“There’s multiple options of where they could be located. For starters there is Jodies apartment she has in central London. If and it’s a big if, if she’s trying to get attention from you Blackwood then they could possibly be at your place. Right now I wouldn’t put anything past the two of them.”
Shit. I never thought of that.
“And what if they’re not at any of them?” Johnny asks him, voicing what would have been my next question.
“Then there is only one other place left but I wouldn’t count on it. It’s all derelict, and nobody’s been on that estate for at least fifteen years. I hope to god that my daughter isn’t there, it’s not a very nice place and believe me I’ve seen some nasty places in my time, but if they are there we haven’t much time. More to the point the two girls haven’t got much time.” He starts making himself busy, as if just something to do. He looks uneasy now, which I haven’t seen on him since being here. This can’t be a good sign. I silently beg for them not to be on this estate.
Curiosity getting the best of me, even though I know I’m not going like his answer I ask him.
“Which estate are you talking about exactly?”
Straight to the point he gives me the answer I was dreading, “The Central Hill Estate in Hackney.”
Cold chills run all over my body and I can see Johnny visible shaking. He’s right no one has used that estate in what seems like forever, I swear at one point the council were going to demolish it but never got around to it as some people that still lived there wouldn’t leave their homes. This is so much worse than I ever feared.
“Why would they be there?” Johnny’s questions, finally finding his voice. The shock must’ve worn off.
“That’s where their bastard parents lived and brought them into their evil world.”
And I thought I had it bad growing up with my parents. I was treated like a prince compared to them, and I don’t even know the full story.
“So where are we going to look first? Because I’m telling you now I don’t like the idea of them being in Hackney… not one little bit.” I stress.
“No neither do I. So what I’m suggesting is we send Max and Liam over to Jodie’s place, because if we’re being honest that’s the least place they’ll be and I’ll send Carlos with them just incase. I’ve already sent two of my other guys to your place just incase they happen to be there. And we’ll go to Hackney.”
Heading for the door I swing it open, making a sweeping motion with my hand I ask them both.
“Well? What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
Dom goes over to the cabinet that’s over in the corner and pulls out a gun, he hides it in the waistband of his trousers and heads out the door calm has a cucumber. Unlike me. I’m in way over my head with all of this, yet Johnny doesn’t seem one bit fazed that we’re about to go to one of the roughest parts of London with a man carrying a firearm.
I guess that’s a conversation for another day.
Once we’ve informed the others of the plan we all head out in two separate cars.
The drive over to Hackney seems to take forever, my knee is constantly bouncing up and down with nerves. What if we’re too late? It’s been well over twelve hours since she left Madrid, anything could’ve happened to her. My biggest fear is that she’s dead, and I wasn’t able to save her this time.
It’s ok being scared.
Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave.
Allie
I start to come around feeling very disorientated, not quite remembering where I am. Peeling my eyes open very slowly, I find myself in the same dark room I was in before everything went black.
I have no conception of time or how long I’ve been down here. All I know is that it feels like forever., even though I’ve only just come around from my assault of Charlie.
That’s when the memories come rushing back to me. Charlie hit me with his gun, Karina looking at me as if she’s given up on the fight. I find myself lying on something squishy and I want to vomit. It’s an old mattress that stinks of piss and god know’s what else. Trying to stretch my arms and legs out because they feel stiff, I find I’m trapped. Both sets of my limbs are tied up with some coarse rope that’s digging into my skin. I’ve got burn marks of them already that’s how tight they are.
Once my eyes have adjusted to the darkness I scan the room I’m being held in, that’s when I spot her… Karina. She’s tied to a chair in the corner with her head hanging down.
Please god let her be ok? She has to be ok. This is all my fault not hers, she’s done nothing wrong. Infact either had I come to think of it.
I don’t get the chance to try and speak to her, because I hear banging and muffled noises from the room above me. It sounds like there is two people up there, but that can’t be right I’ve only seen Charlie. Shit, maybe the sister he was talking about early is now here. I never went in any of the other rooms, I was brought straight down here.
I hear groaning and sounds of pain coming from Karina, and it’s like music to my ears. She maybe in pain but at least she’s alive. I can help her overcome the other stuff when we get out of this hell hole, just like she helped me. It’s what we do, for has much as Connors my life now I couldn’t imagine a world where she isn’t my best friend. We’re connected in a way no one will ever understand. Always have been, always will be.
My thoughts are rudely interrupted when I hear the door at the top of the stairs now been unlocked. There's two voices, and if I'm not mistaken one belongs to a woman, so it’s got be his sister then. I can't hear what they’re saying because their talking in hushed tones. But I know for certain one voice is Charlie's. Fear grips my body once again, and panic runs through my veins. What do they have in store for us now? As long has they leave Karina alone I don't care.
Heavy thuds tell me that they’re coming down the stairs, I quickly close my eyes and pretend I'm still out cold.
“So she has no idea where she is? That’s good, you’ve done good Charlie. Mum and Dad would be so proud” What the fucking hell, I know that voice. It can’t b... surely not. It is.. It’s fucking Jodie. I may have only spoken to her briefly, but I’d recognise that voice anywhere.
She’s Charlie’s sister?
This whole situation just went from bad to just plain fucked up. I don’t understand what she wants with me and to have dragged Karina into this as well. Well that's just bang out of order.
I’m getting totally confused….
And then it all comes flooding back to me like a tidal wave crashing up against the rocks. It’s a good job I’m still acting like I’m unconscious because my face would be giving me away.
The way she was dressed up all the time even if just for a quick meeting, the way she applied her makeup and hair every time I saw her. There was never a hair out of place. Shit, I bet she doesn’t even know what it’s like to have a bad hair day. Then there was the way she spoke to me when Connor wasn’t around compared to when he was. I never understood why, I just put it down to the fact that Connor had her doing extra work for him because of me and everything that happened to me. But then why would she help me get the best physiotherapist?? A little voice in my head is telling me, she did all that to keep him happy. Hoping that he’d fall for her.
The cheeky bitch, he paid her a decent wage for the stuff she did. (Not that I knew the exact amount or anything, but he told me as much.) He may have appreciated her but that would have been for a job well done. Not because he felt the same way.
She’s in love with him, there's no doubt about it. Which means only one thing. I’m completely and utterly fucking screwed. She wants me out the picture so she can make her move, and the only way for her to do that is to remove the one thing that’s in her way.
Me.
She’s going to kill me. I just know it. She's a woman scorned.
I don’t know how someone can be so cruel, especially to another human being. I understand not everyone has the best
upbringing in life but you must’ve had to go through some serious shit to get to this point. To be this unhinged.
Out of nowhere the memory of the day I was attacked hits me like a double decker bus. I remember a figure, it was a woman that much I knew. The voice told me that when she said, “He was mine first bitch.” But the flashbacks I’m having now are new, I don’t know why all of a sudden they came to pass. Maybe it’s the situation I’m in.
It was her.
The sound of heels clicking on the floor. The colour red. The shoes were black and had red soles on the bottom. I’d seen them shoes before.
The fucking bitch was wearing the same shoes the day she came to Connor’s, the first time I met her. When I was secretly eyeing her up and down I noticed her shoes. The Christian Louboutin’s I was jealous of at the time because I knew I’d never be able to afford anything like them.
It was her. She was the one who attacked me. She tried to fucking kill me.
The woman is seriously screwed in the head.
Anger has now replaced my fear. I've done nothing to her, only fall in love with a man. Connor. You can’t help who you fall in love with, I certainly couldn’t.
He's always said he see’s her has family because his own was dysfunctional. This is going to rip him to shreds when he finds out, I just hope I'm around to put him back together when he does.
A swift kick to my leg tells me that someone is hovering above me.
“Wake up bitch. You’ll have plenty of time to sleep when I've finished with you.” Jodie hisses between her teeth. I start to play dumb. If I have any chance of getting us out of this alive I have to play her at her own game, then strike when the iron’s hot and when she’s least expecting it. This tramp will go down one way or the other. I'm not going to let her win. If she thinks I’m going to give up without a fight then she’s got another thing coming.
She's beaten me once, the cowards way. I won't let her get away with it this time.
I act as If I’m only just coming back around and start thrashing about against the my restraints. It cuts into my wrists and ankles but right now that's the least of my worries.
“Jodie? What do you want from me?” I ask in a sleepy voice. Even though I know why I’m here, she doesn’t know I know. So I’m going use that to my advantage.
“Well darling, there’s something I want, and when I want something I usually get it, but as you probably know by now, you’re in my way.” There is so much poison in her voice you’d hardly recognize her, or think she’s the same person we all know.
“Connor will find me you know? He's not going to let me go without a fight. Is that what you want? You want him to come here and see what you’re capable of?”
Whoosh. A fist connects with my eye, it happens that quick I didn’t have time to see it coming or to defend myself. Not that I can with my hands tied behind my back, but I could have tried doing something.
“Shut your mouth you fucking whore, Connor loves me. He always has, he just needs to see I'm willing to do anything for him. Even if it means getting rid of a parasite like you!” She lunges forward and takes my chin in a tight grip, I swear she's going to break it.
“You’re lucky your even still alive right now. I failed last time, but this time I won’t. You don't deserve him.” She let's me go with a push and I fall back onto the mattress. My skins crawling with the thought of what could be on this thing. I'm going need a tetanus injection if I make it out of here alive.
Walking over to Karina, she grabs her hair and pulls her head back on a snap. My stomach recoils at the sound. She cries out in pain and starts to whimper. Something isn’t right with her, I know the position we’re in isn't the best but the Karina I know would be giving them hell right now. Yet she's got no life in her at this precise moment.
Leaning down to Karinas ear, Jodie turns and faces me to make her next threat very clear that it's aimed at me.
“I'm warning you now, one false move and your mofo here won't see the light of day again. All this.” She says as she gestures around the room and to Karina. “Is your fault. If you had just died when I tried the first time, none of you would be here.”
What she’s saying is right. I should’ve died, then the people I love the most in the world wouldn’t be suffering because of me.
The bitch let’s Karina go and she slumps down further into the chair.
“You leave her alone you fucking crazy bitch. She has nothing to do with this.” I scream, my control waning. “It’s me you hate, so take it out on me.” I’d let her do anything to me as long as she left Karina alone, I don’t think she can take much more.
Jodie laughs. It’s one of them evil ones that tells me she has every intention of taking it out on me.
Demented fucking bitch.
Looking over to Charlie, I try to gage if he would actually be of any use to me, but he’s just standing at the bottom of the stairs. His arms are crossed over his chest and he’s glaring at me as if he wants to hurt me as much has she does. He’s also blocking the only exit out of here.
Jodie takes herself over to a box she placed down on the bottom step of the stairs. She must’ve done that when I was pretending to still be out cold.
Oh sweet baby Jesus.
I still can’t see that much in the dim light, but I don’t miss the reflection of silver bouncing of the grimy walls.
My stomach falls through my arse. They can’t be what I think they are can they?
Turning back to me, my worst fear is confirmed when I see what she is holding in her hands.
Knives. Not only one but two this time.
“Now I know you’re already familiar with my trusty friends here, but I would like to formally introduce you to Tarzan and Jane. Tarzan is the one who very kindly fucked your leg up, and Jane is the one who put the gaping hole in your lung.”
I’m frozen. I daren’t move.
One tiny mistake on my behalf and them things will go straight into me.
“Now where do I start this time? Your leg again? Do I cut your pretty blonde hair off? There’s so many options, I’m going to enjoy this.” She’s gone in a trance as she’s talking, it may sound like she’s asking me the questions, yet I know she is talking to herself.
Something tells me that no matter what I say or do, she’s going through with this regardless. There’s nothing I can do to stop her. She runs one of the knives up my bare leg, stopping when she gets to the junction of my thighs.
“What’s so special about you? Do you have a diamond encrusted pussy or something? What if I fucked that up first? I’m most certain he wouldn’t want you then.”
She can’t be fucking serious. Who does that to people? Because I’ve never heard of anything like this in my whole life. And it only confirms how messed up she really is, that in itself has me breathing hard and fast. I have no doubt in my mind that she would do that without any hesitation. What else is she capable of?
“Please, you don’t have to do this Jodie, I’m sorry. Can’t we can just talk about this like human beings? You know woman to woman.” I’d tell her she can have Connor, just so I can get us both out of this shit hole. “If all you want is Connor then… then you can have him. I swear… please just let me and Karina go?” In my heart I know Connor would never have that and I’m only saying it because it’s what she wants to hear.
“Do you really think I’m that stupid? You should give me more credit, I’ve got this far so why would I stop now. I’ve almost completed what I set out to do and I’m not going to stop now.” She goes from that to even more bat shit crazy as she tells me.
“And you just saying that has only pissed me off more.” Then she stabs me in the same leg in the exact same stop as before.
“Arrghhh….” The pain is excruciating, it didn’t hurt this much the first time. Jesus christ why won’t the pain stop.
“Hurts like a bitch doesn’t it, I know the pain you’re feeling right now, It hurts more because this time it’s through your sc
ar tissue.” I look down at my leg then and all I see is red, the amount of blood I’m losing, I’m surprised I haven’t passed out again. She still hasn’t removed the knife in my leg.
“If I take the knife back out now, you’ll only bleed out more and I want you too suffer for a while.” She says that and moves towards the stairs again, motioning with her head for Charlie to follow her. Thankfully not stopping by Karina. She’s leaving us again, for how long I don’t know, but right now I don’t care.
I need to speak to Karina, as I haven’t had chance to yet.
I see Charlie follow her up followed by a loud bang, the door shut and the keys locked the door. He really is wrapped around her little finger.
We’re alone, and I don’t know how much time I have left with this knife in my leg.
“Karina… Karina wake up, I need you to stay with me ok?” I need her to be ok, she has to make it out of this alive even if I don’t. It takes me multiple times before she starts to stir in the chair. But eventually I hear her.
“Allie… Allie I told you not to come here, once I found out why I was here I knew you couldn’t be here.” She starts crying, but then hisses in pain. They’ve done a number on her that much I can tell.
“What did they do to you?” I ask even though I’m scared of her answer.
“I’m ok… It’s not as bad as it looks, but Allie there’s something I need to tell you… you know just incase…” I stop her there.
“Hey, you listen to me Mofo, we’re both getting out of here alive. You hear me?” I don’t know if that sounded confident to her or not. I’m not even sure we will get out of this, but I have to remain optimistic. If I don’t then I should’ve just given up after my first attack.
“There’s only one way in and one way out, trust me I’ve thought of everything whilst I was still thinking straight. The only way out is if they let you Allie…. Shit is my face swollen?” She half laughs half cries.
“Fuck sake Karina, how can you possible make a joke at a time like this? And yes your face is swollen.” She gives me a smile which doesn’t last long as she flinches with the pain. That slight movement has her reacting in pure agony. They really have fucked her face up. And something tells me it’s Charlie’s doing. No way in hell can Jodie cause that much damage to someone’s face with just her fists, but then again my own eye has started to swell from when she punched me.
Syren's Heaven & Hell (The Syren Series Book 2) Page 19