge slow moving rack railway, allowing plenty of time to view the spectacular scenery which enthralled and delighted both of them. A change of trains took place half way up, the next train taking them through a tunnel in the Eiger before reaching the highest railway station in Europe at 11,333 feet. They hurried off the train, which was still inside the mountain and noticed the warnings to walk slowly because of the altitude.