Bob glanced down at the bed. ‘But your hands – and your foot…’ Her bandaged foot was clearly visible.
Jane made a face. ‘I trod on something and it went into my foot. It turned nasty. The first thing they did was whip me down to the operating theatre and remove it. They told me if they hadn’t done that there and then it could have been a big problem.’
‘But what happened? Where were you? Why the police guard?’ Bob was still worried.
Jane became more serious. ‘Bob, it’s scary. Somebody wanted to get rid of me.’
‘But why? And who?’
Jane shook her head. ‘I don’t know, and the police won’t tell me yet.’
Bob thought for a second. ‘That’s pretty much what I’ve been experiencing,’ he replied.
‘But…’
‘What…?’
They both started to ask a question at the same time. Jane giggled. ‘You first,’ she prompted.
‘What happened to you?’ asked Bob anxiously.
Jane thought for a few seconds, and then she spoke, her face quite serious. ‘That evening, after we’d been to dinner with the Ashingtons, you fell asleep in the car, and when I went into the cottage I was held up by a woman with a gun. There were more of them in the gang. They made me drive to the coast and then I had to take off my clothes. After that they put me in the boot of a car and drove me somewhere else and I was held captive on some sort of farm for days.’
She paused, remembering the traumatic events. Then she continued, speaking softly. ‘I managed to escape, but they caught me again. Then I was going to be taken somewhere on a boat. That’s when I was rescued.’
‘Gosh!’ Bob exclaimed. ‘That sounds pretty horrendous.’
Jane nodded. ‘It was.’
Bob started to ask another question, but Jane had more to relate. ‘I got wet the night I escaped and it aggravated some sort of flu I’d picked up. I collapsed almost as soon as I was rescued, and they brought me here.’
‘Phew. That was a pretty rotten ordeal.’
Compassion for Jane welled up inside Bob. She had had an awful time and he guessed he hadn’t heard all the details. No doubt he would in time, but now she needed all the care he could give her. He had been shocked when he first saw her. Her eye was bloodshot and the side of her face was black and blue. Somebody must have hit her pretty hard. Her wrists and the one ankle he could see had red marks on them and he wondered how those had come about. He could guess. Yet in spite of everything she was smiling and cheerful.
His thoughts were interrupted by Jane. ‘But what about you?’ she asked. ‘What happened to you?’
Bob smiled at her. ‘My escapade was pretty tame compared to yours. I woke up the morning after almost naked, and the police thought I was a drunk.’
For the first time Jane gave a little laugh. ‘I would have liked to see that,’ she remarked gaily.
Bob grinned at her. Then his expression changed to one of seriousness. ‘But the police guard… They must suspect some danger.’
Jane too was serious again. She looked at Bob, her face full of worry. ‘That’s my big concern. The police know something and they won’t tell me what it is. The cold facts seem to be that somebody out there wants to get rid of me, and I don’t know who it is.’
Chapter 47
Bob stared at Jane for a few seconds, his brain working overtime. Her comment about somebody wanting to get rid of her worried him. He had even been coming to the same conclusion himself. ‘What did the police actually say?’ he asked.
Jane’s face became even more serious. ‘Well, when I was first picked up, I must have given my married name by mistake, so for a while there was some confusion over who I was. Then I was pretty groggy for a few days.’
‘But the police did eventually come to talk to you,’ Bob prompted.
Jane nodded confirmation. ‘Yes. Two of them. Both plain-clothes. They had been waiting to interview me. They asked me a mass of questions and then told me that their investigation was ongoing and they would contact me as soon as there were any developments.’
‘That’s exactly what they told me,’ remarked Bob. ‘And the police officer outside?’
‘Oh, yes – they told me that after what had happened to me they were concerned about my safety and as a precaution they would provide protection.’
Before Bob could respond, Jane continued, her face full of worry. She looked at Bob intently as she spoke. ‘You know, Bob, after what happened, I really feel scared. What’s it all about? I’ve never done anything to anybody.’
Even though Bob was concerned himself, he did his best to reassure her. ‘I think there’s a lot more to it than we know and I think the police know a great deal they aren’t telling us. Hopefully in a few days we’ll find out what’s happening and what it’s all about.’
‘I do hope so,’ replied Jane gloomily.
A brief silence stirred Bob to ask the question that was burning inside him. ‘Didn’t you have any indication of where they were taking you on that boat?’
Jane shook her head. ‘No. They wouldn’t tell me – but the police here told me the boat I was rescued from was heading for France.’
‘France?’ queried Bob, puzzled.
Jane nodded. She continued talking softly. ‘It’s frightening when I start to think about it. If I hadn’t been rescued I could be anywhere by now – or even dead. I was feeling pretty ill. I don’t remember much about the time on the boat. I felt rotten, and I was handcuffed all the time.’
‘All the time?’ Bob asked, shocked.
Jane nodded again. She was silent for a few seconds, remembering. Then she spoke again. ‘They tied me up as well – several times.’ She glanced at her wrists and then at Bob. There were tears in her eyes.
‘Bastards!’ exclaimed Bob angrily.
‘They tell me the marks will go eventually,’ replied Jane quietly, glancing at them again briefly.
‘How did you get rescued?’
Jane took a few seconds to recall events. ‘All I remember is lying there in the cabin feeling dreadful and then the boat stopped. Everything went quiet, and then a bit later this man appeared. He said he was a coastguard officer. I don’t know if the police were on the boat as well. They may have been.’
‘And then they brought you here,’ Bob prompted again.
Jane nodded. ‘Yes. I remember being helped off the boat. A policewoman looked after me. It was wet and cold and I had no shoes. I must have fainted, because I remember waking up on the ground and she was trying to reassure me that help was on the way. Then an ambulance brought me here.’
Bob thought for a minute. Jane’s ordeal had been pretty horrendous, but of one thing he was certain: it was a good thing she had been rescued then. If not, the outcome could have been unthinkable.
It was Jane who broke the brief silence between them. She looked at Bob pensively. ‘There’s one thing that’s been puzzling me, and that is what made the police start looking for me after they’d concluded that I’d drowned.’
Bob’s answer came without any hesitation. ‘I think I know the answer to that,’ he said. ‘Some items of yours were found in a barn. The police called me back to Cornwall to identify them.’
‘I spent the night in a barn after I escaped,’ replied Jane.
Bob smiled at her for the first time since his arrival. ‘You lost the anklet with your name on it,’ he explained. ‘I had to identify it.’
Jane’s face suddenly lit up. Things were beginning to make sense.
‘Of course! The anklet. I knew I’d lost it, but I didn’t know where. Now it all makes sense.’
Her face took on a look of sadness. But she continued before Bob could say anything else.
‘The night I escaped I walked for hours. It was raining quite heavily and I was soaked to the skin. I took shelter in the barn and like a little fool I fell asleep. Carl, one of the people who had held me prisoner, discovered me in the early morning.’
‘That was pret
ty bad luck.’
Jane spoke more softly, her voice almost a whisper. ‘I tried to escape from him, but he hit me hard, very hard, and sent me flying onto the floor. I tried to crawl away from him, but he grabbed my ankle and pulled me back.’
She paused for a moment, and then with a little forced smile remarked, ‘That must have been when I lost the anklet.’
Bob got up from his chair and gently kissed her. ‘I’m glad you did lose the anklet, poppet. I think it has been your salvation,’ he said gently.
Jane looked at him and forced another smile. ‘I must look pretty awful,’ she remarked, turning her injured face towards him.
Bob shook his head. ‘No, poppet. You being safe, that’s what matters. The marks will go in time.’
Jane held his hand for a second. Having him close to her had been a tonic. Now she could really concentrate on getting her strength back.
She squeezed his hand.
‘Darling,’ she said, ‘thank you for saying that. I’ll be back to my old self in no time. You’ll see. Just give me a couple of days.’
Bob remembered something else. ‘The police had a shoe as well, but I don’t think it was yours.’
Jane smiled again briefly. ‘It wasn’t,’ she replied. ‘The people who held me captive gave me a tatty old pair of shoes to wear, but they were too big for me. When I was escaping over the roof I dropped one of them and it fell out of my reach. The crazy thing was that I still carried the other shoe until I put it down in that barn. The other one is most likely where it landed after I dropped it.’
‘And you trod on something,’ Bob remarked, looking at Jane’s bandaged foot.
She nodded briefly. ‘Yes, I did. When I was running across a field in the dark. I don’t know what it was, but it really hurt.’
‘Does it hurt now?’
‘It’s getting better, but it’s still a bit painful when I walk on it.’ She thought for a few seconds. ‘I was lucky,’ she remarked. ‘It could have been worse. I might even have lost my foot.’
Jane had been a bit subdued as she related the details of what had happened to her. Suddenly she gave Bob one of her old smiles. ‘But I’m determined to get back to normal as soon as possible. I’ll be full of beans soon. You’ll see,’ she announced more cheerfully.
Her brighter mood did not last long, however. She looked at Bob, her face full of concern again. ‘It’s just this not knowing what’s happening – the police guard and everything. Somebody’s got it in for me, and I don’t know who it is.’
The whole situation puzzled Bob, but he was determined not to let Jane see his concern. She had shown courage and tenacity. At least now she was safe. Now he wanted to support her as much as he could through the days ahead.
He tried his best to reassure her. ‘I’m sure we’ll be told what’s happening fairly soon. The police must have made some arrests by now.’
Jane absorbed his comment. She tended to agree. She said, ‘I’ve just had a thought. Once you’d identified my little anklet, the police must have moved pretty fast to grab somebody and get enough information to intercept that boat I was on – and they must have been pretty sure that I was on board as well.’ She studied Bob for his reaction.
He responded immediately. ‘I see what you mean. If you ask me, the police already know who’s behind all this.’
‘The couple who held me prisoner admitted that they were working for somebody else. I think they were afraid of whoever it was.’
Bob agreed. ‘It all fits. The police must be after the person who organised everything.’
‘I wish I knew who it was,’ Jane remarked glumly.
Bob decided to change the subject. Looking around the room, he asked, ‘Is there anything you need? Can I get anything for you?’
His questions suddenly made Jane aware of practicalities and her lack of essentials. ‘You couldn’t get me a nightdress, could you?’ She looked down at the hospital gown she was wearing and made a face. ‘I’m absolutely fed up with wearing this thing.’
Bob jumped into action. ‘Of course I can,’ he announced cheerfully. ‘Anything else?’
Jane took up the opportunity and gave him a short list of things she would like, including a few cosmetics, and Bob made a careful note of her requests. She couldn’t help adding with a chuckle, ‘You’ll have to trust me to pay you back. I haven’t a penny to my name at the moment.’
‘Your credit rating’s good,’ Bob replied with a grin. Then, with a kiss on her cheek and ‘see you soon,’ he left the room.
It took him a few minutes to find his way to the ground floor and the hospital entrance. He enquired at the reception desk where the nearest shops were and was given directions. A brisk walk brought him to a good selection of shops. With the help of a sales assistant in a clothes shop he purchased two pretty nightdresses and a light dressing gown and, as an afterthought, a pair of slippers, which were not on his list but he thought might be useful. The other things Jane had asked for were a bit trickier, but he managed to find a pharmacy and someone to help him. With everything ticked off, he felt quite pleased with himself. Before setting off to walk back to the hospital he purchased a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a selection of fruit for Jane.
It was while he was passing a phone shop that an idea struck him. Jane had no means of communicating with him. Her mobile was hundreds of miles away with the police in Cornwall, together with all her other personal possessions. He dived into the shop, bought a cheap phone and topped it up with funds. He explained that he was taking it to his fiancée in hospital, and the assistant set it up for him and let him leave all the packing in the shop.
Back in the hospital he had to go through the process of checking in at the reception desk again and be escorted to Jane’s room. The police officer on guard wanted to take a closer look at his packages.
Jane was delighted with his purchases. ‘Darling, what beautiful flowers!’ She held up one of the nightdresses. ‘Thank you – this is perfect. I’ll feel much more human now.’
Bob delved into his pocket. ‘A present to enable us to keep in touch,’ he announced, handing Jane the phone with a smile.
‘Darling, that’s absolutely marvellous! You think of everything,’ she exclaimed excitedly.
She leaned forward to kiss him on the lips. ‘I’m sure I’m not infectious now,’ she remarked cheerfully.
Bob spent another hour with her. She was glad of his company and she wanted to know more about what had happened to him since she had left him sleeping in her car. Late in the afternoon he left the hospital and drove back to Tatting Green. He felt much more comfortable now than he had on the journey down, but hearing Jane talk about her imprisonment caused him concern. Those people who had held her captive had made it clear that they meant business. He was glad that at least for the present she was in hospital with a police guard.
Chapter 48
Jane was in hospital for a further three days. She was beginning to feel much more like her old self, though she found the confines of the small hospital room frustrating to her progress. The bandage on her foot was removed and replaced with a small dressing. She valued greatly the phone Bob had bought for her. It made her feel less isolated. She had already called him several times, and she made a point of ringing Lucy, who was staggered at what had happened to her and asked her a host of questions, many of which she was unable to answer. She also spoke to Gerald and Anna. They were greatly relieved to hear that she was safe, but understandably shocked and concerned by what she had been forced to endure.
The day after she saw Bob she received an unexpected visit. A nurse came in to tell her that two police officers had arrived and wanted to talk to her. Jane expected to see the two men who had originally interviewed her, but she had not seen the plain-clothes officers who entered the room before. They approached her bed.
The older of the two held out his hand and introduced himself. ‘I’m Detective Inspector Boyd, Metropolitan Police, and this is Detective Constable Pen
low.’ He asked Jane how she was feeling and how her recovery was progressing.
Jane answered as cheerfully as she could. ‘I’m feeling much better now, thank you – and I’m making really good progress. But you’re from the Metropolitan Police,’ she added, puzzled.
Inspector Boyd gave a slight smile. ‘The investigation into your abduction has expanded a lot in the last few days. We have now taken it over. The Devon and Cornwall and Hampshire forces are assisting us.’
‘Can you tell me what’s happening?’ asked Jane.
The inspector shook his head. ‘The investigation has reached a critical stage and I can’t give you any details. What I can tell you, though, is that seven people have been questioned and five people detained over your abduction.’
He must have noticed the disappointment on Jane’s face, because he immediately strove to reassure her. ‘Miss Carroll, I realise you must feel you’re being kept in the dark, and that must be particularly frustrating in view of what you’ve been through. However, I assure you that very soon you will be told what is happening.’
Jane did her best to smile. She felt she had to say something in return. ‘Thank you. I’d really appreciate that.’
Realising that she perhaps needed to add a bit more, she thought for a second and then continued, almost speaking her thoughts. ‘You see, after what I had to go through, not knowing what’s happening and who tried to get rid of me is a bit scary. And it seems that I’m still in danger from somebody or something.’
Inspector Boyd hastened to reassure her. ‘I think we can safely say that the danger is diminishing fairly quickly.’
Jane was determined to extract as much information as she could from the two police officers. She asked another question. ‘Were the two people who held me at the farmhouse arrested? They were called Carl and Mel.’
It was DC Penlow who answered. He glanced at the documents he carried. ‘Carl Brody and Melony Braymar?’ he queried.
‘Yes, I think that might be them,’ said Jane, ‘although of course I never knew their surnames.’
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