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…

Your

Charlotte, my Virgin, we have helter-skeltered

constantly pursued her, ruling her, robbed her of what she deserves. None of it her fault, she has simply

change

No. Nothing.

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 found the way to tell

coming for you,

And me?

I’m the decoy.

a haze of the stars but does little to blanket in what

point, near enough to get there quickly. Far enough that, hopefully, they won’t spot

late, but the cold is keeping people indoors and, after all, Christmas is coming. Most folks will be with friends, at parties or simply

lit, glowing 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

I pass by.

I’m leaving the relative safety of the residential zone and passing into more uncertain territory. This end of Marsh Street is not

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 spot for

of fire or

feeling

Better than the alternative.

to do

two great concrete supports for the overpass, dim under inadequate sodium lighting. From the road above,

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

“Hello?”

voice echoes briefly, then

here.” I pace, circling,

Nothing…