Retribution

by Heather Atkinson

  “What if Hughes was in on it with Reid and now Reid wants revenge?” said Rachel.

  “Why leave it so long?” said Ryan. “That was nearly three years ago.”

  “Reid would only have been seventeen at the time,” said Rachel. “And all this would have taken time to set up.”

  “But would he go to all that trouble for Hughes?” said Battler.

  “He might if there was a strong bond between them,” said Ryan. “But we can’t be sure they even knew each other, this is all conjecture.”

  The doorbell rang again and at the same time Jules’s phone pinged. “That’s Raven,” she said, glancing at her phone. “I’d better answer it.”

  “Do you know this Raven?” Ryan asked his brother as Jules strode out of the room.

  Jez shook his head. “Never heard of her.”

  They waited in expectant silence for Jules to return, which she did with a woman with long black wavy hair. Raven was about the same age as Jules but taller and more willowy. Her face was long and slightly pinched, eyes large and dark but the overall effect was beautiful, ethereal almost. She wore a long black trench coat as well as black jeans and a black jumper, her calves encased in long black boots laced up to her knees. In her left hand she carried a large black bag.

  “Everyone,” announced Jules. “This is Raven.”

  Rachel stepped forward to greet her. “Can you help me get my daughter back?” she asked her, black eyes boring into her guest.

  “And my daughter too,” added Ashley, stepping up beside Rachel.

  Raven regarded them with serious dark eyes before nodding.

  Everyone continued to stare at the newcomer in silence, expecting her to speak but she didn’t. Instead she scrutinised them all one by one, Ashley finding her gaze unnerving and looking down at the floor.

  “Raven is highly skilled,” said Jules. “And the only other bounty hunter I’ve trusted enough to work alongside. She can help.”

  “Thank you Raven,” said Rachel. “We’ll pay any fee you want if you get Leah back.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” said Jules. “I’ve already got that covered.”

  Raven stepped past them all to the back of the room. She dumped her bag on the floor, which was quickly followed by her coat and then her jumper, revealing a plain black t-shirt beneath. Everyone stared in wonder at her arms, which were tattooed with intricate black feathers, not an inch of skin bare. The feathers were even visible around her neck too.

  Raven sat cross-legged on the floor and closed her eyes, resting her hands on her knees, thumbs touching the tips of her index finger, the tattoos covering the tops of her hands too.

  “What’s she doing?” Jez asked Jules.

  “Meditating.”

  “Meditating?” he spluttered. “Are you serious? What’s she going to do, find Leah using the powers of her chakras or some shite?”

  “Don’t talk like that, you’ll annoy her,” said Jules. “And she’s fully aware of everything going on around her, have no worries on that score. This is what she does before she gets stuck into the action, it helps her get into the zone.”

  At that point Teddy darted into the room, pursuing a ball, which rolled towards Raven. Without opening her eyes she scooped up the ball and hurled it with perfect precision through the open door into the hallway, Teddy happily bounding after it. Raven returned to her meditative posture as though nothing had happened.

  “You know some weird people,” Jez whispered to Jules.

  “Takes one to know one,” she replied.

  “We need a plan in place, before we receive the address,” Ryan announced to the room. “Reid said only myself, Rachel, Cass and Brodie are to go. Naturally he won’t think Ashley came to us with this, so Ashley you go separately, after we’ve confirmed he’s sent you the same address.”

  “And if he hasn’t?”

  “We’ll have to play that by ear. He specified Battler and Bruiser weren’t to be involved, so they’ll have to stay out of sight, along with Jez, Jules and Raven.” He glanced at the figure sitting on the floor, wondering if she’d react but she didn’t.

  “And what do we do?” said Jules.

  “Take care of anyone on the perimeter of the building and clear us a path out of there. We have no idea how many men Reid has with him. Brodie, Cass, Ashley, your absolute priority is to get Leah and Bianca out of there. The rest of us will deal with Reid and his crew.”

  Ashley shook his head. “I’m Bianca’s dad and I want to cause those bastards some pain.”

  “Your priority is your daughter,” he said. “And you don’t want to be involved with what we’ve got planned for them.”

  “What if there’s a roomful of them?” said Ashley. “You really think you can get rid of all those bodies?”

  No one replied and the growing tension in the room told Ashley it wouldn’t be the first time Ryan and Rachel had done such a thing.

  The awkward moment was broken first by Rachel’s phone beeping, then Ashley’s.

  “It’s a message from Reid,” said Rachel. “He’s sent a postcode.”

  “I’ve got the same thing,” said Ashley when she rhymed it off. “Thank God for that.”

  “What’s there?” said Jules.

  Battler hastily got on his phone. “It’s a business park near Exeter airport.”

  “More instructions will be given soon,” said Rachel, reading from the message.

  “Then let’s go,” said Ryan.

  They all looked round when Raven hopped to her feet, pulled on her jumper and picked up her bag, leaving the coat behind.

  “Brodie and Cass,” said Ryan. “You’ll travel with us. Ashley, you need to go alone in your own car. As you live further than we do from the airport, leave in ten minutes.”

  “I can’t hang around here doing nothing,” he exclaimed.

  “You have to, so Reid doesn’t know we’ve been in contact.”

  He sighed and nodded. “That makes sense.”

  “Jez, Jules, Raven, you three travel together. Battler and Bruiser, you two go separately.”

  “You got a spare motor bruv?” said Jez. “The three of us can’t fit on Jules’s bike.”

  “I have my own car,” announced Raven in a calm but clear voice. Her accent was so neutral she could have been from anywhere.

  “We’ll travel with Raven,” said Jules. “You four go. You want any weapons?”

  Ryan shook his head. “No. Reid will check us and I don’t want to take in anything that can be used against us or Leah.”

  “You can’t go in with nothing,” said Jez.

  They looked round when Raven unzipped her bag and delved inside. From within she produced an item that looked like a lipstick and held it out to Rachel.

  “Take the cap off and twist it all the way up,” said Raven. “Smoke will come out. A lot of it. Non-toxic but it’s a good distraction.”

  “They need something more than that,” said Jez.

  “I won’t do anything that will put Leah at risk,” said Ryan.

  “Don’t worry about it big brother,” said Jules. “We’ve got your back.”

  “Thank you,” he said, so pleased she and Jez had decided to pay them a visit.

  CHAPTER 45

  Raven drove Jules and Jez to Exeter, setting off two minutes after Ryan and Rachel had left with Brodie and Cass in their car. Battler and Bruiser were a few minutes behind them. Ashley was waiting at the house for his time to depart.

  “Jesus Raven, you’ve got an arsenal in here,” said Jules as she rummaged through her large black bag. “Love it.”

  “Take what you need,” she replied, eyes locked on the road.

  As Jules pulled out a bewildering array of weapons, Jez said, “so, when did you two meet?”

  “Ten years ago,” replied Jules. “Unknowingly we’d each taken contracts to haul in the same person. When we realised we were competition for each other we fought. When neither could beat the other we decided to work together
instead. We did the job well and we both got paid. We handled other contracts together too.”

  “You couldn’t beat someone in a fight?” Jez asked his sister incredulously.

  “I know. Shocked the shit out of me too but like I said, Raven is very skilled.”

  “So Raven,” he began. “Is that your real name or an alias?”

  “Both,” she replied.

  “Oh. That’s why you have the feathers tattooed on your arms?”

  “Magnificent, aren’t they?” said Jules. “I did the majority of them. Her back’s covered in them too.”

  “Ravens are special to you then?” Jez asked her.

  Raven nodded once, solemnly. “They saved my life.”

  “Ravens saved your life?” he said, unable to hide his incredulity.

  Another nod.

  “How did that happen?”

  “Stop being a nosy bastard little bruv,” said Jules. “You’ll annoy her and believe me, that is something you don’t want to do.”

  Jez decided to listen to his sister and cease his questioning of the enigmatic bounty hunter. Something about her creeped him out and he was not a man who was easily spooked.

  Brodie rolled the car to a halt at the edge of the business park they’d been directed to and waited. Sure enough another message popped up on Rachel’s phone, directing them to the unit they needed to go to. Rachel forwarded the message onto Jules and Bruiser as Brodie drove into the park. She grasped Ryan’s hand, who sat so still he resembled a statue, psyching himself up for what was to come.

  “We’ll get her back,” he said, kissing Rachel’s hair.

  “Here we are,” said Cass, peering out of the window into the dark. “Unit ten.”

  They’d been directed to the unit at the back of the business park, the furthest from the road. All the other units were locked and shuttered for the night, no sign of life.

  The four of them got out of the car and stared up at the unit, which was similarly shuttered, making it impossible to see inside. The main road was behind them in the distance, marked out by the row of orange lights, not even the sound of engines audible. The airport was ahead of them but again, still too far away for anyone to hear them. All around was wasteland. They wouldn’t be disturbed.

  The front roller began to lift, accompanied by a buzzing sound to reveal a slash of light and two figures. Rachel’s throat went dry when she saw both figures were carrying guns and her fear for her daughter almost threatened to overwhelm her. She didn’t recognise the two men who stepped forward but Ryan did.

  “Duncan,” he frowned at one of them.

  “That’ll teach you to burst into people’s homes and beat them up.” He aimed the gun at him. “Inside, now and don’t even think of trying anything. One of these is being held to your daughter’s head.”

  “You fucking cowards,” said Rachel.

  “Whatever. Just get in.”

  The four of them walked inside, Ryan and Rachel first, Cass and Brodie bringing up the rear. Duncan lowered the roller by keeping his finger pressed on a button then locked it.

  They found themselves in a large, empty room, which looked like it had been used as a warehouse at one time. Apart from the one they’d just walked through, there were three doors - one straight ahead, which appeared to lead into a separate room resembling an office, visible through glass windows, one off to the left, leading deeper into the building and one back right of the room, similarly shuttered, appearing to lead outside. In the centre of the room was Leah, tied to a chair, just like she’d been in the video, Bianca beside her, similarly tied up. They were surrounded by five men. Duncan and his friend made seven.

  “Leah,” cried Rachel, her daughter struggling against her bonds as her mother attempted to rush towards her.

  Reid placed himself before her, brandishing a gun. “Don’t,” he said.

  When he aimed the weapon at Leah, Rachel came to a halt. “It’s okay sweetie, don’t worry,” she said, hating how afraid her daughter looked. She looked back at Reid. “Why the fuck are you doing this? It’s got to be more than you’re just a bunch of disgusting paedos.”

  “Oh it is and just for your information, we’re not paedos. That was just a smokescreen to confuse you. I do like them older than this silly kid here,” he said, gesturing at Leah, who scowled ferociously back at him. “Leah was just a means to an end, a way of getting at you, that’s all. This is about someone else altogether.”

  “Who?” said Ryan.

  “Gerard Kerrell.”

  “The Dartmoor Butcher?” he frowned. “Oh please, don’t tell me. You’re an illegitimate child of his and you want revenge for your father being caught?”

  “Wrong actually you fucking smartarse,” he snarled. “Kerrell’s a dick but he’s a rich dick who pays well. He wants revenge on you all for him and his friends getting caught. But especially for what you did to Brian Crossly. Personally I think he’s in love with the guy but who am I to judge? Especially when he pays me a bloody fortune to set you up. He remembered the trouble I caused when I worked for his firm and apparently he kept a close eye on my reputation. He understood I like violence, so he knew I’d be up for this job. Bringing down the famous Ryan and Rachel Law. This is going to make me a legend.”

  “So Gerard telling me about Liam Howard’s body was all part of this grand plan too?” said Ryan, sounding bored.

  “Another bit of payback. He knows how much you hate being hounded by the press.”

  “Your new best friend told me he and his little group wanted to hunt you,” said Ryan. His lips curled into a humourless smile when Reid swallowed hard. “Clearly he didn’t tell you that part. Luckily for you you’re rather transient. You kept moving around, making it difficult to track you, so they picked a different target.”

  Reid shrugged. “If they’d tried I would have kicked their heads in.”

  “If they overpowered me they would have certainly managed to overpower you. There’s not much defence against a tranquiliser dart.”

  “We’re getting off track here,” said Reid, annoyed. “The point is, this is Gerard’s revenge, blah, blah, blah. But most of all, it’s my big moment.”

  “Why?” said Rachel. “What have we ever done to you?”

  “Nothing. This is about me having my fun. But I’m not just going to shoot you, no, that would be a waste of a great opportunity. I’ve got a couple of surprises planned first.”

  “And what about this poor girl?” said Rachel, gesturing at Bianca. “What’s she done to you?”

  “All will become clear,” said Ryan with infuriating smugness. His eyes settled on Cass and narrowed with interest. “Come here sweetheart,” he said.

  “Me?” said Cass, pointing to herself.

  Reid nodded and aimed the gun at Leah’s head. Ryan was almost beside himself when his daughter turned her pleading gaze on him to help her.

  “Come here unless you want me to put a hole in her head,” Reid told Cass.

  She stepped forward, Rachel non-plussed to see she was visibly shaking, her eyes wide, looking terrified. She’d thought someone of her calibre would have been a bit tougher. She glanced at Brodie but he seemed unconcerned that his second-in-command was walking towards an armed man.

  Cass stood before Reid, trembling, who walked behind her and pressed his face into her hair. “Mmmm, beautiful,” he murmured. “See, I do like them grown up,” he said with a sly smile at Ryan and Rachel.

  “What…what do you want?” gasped Cass, on the verge of tears.

  Ryan and Rachel looked at each other incredulously.

  “You,” whispered Reid, his hand sliding down to caress her bottom. “I’m a sucker for those beautiful innocent eyes. Just wait right there because I want someone else to join in the little party we’re going to have.” He looked to Rachel. “Come here.”

  “Don’t,” said Ryan, taking her hand and pulling her back.

  “Alright, I’m coming,” she said when Duncan pressed the gun harder to Lea
h’s head. She looked back at her husband. “It’ll be okay.”

  Slowly she approached Reid, her eyes continually slipping to her daughter, who had tears sliding down her face. Bianca was still and silent, face ashen, staring myopically ahead and Rachel feared for her mental state.

  Reid smirked as Rachel stood before him. He pressed the gun to her chest, leering in her face. “I’m going to have the famous Rachel Law.”

  “You’re fucking not,” bellowed Ryan, lunging for him but Brodie dragged him back.

  “Catch a grip of yourself or you’ll get them killed,” he told him.

  “You want to listen to the haggis,” said Reid.

  Brodie managed to control his monumental mouth and kept quiet.

  “Payback for you breaking my arm in two places,” Reid smirked at Ryan. He slid his hand into Rachel’s hair, yanked her head back and buried his face in her neck, making her grimace.

  “Leave her alone,” roared Ryan, Brodie struggling to maintain his grip on him.

  Fortunately they were interrupted by Duncan, who took out his phone and stared at the screen. “He’s here.”

  Reid lifted his head. “You’d better let him in then.”

  “Who’s here?” said Ryan, although he already knew perfectly well.

  “I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

  Fortunately he left Cass and Rachel alone while they waited, Duncan going out to escort in the new arrival.

  “Bianca,” cried Ashley the moment he walked inside. As he ran towards his daughter Reid nodded at one of his men, who pressed a gun to the back of her head, making her violently shake.

  “Don’t hurt her, please,” cried Ashley, so afraid for his child he started tearing at his hair.

  “Just take it easy,” said Reid.

  “Why are you doing this?” said Ashley. “My daughter’s not done anything wrong.”

  “You’re right, she hasn’t. But you have.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. You pissed off my benefactor Gerard Kerrell. You made a case against him and his friends so watertight his fancy lawyer couldn’t pull it apart.”