I looked around in front of me, searching for a blind spot in the camera's view. I saw one – a wide bush, only a few dozen feet in front of me slightly to the left. As the camera turned over to the right, I made my move, darting forward and rushing towards the bush. I slid past it, ducking for cover behind it as the line of the camera began moving back to the left.
I held my breath as I crouched there, waiting for a any movement, any alarms, any sign that I'd been seen. Nothing happened.
Ahead of me now was more open space, followed by landscaped gardens and carefully manicured bushes. I didn't move for a few minutes, giving my eyes all the time they needed to spot another camera or a moving guard ahead.
Then I saw it – a red light, faint against the darkness. It was concealed inside a fountain, gazing out over to the right of the grounds. I trained my eyes to the left and saw another light, on the left. There were cameras hidden inside the fountain.
Fuck.
I glanced back through the bush protecting me and saw the camera at the wall once more turn slowly to the right. It was now or never, I had to try.
I pounced, quick as a cat, out from behind the bush, and darted straight forward. I didn't know if the cameras in the fountain were real or fake. It didn't matter right now.
I kept forward, reaching the fountain and sliding down to the dirt. The red lights were set high, so I kept low, crawling forward so that the base kept me out of sight. I crawled all the way round, and waited once more.
Again, I listened for movement, for noise, but nothing happened. The cameras hadn't seen me, not the ones in the fountain or the ones on the wall. I could now see the house clearly in front of me, dominating my view. Now the real work started. I needed to get inside.
I was now far enough from the camera on the outer wall to be obscured from its view, so moved quickly up towards the mansion. I looked up, wondering which window might be Amy's, whether she was even here. I was still working under my own hunch, unable to be sure whether I was risking my life for absolutely nothing.
But no, something told me she was here. I could feel it inside, like I was being drawn towards her. O'Brien was keeping her somewhere in this mansion, I was sure of it.
I looked up at a balcony above me. She could be in there....it could be Amy's room?
I climbed onto a ground floor window, standing on the ledge, and reached up. The floor of the balcony was just within reach, my fingers gripping to the edge and pulling me up.
I climbed up, as silently as possible, and peered in through the glass doors. They were obscured by curtains, so I couldn't see anything. I listened for any sort of sound inside, but heard nothing.
I wondered how many people even lived here? Was it just O'Brien? Did he have guards and other members of staff living with him? They were questions I couldn't answer.
The outside of the house was littered with these small balconies, all of them set outside rooms, maybe bedrooms. I managed to make my way around, moving from one to the next, looking inside. Sometimes curtains obscured the view, at others they didn't and I was met with empty rooms, no sign of Amy.
Before long I'd made it round the house, my eyes looking upon the front, the long path to the road, and the security gate at the end. I crouched down against the balcony wall for a moment, looking out for movement. This time I saw it, a man walking slowly across the front of the property at the bottom of the steps. I watched for a few minutes as I did with the camera. His movements were almost as rigid as he strolled up and down at the front, keeping his head looking out towards the gate down the path.
When I turned and scanned the windows at the front of the house, however, I felt my heart skip a beat.
There, right there in front of me, was a glass door, locked and bolted, not from the inside, but from the outside!
The lock looked out of place, like it had been added only recently, not originally built with the property. Someone was being kept inside.
I felt my heartbeat rising again as I crept forward, climbing over to the adjoining balcony. I kept my eyes on the guard below as he looked out on the gate, hoping he wouldn't turn and look up. If I made a sound, if he heard anything, the game was up.
I crept as quietly as I could over the balcony and crouched down again, once more out of sight from below. Once more concealed, I turned quickly to look through the glass door. There were curtains, as before, but they weren't fully closed.
I leaned in and peered through the glass to see a large bedroom. There were posters of topless men on the wall, some ripped down and torn. I could see a make up table in the corner, things scattered to the floor below it.
I leaned to the right to get a better look at the other side of the room. There was a bed, a bulge beneath the covers. It was dark inside, save a thin slit of light from the moon, shining through the gap in the curtains. The light landed on the bed, cutting across it and up to the headboard.
My eyes opened wider as I saw a flow of hair running over the covers, a head tucked in underneath. I lost a breath. The hair was red.
Chapter 18
Amy
I lay in bed, but it gave me no comfort. It never did any more.
No, my bed was a prison; like my room, like this mansion, like the beautiful gardens and the grounds beyond. But the beauty was lost on me now. Now, I just felt sick to look at the place.
It was late at night. How late I didn't know, or care. What did it matter anyway? Time made no difference to me any more.
It had been over 3 months since my dad had brought me back here, forced me to stay. At first I'd screamed and shouted and battled with him to let me leave, but he didn't care.
“It'll be good for you,” he'd told me, “to learn to live with me again. You'll be safe here, nothing can touch you, nothing can hurt you. I know it's hard now Amy, but it's for your own good. I can't have you out there, in the world, with all its dangers, alone. I suffered for three years not knowing if you were safe, who you were with, where you were. Now I know, now I'll always know.”
I couldn't reason with him when I told him he couldn't keep me captive forever. He'd flinched at the suggestion that he was keeping me prisoner, but that's exactly how it was. He wouldn't hear it, though, always telling me he was doing it for me, for my safety.
He'd totally fucking lost it.
At the beginning he'd kept me in my room mostly. Every time he let me outside, I tried to escape, so he left me in there for days on end. Soon I realized, however, that no matter what, there was no way out.
There was always a guard on the gate, always at least one man at the front door. There were others in the house, guards and maids and cooks everywhere. Beyond were cameras watching every inch of the property, and a 12 foot wall surrounding the entire place. Even if I got to the edge, I wouldn't be able to scale it. No, I was well and truly trapped.
Whenever I was out of my room, a guard was nearby. He had eyes on me constantly, making sure I didn't talk to a maid or a gardener or anyone else about my plight. They'd be too scared to do anything about it anyway, even if they did know. The phones in the house were disabled, all except the one in my dad's office, and my cell was taken away from me.
I thought of Jude often, wondering if he was OK. I'd shrieked at my dad in the first days, not only to let me leave, but to tell me what happened to him. All he said was, “he's fine, Amy, just fine.”
The image of him being dragged into the car was still etched into my mind. He looked battered and bruised and exhausted, his face pale and full of worry. I'd watched as the car drove off up the street, heading for the hills, my dad following behind.
The only solace I got to help convince me he wasn't dead was the news. I had my television, that was all. If he'd have been killed, it would have been on the news....
But I knew, alive or dead, that he didn't know I was here. The last he'd seen I was standing in the parking lot next to my car, ready to drive out of town for good. He had no idea I was back, and probably didn't care any more anyway.
I'd promised I'd call him, that we'd meet and see each other again soon after I left. It was all I wanted, the only silver lining from this entire situation. But no, I was locked in here, and he was out there. He probably hated me for not getting in touch, and that thought hurt me more than anything else.
So here I lay, in my bed, in my prison, tucked up under the covers. I could hardly sleep any more, my nights and days just the same as each other. I lay on my side, staring out into space. I could see a thin slit of light out of the corner of my eye, shining across my bed. I thought I heard the quietest of movements, but it was nothing: a gust of wind or a swaying tree.
The light broke suddenly, the thin slit of moonlight on my bed momentarily cast into shadow. I glanced up, lifting my head to look at the window, so see what had blocked its path. A cloud? A tree?
Holy shit!
I almost fell out of bed as I looked to see the shadow of a figure outside the door. My calm pulse suddenly exploded into life as I sat up quickly in bed and retracted up against my headboard.
I sat, frozen in place, as the silhouette stared at me, unmoving. Then, slowly, a hand slid the bolt quietly across the door, turning his head backwards as he did.
I still sat like a statue as the door creaked open, the figure moving inside. As it stepped to the side, away from the moonlight, I saw the side of his face suddenly light up.
My breath was lost from me and my pulse raised further as a tear quickly accumulated in the corner of my eye.
Jude. It was Jude.
….
Jude
I peered in through the window at the red hair, my hope suddenly lit.
Oh my God, it was Amy! I was right. She was here.
In my excitement I stepped further to the right, leaning in as close as possible to see her more clearly. As I did the light of the moon on her bed was cut off, my body moving in front of it.
I stopped in place as the figure suddenly moved, the head arching up and looking directly at me. In the darkness her face was now obscured, but I knew it was her. I reached for the bolt and quietly slid it off the door, turning back as I did to make sure the guard below hadn't heard.
I opened the door with a slight creak, and stepped inside, unblocking the moon. I saw the light quickly rush back onto her and saw her face, clearly, sitting up against the headboard.
A smile hit my face as I saw her. She looked shocked, her eyes beginning to well up, her body frozen in place.
I quickly shut the door and tiptoed in towards her as she continued to look at me in wonder, as if she was dreaming.
“Amy,” I whispered, “it's me. It's Jude.”
She continued to stare at me, a tear beginning to roll down her cheek.
Her voice broke when she spoke: “Jude....”
I rushed in suddenly and hugged her. I could feel her body shaking in my grasp, her arms still stuck by her sides.
I pulled back and took her face in my hands. I stared at her intently, her eyes wet.
“We have to get you out of here Amy....now.”
Her voice was weak still, as though she hardly spoke any more. “How...did you know...I was here.”
I kissed her hard on the forehead before answering: “There's no time to explain now Amy. We need to leave right now.”
Her eyes began to change, turning from shock to resolve as she climbed out of bed. She slipped on a pair of jeans and put a sweater over her t shirt as quietly as possible. When she was clothed she turned to me and hugged me hard, her arms gripping me tighter than they ever did before.
“You came for me,” she said, her eyes starting to well again.
I smiled. “I couldn't wait for your call any longer.”
She laughed lightly and we kissed, briefly, in the moonlight.
“Now come on,” I said, “let's get you out of here.”
….
Amy
I was still trying to catch up with what was going on as Jude stepped back towards the door, telling me to be as quiet as possible as he did. How was he here? How did he get in? How did he know I'd be here, in this room?
There was no time to get any answers as he opened the door slowly, crouching as he crept out.
“Do what I do, and follow me closely,” he whispered, glancing back.
I ducked as he did and we sneaked onto the balcony, keeping low and out of sight. He shut the door again before turning to me.
“OK Amy, we're gonna climb round the side of the house and straight over the back wall.”
Before I had a chance to ask him anything he was off, checking the guard below and climbing quickly over the edge of the balcony and over to the next.
I climbed after him, looking down at the 3 feet gap between balconies and gulping down air. I'd never been one for heights, even short ones like this.
He turned back and ushered me forward, looking past me to keep an eye on the guard. When I got to him we ducked low again, out of sight.
“Are you OK,” he asked.
I nodded and we continued, moving round from balcony to balcony until we reached the back of the house. He quickly climbed over the edge, lowering himself and dropping to the ground. I followed, stepping gingerly over and sliding into his arms below. He caught me with his strong grip, before gently lowering me to the turf.
I turned, looking out onto the expanse at the back of the house, the manicured gardens and wilder patch beyond.
“There are cameras Amy. We need to avoid them, OK. Follow me closely and when I go low, drop to the ground.”
He then crouched low and shot forward towards the fountain between two flower beds, stopping at the front and dropping right to the ground. I followed closely in his wake, dropping right in behind him.
He then crawled, like a soldier, along the outside of the fountain, keeping his head below the base. I followed him, right round to the other side, before suddenly, from nowhere, he leapt up and darted off towards a bush beyond the flower beds.
He moved quick, and I followed as fast as I could, not knowing where he would stop. He rushed in behind the bush but I was caught behind, 20 feet back, unable to stick close enough to him.
I heard a noise, the loud noise of an alarm wailing behind me, as Jude looked around. I must have tripped a camera somewhere, set off the alarm system. He jumped up from his crouching position and dragged me forward, straight towards the wall.
“You need to boost me up,” he shouted quickly, the sound of the alarm shooting through us both. “Lock your hands together like this,” he said, intertwining his fingers, “and put them on your knee with your back against the wall.”
He quickly showed what I had to do.
“You need to lift as hard as you can Amy, so that I can reach the top.”
I nodded and got in position as he stepped back from the wall to give himself a run up. Then he came at me, rushing forward and stepping into my hands and pushing up off my knee. The force of his boots tore at my palms as his heavy weight came down on my hands, but I lifted with all my strength, helping to shoot him up the wall.
His weight left me and I looked up to see him clambering to the top. He lay across it and reached down as far as possible with his left hand.
“Jump and grab my hand, and don't let go.”
I leapt, and felt his strong grip wrap around my wrist. I held on with both hands as he pulled me up quickly, easily, to the top of the wall. He helped me up and over, dropping me down to the other side.
I could hear the sound of voices behind us, over at the house, as I dropped out of sight over the wall.
One was clear. “AMY,” it roared, “AMY, COME BACK.”
“It's my father,” I said to Jude as he dropped in beside me, “he won't let me leave.”
I looked up and down the street, hoping to see a car, to see some getaway vehicle, but there was none. “Where's your car?” I asked, frantically turning to Jude.
He shook his head. “There's no time, Amy, it's round the street. We have to find another way.”
>
He grabbed my hand and pulled me forward, over the road and off into the woods beyond. The sound of the alarm shut off suddenly and I could clearly hear voices now, and the roar of cars starting up inside the compound.
We rushed onwards, further into the thickening woods, climbing higher as we went. There were hills beyond, hills that morphed into mountains stretching for miles and miles away from the city.
I heard the cars rush around the streets below, pulling up sharply outside the woods. Doors opened and shut quickly and I saw flashlights cutting through the trees, inching forward in the distance as Jude kept leading me forward.
“AMY, YOU CAN'T LEAVE,” I heard the roar again, the voice more distance now as we moved through the dark trees. “I'LL FIND YOU.”
“It's OK Amy,” I heard Jude say, “I'll protect you.”
I turned, breathing heavily, and looked down at the pursuing flashlights. They were splitting up now, moving off in different directions. I counted four, four men chasing us down.
Jude looked on as well, his eyes scanning their movements. “They can't see us, but we can see them. That gives us the advantage.”
He turned and began leading me left, cutting across, rather than up, the hill. My eyes were fully adjusted now, our way clear ahead of us as the moonlight shone down between the trees. The sounds behind were growing more faint now, my dad no longer shouting after me.
I turned again and this time saw nothing, no lights shining after us.
“Jude,” I said, grabbing his arm and causing him to turn, “the lights....”
I saw his eyes sharpen. Advantage lost.
….
Jude
“Fuck, they must have realized they were giving themselves away,” I said – whispered - quietly as we continued through the undergrowth.
I listened intently as we went, but could hear nothing. They were making no sounds now, creeping as we were, blind and in silence.
I knew exactly what would happen if they caught us. They'd take Amy back to the mansion and execute me here in these wooded hills. Those will have been the orders from O'Brien: “retrieve my daughter, kill the other one.”
The Logan Brothers - Books 1-4: (EXPOSURE, CRASH, TWIN PASSIONS, and ADDICTED TO YOU) Page 68