by Esme Devlin
Slowly, I moved my hands up and pressed them against the sides of my head, like they do in the movies. I tried to steady my breathing. Where the hell was Sarah?
“What do you want,” I said, trying so hard to keep my voice steely and failing miserably.
The man approached, the floor creaking with every step his heavy boots took along the carpet. He dropped his rifle slightly the nearer he got to me, but that didn’t stop my heart from racing.
The thought of reaching for my gun danced through my mind yet again. If I’d known Sarah would have been okay, I would have tried it. I might have actually succeeded. He stood a few inches away and stared at me intently. I kept my hands fixed to my head and my back as straight as a rod.
“Give me your hands, slowly.”
I brought them down towards him, just as he’d asked. He gripped both of my wrists easily in one hand and let the rifle fall to the floor. He removed a cable-tie from his pocket and secured around them tightly. Too tightly. I hissed at the pressure, not caring if I wrote my discomfort across my face.
As soon as he tied me, he began to search my body, his hands coming down across my chest, under the band of my bra, up my sides, and down my back. When he reached the solid outline of the gun, he pulled it out and inspected it, shaking his head and tutting.
“What did you plan to do with this, eh?” He chuckled, I couldn’t see his face but his tone sounded amused.
“Fuck you.”
“Such a foul mouth for such a pretty face,” he tutted again.
I sniffed, deciding not to provoke him.
“Do you know my favorite way to deal with a foul mouth on a pretty face?”
“No.”
“Guess.”
He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me closer to him, so close I could see the color of his eyes now, ice cold blue.
“I don’t know,” I stuttered.
“Get on your knees and I’ll show you.”
I froze in shock. This couldn’t be happening.
“Davie will kill you.” I said, just as he was forcing my hair back so hard that my knees buckled, trying to avoid the pain.
“What?”
He held me in that awkward position, the muscles in my thighs straining and scalp on fire.
“He’s wanted me since the day he laid eyes on me. If you touch me, you’ll be dead the second he finds out,” I deadpanned.
The man released some pressure on my hair and I straightened carefully, finally letting a breath escape.
“Down the stairs,” he demanded, pushing me forwards while he bent down to pick up his rifle.
I descended with the hard tip of his gun pushing against my back. When I reached the bottom, I turned slightly towards him and he motioned towards the living room.
I crossed the hall slowly, dark now the sun had set, trying to think of an escape.
The living room was in near darkness, save for the lamp in the far end that Jed rarely switched off. They sat Sarah on the sofa, her hands — like mine — cable tied in front of her, and her feet tuck up into her chest. She threw me a panicked ‘what the fuck are we going to do’ look, and I nodded a fraction.
The man pushed me forwards and motioned for me to sit on the couch opposite her. I lowered myself to the edge, sitting up straight so I could be ready to move at any opportunity.
We waited in silence, a silence that seemed to stretch on forever. My back started to ache, and I longed to rest it against the solid back of the couch, but I promised myself I’d endure it.
Something was going to happen.
I didn’t know what; I didn’t know when… but the two men who guarded us were far too on edge me to be anything less than convinced of it.
Eventually, when I could take the silence no longer, I turned to the man who stood behind me and said, “I need to piss.”
“Then piss.” He nodded down at the couch.
I turned back around in a huff. “I’ll hold it.”
“Thought so.”
Silence again. I think I must have studied every fucking object in the room when I heard the front door open.
The two men instantly pointed their guns at the door on the far side of the room and my heart raced, praying it would be our rescue.
I should have known.
The man who stood in the doorway looked to me first and smiled right up to his eyes. “It’s been a while, little angel.”
“Not long enough,” I spat. I wasn’t going to play along, not this time. The man revolted me.
He tutted and turned to Sarah. “My whore granddaughter… still knocked up?”
Sarah looked at him, hatred written across her features and nodded once.
“Now, you see… that causes me a problem,” he stated, his face turning into a frown as he strolled into the room with a hand in his pocket. “Now, I need to decide whether to kill you now, or wait until after it’s born.”
Sarah swallowed. He mustn’t have known about the fact she was actually carrying twins.
“My problem with waiting is that you appear to be good at escaping… So we’ll need to make sure you go somewhere they can never find you. Oh, and then there’s the actual baby.”
He paced the room now between us and we all watched him carefully, even the guards.
“I actually quite like babies,” he said lightheartedly, turning to me, “Can you believe that? Kids too, so malleable. It’s when they turn into adults. That’s when they start to get ideas of their own and my patience grows thin. Do you know I thought of him as a son?”
“I figured as much,” I said flatly.
“Yes, you appear to be good at figuring things out. You must have figured his cock out well enough, to turn him against me so easily,” he spat, malice in his eyes.
He was going to kill me.
Chapter 24
JAMES
We raced through the farms and were on the road back to Jed’s house at record speed. When I was a few minutes away, I connected the phone to the speaker and called him.
“Haul,” he answered.
“Where the fuck are you?”
“Just coming over Soutra hill. Where are you?”
“Almost at the house.”
“Me and Elliot aren’t far behind you then.”
“Where’s Mark?”
“He took the van, and before you say it, there was no changing his mind.”
I rolled my eyes as I turned the car into his long driveway.
“Is there anything linking you to that warehouse?”
“Nah… It’s clean—”
I cut him off before he could finish his sentence.
“You know anyone that drives a black Maserati?”
“What?”
“Davie’s at your house. Fucking floor it Jed!”
“Right… eh… right, I’m not far behind you.”
I could hear the alarm in his voice as flicked the headlights off and braked the car suddenly. I shifted into reverse, backing the fuck out of the road. Who knew how many of them were in there, and the only thing benefiting us would be the element of surprise.
If they were even still alive.
The thought had bile rising in my chest and my palms beginning to sweat. I gripped the steering wheel tighter, finally parking the car in the ditch.
“I will go in alone, right now,” I told Jed. “Kyle will wait at the car until he sees you. I’ll try to hold him off for as long as possible and then fucking storm the place the second you get a chance. Do you hear me?”
“I hear you. We won’t be long, I swear. Keep her safe. Keep them both safe.”
I sniffed and hung up the phone, reaching around the seat to pick up the gun in the back.
“Come in with Jed,” I said to Kyle, before slipping out of the car and making my way towards the house. I crept along the side of the trees that lined the road, trying my best to not be seen should someone look out of the window.
The front door was open, and I waited outside for a second, slippi
ng in only when I heard nothing. Muffled voices came from the living room and I edged slowly the hall, cursing Jed and his fucking quartz tiles. I listened at the side of the door, trying to get a sense of what was going on.
“I actually quite like babies…” Davie’s voice, with his twisted jovial facade. Out of all the sides I’d ever seen of him, I think I hated that one most. “Can you believe that? Kids too, so malleable. It’s when they turn into adults. That’s when they start to get ideas of their own and my patience grows thin. Do you know I thought of him as a son?”
“I figured as much,” Megan replied. She was still alive, thank God.
“Yes, you appear to be good at figuring things out. You must have figured his cock out well enough, to turn him against me so easily,” Davie declared.
“Her cunt’s not magic, old man,” I announced, making myself known to them and standing in the doorway.
“Ah, the wayward son returns,” he laughed, but it was more of a sneer.
“Did you miss me?” I asked, pushing off the side of the door and taking a step into the room.
Davie shrugged. “Honestly? I missed the shipment of product you stole from me more.”
“Think of it as severance pay,” I told him.
He chuckled. “Tell me, if it’s not her magic cunt, then what is it?”
I shrugged. “It’s nothing personal.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you will get, though.”
“Suit yourself, I’m getting bored with talking, anyway.”
Davie bent down and grabbed Megan by the arm, hauling her up from the couch and twisting his arm around her neck to secure her in front of him. He smiled at me with fucking hatred in his eyes.
His free hand outstretched and he pointed the gun at my head. I didn’t move. I didn’t even flinch. I didn’t give a fuck if he shot me in the head right now, just as long as she made it out alive.
“I could shoot him right now,” he whispered harshly into Megan’s ear. “Would you like that?”
“No,” she replied, her voice trembling.
The arm on her neck moved down to grope her chest and her face screwed up while she looked towards the sky.
“Why don’t you do it? Now there’s an idea!” The gun in his hand moved away from my head in one sharp motion and settled on Sarah’s mid-section. “There’s a little gun tucked down the back there. I want you to retrieve it for me. And I want you to know that if you try anything silly, I’ll shoot her in the stomach.”
Megan's eyes widened, and she did exactly as he told her, bending around his frame with her tied hands and returning with the gun pointed low on the floor.
“Now you have a choice to make. You can either shoot him, or I shoot Sarah.”
“No! Please,” she begged. This was the first time she’d properly crumbled.
“Megan, do it baby,” I said to her, my face serious. I nodded again while she stared at me, for extra emphasis, “Do it!”
“No!” she cried.
“Do it!” Davie demanded.
Sarah began to sob, her arms twisted around her stomach protectively.
Megan looked to Sarah and then back to me.
“Fucking do it!” Davie shouted.
The sound erupted in the room and I didn’t know where to fucking look. She had fired in a panic; the bullet missing completely and impacting the wall beside me. Tears erupted from her eyes and her whole body shook violently. This was torture, absolute fucking torture.
Davie held her up and shushed her for a moment, before his face changed and he yelled in her ear, “Try again!”
“I love you,” she whispered, her watery eyes staring straight into my soul. “I fucking love you.”
And then pain. Pain erupted in my leg and I buckled under my own weight, sliding down the wall and hitting the floor with a thud that only caused another eruption.
Davie lowered the gun momentarily, disbelief written across his face and then it all happened so fucking quickly.
Her brothers and Kyle stormed the room like a fucking swat team, Kyle going straight for the gun in Davie’s hand and forcing it down onto the floor. He grabbed Megan tighter, letting out a roar, but Elliot was over him in a second, wrestling her from his arms. She ran to me, low on the ground as Jed fired, and Davie went down like a stone.
Davie went down like a stone.
The two men behind the sofas who were staring with their mouths open dropped their rifles immediately. They weren’t stupid.
I closed my eyes. I didn’t have to fight to keep them open anymore.
David Kimber was dead.
Chapter 25
MEGAN
I stayed by his side until his eyes finally fluttered open.
“James?” I breathed, “Can you hear me?”
He nodded in reply, and I pressed a glass of water to his lips.
“I’m sorry,” I cried, almost breaking, “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Don’t be silly. What else could you have done? You did good, baby. You did exactly what needed to happen.”
I smiled at him, not quite knowing what else to say. I didn’t want to say anything; I just wanted to look at his face. I wanted to feel him close to me. I wanted to smell his scent and know that he was safe now.
Crossing the room to the other side of the bed, I kicked off my jeans and snuggled under the duvet beside him, being careful not to touch his leg or shift the bed too much.
“Dr Patterson came,” I whispered. “He said with the right physio you’ll walk fine.”
He nodded and then turned his head to face me.
“Did Jed deal with Kimber?”
“Not yet. I told him about that place. He said he will send Mark tonight.”
“That’s good,” he said, closing his eyes and turning his face towards the ceiling.
“Did you mean what you said the other night? That question you asked me?”
I watched as the hint of a smile crept over his face, although his eyes remained closed. “Of course I did. Have you changed your mind?” He peeked an eye open at me and I giggled.
“We’ll see.”
Chapter 26
JAMES
ONE YEAR LATER
“Bit early in the day for me, mate,” I said to Mark as he pushed a bottle of Heineken across the wooden counter.
“Aye, same, but I’m fucking roasting in this,” he groaned, glancing down at his heavy jacket before chugging down his own bottle.
“Maybe if you ate less and moved more, you wouldn’t struggle, ya fat bastard,” Jed retorted with a chuckle.
Out of the six of us, he was the one carrying the most extra weight in the form of flab. There was no nice way to say it, Mark had eaten the extra money he was making.
“Fuck’s Megan going to say if you show up half-pished?” Jed gave him a soft swipe on the back of his head before he snatched the bottle out of his hand and placed it on the counter behind him.
“Och, will you calm down? It’s a bottle not a triple-vodka.”
“Doesn’t matter. Nothing ruins this. NO ONE ruins this. Mark—” Jed pointed a finger at him, his eyes menacing “best fucking behavior. Elliot — Best fucking behavior. Kyle, Paul — Best. Fucking. Behavior. James—” he paused, turning around and facing me squarely, his frown turning soft at the last second, “you’re alright, mate.”
I have to admit, even I laughed. Jed didn’t normally do humor.
“Jed?” Sarah walked into the kitchen, her hair tucked up in rollers and her lips the same color as her face. “Can you watch the girls while I finish getting ready? Megan’s up to high-doh and I’ve not had a moments' peace…”
“Christ, woman! You should have said, I thought they were sleeping. Bring them in here with their uncles,” he chuckled. I watched as every man in the room glanced around nervously at each other.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked children. Annoying little fuckers the majority of the time, but they were alright. Those twins,
though. I’d like to put them in a box and bring them back out when they were about 3. That’s when you can wind them up and walk away. I’d like to think I’d be that kind of uncle.
Sarah wheeled the pram in and Jed picked up a little pink bundle and dropped it into my arms.
“Practice,” he said with a smirk, before going back to the pram and retrieving the other one.
“Which one have I got?”
“That’s Orlaith,” Elliot piped up, watching the little face while she stared up at me.
“That’s Isla, ya half-wit,” Jed corrected with a sigh as his eyes rolled.
“I honestly don’t know how you do it, mate.” Elliot chuckled.
I gave Isla a finger to grip onto and rocked her a wee bit, not the slightest fucking clue what I was doing.
The rest of the morning passed by in a way that I can only describe as six men and two babies, with only two of us having any sort of paternal instinct. Kyle took Isla off me when she fussed, and I had that beer I’d refused earlier.
“It’s different when it’s your own,” Kyle stated, and Jed nodded in agreement. “You kinda just know what they want. At that age they want food, or sleep, or a shit.”
“Aye, that one wants sleep,” Jed said.
I prayed to God they were right. It was all fun and games putting the baby in Megan, but now her belly was noticeably swelling I couldn’t deny it worried me. Perhaps worried was the wrong word. Nervous. I think I was scared of fucking it up. It’s not like you can go back and try again, is it?
Elliot helped Jed strap the girls into their car seats and we headed outside to the bright December morning. This was good; at least it wasn’t raining. Megan had worried about that.
We put the girls in the back and I chucked the keys at Jed.
“I’m not driving, don’t trust myself,” I said, motioning to the two tiny humans in the back seat while I got into the passenger side. He shook his head at me but his lips twitched in something akin to a smile.