The House on Rectory Lane

by Stuart James

  They were dangerous criminals. Jake needed to get his son and get out as quickly as he

  could. Once Jake reached the front, he pulled the heavy door towards him. He was surprised it

  opened so easy. The sound of machines from above made him edgy. Still working. At this time. His

  vision marred from his headwear. Someone approached Jake from the side. He turned, hearing a

  voice.

  ‘Nico. The Boss wants you in his office. Follow me.’ How the heck, then Jake remembered

  the badge. The guy walked up a couple of steps and opened a side door. Jake could feel water dripping down his face. The mask sticking to it. He pumped out short breaths. He needed to remove the

  mask. To run. Get out of there. He felt his legs go. Three other people were inside the room. A silver-haired man with a tash at the desk, dragging on a cigar. Smoke filling the small office. He could

  clearly make out the boss. Punchy Man. To his left, Anton, the estate agent and the right of him,

  Poncy Pete, the oh so perfect neighbour. Jake stood still. Punchy Man looked over. ‘Is it done? Did

  you deal with the husband?’ Jake nodded. He had never been so scared. He thought he was going to

  faint. Drop to the floor. They could rip off the mask, kill him now. It would be so easy. He’d never

  see Kate or Sean again. Please, no more questions. I have a job to do. Rescue my son and then

  bring you all down.

  What was he thinking? A situation he would never get out of. Punchy Man stood and made his way over. Jake wanted to step back. To grab the door and get lost in the night. He turned slightly. The first guy was stood between him and the door. Punchy Man was in his face. Jake could smell smoke from his stale breathe. Jake stared, trying not to show fear.

  ‘You did good, Nico. I’ll call you when I need you. Get out of here.’ As easy as that. Really. Jake backed up. His arm behind him pawing for the handle. The door shut as he arrived at the top of the steps. As he looked down into the darkness, stairs to the unknown, he took a deep breath and started the descent.

  Chapter Twenty-nine Kate sat still in the car. Come on, Jake. Hurry. She was rooting for him more than she ever had. He was her hero. She was counting on him more than ever. He had to find Sean, grab him and get them out of this mess. Nico continually thumped the car door. She blocked it from her head. White noise in the background. Factory workers were spilling out. Finishing the night shift. Unaware of the operation going on around them. A group of middle-aged women, four of them, walking towards the car park. One of them lit a cigarette. Two young lads exited, running to catch up with the ladies. Kate kept looking at her watch. Ten minutes and still no sign. He must have been rumbled. Maybe the boss has him now? Held in his office. It was unbearable to think what might be happening. God Jake, please. Come on.

  ∞∞∞∞ He reached the bottom step. The long corridor stretching in front of him. He whispered, ‘Sean.’ Kate had said it was the last door at the end. With his heart in his mouth, he stepped forward, chancing the phone torch every so often. One leg in front of the other. He pawed with his hands outstretched. Feeling for handles. The first one he saw to the left, bright blue, thick wood. No window. Not a good sign. He listened outside. No sound coming from it. As he continued, he was unsure how far down he was. Suddenly there were footsteps above him. Slow steps. It sounded like a couple of guys were chatting. Maybe Anton and Pete? The voices lost in the distance. They were gone for now. As he reached the end of the corridor, he banged his head on the wall. ‘Shit.’ To the left, another handle. Jake pushed down, and the door opened.

  ∞∞∞∞ Nico thumped louder. He was screaming now. Any second, a factory worker was going to go over and see what the racket was. A couple of them peered over. Kate shouted for him to shut up. He got louder. She needed to put some on music to drown him out. He was going to blow their cover. She reached forward and pressed the radio button, kicking it into life. ‘Bat Out of Hell’, by Meatloaf blared from the speakers. She had to turn it up to din his voice.

  ‘Let me out. I’ve been kidnapped. Someone!’ Kate needed Jake and Sean more than anything. She regretted getting into this mess. What choice did she have? Carry out work for them or risk her family being killed. She wanted to return to London. How she missed it. Kate wanted her life to go back to normal. It all could. Another five minutes passed. They’ve got him. They must have. No. Please.

  ∞∞∞∞ The room was pitch-black. Silent. Jake stood at the door for a few seconds and waited. His heart racing. He pulled the phone from his back pocket. Flicked up and summoned the torch. As he shone it around, he saw wood blocking any light from getting in the window. Underneath it, a large radiator. To the right, three boxes stacked on top of each other. He moved the light around to the right. A chair at the back of the room. A small figure, with a bag on their head, rope used to secure the bag and the person to the chair.

  They were whimpering. Jake made his way over, slowly.

  ‘Sean?’

  Jake loosened the rope and pulled off his and Sean’s head covers, his son looked up, delight

  in his face and gave him the biggest smile he’d ever seen.

  ‘Can I go home now, Daddy?’

  Jake held him tight, ‘Yes, Sean, we’re going home.’

  Jake untied his son, lifted him up and told him what was happening. He said he needed to be

  quiet until they got to the car. Shining the torch with one hand, Sean held against his hip; he made his way to the door. When he opened it, the glare from the light in the corridor made Sean call out. Someone had turned them on.

  ‘Sean, what did I say about making noise, you need to do this for Daddy, OK?’

  Sean nodded. They made their way down the corridor and towards the steps. Suddenly, Jake heard someone moving down the stairs.

  ‘Shit.’ He tried the handle on the door to the right. It opened, and he moved inside. A voice from the corridor outside called out. ‘Sean’. Jake was sure it was Poncy Pete. He didn’t want to get into an altercation in front of his son. When he was sure Pete had gone further down the corridor, he opened the door slightly. He had a matter of seconds. Jake knew as soon as Pete opened the room where Sean had been held, he’d be rumbled.

  ‘Sean. You need to trust me for a minute OK?’

  His son nodded.

  ‘Wait here. I’ll be back in a minute.’

  Jake had no alternative. He closed the door behind him, placed the mask back on his head and found Pete opening the door at the end. Pete looked inside. Found it empty.

  ‘Where the he—?’

  Jake came in behind him and whacked Pete on the back of the neck, watching him drop to the floor.

  ‘Nico. What the fu—?’

  ‘This is for my wife and son.’

  Jake grabbed the back of Pete’s head, lifting it slightly towards him and smashed him three times in the face, leaving him in a pool of blood.

  ∞∞∞∞ A shadow from the distance. The door opened at the front. Someone was running towards the car. As they came closer, Kate saw it was Jake. Sean over his shoulder, bouncing as Jake ran. Kate leapt out of the front and opened the back door. Jake dropped Sean onto the seat, Kate jumping into the back and then Jake headed into the driver’s seat.

  ‘Oh my God. Is he OK?’ She was rubbing Sean’s hair, then pulled him in close to her as she

  sobbed.

  ‘He’s fine. We need to go. Now.’ Jake started the car. A click seemed to come from the en

  gine. A loud clunking racket. Smoke billowed from the exhaust. He turned the key again as the engine faintly whirred and gave a couple more clicks. 'Don't do this to me now, come on.' He turned back to Kate.

  'What's happening.’

  'It won't start, It plays up every so often.'

  'Plays up, you need to get us the hell out of here Jake. They'll kill the three of us.' 'I'm doing my best.' He turned the key again, and the engine attempted to kick in. The car

>   jolted forward and went silent.

  'Shit. What do we do now? I'll have to get out and try and push.'

  'Keep trying Jake. What else is there? We have to get out of here.'

  ‘If I keep turning it, I'll flood the engine, and it will never start.’

  Jake popped the bonnet, opened the car door and jumped out.

  He looked inside at the engine, cables, battery. He didn't know anything about cars. He

  checked to see if the battery leads were connected. Removed the dipstick and wiped it with a tissue

  which had been balled up in his pocket. When he was satisfied there was oil; he touched the engine

  which was red hot.

  'Shit. Ouch.' Jake stepped back. Suddenly Kate screamed from the back.

  'Jake. Quick.'

  He looked up as someone was racing over towards them.

  Jake dropped the bonnet and ran back into the car, locking the doors.

  'Jake. What are we going to do?’

  He turned the key, trying to start the engine again. This time it roared into life. 'Yes, thank

  you, yes.'

  The guy was gaining on them, no more than fifteen yards from where they sat. 'Hold on,' Jake shouted.

  As the car slammed into reverse, the assailant leapt on the bonnet.

  Jake turned the wheel trying to shake the guy off while reversing.

  He hit the brakes and drove forward.

  The guy was holding on. One hand on the windscreen wiper and the other on the wing mirror.

  As Jake moved, the guy was swinging left and right. His legs were hanging off the sides of

  the car as he scrambled to lift them back up. He removed his hand from the wipers and started

  banging his fist on the windscreen.

  Kate screamed as Jake sped out onto the road without looking.

  Luckily, the road was empty. They could make out the guy hanging onto the front of the car.

  Poncy Pete. He was now ponding the bonnet, and any minute Jake was sure it would come loose

  from the lock and spring up.

  Jake turned quickly to Kate. 'This guy just doesn't give up.'

  Jake suddenly slammed the brakes, and Pete lost his grip, falling onto the road. They waited for a minute to see if Pete got up.

  Jake didn't want to leave the car. He couldn't chance turning the engine off and wasn't going

  to leave his wife and son alone.

  Pete was lying just in front of them. He wasn't moving. There were no vehicles in sight. The

  road was empty.

  Jake turned around to Kate. 'Should I drive off?'

  He watched the horror on her face. Fear. Shock.

  As he spun back around, Pete was running to the car.

  Jake hit the accelerator and heard the loud crack as Pete landed on the bonnet and rolled off

  to the side, cracking the windscreen.

  Jake stopped the car further up and jumped out.

  He walked back down the road and found Pete lying on the side of a ditch, screaming. It

  looked like his legs were broken.

  Kate lent over again and cuddled her son harder than she ever had before. Jake drove for the next few minutes; he couldn’t help but stare at Sean in the rear-view. He was grinning like a cat. Sean was fast asleep. Once they were safe, Jake pulled over. Kate was happier than she ever had been. She had her family back. She turned to Jake.

  ‘What now?’ He’d mulled over in his head the best plan. He just hoped it didn’t backfire. He knew they couldn’t grass on Kate. She should be in the clear. Gangsters like them never told on others; it was the first rule. A sort of honour. Yes, she’d been bloody stupid. Getting mixed up with them, the one-night stand, but the real villains were Punchy Man, Anton, Poncy Pete, and the others. Trafficking. They’d go down for a long time. ‘I’m calling Reynolds.’

  ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’

  ‘It’s the only way we’ll be off the hook.’ He jumped out, popped the boot and threw Nico onto the side of the road. He stamped on his knee, so he couldn’t go anywhere. A cry pierced Jake’s ears. Then he drove off and called Reynolds to explain everything telling her the exact location and where to find Nico and Pete. A few minutes later they passed a hoard of police cars, screeching up the other side of the road. Jake placed his hand into Kate’s. He looked at her. ‘We’ll be all right, I promise.’ She hoped he was right.

  ∞∞∞∞ Reynolds had just got home after a long shift when she took the call from Jake. He spoke very calmly, explaining what had happened. He didn’t tell her about Jason Prescott’s wife and the shooting. Hopefully, the cleaners who turned up would deal with that part. He told her about Nico breaking in and finishing with his drive over to the factory and rescuing Kate and Sean. It was a lot to take in. She was pissed off that he hadn’t called her sooner. Jake had his reasons. She summoned every available officer, called Marsden, and headed straight over to the address Jake had given her. As they burst through the front door of the factory, they found four men in the office. Reynolds recognised a couple of them. She saw the Spanish guy first, he worked behind the bar at the hotel where Jason was found hanging. She had a suspicion something wasn’t right as, at the time, he’d said he couldn’t give a description of the two men in the bar. He probably called Nico when Jason arrived and then helped him escape. She remembered how handsome he was. Possibly the same guy who made off at the bar with Sophia. They would check his phone records and hoped it would clarify this.

  The grey-haired guy, who looked like the boss, reached his hand into the drawer to pull out a gun, but he was too slow. Three officers held him up against the wall. After checking the place over, they found documents, fake passports, IDs, and a body in the basement. Burn marks and a mutilated eye revealed the severity of the torture she had suffered. Officers had also picked up Nico and Poncy Pete – coming around from being knocked out. His eye was cut, legs broken, and he had blood stains under his nose. In total, they arrested six men. They were rounded up, frog marched and thrown in the back of the police van. None of them spoke to the officers. Once the van pulled off, Reynolds and Marsden spoke outside.

  ‘Well. What a result. I think we owe Jake Morley a drink,’ she said.

  ‘I’d say a few,’ responded Marsden.

  ∞∞∞∞ Jake pulled into Rectory Lane and parked the car to the side of the road. He needed to make sure the house had been cleaned, and the body had been taken care of. He told Kate to wait in the car with Sean and asked her about the people the gang sent over. ‘They’re casual workers. Not part of the major operation. Most of the staff who are brought in, don’t speak English. Usually, it’s not even the same people twice.’

  All the same, Jake decided to wear the mask and boiler suit. He could ask the people at the house to get rid of those items as well. As he opened the gates and went into the house, he found three people wearing biohazard suits, face masks, respirators, and gloves. The body had been loaded into the back of the van. They were sanitising the walls, tiled floor, ceiling, and any other affected area with cleaning agents. Jake asked one of the women how long they’d be. She lifted her finger and told him another hour.

  Jake went back to the car and found Kate and Sean asleep. He waited until the three cleaners left the house, had got into the van and pulled off out of sight. He then drove his car onto the drive and woke his family. Once inside, he made sure they were both tucked up in bed, and raced into town to the nearest phone box. He dialled 999, giving the operator the make, model, and registration plate of the clean-up van with the body in the back, and then went back home to his family.

  ∞∞∞∞ The following morning, Reynolds called over to Rectory Lane. The Morleys were still in bed. Jake heard the buzzer and left Kate and Sean sleeping in his bed. ‘Officer Reynolds. Good to see you.’ ‘Likewise.’

  ‘Please, come in.’ She told him about last night, the arrests and what they had found. Jake listened, pleased with himself.

 
‘There are people missing. We have the gang being interrogated as we speak. They’re going away for a very long time.’

  ‘Can I make you a tea?’

  ‘No. You enjoy time with your family. I’m going back to the house up the road. I’d like to speak with Kate and Sean when they’re feeling better. Anything else we can pin on them would help.’

  ‘You got it. Give it a day or so.’ Reynolds went to head off. She turned and smiled at Jake. ‘I’m so pleased for you, Jake. You’re a really stupid man, but you did well.’

  ‘Thanks. I’ll take that as a compliment, I think.’

  ∞∞∞∞ Analysts had managed to get into the computers found at the factory. They found video footage. Recordings of the house where Jake and Kate lived. Hours of their private time together. There were also pictures of the missing women, Sofia, Shelly, and a whole load more. Emails were also recovered. Travel arrangements. Meetings. Prices. Profiles of the girls they were sending out to God knows what. It would be difficult to find out what happened to them. They needed to contact the European law enforcement to investigate their side. Reynolds watched as they unravelled everything they had stored. She knew it would take months to find out what really happened. It was unlikely the women would be found, but she would do everything in her power to bring them home. They also had hard copies of the videos made. Documents. A load of fake passports that were very convincing. Papers to enter different countries. Green cards. The six men: Roger White AKA, Punchy Man, Pete, Anton, Adam, Nico, and the Spanish barman were going to have the book thrown at them.

  ∞∞∞∞ Reynolds arrived back at Punchy Man’s house. The place was still swarming with officers. She flashed her badge and went inside. Cameras were clicking. Infrared machines in action scanning the place. There was a smashing noise coming from the basement. The sound of drills or possibly a jack hammer smashing brick, filling the room. They’d already started braking false walls. A shuffle from underneath and someone climbing out of the basement. A guy reached the top. ‘I think you should see this.’ Reynolds met with Marsden, and they went down. The basement was lit by a floodlight on an extension lead plugged in upstairs. The smell was rancid. Another light stand pointed over at a hole in the back wall.