Hot Revenge Box Set 2

*****

James

The message from Charlotte’s abductors…

Finchby…

Baxter…

… replays in my head…

Marsh Street under Barnbridge Road overpass 9pm

Bring the money

No police. No other people or she dies

If late she dies. So does the baby

Brandy and rage burn inside me.

The bag containing the ransom money swings heavy in my hand. I'm the decoy and at some level, I know I may not come out of this alive. Klempner's Kevlar vest gives me a little comfort, but it’s the fury inside that warms me against fast falling temperatures.

I should be afraid…

But I’m not.

Jade-Eyes…

My beautiful Jade-Eyes…

Cara… Your

the day I met Charlotte, my Virgin, we have helter-skeltered from

robbed her of what she deserves. None of it her fault, she has simply been the survivor of everything

I change

No. Nothing.

dire situation she’s in, imprisoned in her

coming for

And me?

I’m the decoy.

the merest hush of a breeze. High cloud makes a haze of the stars but does little to blanket in what

have a trek of perhaps half a mile to reach the rendezvous point, near enough

not that late, but the cold is keeping people indoors and, after all, Christmas is

with warmth and welcome, sparkling with fairy lights, dressed with spray-on snow and Santa, Please Stop Here signs. In my own home, we never finished the trimming up. Charlotte’s abduction killed off any thoughts of celebration and our tree

I pass by.

only a few minutes I’m leaving the relative safety of the residential zone and passing into more uncertain territory. This end of Marsh

what was once the boundary of the City, it was built before the main highways were developed, a remnant of the old town, under the overpass which carries the modern road to Barnbridge. It's a risky

the other emergency services are cautious. The area is noted for hoax calls of fire or medical emergency followed by muggings for cash and drugs, and attacks on medics and

I'm feeling windy

Better than the alternative.

has to

the overpass, dim under inadequate sodium lighting. From the road above, moisture trickles down, streaking stark concrete walls white before settling to iced sculptures over

late evening traffic grumbles past. But

“Hello?”

echoes briefly, then dies

I pace,

Nothing…