*****
Richard
My mobile rings. I snatch it up. “Yes, Ross?”
“I've lost contact with James. They've made him leave the phone behind when they sent him on the next leg…”
Fuck…
How do we help him now?
“… And the earpiece. And…” Ross’ voice is shaky… “Richard... They… the kidnappers I mean… they spoke to me via the connection. I recorded it all. I'm playing it back to you.”
Klempner. You know who this is.
Just like you to let this tired old bastard run the gauntlet. But that's just you all over isn't it. Letting someone else take the heat.
We'll have the money very shortly. And believe me, it had better be all the money in that bag. But the deal’s not sealed until we have you too. Until then, that darling daughter of yours is going nowhere.
The voice snaps off. There’s a moment’s hiss then Ross speaks again. “Richard, what do you want me to do? Should I call the police?”
“No… don’t do that. If they think the police are involved, they’ll almost certainly murder Charlotte… and her baby… before Michael and Klempner can get to her.”
“What then?”
What indeed?
Should I go?
Leave Mitch to look after Elizabeth?
*****
How do I tell her this?
Wearily, I climb the stairs to find my sleeping wife.
But she’s not sleeping. “Elizabeth… There’s been a development. Ross has…” I stop, mid-sentence. “Elizabeth?”
From the pillow, she stares up at me, wide-eyed. “I’m sorry, Master…”
“Sorry? Elizabeth, what’s wrong?”
didn’t want to disturb you until I was sure, but… I
Oh, God…
you going into
It’s too early I know, but I think
It’s
But, I’m pretty
calm. I’m just going to talk
Calm…
Stay calm…
*****
find Mitch in the kitchen, screwing the top onto a flask. “Hot coffee,” she says. “And I’ve packed sandwiches for you
Elizabeth is going into
her mouth. “She’s not due for another… what, ten
Mitch, there’s no
you’re on your way with her. I’ll bring your car to the front, get the engine turning over, then it’s
*****
Michael
exit, and after a cautious moment,
air is stale, musty with cigarette smoke, the walls and ceiling perhaps once white but now yellowed
not to actually touch
mutters Klempner. But he regards the hovel of
runs the women as prostitutes, but he must be worth plenty. What's the point in
up the other seat by me, watching the screen with half
shots of what looks like an entrance lobby, then a dance floor, various corridors... Each quarter displays a small insert: L2 lobby, L3
the return, but the feed is unresponsive, moving at its own pace. “He’s got plenty of cameras around
lip. “Nothing from
views shift to one room after another of couples, triples and more; rooms where girls ‘entertain’ their clients. L4a,
know they're on
City High and Mighty
lined by a series of barred and padlocked doors. Each door
doors say ‘cells’ to
“Yes… Finchby tends to keep them either working or locked up
to supply
for words, finding myself simply staring at him, leaning
I’m not going to spend every waking moment apologising for it.
of course,
image shifts
there, in a corner of
gorge rises.
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