‘Go on,’ urged Jessica.
‘I had to steal a batch of the front-runner compound, you know UP-627 and they collected it from me the next night.’
‘What? Why did they want that?’
‘They never said. It’s not got any psychoactive component, as far as we know that is. I assume somehow, I don’t know how, they’d found out it was to treat cancer and they must be trying to sell it on to someone, a drug company perhaps? But it’s bizarre, people like that don’t normally indulge in intellectual property theft as I suppose you would call it.’
Jessica was shaking her head in disbelief.
‘They gave me no choice, they gave me your necklace and some of your hair, don’t you see how awful it was for me?’
‘Yes, I’ve got some short bits of hair here where they cut some off,’ said Jessica fingering some of her hair to find the shorter strands of hair.
‘When I handed over the material I expected you to be released but instead they gave me your letter telling me you were OK and I had to be patient. I had no idea whether they were lying and I wouldn’t see you again. They threatened me not to go to the police or they would kill you. I just didn’t know what to do, I had to carry on as normal in the lab.’
‘Well, I think it’s time you heard what happened to me,’ she said, sitting up slightly on the sofa. ‘I thought it was a normal Monday morning. You were asleep when I left. I was walking by that little park when a van pulled up asking for directions. One minute I was looking at the address they showed me, the next I was in the back of a grotty van.’
‘They didn’t hurt you did they?’
‘Well, it wasn’t very pleasant, they bound my hands and feet.’
‘Bastards! I’ll kill them!’
‘Shut up and listen. They took me somewhere, it’s about three or four miles out of town, in the country. They put a bag over my head and I was locked up in a room in some outbuilding or something. They provided me with sandwiches, water to drink and a bucket to pee in. It was terrifying.’
Dan got up and went to sit by Jessica, he put his arm around her and she snuggled up against him. ‘How did you escape?’
‘It’s a long story, I still can’t believe I managed to, but I’m so glad that they asked me to write that note to you.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, because I managed to hide the pen and then when I knew that there was only one person guarding me, I faked my suicide and stabbed him through the eye.’
‘Jeez, Jessica! I can’t believe I’m hearing this! It’s like something off the TV! And what happened to him?’
‘I don’t know. I think he passed out. I must have blinded him at least. I don’t know, perhaps worse than that. I didn’t stay around to ask him but I got the keys off him and managed to flee. It’s a long story about my cross-country orienteering but I made it thanks to a kind lady called Denise.’
Dan was wide-eyed and incredulous. This was such a fantastical story. Jessica had escaped from captivity in the most dramatic way.
‘We’re going to have to tell the police the full story. You will almost certainly be charged with drug possession. I might be charged with wounding or manslaughter, although it was self-defence, I didn't know what would happen to me. But those bastards need to be caught. They must be part of some organised crime ring. I’ve kept my clothes, I’ve just realised I left them in Ruth’s flat, I’ll get them from her in the morning. I’m not sure how much evidence will be left though, I got completely drenched. I had my raincoat on when I stabbed him so any blood from him would be on that.’
‘Oh, Jessica, I’m so sorry. I love you so much,’ said Dan breaking down in tears.
‘I know. I love you too, that’s why I didn’t go straight to the police. I didn’t know whether they were holding you captive as well. I needed to know you were safe.’
They hugged once more.
‘Come on, let’s get dressed. We need to phone the police to see whether we should go to the police station now. We need to pack a couple of overnight bags as well. I don’t want to come back here until we know we are safe,’ said Jessica.
‘OK. We can chat through what we tell the police whilst we get ready.’
They set about their preparations. They just hoped the police would take them seriously as it seemed such a bizarre set of events for somewhere like Persford. Their world had been turned upside down but at least they were safe and had each other. However, they needed to ensure that they stayed safe and that could mean some tough decisions.
Chapter 43
By the end of the evening the damage limitation phase would be complete and the evidence destroyed. Jed was driving the van containing the bodies of Karolina, Scott and Lee. Another of Cole’s employees, Lenny was following in a dark coloured car in order to give Jed a lift home after the job was finished. They drove about ten miles from the centre of Persford and found a country lane which led to a field with easy access for the van. It was a completely isolated spot, there were no farm buildings in sight for miles and no nearby housing. Lenny had reversed the car part way up the lane so they could make a quick getaway.
Jed jumped out of the van leaving the driver’s door open. He went around to the back and climbed in. He took out one petrol can, and the others he uncapped and tipped over so that the petrol ran out soaking the three corpses. The petrol fumes masked the pungent stench of blood and other bodily fluids which had started to issue from the bodies.
‘Bye-bye, guys,’ he said quietly, ‘nice working with you.’
He went round to the front of the van and soaked the driver’s seat liberally with the petrol and repeated the process on the passenger side. Standing back a few feet, he lit his disposable lighter and threw it through the open window of the driver’s door. The petrol ignited immediately. Jed ran away quickly until he was at least fifty yards from the vehicle. He turned as he heard the whoosh of the fuel tank exploding. A huge fireball erupted which lit up the night sky. There should be little evidence left by the time that was found in the morning or in several days. It would depend whether dog walkers or the farmer came to inspect. He jogged back to his waiting transport and jumped in. He texted Cole to report on the completion of the job and closed his eyes. All he wanted was to fall into bed and sleep for a whole day.
**
The police took some details and told them to remain in the flat with the door locked securely and someone would contact them. As they were packing their bags the full horror of the past few days came flooding back. Jessica rushed off to the bathroom to be sick. She retched a few times but brought up only a few mouthfuls of liquid. Dan went to see if she was OK and helped her back into the lounge. He made some tea and Jessica managed to sip some of it. They had decided what to tell the police, both of them just wanted to get on with it.
Jessica still had no mobile phone so she was unaware of whether her work had been trying to contact her since Dan had told them she was suffering from the norovirus. She used Dan’s phone to send an email saying she was sorry she hadn’t been in touch personally but it was a long complicated story and she was sure they would understand once she’d had chance to explain. After all, she had been a victim of crime and they had to be sympathetic. That was a hurdle to cross in the future, there were more immediate matters to deal with. It was important that they both told the same story otherwise it would look suspicious.
‘There’s something else we haven’t discussed,’ said Dan.
Jessica sighed, ‘What else?’
‘The university is certain to want to speak to me about my coke use.’
‘But how would they know, you’ve not been doing it in front of people in the lab have you?’
‘Not in the lab. But I was so relieved to see you last night that I didn’t explain why I was wearing my suit.’
‘Oh, yes, I remember now.’
‘I attended a formal dinner with a visiting speaker, the eminent Professor Zeng from China.’
‘So?’
&n
bsp; ‘Well, the dinner was so boring and I was stressed out because I didn’t know what had happened to you. I’d had no sleep for two days so I needed a little help.’
‘Oh, no,’ said Jessica, closing her eyes. ‘Just tell me what happened.’
‘I just needed something to perk me up a bit. So I went to the toilet and snorted a bit, a very small amount in fact. But, I don’t know, well it must have been the effect combined with the wine but when I went back to the table my behaviour was, well, how can I say, embarrassing, what I remember of it.’
‘So are you sure they suspected anything?’
‘It would have been so obvious. I was completely out of my box. Shouting and laughing, I do remember that. I was quite rude to one of the waiters I think. But it’s all a bit of a blur. I think someone came to escort me from the table and phoned for a taxi for me.’
‘Oh, Christ, it gets worse.’
‘On the way back I crashed back down again and felt at rock bottom. I’m so glad you were here waiting for me otherwise I might have done something stupid.’
They sat in silence for a while. Jessica was the first to speak. ‘Well, the best thing you can do is to be open about it and admit to the coke use. Offer to go on a drug rehabilitation programme and accept counselling. That way they shouldn’t get rid of you.’
‘OK, I’ll do that,’replied Dan.
Jessica tried to organise her thoughts. The police would be furious that she’d not alerted them as soon as she escaped but there was nothing they could do about that now. She hoped that she wouldn’t get charged with wounding her captor. She thought back to the place where she had climbed over the wall. She was sure she could locate it again. Perhaps her coat was still there. Surely they would be able to find out where she was held and arrest the person living there. It was a shock that Persford was home to such dreadful people and hopefully, she could provide enough evidence to get them arrested. Just before 3 a.m. Dan’s mobile rang. A police officer was going to come around to the flat to speak to them. They sat together on the sofa holding hands.
Chapter 44
Alan Hindmarsh was heading down to his lower fields to repair some fences that he’d spotted were broken a few days ago. Whilst there was currently no livestock in that field he needed to keep the boundary fences in good order. He turned into the narrow access lane and parked in a passing place. He was thinking about the other long lists of jobs he would need to complete that day providing the weather stayed dry. At nearly seventy years old the occupation of being a farmer was becoming more and more difficult. Each day he felt exhausted and perhaps it would soon be time to consider selling his land and taking things easy.
He opened the back of his van and took out a bag of tools along with a couple of new fence posts and started to make his way into the field. After a few yards, he stopped and swore. In front of him about twenty yards away was the remnants of a burnt-out van.
‘Bugger it,’ he said to himself, ‘bloody bastards dumping their stolen vehicles on my land.’ He wondered how long it would take to get this cleared away. He took his tools and wooden posts over to the section of broken fence and stomped over to the abandoned vehicle. The back doors had blown open presumably when the fire had taken hold and the petrol tank had exploded. Alan looked inside and could see that there was something in the back although it appeared to be of indeterminate shape badly charred but with some remaining form. Not all the contents had been reduced to a pile of ash. The farmer went back over to the side of the field and pulled out one of the rotten fence posts he was planning to replace. He went back over to the van and used the piece of wood to poke about in the van. The wood met some resistance, so Alan continued to scrape and poke around. He was about to give up when his stick removed some of the ash from part of the lumpy contents. A row of teeth leered back at him. Alan dropped the wooden post and ran backwards, his eyes still fixed on the horrifying discovery. He suddenly felt faint and sat down quickly. He gasped for breath and felt his breakfast churning in his stomach. Leaning over to one side his guts heaved a couple of times but he wasn’t actually sick.
‘God almighty,’ he said. He fumbled for his mobile with trembling hands. His fingers felt huge and cumbersome but he managed to dial for the emergency services.
‘Which service do you require,’ said the voice.
‘Police, police,’ said Alan agitatedly.
‘Police, how can we help?’
‘I’ve just found a burnt-out van in my field and it’s got a body in the back. Well, I think it has, it’s all a mess but I’ve seen some teeth.’
‘Can I take your name and location, sir?’
Alan gave his details and was told not to touch anything. A team would be with him as soon as possible. The farmer thanked the operator and wandered back to his fence. There would be no chance of completing that job today as his field had become a crime scene. He collected up his tools and posts and went back to his van to wait for the police. He wished he’d had a hip flask of brandy after the shock but his hot coffee would have to suffice. He took out his mobile once more and phoned his wife to tell her about his grisly discovery and that it may be some time before he returned to the house.
**
Nick was still on a drip and not allowed to eat or drink but he was actually awake. Polly was so relieved just to see him conscious and aware of her presence. They were waiting for the doctor to start his rounds and give them some indication of when Nick might be receiving his scans.
‘Hello, Nick, how are you feeling?’ asked the staff nurse, Hazel.
‘Sore, my head is very painful,’ Nick said slowly. ‘My side’s aching really bad.’
‘I’ll give you some more painkillers via a drip but until the doctor has seen you I can’t give you anything stronger.’
‘OK, thank you,’ whispered Nick.
‘Doctor should be along soon,’ she advised and she went off to get a bag of paracetamol solution to hook up to the drip.
Nick dozed on and off for the next hour and Polly slipped out to make some calls and get some breakfast. Her mother would be arriving early afternoon and said she would come straight to the hospital. She texted Matt and thanked him again for his support, gave him the good news and asked him to let Brett know as she didn’t have his number. Once she knew about the scans she might be able to pop back home for a while for a shower and a change of clothes.
On her return to the ward, she saw a doctor by Nick’s bed and she hurried over.
‘Oh, hello, doctor, I’m Nick’s wife.’
‘Dr Joseph.’ They shook hands. ‘Your husband is looking a lot better than last night but I must warn you that he suffered some serious injuries and we need to check him over very carefully. I see from his notes that he had a serious head injury not long ago,’ the doctor continued to read quickly through some notes, ‘and before that as well, I see he was assaulted.’ He frowned. ‘Your husband is lucky to be alive after all those incidents, Mrs Thomas.’
Polly became tearful and was unable to speak.
‘I don’t wish to upset you, I know you’ve had a shock but I need to be frank with you.’
‘Yes, thank you, doctor,’ said Polly through her tears.
He turned to address Nick. Your eyes are focusing OK and you don’t have any double vision from my examination. You are conscious which is also good, but we need to run a CT scan just to check there hasn’t been any bleeding in the brain, OK?’
Nick nodded.
‘I am a bit worried about this dark bruising here on your side. That could be a ruptured spleen and could be very dangerous. We need a scan to check for internal bleeding. So I’ve booked a CT scan this morning and an MRI scan late afternoon. You will spend most of today inside tubes I’m afraid.’
‘Thank you, doctor,’ said Nick his voice rather hoarse.
‘Once we get the scan results I’ll be back or my registrar. We might move you to another ward later today. Bye for now,’ and he moved on to the next patient.
&nb
sp; ‘Don’t cry, Polly. I’ll be OK,’ said Nick.
This produced further floods of tears from Polly and she sat down and placed her head on Nick’s hands, weeping silently.
**
Dan and Jessica were in a police car taking them to Persford Police Station. The police officer who had visited their flat had taken some details and told them they needed to make a full statement in the morning. He’d told them to remain in their flat with the door locked and to phone 999 if they were at all worried. As a precaution he would organise a patrol car to drive down their road during the night. This had given them some reassurance and they managed to get a couple of hours sleep.
Jessica had all her clothes from the previous couple of days in a bin liner inside another carrier bag. They gave their details to the desk sergeant and he told them to wait in the reception and someone would be down to collect them soon. They both felt anxious and the bleak and stark environment of the waiting made them feel depressed. The walls were adorned with crime prevention posters and victim support helplines. Luckily for them, they were the only people waiting so they were hopeful of not too long a delay.
As the sergeant was still at his desk they decided to sit in silence and check their phones as it would be easy for him to hear any conversation between them. Dan saw on a local news website that the police were appealing for witnesses to a vicious assault which they believed may have been drug-related. Two men were interrupted as they beat up someone walking over to the car park at approximately 7.15 p.m. last night. The victim was wearing a striking jacket bearing the REBEL logo down both sleeves and the stars and stripes on the back. The victim had not yet been named but was described as serious but stable in hospital.
‘Shit, Jessica,’ whispered Dan. ‘That sounds like my jacket! It’s so distinctive. I left it in the office area when I went to the dinner. Someone must have stolen it, or worn it for some reason?’ He rubbed his face in puzzlement. ‘I wonder who it was?’
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