Captive Reaction

by Dawn Marsanne

  ‘It might be me or one of the team,’ said the plumber. ‘Well, see you then. Off out into the rain again,’ he said joking. ‘Absolutely pissing down out there. Watch how you drive home, the roads will be flooded after this. We will have to make a run for it when we get outside!’

  ‘Bye, and thanks again,’ replied Nick, yawning. He decided to take a couple of painkillers before driving home as his headache seemed to be getting a bit worse. He found some in his drawer and washed two down with some water from his bottle.

  ‘Are you OK, Nick,’ asked Pat who was just about to leave.

  ‘Oh, it’s just a bit of a headache, it’s been a long day.’

  ‘Yes, but a successful one from what I hear. A really good result with your reaction. That’s great!’

  ‘Oh, thank you, well I hope we can improve on it further, it’s early days.’

  ‘Right see you tomorrow,’ said Pat. ‘I’m off for a few beers tonight after staring at my laptop all day. Luckily I brought my umbrella!’ and he walked off, waving at Nick with his umbrella.

  Nick went over to the windows to peer out at the rain but it was difficult to see as it was dark outside and all he could see was his reflection. He wandered over to his desk and looked at his chair. Where was his coat? ‘Oh, shit!’ he said audibly. He’d left it in Polly’s office when he went over at lunchtime. He’d meant to go over and collect it but with all the excitement of the water leak in the lab and Dan’s little coke episode, he’d completely forgotten about it. He checked his mobile. There were several texts from Polly to say she’d seen his coat and could he come and get it. Then, later on, there was another text saying that she’d been so busy that she’d lost track of time and would lock it away in her office as she couldn’t take it out with her as she was going for drinks after work.

  On a normal evening, this wouldn’t have bothered Nick too much as he would just run to the car and then with the heater on he wouldn’t feel the cold very much but from what the maintenance men had said he was going to get completely soaked. Just then he heard a gust of wind and the rain lashed against the office windows. ‘God, what a day,’ he said to himself. His gaze fell upon Dan’s jacket which he had promised to put in a cupboard until the next morning. He considered for a few minutes then went over to put it on. Dan and Nick were the same build and height, they’d joked about that when he first started. Surely Dan wouldn’t mind if he borrowed it. Dan was getting a taxi back home after the formal dinner so wouldn’t need it until tomorrow. Nick found a post-it note and scribbled a message to him saying why he’d borrowed it. He zipped it up and put on his baseball hat which would at least provide a bit of protection against the rain. He checked his desk drawers were locked and slinging his messenger bag across his chest headed to the main door to battle against the elements.

  Chapter 36

  Jessica had no idea where she was. She was in complete darkness in the woodland copse and she kept stumbling as she tripped over branches or her feet sank down into ruts in the muddy floor. Her feet were freezing and she was sure they were cut and bleeding. She was free and that was the best feeling. She didn’t care about her feet. She just hoped that she wouldn’t be found unconscious suffering from exposure. The rain was lashing down now and as the trees thinned out the rain was able to penetrate. She put her head back, exposing her neck and allowed the rain to wash off some of the blood she’d smeared there.

  From time to time she stood frozen to the spot as she heard creatures running about in the woodland. She could hear an owl hooting. Perhaps it was the same one she’d heard the other night which made her realise she was being held somewhere isolated. Suddenly a larger creature shot past her at speed. She assumed it was a fox. Jessica had no idea how far she had walked in the woods but she guessed it wasn’t that far as her progress had been so slow due to the uneven terrain and she didn’t want to risk falling and banging her head or breaking an ankle. She continued to pick her way carefully and the vegetation appeared to be thinning out slightly. Peering into the distance she thought she could see lights moving. A wave of panic washed over her. Had her absence been noticed and the men were out with torches looking for her? She stood for a few moments and listened out. Above the noise of the rain, she could hear the faint thrum of traffic. She must be nearing a road. This gave her an impetus to carry on. If she could reach a road she might have a chance of flagging down a car or a lorry to hitch a lift back to Persford. Whether anyone would stop given the state of her was another matter. Surely someone would take pity on her. The problem was they might want to phone the police. She’d given this some thought whilst in captivity and there was no way she was going to alert the police before she knew Dan was safe. She had no idea whether Dan had been captured as well. Providing Dan was back at the flat, they would go to the police once they’d had time to discuss his drug habit. That was if he was still alive after she had finished with him she thought to herself. She would have to use all her self- control to keep the lid on her anger when she finally set eyes on him.

  The trees had mostly thinned to a few isolated saplings now and she found herself in an open field. She hoped she was carrying on in a reasonably straight line away from her starting point and she could finally make out a boundary wall. She hurried over to it and sank down next to it. It was possible that there were CCTV cameras protecting the edge of the property. She cast her eyes along it but couldn’t see any in the vicinity. She stood up slowly and inched along the stone wall, looking carefully for cameras. About a hundred yards along she thought she could see some lights and a gate. That was probably where they would monitor visitors to the estate. Any escape attempt would need to be made along this stretch but as she looked up at the five-foot high wall she was overcome with despair. The wall was at least as high as she was. She tried jumping up but it was impossible. Although her hands could reach the top there was no way she could pull herself up and scale the wall completely. The wall was topped with some metal brackets spaced at ten feet intervals with razor wire strung between. It was clear that the person who had held her in captivity had a lifestyle he wanted to protect at all costs. Leaning back against the wall she sobbed silently. The events of the last few days had sapped her strength. She was shivering with the cold and it was still raining. There was no way she could survive out here for a whole night. She thought of her parents and how her death would break them completely. They would never get over this. Thinking of her family brought her back to reality.

  She stood and looked at the wall. If she could get something to snag on the razor wire she might be able to pull her self up just enough to get her arms on the top of the wall and swing her leg over. How she wished she’d gone to the gym more and kept her self fitter. Jessica took off her raincoat and standing back a few feet, threw it up towards the top of the wall. The wind blew at the wrong moment and it fell back on top of her. She waited for a lull in the wind and tried again. This time the coat caught on the wire. She pulled at it and heard a ripping noise as the wire tore through the lining, but it held. She had to stifle a cheer. She wrapped part of the coat hanging down around both hands and started to pull herself up the wall. It was difficult to get purchase with her feet as they were bare, her tights having long since worn through but although it took a few attempts she managed to get a few feet off the ground. She carried on until she could get her forearms on the top of the wall and she managed to swing her right leg up on to it. Her blouse caught on the wire and it tore. The wire scratched her arms painfully but she didn’t care. She dragged up the remainder of her coat and bundled it up on top of the wire to give some protection from the sharp metal protrusions. This was it now. The final move to manoeuvre herself over the wall and to freedom. In her head, she counted down. Three, two, one and swung herself over. She hung down the other side and then dropped the last foot or so down to the grass. Completely spent with the effort she burst into tears, this time tears of relief and joy.

  Chapter 37

  Once he was back in his
office, Cole had managed to calm himself down with the aid of a couple of whiskies. His initial outrage and anger at Godfrey had subsided a little and he had begun to think more clearly. They had killed an innocent young girl and used her recklessly as an experiment before administering a last hope treatment to his daughter. So many things could have gone wrong. The dose, the method of administration, perhaps the material was contaminated, it was impossible to know. Everything in the report had indicated it should be quite safe from the studies they’d done so far. What a nightmare this had turned into despite all the planning.

  Cole put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. He had been driven by the best of intentions but he now realised he’d been completely mad. How could he possibly have thought that they could take something which was just a prototype and formulate it sufficiently accurately to treat his daughter? At least he’d had the foresight to try it out on someone other than Natasha. It was a cruel thought but at least his daughter was still alive even though time looked to be running out. It was as if he had become a victim of his own success. Too powerful and threatening for anyone to oppose him or to talk any sense into him. Even Shirley had gone along with it. Years of being beholden to him for her lavish and luxury lifestyle had made her a poodle not a partner.

  He didn’t care about Godfrey. Their partnership had been good while it lasted but it was true, it was becoming too risky. How many people had met their downfall by being too greedy? Well it wasn’t going to happen to him. That avenue had run its course. He would leave Godfrey alone to retire and go his own way. He would keep quiet if left alone. For the moment they had an immediate problem to deal with. They needed to get rid of a body so it was time to put a familiar plan into action.

  There was also the issue of his captive Jessica. She had no idea that Cole was connected with her boyfriend’s drug supplier. She had been held at a distance from the main house and had only had contact with his employees. Her fate would need further consideration but he needed to be cautious, too many bodies discovered in a short space of time in Persford would be extremely suspicious. His thought processes were interrupted by his intercom buzzing. His secretary told him that Jed needed to speak to him urgently.

  Cole sighed, ‘Send him in.’

  An agitated Jed stepped into the room, his complexion was pale and he had blood on the cuffs of his jacket.

  ‘Boss, we’ve got a problem.’

  **

  Jessica kept walking along the grass verge as far away from the road as she could manage. She had tried to release her coat but it was too entangled and she felt it was safer to get down from the wall. By now she was soaked to the skin and even colder. As she walked along she suddenly remembered the keys to her site of incarceration. She no longer had them. They must have fallen out of her coat on her trek across the woodland or when she threw her coat up on the wire. She was so angry with herself, the keys were her main evidence that she’d been held captive but she had been so focused on escaping that she’d forgotten to make them safe. ‘No!’ she wailed and threw her head back in despair. Stopping to sob she realised there was no turning back and nothing she could do about it, the main thing was she had escaped and she had to get home and to safety.

  She desperately wanted to reach a road sign to get her bearings. If it wasn’t too far, perhaps she could walk back to Persford. Up ahead she reached a junction and read “Persford Town Centre 3.” Under normal circumstances that was just over an hour’s walk but seeing that sign made her realise she just couldn’t manage it. She had to hitch a lift however dangerous that would be.

  She turned round to face the direction of traffic and held out her thumb to hitch a ride. She dreaded to think what she looked like. Most cars sped past and she got splashed with water, not that it mattered much the state she was in. After about five minutes a car slowed down and stopped a few yards ahead of her, pulling slightly off the road on to the verge. The automatic window lowered and a woman leaned over to the passenger side.

  ‘God, what on earth’s happened to you, love?’ she said, a look of horror on her face as she looked Jessica up and down.

  ‘Can I have a lift to Persford please?’

  ‘Look at the state of you! What are you doing out here in the rain? You’re miles out of town?’

  ‘My friends played a prank on me, they threw me out of their car and left me.’

  Jessica started to cry. This was the story she’d dreamt up whilst planning her escape. She needed to stop anyone from phoning the police until she was sure Dan was safe.

  ‘Look, wait a minute, I’ll give you a lift but I think we should phone the police and report your friends! Some friends, you could die of exposure!’

  ‘No! I’m not getting in if you phone the police, please, they’ll take it out on me, I’ll never be safe. I just want to get home.’

  ‘OK, OK, but you can’t get in like that on my seats. Wait a minute, I’ve got a lining in my boot to stop garden waste making it dirty. The woman clambered out of the car and put the hood of her coat over her head. She looked around to check that this wasn’t some sort of hoax and an elaborate ambush. She dragged a plastic cover out of the boot, throwing some bags of shopping down on to the bag seat over the parcel shelf. She arranged it on the passenger seat and told Jessica to get in.

  ‘You’ve not even got any shoes!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘They took them from me, I hate them!’ cried Jessica.

  ‘I’m not surprised. Now, I’ll put the heating on maximum to warm you up. You might find a chocolate bar in the glove box, have a look.’

  So Jessica was safe and they headed towards Persford. Jessica just hoped her neighbour was in as she held their spare key. She dreaded to think what she would think of her appearance, she must be a frightening sight. A bit of embarrassment was a small price to pay for safety though. She hoped and prayed that Dan was safe too. Then he would have to face up to reality.

  Chapter 38

  ‘What?’ shouted Cole with such force that Jed shrank back towards the door.

  ‘How in fuck’s name did that happen?’

  ‘I’m not sure exactly but she must have kept that pen she used to write the letter to her boyfriend and used it as a weapon.’

  ‘A ballpoint pen? Is this some kind of joke?’ he bellowed, striding around his desk to stand up close to Jed.

  ‘Well, Scott doesn’t think it’s a joke. She stabbed him in the eye socket. He’s in a bad way. He seems unconscious or semi-conscious, he’s not making much sense.’

  ‘Jeez! Am I dreaming?’ Cole continued to pace back and forth, his face puce and set in an angry grimace. ‘Did you phone for an ambulance?’

  ‘No, not yet, I wanted to ask you what to do.’

  ‘Oh, well, at least you’ve got that right.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Jed nervously.

  ‘Who recommended this joker Scott, remind me?’

  ‘Lee Percival.’

  ‘Really, well he didn’t choose very carefully did he?’

  Cole sat at his desk having poured another slug of whisky. Jed remained standing. Cole drank his whisky in one go and then sat in silence for a few minutes whilst his brain processed the onslaught of information.

  ‘Right, this is what I want you to do. Are you listening?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘There must be no more fuck-ups, do you understand?’

  Cole gave his instructions and Jed listened. The remaining colour drained from his face.

  ‘Got it?’.

  ‘Yes, consider it done,’ said Jed.

  ‘What are you waiting for? Piss off out of here.’

  Jed crept out of the office. He knew what he had to do and it wouldn’t be for the first time. He liked to think of himself as Cole’s right-hand man. There were no second chances in this job. He turned up his collar against the weather and reached for his cigarettes. He had a long night ahead.

  **

  Jessica had never felt so relieved as she did when they arriv
ed at her flat in Victoria Road. On the journey, she had learned that the lady’s name was Denise and she didn’t know how to thank her. She had literally saved her life. She felt like hugging her but in her current state that wasn’t really an option.

  ‘Which one is it?’

  ‘About half-way along on the left, just pull in here behind this white car please.’

  ‘Now I think you need a long hot bath and a hot drink,’ advised Denise.

  ‘Yes, I just hope my friend is in as she has my spare key. Thank you so much for your help. I don’t know how to thank you,’ and Jessica began to weep once more.

  ‘There, there,’ said Denise, patting her arm. ‘The best advice I can give you is to ditch those awful friends of yours. They want locking up in my opinion.’

  ‘Do you have a mobile number, I’d like to contact you when I’ve sorted myself out in a few days?’

  Denise reached for her bag and hunted for a scrap of paper. She found her diary and ripped out a corner of one page after writing down her mobile number. ‘Give me a call sometime and we can have a chat,’ she said smiling at Jessica. ‘Now I’ll wait until your friend lets you in.’ Denise sat watching the bedraggled young woman still feeling shocked at how cruel some people could be.

  Ruth was waiting with the door to her flat open. As Jessica appeared Ruth’s mouth fell open in horror and she swore, ‘What the..shit, Jessica, what’s happened to you?’

  ‘It’s a long story. Please, just let me in.’

  ‘But you are filthy. Where are your shoes?’

  ‘It’s complicated. I need to get warm.’ Jessica stepped inside Ruth’s flat and stayed on the mat so as not to make a mess. ‘Can I borrow your dressing gown? I need to take these things off. Can I have a bin bag to put them in?’