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,

pursued her, ruling her, robbed her of what she deserves. None of it

change

No. Nothing.

Strong. Fearless. Resourceful. Even in the dire situation she’s in, imprisoned in her cell, racked with pain, coughing up green slime, she found the way

coming for

And me?

I’m the decoy.

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

reach the rendezvous point, near enough to get

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

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

I pass by.

safety of the residential zone and passing into more uncertain territory. This end of Marsh

of the old town, under the overpass which carries the modern

cautious. The area is noted for hoax calls of fire or medical emergency followed by

I'm feeling windy about being

Better than the alternative.

to do

destination. The road lies straddled by two great concrete supports for the overpass, dim under inadequate sodium lighting. From the road above, moisture trickles down, streaking stark concrete walls white before

me, on the overpass, late evening traffic grumbles past. But here

“Hello?”

echoes briefly,

here.” I pace, circling,

Nothing…