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

my Virgin, we have helter-skeltered from one

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

I change any

No. Nothing.

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 us where she

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 passed

to reach the rendezvous point, near enough to get

and, after all, Christmas is coming. Most folks will be with

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.

and

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.

in pairs and 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 fire officers for

admit, I'm feeling windy about

Better than the alternative.

to

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

late evening traffic grumbles past. But here below,

“Hello?”

briefly, then dies

here.” I

Nothing…