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 gift

I met Charlotte, my Virgin, we have helter-skeltered from one crisis

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

I change

No. Nothing.

is what has made her what she is. Strong. Fearless. Resourceful. Even in the dire situation she’s in, imprisoned in her cell, racked with pain, coughing up green slime, she

coming for you,

And me?

I’m the decoy.

but does little to blanket in what passed for the heat of the day. The streets are glazed

mile to reach the rendezvous point, near enough to

walk briskly, my footsteps click-clicking down empty streets. It’s not that late, but the cold is keeping people indoors and, after all, Christmas is coming. Most folks

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

I pass by.

only a few minutes I’m leaving the relative safety of the residential zone and

town, under the

The area is noted for hoax calls of fire or medical emergency followed by muggings for cash and drugs, and attacks on medics and fire officers for the sheer

feeling windy

Better than the alternative.

has to

great concrete supports for 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 ground-level

the overpass, late evening traffic grumbles past.

“Hello?”

echoes briefly, then dies

here.” I pace, circling,

Nothing…