Hiding the Past

by Sofia Grey

  “Charlie?” Daisy. Thank fuck. She’d be confused when Jack spoke. He had to make her understand, and quickly.

  “Honey, it’s me,” he said. “Are you okay? Jack’s here too. We’re worried about you.”

  There was a hint of a sob. “I’m okay. Tell Jack I’m fine. Nathan’s hurt though, he—” She cried out, as though in pain.

  Jack froze. He couldn’t look at Charlie. “Daisy,” he said.

  “She’s fine, at the moment.” It was the man again. “I’m sure you want to see her soon, so let’s discuss the terms.”

  “What do you want?”

  “A trade. Your Daisy, for Irina.”

  Yeah. This was what they feared might happen. He hoped Irina and Sapphire weren’t listening to this call. “And Nathan as well?”

  “He is added insurance. Do we have a deal?”

  He had to say yes. “How is this going to work? Where have you taken her?”

  “Where are you?”

  “In Rhosneigr. Where you took Daisy and Nathan from.”

  “I’ll choose a location and call you back in one hour. You’ll come out alone—just you and Irina. Any tricks, and they both die. Call the police, and they both die. Understand?”

  Jack kept his voice calm. “Let me speak to Daisy again.”

  “One hour.” The phone line went dead.

  Jack blew out a frustrated breath. “Bastards,” he muttered to nobody in particular. He looked at the spooks. “Did you get all that?”

  Davey nodded.

  He turned to Charlie. “She knows you’re here. She said, tell Jack I’m fine. She’s a smart girl.”

  Charlie nodded. Poor guy looked as though he was falling apart.

  Now they had to decide what to do, and they didn’t have long. Handing Irina over was an obvious no, but what other choice did they have?

  *

  Nathan and Daisy were left alone in the van again, locked together in near darkness. His arm hurt, and every bone in his body ached, but he refused to think about his aches and pains. His need to comfort Daisy outweighed everything.

  “Come here,” he whispered, and she shuffled across to lean against him. “Believe me,” he said, “I don’t want to spend any more time here, but the thought of Irina in their hands makes me cold.”

  He couldn’t stop shivering. Was it shock? Or blood loss? Daisy trembled too.

  “It wasn’t Charlie who answered,” she said. “It was our friend, Jack. It’s complicated, but Jack will rescue us. I know he will.” She moved to sit more upright, and leaned against his cut arm.

  This time it was more of a deep burn than a sharp pain, but it still hurt. He couldn’t hold back his groan.

  Daisy gasped. “Oh Nathan, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know they—”

  “It’s okay.” He lied. “It’ll be fine. Did they hurt you? I’ll fucking kill them if they hurt you.”

  She made a noise—part-laugh, part-sob. “You’re tied up with duct tape, your arm is pouring blood, and you’re threatening to kill them? Don’t you think that’s a bit ambitious?”

  “Aim high. Always been my motto.” He needed to keep talking. Keep her distracted. Help him focus on anything but the idea of bleeding out into the back of a dirty van. “I figure we’ll be here a while. Why don’t you tell me this complicated story, huh? It might help to pass the time.”

  “Jack was one of the bodyguards on the recent tour. I phoned him before we were taken, but he didn’t pick up. Charlie must have gotten through to him. And since Jack answered the phone, they must have a plan.”

  “You put a lot of faith in him.”

  “He’ll rescue us. Believe me.” She didn’t sound convinced. Was she trying to make him feel better? “I’m scared, Nathan.” Her whisper was fractured.

  “Think about something nice, instead.”

  “I enjoyed it when you took me out on Samson.”

  He huffed a sigh. Yeah. That was the highlight of his shitty year so far. “Me too.” He dropped his chin to rest on the top of her head. “I can feel how much you’re shaking. It’s killing me that I can’t put my arms around you.”

  “Me too,” she said.

  “We could go riding again, when we get out of here?” It was better to think positive.

  “I’d like that.”

  She would? He could imagine it—the two of them, riding along the sand together. Even if it never happened, he could daydream about it.

  For a few precious moments he forgot everything but the girl holding his heart.

  Footsteps sounded outside. The doors were thrown open. The men were back.

  One of the kidnappers picked Daisy up and tossed her over his shoulder, before carrying her out of the van. She kicked and wriggled, but he held her with ease.

  “No,” shouted Nathan. “Leave her alone.”

  Something hard hit the side of his head, and his world exploded into stars and darkness.

  *

  Juli saw the frustration on Jack’s face.

  “Daisy is fucked if we don’t take someone with us,” he said. “Aiden, is there any chance one of your agents could get here in time to take Irina’s place?”

  Aiden shook his head.

  Jack swung his gaze back to Irina and Sapphire, huddled together, a blanket around their shoulders.

  “No,” said Juli. “You can’t be thinking about it.”

  Jack stared back at her, his face deadly serious. “Someone has to go with me. If I turn up on my own, we’ll never get Daisy back.”

  Juli gestured toward the two girls. “Look at them. Look what’s already been done to them. You can’t. There has to be another way.”

  He shoved his chair back, hard, and stomped to the window.

  She felt like smacking her forehead. The solution was blindingly obvious. “There is another way.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at her.

  “You take me.”

  He went very still. It reminded her of a cat, about to leap on a mouse. “No.” Flat, and dismissive. He was already trying to come up with another plan; she could tell.

  “It’s my fault that—”

  “Fault? How the fuck is it your fault? Irina’s coming here was nothing to do with you.”

  Juli stood her ground, conscious that everyone in the kitchen was watching them argue. “If I handed Yanni over to the police when he first appeared—”

  “This would still have happened.”

  “But Daisy and Charlie would probably have stayed in London.”

  He couldn’t argue with that. There was the briefest hesitation before he spoke. “I said no, Juli. I mean it.”

  “Why not?”

  His jaw tightened. “Because it’s not safe. I can’t hand you over to those animals.”

  She took a step toward him. “And yet you’ll consider handing over Irina or Sapphire?”

  “Christ, Juli. Don’t do this.”

  “Look at them.” She was pushing him into a corner, but he had to see the sense of this. “Irina speaks almost no English. She’s been beaten to a pulp. Sapphire has a broken hand. Neither of them could defend themselves for five minutes. I’m more capable, and you know it.”

  Aiden cleared his throat. “She has a point.” Jack glared at him, but undaunted, Aiden continued. “I’m not happy with the idea, but it’s a better prospect than sending in either of the girls.”

  “I said no.” With his muscled arms firmly crossed over his chest and his eyes flashing fire at Aiden, Jack looked formidable. He didn’t scare Juli, though.

  She released her hair from its tight ponytail and shook it out across her shoulders. “They’re expecting to see a girl, but I’m not particularly tall, and it’ll be dark. I can wear a hoodie and a baggy jacket, and you can provide me with a gun. I won’t be helpless.” She raised her voice over Jack’s furious interruption. “You wouldn’t be leaving me there, anyway. I’d only have to hold them off until you came back for me.”

  She had him there. He might hate the ide
a on a personal level, but as a strategy, it was good. They stood frozen into a little tableau, each glaring at the other.

  Juli dropped her voice to a whisper and moved to his side. “I trust you, Jack. I know you’ll come for me.”

  “You can’t do this on the basis of some guilt trip.” His tone was agonized. “Please don’t do it, babe.” He swallowed, and she saw the fear and worry in his eyes. “I can’t watch you walk into danger.”

  Juli caught his hand and brought it to her lips. “I’m doing this. If you can’t handle it, I’ll go with Tanner. They’ll never know the difference.”

  His hand twisted and gripped her fingers tight. He had to know there was no way around this, even if he was too stubborn to accept it. “I love you so much, babe.” His mouth crumpled, and he went quiet.

  Tears stung at her eyes at the pure emotion on his face. With her free hand, she traced the shape of his forehead and brushed across his lips. She didn’t care they had an audience. At this moment, Jack was the only person that mattered.

  “Guys, we need to make plans.” Aiden’s cool voice cut into their little bubble, and she gave Jack a tiny smile. Inside she was quaking, but she wouldn’t let anybody see it. This was her idea, and she’d make damn sure it worked.

  Ten minutes later, Juli stood in the comms van, Jack at her side, while Aiden picked through a box of weaponry. The men examined and discarded several options, before deciding on a small semi-automatic.

  “The Glock.” Aiden handed it to Juli, and she weighed it in her palm. Lighter than she expected. “It’s nine mil,” said Aiden. “It’s light and compact, with a narrow grip, and perfect for smaller hands. You feel confident to use it?”

  She’d used a pistol once before, but just because she knew what to do with it, didn’t mean she was close to confident. On balance, though, she’d rather have a weapon than not.

  “Yes.” She nodded, then tried again, with more conviction in her voice. “Can you show me how to load it, please?”

  Jack showed her how to drop the empty magazine and reload it. He explained that she didn’t need to worry about a safety catch, as it was built into the trigger. “Point and shoot,” he said. “Nice ’n’ easy.”

  He and Aiden watched as she went through the motions of loading and unloading it, and got used to the feel of the sidearm in her hands.

  “Remember,” said Jack. “We’ve still got Maria’s tracker. You need to carry that. Just in case we lose you.”

  In case we lose you. The absolute last words she wanted to hear.

  The theory of the exchange was simple, but Juli knew the reality would be anything but.

  *

  The second call came an hour later. The buzz of talk in the kitchen stopped. All eyes were on Jack when he answered. He could feel Charlie’s tension by looking at the guy.

  “I have instructions for you,” said the man on the line. “You will follow them exactly, or you will not see Daisy Banks alive again.”

  “I wanna speak to her,” said Jack.

  “You will bring Irina and take the A55 to Wales. I will call with further instructions.”

  “Lemme talk to Daisy.”

  The line went dead.

  “Goddamn it.” Jack tugged off his headphones and dropped them on the table. He looked at Davey. “Can you tell us anything?”

  Davey shook his head. “Not enough time. Sorry.”

  They had to go. Jack still couldn’t believe they were handing Juli over to a ruthless bunch of kidnappers. Every instinct in him rebelled at the idea, but they had no other option. Aiden was unable to get anyone to step in. Either Juli went, or he took Irina or Sapphire.

  They set off in the hire car, with the comms van following them. That was full, carrying Aiden, Davey, Tanner, and Charlie, who flat out refused to stay behind. Irina and Sapphire weren’t left alone; they had Jordan and Neil to keep them safe.

  Jack kept glancing at Juli, watching her face go from light to shadow as they passed by the amber streetlights. She gazed out of the side window, quiet and still. Was she sleeping? No. Her breathing was too rapid. He reached out with his left hand and gripped hers tight, squeezing her fingers. She pressed her other hand on top. She held onto him like a lifeline.

  There were so many things Jack wanted to say to her. So many fears, bubbling under the surface. This was a crazy idea. The earlier fight over Yanni paled in comparison to the tsunami of emotions he felt right now. And they still had the Yanni problem to deal with. Somehow, Jack had managed to block that from his mind. Tanner, riding behind them, was no doubt rigid with fear over Maria’s safety, yet he was still taking part in this attempt to rescue Daisy. And they had to get back to Rhosneigr by six in the morning.

  Was Juli right? If Charlie and Daisy had stayed in London, would any of this have happened? Irina would still have gone to Nathan’s yard, but Shaz might not have told the kidnappers. It was useless to speculate. Ifs and buts meant nothing. Jack squeezed her fingers again, before lifting them to his mouth for a delicate kiss. “Hey, babe. When all this shit is over, let’s take a few days off. Go somewhere quiet. What do you think?”

  She smiled, but it took a while. “Sounds good. I don’t care where we go, as long as I’m with you.”

  Jack’s phone jangled, and Juli answered it for him, putting it onto speaker.

  “I have news,” said Aiden. “The location of the first call couldn’t be exact, but it was in the Manchester area, west of the city and out toward the sprawling town of Warrington. Also, motorway cameras tracked the white van along the M56 motorway into Cheshire, with the last confirmed sighting on the M6 just south of Warrington. The police are searching for the van, but there’s no guarantees of finding it. Most likely, it’s hidden in a garage or car park, somewhere out of sight.”

  “Thanks,” said Jack. There wasn’t anything else to say.

  They were an hour from Rhosneigr when Charlie’s phone rang again, and as planned, Jack pulled over to the side of the road and activated the recording equipment. The call was short again, telling him to continue on this direction and take the M56 motorway toward Manchester. He was given a number to call back when he reached junction 10.

  They set off again. Juli checked the map, to see where junction 10 was. It sat in the middle of nowhere, a quiet country turnoff, fifteen miles before the outskirts of Manchester.

  It was, however, just prior to the connection with the M6 motorway that led into Warrington, and possibly toward the location of the white van.

  It was a shorter journey than Jack expected, but then again, the roads were deserted at that time of night. As they sailed past junction 13 and were almost ready to make the call, Aiden contacted them.

  “The van’s been found,” he said, his voice crisp and unemotional. “A security guard on a quiet industrial estate found it parked by the side of the road with the doors wide open. They thought it had been broken into, and called in the registration plate.”

  Juli gazed at the phone in her hand. “Was anyone inside?” Her voice was faint.

  “No. It looks as though it was abandoned. The kidnappers must have changed vehicle.”

  Fuck. They’d pinned their hopes on locating the van with Daisy and Nathan inside it. “Any clues inside?” Jack asked.

  “No.” Aiden drew out the word.

  Jack was instantly wired for bad news. “What aren’t you telling us?”

  “There was fresh blood inside. And traces of vomit.”

  Saturday 22 May

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Nathan surfaced face down in the van, his head pounding like a five-star hangover. How long was he unconscious? There was no way to tell. Slowly, painfully, he rolled onto his side before risking a move to a more upright position.

  The van was empty.

  His heart threatened to stop when he thought about how they carried Daisy away. Where the fuck was she? Would they hurt her?

  Bile rose again, and this time there was no way to hold it down. He managed to lean fo
rward as he retched. At least he wasn’t sick on his clothes. Thank God for small mercies.

  He pushed to his knees, and after a couple of clumsy attempts, managed to stand. He swayed. Not good, but not too bad either. It was an improvement on sprawling on the floor.

  Fuck. His head hurt. He waited until the world stopped spinning, then staggered to the doors. His footsteps were loud. Were they waiting outside? He couldn’t hear anything out there.

  He examined the doors as best he could, in the barely-there light filtering through the windows. There was a definite gap between the doors. Were they closed properly?

  Hope rippled through him. He might be able to kick them open.

  Nathan balanced on one leg and kicked with the other. The shockwave blasted through him, but the gap grew wider. One leg wasn’t enough. He sat down, and kicked hard with both legs together. Again. And again.

  His knees hurt, and his bad leg ached like holy hell fire, but he continued. This was his way out, and he was taking it.

  He visualised the kidnappers’ faces. “Take that, you fuckers,” he yelled. He kicked some more. Sweat poured down his face, but he kicked until his knees were trembling too hard for him to stretch his legs anymore.

  He sank his head, his heart racing. And then—thank you, God—he saw what he’d done.

  He’d kicked the lock open.

  Halle-fucking-luyah. His legs barely held him upright, but he wasn’t staying in that van a second longer than necessary. He body-barged the doors, using his shoulder as a battering ram. He slammed into the metal… and tumbled out into open space. The thump, as he hit the road, was brutal. He was winded. Come on. It was no worse than being thrown by Samson. Now he was free. Kinda.

  Plus points. He was no longer trapped inside the van, and the kidnappers were nowhere in sight.

  On the negative side though, his hands were fastened behind his back. And he didn’t have the faintest idea where he was.

  Nathan wasn’t going to hang around and wait for them to come back. Hell no. On wobbly legs, he headed for the cover offered by the buildings around him. It was definitely an industrial estate, with lots of small and medium-sized units, all shuttered against the night. He lurched from one overhang to the next, keeping in the shadows and moving as quickly as he could.