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 gift to

Charlotte, my Virgin, we have helter-skeltered from

None of it her fault, she has simply been the survivor of everything

I change

No. Nothing.

in the dire situation she’s in, imprisoned in her cell, racked with pain, coughing up green

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 for

perhaps half a mile to reach the rendezvous point, near enough to get there quickly. Far enough that, hopefully, they won’t

late, but the cold is keeping people indoors and, after all, Christmas

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 up. Charlotte’s abduction killed off any thoughts

I pass by.

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

a remnant of the old town, under the overpass which carries the modern road to Barnbridge. It's a risky spot

emergency services are cautious. The area is noted for hoax calls of fire or medical emergency followed by muggings for cash and

feeling

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

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

“Hello?”

voice echoes briefly, then

I

Nothing…