Before Nightfall

by Rachel Amphlett

  His superiors didn’t want him involved because of the personal connection, but he left them with no choice. He was adamant.

  Deemed a rescue and retrieve mission because it was highly unlikely Claire or the dignitary would be released after the shooting of the bodyguards, Finn and his team were given little time to plan their subsequent counter-attack, especially after both the British and American governments stoked the kidnappers’ anger by publicly refusing to pay a ransom to a terrorist organisation.

  The rescue went wrong – when Finn’s team broke into the building, all hell broke loose with the bad guys fighting back. Steve’s daughter panicked during the fire fight, and instead of keeping her head down as she’d been trained, she tried to run.

  She was shot in the crossfire with two of the guys from Finn’s team. It was still unknown whether an FBI agent shot her or one of the Mexican drug dealers.

  When Finn started heading into a downward spiral, it was Steve who had approached his superiors and suggested Finn go and work for him at his hostage survival training business in the UK, because it would help turn something negative into a positive – to train others what not to do if caught in that situation.

  Finn was honourably discharged from the FBI and went with Steve back to the north of England, where he’d been for the past three years.

  ‘And then you walked through the door,’ Steve smiled. ‘That was the first time I’d seen a spark of life in Finn since that mission.’

  Kate got up from her chair and walked across the room to the window.

  Below, the mid-morning traffic threw a smog haze across the city, the noise muffled by the thick glass separating her from the world outside. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the sill, and she leaned forward until her forehead rested against the cool glass.

  ‘He’s not a bad person,’ said Steve. ‘Being an asshole is his way of coping.’

  Kate smiled and turned back to him, leaned against the window sill, and crossed her arms.

  ‘What are you saying?’

  Steve shrugged his right shoulder. ‘That you could do worse.’

  Kate spluttered a laugh. ‘Oh I have, that’s for sure.’ She frowned. ‘It must’ve been so hard for you.’

  He nodded. ‘It was. But my grief turned into concern for Finn. Okay, Claire died, and I wish to hell and back she was here now, but she’s not. There was no sense watching another human being dig himself into an early grave because of it.’

  He moved, and Kate saw the pain in his face. She walked quickly to his side and helped him lower the bed, until he nodded and she rearranged his pillows once more.

  ‘How’s that?’

  ‘Eh, it’ll do. I daren’t take any morphine – I’m scared I’ll get addicted.’

  She frowned.

  ‘Seen it happen,’ he said. ‘Guys take longer to get over that stuff than the actual injury. I’d rather feel myself heal.’

  Kate smiled and sat down once more.

  ‘What am I going to do, Steve?’ she asked, looking at her hands.

  ‘Give him a chance,’ he said. ‘Yeah, sure, he’s a pain in the backside most of the time – but there’s a heart of gold there. He’d do anything for you, you know.’

  ‘Mmm. I’m not too sure about that at the moment.’ She sighed, and then turned at a knock on the door.

  Ali, Emrah’s second-in-command, walked into the room and seemed unsurprised to see her.

  ‘Miss Foster, I hope you’re recovering from your ordeal?’

  ‘Yes, thank you.’

  He turned to Steve. ‘Feel up to answering some preliminary questions?’

  ‘Sure.’

  Kate stood. ‘I should let you two talk.’

  ‘Thanks for coming by.’

  She leaned over and kissed Steve’s cheek. ‘Stay out of trouble. I’ll pop by in the next few days – see how you’re doing.’

  She shook Ali’s hand as she left the room, and then nodded to the guards outside the door, and walked slowly along the corridor towards the exit, wondering how on earth she was going to break down the wall Finn had built around himself.

  Chapter 33

  Kate pushed the door to her hotel room open and heard something crackle under its weight.

  She frowned, closed it, and then bent down and picked up the piece of paper which had been pushed underneath.

  She eased out the creases, then unfolded it and read the note which had been scrawled along the top.

  Will be back later. Need to explain. Finn.

  She sighed. ‘You sure do.’

  She walked across to the balcony. Pulling the glass door open, she breathed in the fragrant air and listened to the sound of the traffic in the street below, the road bursting with life – car horns, music, and people shouting to each other.

  She wondered if she’d ever be able to mend Finn’s heart. Her mind wandered to the unfinished tattoo on his arm. She’d heard of people wearing their heart on their sleeve, but never a broken one – not so that it remained a permanent reminder of the pain.

  She walked across the open-plan room into the kitchen, switched on the lights and poured herself a glass of red which a member of the hotel staff had arranged for her. She sighed, took a sip and wondered if her life would ever be the same again.

  She spun at a knock on the door and hurried towards it, ripping it open.

  ‘Finn!’

  She had no time to scream as Kaan pushed himself into the room, covered her mouth with an iron grip, his fingers squeezing hard, and slammed the door behind him.

  They stared at each other, both breathing heavily.

  Kate struggled to free herself, but Kaan’s strength overpowered her in seconds.

  He spun her round until she was pressed up against his chest, his mouth against her ear.

  ‘Is he here?’ he hissed.

  She felt his chin knock the back of her head as he twisted around, searching the apartment, then gasped as his arm snaked around her and grabbed her breast. ‘Is he here?’

  She squealed with the pain, and then shook her head.

  Kaan spun her round to face him.

  She opened her mouth to scream, but his hand shot to her throat and began to squeeze.

  ‘Where are the cylinders?’

  Kate’s head shot back as he shook her, and she closed her eyes, refusing to look towards the kitchen bench, where the two bomb parts lay side by side, gleaming under the artificial lighting.

  ‘Where are they?’ Kaan shouted.

  ‘I don’t know!’ Kate gasped. ‘Finn took them.’

  Kaan’s grip eased off her throat, and he began to look round the room. He raised his head and sniffed the air before his gaze fell to her once more. ‘When did he leave, bitch?’

  Kate’s skin prickled as he stepped away from her, his fingers caressing her throat. She tried to slow her breathing, sure that he could feel her pulse hammering in her neck.

  Kaan’s face turned to hers, a malevolent gleam in his eyes.

  ‘Did I tell you what I do to liars?’ he asked, tracing his fingers down her cheek.

  Kate whimpered. ‘Please – please don’t hurt me.’

  Kaan chuckled. ‘Oh, I’m going to do a lot more than hurt you, Miss Foster. By the time I’m finished with you, no other man will want you.’

  Kate lashed out with her foot, hitting the man in the shins.

  He cried out, loosening his grip on her.

  She pulled away, and then ran for the kitchen. Reaching the bench, she swept up one of the metal cylinders into her hand and turned.

  In time to meet Kaan face to face, the man’s fury etched in his eyes.

  ‘You bitch,’ he hissed and lunged for her.

  The door to the apartment exploded inwards, a metal chair tearing through the wooden fabric.

  Closely followed by Finn.

  He pushed his shoulder into the broken pieces of the door, the panelling splintering under his weight, and stumbled into the room.

  ‘Get your han
ds off her, Emrah, you bastard,’ he snarled.

  Kaan grinned. ‘You finally worked it out, Mr Scott.’

  Finn edged closer, watching the other man carefully. ‘It always seemed to me that Kaan was a step ahead of us every time,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t sure, Emrah, Kaan – whoever you are – until you disappeared after we rescued Kate.’ He moved slowly forwards. ‘But then I realised you wouldn’t leave without the bomb parts so you could try again.’

  Kate ducked out of Kaan’s reach, grabbed the second cylinder, and rushed to the other side of the kitchen, keeping the counter between herself and Kaan.

  Kaan leaned over and pulled a knife from the collection on the kitchen counter.

  Kate scooted backwards until she was out of his reach and watched as he advanced towards Finn, waving the knife.

  ‘You should have stayed away,’ he said. ‘We were nearly finished.’

  Finn shook his head, his palms up, his eyes tracking the path of the knife as it slashed the air in front of him. ‘Looks like I got here just in time.’

  He leapt backwards as Kaan lurched towards him, the knife missing his chest by a fraction of a second. He spun to face the man, and Kate saw him glance at her briefly before he concentrated on the weapon once more.

  She pulled herself to her feet and cast her eyes around the small kitchen, looking for something – anything – which could help Finn.

  Kaan was circling now, getting closer while Finn ducked and dodged the blade.

  Kate could see the expression on Finn’s face as he used his peripheral vision to scan the room around him.

  He stepped back, putting more distance between himself and Kaan, then bent down to the coffee table, picked up the remote control for the television and threw it hard at Kaan’s face.

  Kaan laughed and ducked, the remote striking his shoulder before falling to the floor.

  Kate gasped as Finn backed up against the sofa, cornered. He looked behind him, and then leapt onto the cushioned seat, using the momentum to bounce over the back of the furniture. He turned his head left and right, searching for a weapon of his own, then began to pull books from the shelf against the wall, throwing them at Kaan.

  The other man raised his arm against the onslaught, protecting his face while waving the blade and moving closer, gradually driving Finn from behind the sofa and back into the open space of the living area.

  As the men circled each other, Kate reached up and pulled a frying pan off a hook on the wall, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Finn caught her eye, then began turning so that Kaan’s back was to her. She kicked off her shoes and began to silently pad towards the man’s back.

  ‘Just give it up, Kaan,’ panted Finn, ‘The police will be here any minute. It’ll go a lot better for you if you go quietly.’

  Kaan laughed, a guttural sound which filled the air. ‘So that you can be a hero? I don’t think so,’ he said. ‘You will die here today. And while your life is bleeding out of you, you will watch what I do to your woman.’

  He raised the knife and charged at Finn, who stepped backwards and tripped over the coffee table, falling to the floor.

  Kaan swept down to the floor, advancing towards him as Finn pushed himself backwards, his eyes watching the path of the blade as it swung closer.

  ‘You bastard!’

  Kate rushed forwards, intending to beat Kaan across his head with the frying pan as hard as she could.

  He turned round, fending off her attack and slashing out with the knife.

  She screamed as the blade sliced through the sleeve of her blouse and nicked her skin, and dropped the pan in surprise. Kaan lurched forwards to grab her, and she turned and ran, putting the dining table between herself and the man.

  Kate’s eyes widened as Kaan advanced on her, then a movement from behind caught his attention and he spun round.

  Finn groaned, and Kaan rushed towards him, the knife raised.

  Finn scrambled to his feet and pulled a cushion from the sofa towards him. He lifted it into the air above his head as Kaan thrashed the knife down, the blade tearing through the fabric.

  Finn flicked the cushion out of Kaan’s reach, the knife still embedded between the material, and then threw it across the room. He turned back to the Turk, eyes blazing, waving him forward.

  ‘Now we’re even,’ he said.

  Kaan charged at him, grabbing him round his waist and powered him backwards across the carpeted floor towards the open balcony window.

  Kate screamed out a warning to Finn, who grabbed a vase from a shelf as he staggered past it, struggling under the other man’s weight to keep his balance, and brought the ornament crashing down across the man’s back.

  His grip on Finn loosened. Kate cried out as he stepped round the bigger man and wrapped his forearm across Finn’s throat.

  Finn’s hands flew to Kaan’s arms as he tried to weaken the other man’s grip, his breathing harsh and desperate.

  As they stumbled backwards past the writing bureau, Finn slid the hotel’s leather-bound welcome pack towards him with his fingertips, then grabbed it, and began to beat it around Kaan’s face.

  Kate stood and slowly advanced towards the two men as they backed towards the open door and the narrow balcony beyond, willing Finn to wrench himself out of Kaan’s grip. She caught Finn’s eyes as he glared at her.

  He had stopped trying to pry Kaan’s fingers from his throat and was waving his hand in her direction, his finger jabbing the air.

  She shook her head, frowned, and then watched as he repeated the action, the anger in his face terrifying her.

  She looked behind, and realising what he was pointing at, rushed across the room to the kitchen bench, and picked up the aerosol can.

  Kaan cried out as Finn suddenly jerked his head backwards, breaking Kaan’s nose. Stunned, the terrorist released the bigger man, his hands covering his bloodied face.

  ‘Finn!’

  Kate threw the can of pepper spray to him.

  He caught it, spun round and with both hands shoved Kaan away from him, then pressed the nozzle on the aerosol.

  Kaan screeched, his hands rubbing at his eyes, and staggered backwards over the threshold, his arms flailing as he tried to regain his balance. He tripped, stumbled across the balcony, his hips hitting the cast iron railing.

  Too late, Kate realised what was going to happen and turned her head, closing her eyes.

  She couldn’t avoid hearing the scream of terror from the man as his body hit the low railing before he catapulted into the night air, his screams cut short seconds later.

  Chapter 34

  Finn thanked Ali, assured him they would be at his office the next day for more interviews, and closed the door.

  Kate stood in the middle of the room, her arms hugged to her sides to stop her hands from trembling.

  ‘Sit down,’ said Finn, pointing to one of the armchairs. ‘I need to clean up.’

  Kate lowered herself into the plush comfort of the suede material and drew her knees up to her chest.

  Finn walked across to the small refrigerator in the kitchen, opened the door and pulled out two bottles of beer. He twisted the caps off, threw them in the sink then walked back to Kate and handed her one of the beers before clinking the bottle against his own.

  ‘They don’t seem to provide complimentary icepacks,’ he said with a wry smile and held the cold bottle to his forehead.

  Kate looked at the purple bruise beginning to form on his face and tried not to let him see her hands shaking as she took a sip of the beer. She put the bottle down on the coffee table next to the armchair and turned her head, wiping her eyes.

  Finn crouched down next to her. A trickle of blood ran from a cut above his eye. He palmed it away distractedly, his fingers scabbed from the blows he’d landed on Kaan.

  ‘I’m going to take a shower, get some of these cuts sorted out, okay?’

  Kate nodded, her eyes scanning the room.

  Finn followed her gaze. ‘He’s gone, Kate. D
ead,’ he said. ‘Never coming back.’

  A shaky sigh escaped her lips.

  He stood and put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t answer the door to anyone. I won’t be long, okay?’

  She nodded, and then watched as he moved across the room and then pushed the bathroom door shut behind him.

  The sound of water hitting the tiles reached her ears, and she uncurled her legs, then stood and wandered across to the window. She felt awkward in Finn’s hotel room, on edge.

  The room was identical to hers, except that any trace of Finn’s presence had been restricted to the small dining table near the window. On it, his notes from the past few days were strewn across the glass surface.

  Kate palmed through them, observing his neat handwriting, the block capitals interspersed with arrows, sketches and question marks.

  She paused as she uncovered the photograph which he’d taken from her. She glanced over her shoulder towards the bathroom door, and then picked it up.

  The blood stain had been carefully removed, the corners pressed flat, as if it had been held recently.

  ‘It’s just your imagination,’ she murmured, tucking it back under the notepaper.

  Her mind replayed Kaan’s attack and what would have happened to her if Finn hadn’t returned when he had.

  She frowned. Why had he come back? Had he seen Kaan?

  She looked over her shoulder at the closed bathroom door.

  Or had he come back for her, like he’d said in his note?

  Her heartbeat rising, she stepped across the carpet to the bathroom door and leaned her head against it. Beyond, she could hear Finn under the water, and imagined the droplets flowing over his body.

  A shiver of desire travelled down her spine, and then she jumped back as the door moved inwards under her weight.

  Steam escaped into the living area, the creaking extractor fan a poor match for the temperature in the small bathroom. Beyond the steamed up shower door, Kate saw Finn standing with his back to her, his palms against the tiled wall as he let the jets of water cascade over his head.

  She moved closer, her heart hammering, her mind screaming at her to walk away, to turn and go before he broke her heart like the others before him.