by F. C. Clark
‘You remind me so much of your mother.’
His words rotate in my head. Mother! Which one, my dead Russian mother or my adopted mother?
My mouth is so dry I can barely muster a response. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘Katenka Bagrov.’ He releases me and returns to his chair.
‘You knew my mum?’ I’m confused. Did they work together? I had assumed that Philip joined the company long after Katenka had died.
‘We met briefly – four, maybe five times. Let’s just say they were all memorable encounters.’
I close my eyes, trying to piece together his tale.
He sniggers. ‘You look surprised; nearly as surprised as I was when I found out she had a child.’
‘Two,’ I blurt.
‘Bagrov, as it was back then, was struggling to survive. Financially, the company managed to sustain itself, but it needed modernising. I was young and ambitious. I knew I could turn the company into the success it is today. Katenka was beautiful, her skin was…’ He sits back in his chair, lost in a memory, a memory that causes me to feel nauseous. ‘Sadly, she was a little… frigid.’ His eyes lock on mine as he waits for a reaction. I feel numb. I can only just breathe.
‘You see, life was swimming along nicely. My career with Bagrov began in London. They saw my potential and transferred me to New York.’ He pauses. ‘The second time I met your mother, she declined my offer to buy her shares. The last time I saw her in New York was… let’s just say it didn’t go to plan. Why she refused to have sex with me I will never understand. You women are difficult creatures.’ He leans towards me and runs his finger down my cheek. ‘You have your mother’s complexion.’ He blinks, and leans back in his chair again. ‘After our brief moment of intimacy she fled to London with you. As I said, I was unaware you existed. She was good at keeping secrets.’
Intimacy! This can’t be real.
He stands in front of Alexis, then runs his hand through her dark hair. ‘My dear Alexis, you are turning into your mother.’
She closes her eyes.
Something is raw between them. None of this makes any sense; this is not the power father-and-daughter couple I have witnessed in the boardroom.
‘Daddy, I’ll do whatever you need. Please let us go before it’s too late.’ Her soft voice is sharp with fear.
Once again he laughs at her before he slaps her face hard.
‘No – stop – please,’ I beg.
He whirls around and slaps me. My vision blurs.
His rage seems to have altered; this is now about power and control. He manoeuvres his chair closer and sits down. ‘When I first saw you at Luke’s parents’ party, you reminded me of Katenka. Little did I know why – and just how much you were going to affect my life. Cunning bitch, leaving her shares in trust until last year – your birthday. That was a fatal blow to my plan – and to you, it would seem.’ He takes a breath and smiles, basking in my distress. ‘You are related to Katenka Bagrov. The whore left my shares – my fucking shares – to the stupid cunt who’s shacked up with Luke Sutton! Who would have thought such a story would be true?’ He peers at me. ‘Your mother left you with a death sentence. Ah, you can’t beat a mother’s love.’ His hands slide slowly up my legs. ‘I think you and I could have some fun. I could compare you to your mother. I wonder, are you as frigid as her?’
Holy fuck. I never met her, but I am certain Katenka would not have had sex with this weasel – no way. Adrenalin pumps through my blood after hearing about his plan. I swallow hard and look across at Alexis. Our eyes meet before she looks away. Another revelation hits me like a lightning bolt – Alexis has been here before, at the hands of her father.
‘Don’t touch us,’ I say, compelled to fight.
Suddenly he grips my hair, yanking it hard.
‘Argh – get off me!’ I yell and try to squirm away, but it’s pointless. He’s too strong.
From nowhere I feel something cold at my temple.
‘Fucking talk to me like that again, bitch, and I’ll shoot you, do I make myself clear? Open your mouth.’
What?
‘Now, or I will shoot you and let you bleed to fucking death.’
Reluctantly, I part my lips. He shoves the barrel of his gun in my mouth.
‘Oh, to fuck with Sutton’s wife. What a pleasure that will be! I suggest you don’t try to fight. That didn’t work for Katenka.’
He pushes the gun further in, almost choking me. My eyes glaze over as I desperately try to fight back my emotions. What does he mean, it didn’t work?
‘You’d better get used to this. I’m going to fuck you very soon.’
He looks at Alexis. ‘Don’t worry, you will get your turn.’
I try to stop gagging, but with the gun jammed into my mouth, it’s impossible.
Thankfully, he removes the weapon and sits back on his chair, leaving me to splutter and gasp for air. I inhale deeply, hoping to regulate my breathing and to stop my body from trembling. But I can’t stop shaking. I’m in shock. Would he have shot me? I’m certain he would.
‘You see, after I met Katenka in New York I decided to play a game. I threatened her, attacked her, sent her love letters hinting at what I’m capable of.’ His eyes gleam with delight: the sick bastard is getting off on his violent behaviour. ‘For a while it was fun, knowing she lived in fear, and it wasn’t until I came to London the following year that I knew she wouldn’t change her mind. Once again the whore refused to sign over her shares. Taking her again made me feel a little better. It would seem you have her fighting spirit. Like mother, like daughter.’ His hands slide up my sweatshirt towards my neck. ‘I put my hands round her throat and just kept squeezing. I wanted to scare her.’ He laughs. ‘Killing her was never my intention – but I can’t deny it gave me pleasure.’
A cold wave of fear washes over me. I feel numb. The pounding of my heart against my ribcage makes my body vibrate. He killed her – he killed my mum.
A single tear rolls down my cheek for her, Katenka Bagrov, my mum. One thing is for certain: his confession means he’s going to kill me. He can’t afford to let me go.
His thumb traces my tear. ‘Very touching.’
‘You’re an evil bastard. I hope you rot in hell.’
‘Maybe, but life will be better once you sign your shares over to me.’
‘Take them! I don’t want the bloody shares. Just let us go,’ I plead.
‘No… I shall have the company shares and then you, and then I will deliver you to Chekhol. I have a feeling it won’t be pleasant. I assume you understand what I’m saying.’
He stands and looks at his watch. The glow from the window is dimming; I’m guessing a couple of hours of daylight remain. Luke, where the hell are you?
‘So, ladies, this evening will be fun.’
Fun! Oh God, I want to throw up.
He walks behind Alexis and drags her chair across the room, scraping it against the wooden floor towards the bed.
‘I have no use for your cunt this evening. But you’re welcome to watch – you may learn something. Sutton wouldn’t marry a woman who couldn’t fuck, I’m certain of it.’
No. I begin to shut down.
He drags my chair in front of Alexis.
We watch him undo Alexis’s wrists.
‘Untie her hands and don’t try anything.’
She looks blankly at Philip.
‘It’s quite simple, Alexis, untie her fucking hands.’
She leans towards me and loosens my wrists.
‘Now her ankles.’
She folds forward and her trembling hands work fairly quickly, while Philip still holds his gun at my temple.
‘Get up,’ he commands, but I can’t. ‘Move, or I’ll shoot her.’ He swings his gun round to Alexis’s temple. My eyes meet hers as I stand.
‘Good girl. Now take off your clothes.’
I shake my head.
Without hesitation he strikes Alexis.
‘Now!’ he yells.
I shake in fear. I slip off Luke’s sweatshirt and my T-shirt, then my Converse and jeans. All that remains is my underwear and socks.
He waves his gun in the air. ‘Everything.’
I close my eyes and remove the last few items.
‘Hmm, Sutton has good taste. I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve fucked your tight cunt.’
Luke – please. Where are you?
‘Tie her hands together.’ He passes Alexis a piece of rope and gestures with his gun to get on with it. ‘Move,’ he says and shoves me forward. ‘Wrists together.’ She ties my hands looser than they were.
He tugs at the rope.
‘Ow!’ I moan, although there is no pain. But I have begun to hatch a plan – I hope.
‘Get on the bed. If you try to run, I’ll shoot you… I have no problem ending your life and changing my plans.’
I believe him. He’s unstable enough to kill me if I fight him.
Unsteadily, I perch on the edge of the bed. Suddenly he punches me on the side of my face, forcing me to the mattress. My vision blurs. He’s cut my lip; I can taste iron.
‘Middle of the bed,’ he says.
Shaking, I comply. He tugs my ankles, causing me to slide nearer to the metal footboard. I watch his every move. He drags Alexis’s chair towards my feet and throws her extra pieces of rope.
‘Tie her up, make sure her legs are spread wide.’
She leans forward as far as she can and ties my legs.
I close my eyes. Oh God, please take me away. I would rather die than allow him to touch me. Please, Katenka, take me with you.
Tears roll down my cheeks. He hits me again. I’m still here. No amount of praying will help me.
I turn away, not wanting to look at him.
He roughly grips my face. ‘You will look at me.’ He waves his gun at me.
‘Daddy, no,’ Alexis whispers, ‘please don’t do this—’
‘Shut the fuck up.’
He kneels between my legs. I desperately want to hit him, but my wrists are bound together, and he’s still got his gun at my temple.
He rears up and begins to undo his trousers. He has to lower his gun and use both hands. This may be my only chance. I club him as hard as I can with my bound hands. He falls sideways. I sit up, but he recovers quickly.
‘You fucking bitch!’ he screams and uses his hand to wipe his mouth. ‘You’ve cut my fucking lip.’
‘Good, you disgusting fucking pig.’
This time he uses his gun against my ribs, followed by a hard blow to my face, knocking my senses into tiny pieces. Once isn’t enough. He continues to pistol-whip me, too many times for me to count. Then he’s at my throat, his hands locked tightly, squeezing.
‘Is this what you want? To die like your fucking mother, you fucking whore?’
I try to fight him, but he increases the pressure and I’m almost gone. I begin to lose consciousness for the second time today.
I don’t know what happens next, but suddenly I can breathe. I gasp for air, panting and crying. I manage to sit up. Alexis stands at the foot of the bed, the remains of her chair in her hand. Philip lies, squalling like a demented animal, on the floor.
‘You forgot to tie my hands, you fucking arsehole.’ Her eyes are on fire.
‘Alexis, grab the gun!’
She grabs the weapon from the floor and holds it in trembling hands. She walks towards Philip, who is trying to crawl away, and kicks him in the head. Again. Again. He lies still.
‘Quickly, untie my hands.’
She lowers the gun and fumbles with the rope. Once my hands are free, I loosen my ankles and scramble off the bed. I’m sore all over, but I can just about stand. Quickly, I dress.
Now what? I turn to see Alexis pointing the loaded gun at Philip. I walk towards her, feeling unsteady on my feet, and slide my hand over the gun.
‘Give it to me.’
Her glazed eyes meet mine.
‘I know how to shoot,’ I say.
She hands over the weapon and I check the chamber.
I hear him coming round, and cast my eyes around the room.
‘There’s only one way out.’ I point to the window. ‘We need to buy ourselves some time.’
‘How far do you think you’ll get?’ Philip manages to croak.
‘Shut the fuck up.’ I walk towards him and kick his face, knocking him sideways. ‘God, that felt good… Luke said I’d get my day.’ I kick him again. ‘That’s for my mum, you murdering bastard.’ I lean towards him. ‘Don’t ever hurt my family again. When Luke finds you, you’ll be sorry – and dead.’ Quickly, I grab the rope and bind his feet. Thankfully he’s too weak to fight. ‘Tie his wrists.’
‘The gun?’ Her words are chilling.
‘We can’t shoot him! The noise, and—’ God, I feel sick. This is her dad – a poor excuse of a human being, but he’s still her dad.
She nods, her eyes murderous.
I move to the bed. ‘Help me block the door.’ We work in silence and quietly push the bed in front of the door. ‘OK, now drag his sorry arse.’ I yank his ankles while Alexis pulls him towards the bed. Somehow we tie his bound ankles to the leg of the bed. We stretch his arms above his head and tie his arms. He lies under the bed tied like the animal he is.
‘They won’t be able to open the door,’ I say.
He begins to groan.
I look around and see my socks on the floor; I ball them up and shove them in his mouth. ‘Choke on that, you sick fucker.’
‘What’s the plan?’ Alexis asks.
I look across to our only escape route, the high window.
‘It’s our only option, and it’s getting dark so we don’t have a lot of time.’
I push the chair against the wall and try to open the window. Unsurprisingly, it’s locked. Crap! Breaking the window might attract attention, but I have no choice. I use the butt of the gun to break the glass and the jagged edges. Too loud – shit! I tuck the gun in the waistband of my jeans.
‘You go first.’ I clasp my fingers, ready to give Alexis a leg up.
‘Wait.’ She strides towards her father and presses her foot against his throat. ‘I hate you – you deserve to die.’ She kicks him hard in the head, enough for him to fall unconscious again.
She reaches my side and stands on the chair. ‘Ready?’ I say and give her a leg up. ‘One, two, three.’
She boosts herself up and pulls herself through the window, then lowers herself on the other side. ‘Give me your hands.’
It’s ironic that I’m depending on Alexis to survive. I loathed her, but now we are fighting for survival together. Jesus Christ, life tests me at every corner.
Alexis helps me hoist myself out of the room and through the window. As I slump to the grass I feel an intense pain in my side.
‘Shit!’ I hold myself and stagger to my feet.
‘Kate, you’re bleeding.’
I look down at my blood-soaked sweatshirt. A sharp piece of glass is sticking out of my side.
‘Shit, I thought I cleared it all.’
‘Jesus.’
‘Pull it out. Bloody hell, it hurts. But quickly, we need to run.’
‘OK. On three. And no screaming.’
‘Really, are you shitting me?’ I take a deep breath.
Tentatively, she grips the glass poking out of my sweatshirt.
‘Three.’ Alexis pulls it out and throws it to the ground.
‘Holy fuck.’ I hold my side and she helps me to remain upright. ‘What happened to one and two?’
‘We don’t have time. Now run,’ she says.
2
We run into the woods until the lodge is out of sight. It feels like an eternity, but must only be about twenty minutes or so.
I stop, mainly due to the pain shooting through my body.
‘OK, we don’t have long before it’s dark,’ I whisper, trying to regulate my breathing. ‘I think we’re about fifteen miles from the main road. I was making mental notes on the way here. We took a sharp right onto the dirt road.’ I take a breath. ‘For what it’s worth, my gut says they would expect us to head towards the road. I think we should stay in the woods then head to the road in the daylight.’
‘Jesus, Kate, I was thinking let’s run and hope for the best!’
‘Let’s assume they’ve realised we’ve gone, so from this point on no talking, stay alert and look where you’re walking. If you need me, pull my arm. Got it?’
After another twenty minutes, we’re even deeper in the forest, surrounded by tall dark trees that take on intimidating silhouettes as night arrives. My senses are on high alert, but there are no sounds except our light footsteps. I shiver, not just because of the cool air but because of blood loss. I can feel blood seeping through Luke’s hoodie. We need to find somewhere to pitch up until sunlight.
A little while later, I hear a noise and stop dead. I reach for Alexis, who stops and holds her breath. I bring my index finger to my lips, although we have barely spoken since we escaped.
‘Can you hear that?’ I whisper.
Her brows arch. ‘What?’
‘Water. It’s really faint. Listen.’
We stand still, straining our ears. I’m truly hoping it’s not in my head, but after several blows anything is possible.
She nods and points. ‘Over there.’
‘Let’s go.’
Within a few minutes we arrive at a small stream. We rush to it and kneel down to lap up small handfuls of icy water. It may be cold, but we’re dehydrated.
I look around. ‘We can stop here. You go that way and I’ll look up here.’ As I walk further upstream I spot an old tree with a hollow trunk. I turn when I hear Alexis.
‘Welcome to five-star shit-hole.’