“Good work, Thomas! Okay, let’s get these back inside.”
As Mac closed the doors she saw a reflection of someone standing behind her. Turning, she found herself looking straight up into Richard’s face. Slowly Mac put her hands behind her, shepherding both children protectively behind her back. Mac estimated him to be about six foot two. He was lean, in an athletic kind of way. Even if Mac hadn’t seen the photos, there was no denying the connection between father and son. Mac smiled and tried to portray calm. “Can I help you?”
Richard’s face was set sternly. “I want the boy.”
“Would you care to come into the classroom and have a look around?”
Richard’s eyes were flat and hard. “I want the boy.”
Think, Mac, think. “It’s Richard, isn’t it?”
“What’s it to you? Give me the boy.”
“Have you learned to sign yet, Richard?”
Richard’s face jerked slightly at the change in tactic. Mac kept going while she had him off guard. “I didn’t think so. See, we have a slight problem. I have two frightened children here. You don’t want the police, and I don’t want any trouble. So hear me out a minute. Let the little girl go back to the classroom, and you and I can sort out what to do next.”
Mac took a chance and turned her back to Richard. She could see him standing, shocked, in the reflection in the window. She had to move fast. Kneeling down, she slid her mobile phone out of her hip holster, muted the sound, and slipped it into her sock. With her other hand she took the stick off Thomas and got the folded-up photo of Richard out of her pocket. Wrapping them up tightly together, she gave them to Shelley. Mac gently lifted Shelley’s chin with her hand to make sure she was watching her. “Shelley, sweetheart, here is the USB stick. Give this piece of paper to Miss Kelly straight away and tell her that’s the file she needs—and tell her Mac is with Thomas. Can you remember that?” Shelley nodded. “Good girl. Off you go, back to Miss Kelly with that file. I’ll see you in a minute.” Shelley looked uncertainly at Mac. Mac winked at her. “Off you go, love.”
Shelley turned her chair and wheeled quickly back to class.
Mac turned back to Richard. “Thank you. Now, about Thomas…” Richard went to shove Mac out of the road but she just stepped sideways, guiding Thomas with her hands so that she remained between the child and his father at all times. “I’m sorry. I can’t let you take Thomas. And even if you did get him, how are you going to communicate with him?”
Richard stood for a moment, as if in thought. Mac watched in horror as a mean treacherous leer spread across his face. The hair on the back of Mac’s neck stood up. “You’re right. I need a slight change of plan. I saw you sign to the boy as you came outside, so you’re the change in plan. You’re both coming with me.”
Mac shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
Richard’s hand whipped around and smacked Mac straight across the face, snapping her head sideways, causing her to briefly stagger under the blow. The corner of her mouth stung and her jaw ached. She could feel a trickle of blood from a split lip dribble down her chin.
Richard pulled a Glock pistol from under his jumper. “I wasn’t asking, bitch. You and the boy are coming with me.” He roughly grabbed Mac and shoved her into Thomas.
Mac signed, “It’s okay, Thomas. We’re just going to do what he asks. Okay?” Thomas nodded.
Richard shoved them both towards a dark blue sedan parked across the street. “That way. Move.” Richard signalled for Thomas to get in the back, then pointed with the gun for Mac to get into the driver’s seat. He came around and opened the passenger door as Miss Kelly came running around the corner screaming out Thomas’s name. Richard saw her, got in the car, and threw Mac the keys. “Drive.” Mac looked at him. Richard reached over and pointed the gun at Thomas. “Drive!” Mac started the car, put it into gear, and pulled away from the curb with a squeal of tyres. Richard turned his attention to Mac and pointed the gun at her ribs. “What’s your name?”
“It’s Mac.”
“All right, Mac, listen to me. Do as you’re told, and we’ll all get along just fine. Fuck me over, and you’re both dead. Have I made myself clear?”
Mac kept her eyes on the road. “Crystal.”
*
Mac could see how frightened Thomas was in the rear-view mirror. She caught his eye and winked at him. It was all she could offer him in reassurance as Richard directed her through the city and into the outskirts, to the old, largely abandoned industrial part of town. Richard directed her to turn into a cul-de-sac and drive through to an abandoned warehouse, right at the end. They drove through the gates, around to the back, and into an open shed bay door. Richard made Mac get out and shut the big doors behind them. The doors were stiff and it took considerable effort to get them to close. Mac could see that she must have torn open one of the cuts on her left hand again, as a small amount of blood started to stain the white bandage. She walked back to the car where Richard had grabbed the keys, opened the back seat, and was pulling Thomas out by the arm. Mac grabbed Thomas and wrapped her arms around him. “He’s just a child. You don’t have to be so rough with him.”
Richard backhanded her again. “He’s my child, and I’ll do what I bloody well like.” Richard popped the boot and pulled out a bag and a sawn-off shotgun.
Mac sniffed as blood began to drip from her nose. She pulled a hanky from her pocket and soaked up the worst of it.
Scowling, Richard turned to look at her. “Back there, at the school, how did you know my name?”
Mac shrugged. “I’d heard about you, and I could see the family resemblance. I just put two and two together.”
“Who’d you hear about me from? Jean? Or her fuckin’ interfering sister?”
Mac bristled at the reference to Sarah.
Narrowing his eyes, looking Mac over intently, he noticed her jaw clench at Sarah’s reference. “Oho! Don’t tell me you have a thing for the dyke queer?” Richard laughed leeringly into her face. “Oh, two for the price of one. This just gets better and better.”
Richard pushed them both towards a metal staircase. Mac put Thomas in front of her and kept her hands on his shoulders to let him know she was there. Together, they walked up the stairs, across a small metal-grated balcony, into what looked like an old office. Mac mentally mapped the room as they walked in. There was only one entrance. A set of windows opened out to what was probably the street they’d driven up, with a second window next to the door they had just walked through, which overlooked the floor of the warehouse space below. A pillow and some bedding lay on the floor next to a metal desk and chair in one corner. A series of cupboards lined a wall opposite that, and two structural steel beams bisected the room, reaching from floor to ceiling. Richard ordered Mac and Thomas to sit against one of these beams. Thomas curled up next to her right side, and Mac put her arms around his shoulders, drawing him in tight against her.
Richard paced backwards and forwards, tapping his head with the nose of the gun.
Mac watched him. “So now what? You’ve got your son.”
“I’m thinking.”
“What do you mean, you’re thinking? Don’t you have a plan?”
“Of course I have a plan. To get my son.”
“Okay. Well, you’ve got him. Now what? What do we do from here? Order takeaway and pretend happy families? What’s your plan, Richard?”
“Shut up! Just shut up. Let me think.” He started pacing again. He stopped, looked at Thomas and across to the bedding on the floor. He stormed over to one of the cupboards, slid the doors open, threw the bedding inside, and pointed to Thomas to get in. Thomas shook his head and clung to Mac tighter.
Richard looked at Mac and snarled, “Tell him to get in.”
“He’s frightened, Richard.”
Richard leaned over and screamed in her face, “Tell him to get in.”
Mac looked at Thomas and signed, speaking out loud for Richard’s benefit. “He wants you to go in to the cupboard, sweet
heart. You can still see me if you sit in there, near the door. Straighten out the blankets and try and make it comfy, hey? We’ll pretend like it’s a cubby house. It’ll be okay. I’m right here.”
Thomas nodded and crawled over to the cupboard and inside. Richard went over and made to shut the door.
“Please, don’t do that. Leave the door open. That way he won’t get frightened, and you can keep an eye on him. Please, Richard.”
Richard hesitated but left the door open before walking away. He searched in his bag on the desk and pulled out some cable ties. He came and stood over Mac. “Put your hands out.”
Mac shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. While you have Thomas, I’m not going anywhere.”
Before Mac had time to think, Richard kicked her in the ribs on the left side. Mac felt her stitches pop and tear. Mac rolled onto her side, gasping for air and holding her ribs. As she lay in that position, he showed no mercy, kicking her in the back, head, and sides. Mac tried to roll into a tight ball, to minimize the areas he could strike.
Eventually puffed, Richard stopped and bent over double to catch his breath, while Mac just lay there concentrating on trying to breathe through the pain. He bent down and roughly grabbed her hands, looped the cable tie around her wrists, and pulled it tight, dropping her hands back to the floor when he was done. Standing up, he grabbed his bag and headed for the door. Mac could just make out the slamming and locking of the door and footsteps heading down the stairwell before she closed her eyes and gave in to the wave of darkness that stole over her.
Mac became aware of a screaming headache. She sneaked a glimpse through half-slit eyes. The light stabbed deep inside her brain like an electric current. Her eyes slammed shut against the assault. Gradually, she became aware of a tiny hand rubbing her shoulder. She gingerly tried to open her eyes again and saw Thomas squatting next to her, patting her shoulder and looking worriedly at the door Richard had stormed out of earlier. Mac realized she needed to sit up and try and reassure him. She tried sitting up, and hissed at the pain in her ribs. Feeling the crunch and grind of bone, she knew that more than just stitches had broken. Taking a breath, she gritted her teeth and righted herself, closing her eyes briefly, trying to narrow her thoughts in an effort to stop herself from passing out or vomiting.
Thomas patted her on the arm and Mac knew she had to rise above the pain for the boy.
She opened her eyes. She could hear Richard storming around downstairs. She figured they didn’t have much time before he came back up. She awkwardly reached into her jacket pocket where her keys were and located her ResQMe keychain tool, then used the seat belt cutting blade to cut the cable ties binding her wrists. The circulation slowly made its way back into her hands and fingers. Digging her hand into her trouser pocket, she pulled out a white hanky which she rested on her thigh before reaching up and taking off her tie. She signed to Thomas, “I need your help to put this around my ribs. I want to tie the hanky over the cut. When I nod, I want you to pull the ends tight. Can you do that?”
Thomas nodded and reached behind Mac’s back and brought the ends together as Mac held the hanky padding against the cut. She folded the ends over and gave him the nod to pull tight. Thomas did, and Mac finished it off, tying the ends into a knot. She panted through the pain. Downstairs she could hear Richard throwing things and yelling.
She looked at Thomas, who was staring at her with enormously round horrified eyes. She knew her lip was cut and her nose bloody. She could also feel that one side of her face was swollen, and her eyes were starting to close up. Looking at Thomas’s expression, she could tell she must look pretty awful and scary. She put the sleeve of her jacket to her lips, dampened it, and tried to wipe some of the blood off. “It’s all right, sweetheart. I probably look pretty awful, but it’s okay. Are you okay?”
Thomas nodded. “I’m scared.”
“I know, baby. Me too. But I’m going to try and get us some help, okay?”
He nodded again.
Mac pulled the cell phone from her sock and checked that it was still muted. She dialled the emergency number and quickly said, “This is firefighter Lieutenant Mackenzie James. I can’t talk. Hostage situation. I need police and ambulance to the old east side industrial estate.” Mac’s head snapped up as she heard Richard coming back up the stairs. She signed to Thomas, “Quick, back in the cupboard, honey.” Mac whispered into the phone. “Please hurry and don’t talk. If he hears you, we’re both in danger. Just trace the call to find us. I’ll try and keep the line open as long as I can.” She quickly shoved the phone back into her sock and pulled her trouser leg down to cover it. With her hands back in her lap, she sat and rested against the pole.
Richard unlocked the door and threw it open. He grunted in satisfaction and kicked the door shut with his boot. He had a bottle of Jack Daniel’s in his hand, which he’d obviously been drinking from, as a good half of the bottle was already gone. He paced the room talking to himself. “We’re just gonna rest up here for a bit. They’ll think I’ve left. They won’t think to look in town. You know the best place to hide is right in front of someone. When it’s dark, I need to swap cars. That stupid teacher saw us. I’ll swap. Or maybe I could paint it. Couple of spray cans’d do it. Give me something to do while I wait. Yeah, that’d work. Ha! I’m a genius. See, kid? Your old man’s a genius! Bet your crazy-arsed mother didn’t tell you that, did she?”
Richard kept pacing, swigging from the bottle, and gesticulating wildly. “Ha! How easy was it?” He started to pace around Mac. “All those months of planning, and you walked straight out with him. Like a gift. I couldn’t believe it.” He took another swig and bent down low and laughed in Mac’s face. Spittle flew from his mouth. His breath smelled so bad, Mac thought she was going to throw up, and she desperately tried to make her breathing shallow. “Here was I, thinking I’d have to wait until they were out playing after lunch, and I’d have to make a snatch and grab, and then you brought him out. Thank you. Hah!”
Mac kept her eyes down, refusing to look at him. Her hands were curled up in her lap. Looking down, she realized to her horror that her keys were on the floor by her side. She hadn’t put them back into her pocket.
Richard paced several steps to the left of Mac, then turned and paced back. “I wasn’t banking on taking you too, but it might just work in my favour. Oh, and the sweetness of it all. This way, I get back at both those fucking cows.” Richard rubbed his hands together with glee. “You can do the driving, and that way I can just sit back and keep an eye on both of you. When we stop, you can teach me to sign. How do you like that for a plan, huh?”
To emphasize his point he kicked Mac again in the thigh. As she started to tumble, she reflexively put a hand out to stop herself from falling over and struck the keys. Richard howled in rage, then picked her up by the coat lapels until she was standing on tiptoe. He slammed her against the pole, growling, “You bitch! I left you tied up.”
Mac’s mind was racing. She had to try to calm him down. She tried reasoning with him. “I know you did, and I’m sorry, but my fingers were going numb. I can’t sign for you if I can’t use my hands. I didn’t go anywhere. I stayed. I told you I would stay with Thomas. We didn’t go anywhere. We’re still both right here. See? Right where you left us.”
Mac could see that Richard was beyond reasoning. His pupils were pinpricks, his eyes glassy. There was a fine sheen of sweat on his face and he was extremely agitated. She could feel him shaking as he held her. He slammed her again against the pole. He snarled into her face, “You tricked me, you filthy cow. What other tricks do you have up your sleeve, huh? Show me. Show me!” He shook Mac so hard she thought her eyeballs would fall out.
She shook her head. “Nothing, nothing. I’m right here, where you left me, Richard.”
He backhanded her across the cheek so hard, that her head ricocheted off the steel pole. She fell to the ground, onto her hands and knees. Blood poured from a cut above her eyebrow where she had connecte
d with the pole. She could feel herself swaying. It would be so easy to just close her eyes and give in. She shook her head. Stay awake for Thomas. Don’t give in. You have to stay awake!
Richard screamed in frustration and he started pacing again, leaving Mac kneeling on the floor. He came over and kicked her again in the ribs. Mac collapsed, groaning.
He strode back over to the table, grabbed some more cable ties, and stormed back over. He picked Mac up again by her jacket until she was sitting upright and slammed her against the pole, grabbing her hands and putting two cable ties around her wrists. He pulled them so tight the bands cut into flesh. “I’ll fix you this time, you lesbo bitch. Think you’re clever, huh? Well, not clever enough.” Retrieving more cable ties, he pulled Mac’s trouser legs out straight. He pulled her legs so roughly, that the phone jolted loose from Mac’s sock and skittered across the floor.
For a brief moment in time, everything seemed to freeze and then slowly restart, only to work in slow motion. Mac’s heart skipped a beat as she realized that this could be the thing that tipped Richard over the edge. Richard’s mouth was open in surprise as he looked at the phone and looked at Mac. He slowly stood up, walked over to the phone, and picked it up off the floor. He pushed a button, no doubt disconnecting the call.
He looked at Mac with shocked eyes as he put the facts together. Mac could see the realization dawn on his face as he went from white-faced shock, to a purple-red rage. He stormed over and punched her in the face. “You fucking cow. What have you done?” He stomped two paces away from Mac, swung back on his heel, and looked down at her. His face was contorted with hate and rage. He looked down at Mac’s leg, where she’d hidden the phone, and an evil angry leer twisted his face.
Mac shivered in fear.
He looked Mac straight in the eye, raised his leg high, then drove his foot down, hard, powered by his rage, slamming his boot down on Mac’s leg. The room echoed at first with the snap of bone, quickly followed by a scream of pain torn from Mac’s lips. She rolled to the side, clutching her leg, whimpering.
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