The Phoenix Project

by Chrissie Loveday

  ‘I hope my heavy breathing doesn’t get overheard,’ he grimaced. ‘I’ll sort out something to record the conversation. Obviously, there’s nothing I can say or do to stop you.’

  ‘Thank you. You must realise I’m really trying to catch him. I won’t take any chances, I promise you.’

  ‘You’re already taking more risks than I’m happy about.’

  He set to work preparing for the recordings. He decided to leave a microphone behind the sofa and allow the lead to go through to his room, where he would have his machine. At least that way, there wouldn’t be any giveaway sound.

  ‘You could always use your mobile too. Have it in your pocket, or something.’

  ‘Good idea. Now, I’ll prepare us something to eat later, while we wait for him to arrive.’

  At six twenty-five, Jimmy’s van was seen coming along the lane and he turned into the drive. Drew disappeared into his room with calls of ‘Good luck’ and ‘Take care’ following him. He switched on his recorder and sat waiting. He was very nervous for Rosie and really hoped she’d be sensible.

  ‘Come in, Jimmy. Thank you for coming round.’

  ‘I’m not sure what it is you want me to do.’

  ‘Can I get you a drink? I’ve got some beers, if you fancy one. Or tea or coffee, of course.’

  ‘I’ll have a beer, thanks.’

  ‘Right. Won’t be a mo.’

  She almost ran into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of bottles from the fridge. She came back to find him standing looking through the window. She hoped he hadn’t noticed the cable running through it.

  ‘There you go. Sad about Drew, isn’t it?’

  ‘Dunno. What’s up with him?’

  ‘Like I said on the phone. He’s gone away, but they don’t hold out much hope for him to return to his former self.’

  ‘Yer, well. These things happen.’

  He looked away from her and she thought she could see a smirk on his face.

  ‘Nothing like this, though. He’s lucky even to be alive. Don’t you think?’

  ‘S’pose so. Now, what do you want? I haven’t got all night.’

  ‘It’s a matter of how busy you are. I wondered if you’re working for your brother?’

  ‘Might be. How do you know about him?’

  ‘I saw you in Truro with him. Don’t you remember?’

  ‘Oh, yes.’

  ‘So, are you working for him or not?’

  ‘What’s it got to do with you?’

  He looked slightly uncomfortable, she thought.

  ‘Well, I want some landscaping doing in the garden. I thought you might be able to help me. If you’re not working for your brother, or someone else, that is. He has an architectural company. doesn’t he?’

  ‘Yer. Summat like that.’

  ‘What do you do for him?’

  ‘What’s it got to do with you?’

  ‘Nothing. Just interested. I trained as an architect and obviously, I’m always looking out for work.’

  ‘He wouldn’t want you working for him. You’re too straight.’

  ‘What on earth do you mean?’

  ‘You’d want everything set out on paper. I saw the way you were working. Any road, I don’t think I can help you. I’m gonna be busy for the next few months.’

  ‘Really? Oh well. Thanks for coming, anyway. I do love the work you helped with here.’

  He gazed at her, thoughtfully.

  ‘Bet you find it pretty lonely here. You must be worried, after all that happened during the build.’

  ‘I’m pretty much self-sufficient.’

  ‘I hope you stay that way. I wouldn’t like to be here on my own. Much too lonely. I like people round me.’

  ‘It won’t be that lonely, if your brother builds all the houses he’s applied for.’

  Jimmy looked angry and took in a deep breath.

  ‘He’d have built a good few more if things had really gone his way. Let me know if this place gets too much for you, stuck here on your own. He’ll make you a decent offer for this place.’

  ‘Really? That’s interesting.’

  ‘I can get him to call you if you might like the idea.’

  He looked reasonably enthusiastic at this point and Rosie felt encouraged to lead him on some more.

  ‘Why would he want to buy this place? I’m not sure what benefit it would be to his business.’

  ‘You’ve got a pretty big garden, for starters.’

  ‘You mean he’d be looking to build on it?’

  ‘Couldn’t say. I’ll tell him to give you a call. You might be surprised at what he can offer.’

  ‘Who’s Mr Wilbury?’ she asked.

  He looked slightly puzzled.

  ‘Only he made me a similar offer some months ago. Would you like another beer?’

  ‘Well, I dunno. OK. Then I must go.’

  She could tell she’d intrigued him by mentioning the name.

  She went into the kitchen to fetch his beer. He was still sitting where she’d left him and hadn’t got up to look around. He really is a most unpleasant-looking bloke, she thought. He would be quite capable of pushing someone over the cliff, and even more capable of doing some of the other stuff that had happened to her. Rosie stared at him and wondered if she should say anything else.

  ‘Whatcha looking at me like that for?’

  ‘Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.’

  ‘That’s your trouble. You think too much, actually. What are you going to accuse me of doin’?’

  ‘I wasn’t going to accuse you of anything.’

  ‘I don’t believe you. You think I pushed your bloke over the cliff, don’t you?’

  ‘I don’t know. Perhaps you did.’

  ‘Well, you’ll never prove it. Nor anythin’ else you think I might have done. I’m clever, see. I don’t leave any traces behind me.’

  ‘So you’re saying it was you?’

  ‘Course I’m not. If you think you can get me to say anythin’, you’re very much mistaken. Same as the bloke from the farm next door. No-one can lay that on me either. Now, I’m going. Ta for the beers and forget any accusations you’re think of. I can get out of anythin’. Always got someone who’ll say I was with them.’

  He rose from his seat and moved towards the door.

  ‘You’ll be pleased to sell this place to my brother, believe me. If not right now, then in a few days. It’s a lonely place and you’re a townie. Much too remote for the likes of you.’

  He went to the front door and left her. He turned back and called out.

  ‘I hope you’re not too scared at being here alone!’

  Then he climbed into his van and drove away.

  She closed the door and gave an involuntary shiver. It seemed a veiled threat and she didn’t like the way it made her feel.

  ‘Are you all right?’ asked Drew as he came out of his room.

  ‘I suppose so. I don’t like what he said as he was leaving.’

  ‘What did he say? I heard most of it but then the recording went wrong.’

  ‘Oh, just stuff about me being a townie and living here on my own wasn’t good. I’m afraid he’s going to come back in the night and do something drastic.’

  Rosie felt slightly sick at the thought.

  ‘How about phoning that detective chap? Ask him if there’s anyone who could come and look out for us? I’m no good at defending you at the moment. I really could curse him, or whoever it was that shoved me over. Someone pushed me, you understand?’

  He was angry and Rosie thought he was about to lose the plot.

  ‘Hey, don’t feel like that. I don’t expect you to look after me. Not even when you’re in the best of health.’

  ‘I’m so sick of being dependent. It’s been weeks now and I’m still reliant on you to take me everywhere and do so much for me.’

  She smiled and decided to follow his suggestion.

  ‘I’ll phone Inspector Hargreaves and tell him the latest news. He’ll have to decide
whether or not to send someone here.’

  ‘OK. Lay it on thick. I don’t want to see you suffering any more.’

  ‘Nor do I.’

  She dialled the number he’d left her and waited for a while. Frustratingly, it went to answering service. She left a message for him.

  ‘I’ve done all I can now. I suppose we’d better organise dinner. What do you fancy?’

  ‘Really? I’d like to go out and have a nice meal.’

  ‘Sorry but after what I said to Jimmy, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You shouldn’t be seen around the village for a while.’

  ‘No, you’re right. I was just thinking … wishing perhaps, that you’d enjoy it. I know I would have.’

  ‘I’ll go and look in the freezer instead, and see what I can find.’

  They had just finished eating when the phone rang. It was the detective, Damian Hargreaves.

  ‘I got your message. Why was the suspect at your house?’ was his first question.

  ‘I decided to ask him to come round, ostensibly to give me a quote for doing some work on the garden. He turned it down in the end. But it was the sort of threats he made about me being scared to be here on my own that made me even more suspicious.’

  ‘That was a bit risky, wasn’t it? But you’re not alone. What do you think he meant?’

  ‘I sort of implied that Drew had been sent away in … well, a pretty bad state. We recorded most of conversation. Jimmy suggested his brother might phone me, with an offer I couldn’t refuse. I asked about Mr Wilbury, but he pretended he didn’t know anything about him. Perhaps his brother invented the name to hide his own identity. I don’t know. But the main threat came when he was leaving and, unfortunately, we didn’t record that.’

  She told him what the man had said.

  ‘So what do you think he’s got in mind?’

  ‘I don’t know. Breaking windows? Or some other damage to the property?’

  ‘Maybe. I just hope he and his cronies are limited to that. I don’t want you hurt in any way. Let me think. I suppose I could arrange for policemen to do their rounds by you. Trouble is, they won’t be able to stay there. It may be a deterrent if they happen to see them but if these people are as cunning as we think, they’ll simply hide themselves until the police have gone again.’

  ‘Maybe I should hire a private detective,’ Rosie said with a wry grimace.

  ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea.’

  ‘I was joking. I suppose I just need to take care to make sure everything’s locked up at night and have my airgun ready.’

  ‘Now you’re being silly!’

  The detective sounded slightly cross.

  ‘You haven’t actually got an airgun have you?’

  ‘No, of course not. We’ll certainly be glad to have the police look in on us occasionally.’

  ‘I’ll call round again in the morning. Make sure you sleep peacefully.’

  ‘Fat chance of that. But thanks. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow.’

  ‘Take care, and do call if anything happens.’

  ‘I will. Thanks a lot.’

  She switched off the phone.

  ‘He’ll call round tomorrow and get the patrol to look us over. I think that’s probably the best he can offer.’

  ‘I hope Jimmy doesn’t decide tonight is a good night to try something.’

  ‘I could stay in the lounge and be ready for them. Him. Whoever comes.’

  ‘Perhaps nobody will come. But no, I couldn’t allow you to stay in the lounge.’

  ‘Well, there’s not much use in you staying there. Sorry, but you must realise that wouldn’t work.’

  ‘Damn them. I could … oh, never mind. You’ve heard it all before.’

  ‘Let’s see what’s on television. There might be something to entertain us for an hour or two.’

  The argument continued until it was bedtime. Finally, Drew hobbled along to his room and Rosie went to hers. She didn’t sleep well and seemed to be restless most of the night. She heard a car drive down and shot out of bed to look, but it turned out to be the policemen doing their check up. Another night passed in safety.

  Next morning, she staggered into the kitchen and put on the coffee. She felt dreadful, which was hardly surprising after her sleepless night. Drew came in a few minutes later and asked if she’d heard anything.

  ‘Not really. I heard the police patrol car when it came down, then I hardly slept at all.’

  The detective called round later that morning and talked through the events of the previous evening.

  ‘Please don’t try anything like that again. You must leave it to us to bring them to justice. I promise you, we will catch them soon.’

  ‘I really hope so. I can’t stand this for much longer,’ she told him.

  The police car drove round several times each night, and all remained quite. After almost a week, Rosie was on the point of having a breakdown.

  ‘I can’t stand this much longer. That man made threats but still hasn’t carried them out. We’re just sitting ducks waiting for something to happen.’

  She felt almost tearful.

  ‘Damian Hargreaves wasn’t exactly much help when he came round, was he?’

  ‘I suppose not. But what could he do? He’s organised the patrols to come round but it wouldn’t be difficult for anyone to avoid them once anyone if they were spying on the place.’

  Drew was thoughtful. He didn’t have any big ideas about what they could try next and felt there must be something he should be doing. He wanted Rosie to relax and tried to find a distraction for her.

  ‘Why don’t you go and do some shopping? Fun shopping, I mean, not food.’

  ‘Oh I don’t know. After the last time, when I discovered my bank account had been hacked …’

  ‘It’s all OK again now, though. You go and have a nice day out. I’ll be fine. I can fend for myself so it isn’t a case of how do I get fed.’

  ‘Well, I suppose I could.’

  ‘Course you can. Go and change and get yourself out.’

  ‘OK. If you’re sure you’ll be all right?’

  ‘Course I will. No physio today or other demands on your time. Go and buy something nice. It won’t be forever before I can go out again.’

  Rosie went to change and was soon on her way to Truro. She put the car radio on and sang along to the music. She had to admit, it was good to get away from the tension, and away from the village for a while. She parked in the multi-storey car park and set off for the shops. She window-shopped for clothes but couldn’t make up her mind, so chose to go for a coffee instead.

  She was sitting in the corner of the coffee shop and nursing her cup in her hands, when she suddenly spotted Jimmy and his brother coming in. She ducked down and hoped they wouldn’t see her. She was stuck now until they left. He is a repulsive man, she thought, and his brother looks very shifty. She wouldn’t trust either of them. Then, Jimmy saw her and said something to his brother, who turned to look at her, before they carried on their earnest conversation. Rosie decided she might as well leave and passed them without making it obvious she recognised them.

  Once out in the street, she almost ran to where she had left the car. The shopping trip was no longer a pleasurable event and she wanted to get back home as soon as possible. She hated how the threats had affected her outlook and even began to wonder if she should sell her property … to Mr Wilbury perhaps, if he even existed.

  She ran up the stairs to the level where her car was. A van came screaming along between the rows of cars and stopped beside her. The next thing she knew, she was bundled into the van and thrown to the floor, breathless. She tried to sit up but was knocked down again. Her mind was in working overtime and she was terrified. She was in no doubt as to her captors and tried to speak to them.

  ‘Jimmy, I don’t know what on earth you think you’re doing. This is no answer to …’

  She was struck by some object she couldn’t identify and lay back feeling
dizzy and nauseous. The van was travelling at speed and she thought they must have cleared the city. She was swung from side to side and now felt decidedly sick. What on earth was she going to do? She tried to work out what she was lying in. It must have been the back of an empty van but then someone could still reach her easily to hit her and keep her down. She decided to stay quiet for a while and tried hard to hold her stomach contents in place. Why, oh why, had she come out this morning?

  At last, they came to a stop and she lay still, wondering if she could get out of the van and find some help. She heard a grating noise and the van lurched forward. The noise sounded again and she realised they must have parked in a garage or something. She lay still, trying to summon up her strength for when she was let out.

  She heard the driver and his companion, presumably Jimmy and his brother, get out and lock the doors. Eventually, she sat up, hoping to see enough to figure out where she was. But everything was dark and she was alone. She tried to open the rear doors but they seemed to be locked. She didn’t understand how they could be locked from the inside but there was no way she could get out –was it central locking?. At least she was now upright, and that made her feel a little less queasy and more able to concentrate. She felt in her bag for her mobile and tried to call Drew. But there was no signal. He’d be worried when she didn’t arrive home and she wanted to spare him that. On the plus side, he wouldn’t know she’d been kidnapped. Kidnapped. What an emotive word.

  She manoevred herself so she could lean against the side of the van for support. She tentatively felt her head which was beginning to ache like mad. There was a large bump on it. She felt tears burning and choked back the rising sobs. How long am I going to be kept here?

  She shivered, realising it had grown quite cold. She moved a little more and explored her temporary prison. There was a wooden screen behind the driver’s seat. It seemed firm enough but must have been moveable for her to have been pushed down by her captors that second time. She worked at trying to slide it, but it was no use. Frustrated, she sat still again and pulled her coat round her.

  Rosie sat shivering for some time, wondering how she might possibly get away. She was concerned about Drew and didn’t want him to be alarmed. She looked at her watch. It was two o’clock. She felt hungry and wondered how long she was going to be left on her own. Where was she? They had travelled for about twenty minutes, she estimated, so she knew they weren’t far out of the city. She listened for any noises but, stuck inside the van, she could hear nothing at all. This was dreadful. Sensory deprivation, she thought as she sat in the dark without any sounds. Eventually, blind fury took hold, and she started banging on the side of the van and yelling. But it was all to no avail.