My head hurt terribly. It banged and thumped like a hammer on a blacksmith’s anvil, a cacophony of noise at its discordant best screamed inside my skull. I felt slightly nauseous and I tried to concentrate on the one point of my head that was aching the most, willing the pain to cease. The world seemed to be in motion then I realised I was sprawled out on the back seat of a car. The memory of the previous hours and what had occurred came flooding back like a nightmarish tidal wave and I was glad I had not moved and kept my eyes closed. I fought to keep my breathing in a steady rhythm so he wouldn’t realise that I had regained consciousness and concentrating on this helped to still my panic for a while.
Swallowing the bile rising in my throat, I tried to block out the image of James’s murder and Gideon being shot in front of me that kept replaying like a cracked record over and over in my mind. My survival depended on my ability to keep a clear cool head at all times for this man had shown a ruthlessness and a will to kill if anything stood in the way of his objective.
My thoughts turned to Kevin, he must realise now that I was missing, and he would be absolutely frantic. And the worst of it for him was realising that he had no control over the situation, he was completely in the dark as to what was happening, whereas I was going to experience it all first hand and that thought didn’t cheer me one little bit. I felt foreign hardness dig into my arm and I suddenly remembered I had James’s cell phone secreted away up my sleeve. God where on earth was I going to hide that if I got the chance. I thought quickly, ok my underpants. Lucky this dress was not close fitted to the body, from the waist the skirt was quite voluminous and James’s phone was small, if I got the chance maybe that would do for a hiding place at a pinch. Then I hoped to god it was turned off, that was the last thing I needed at the moment was a cell phone ringing.
I felt the car slow and come to a halt. What do I do? I decided to still feign unconsciousness and maybe play for time. I heard the car door open and I felt a light on my face as the interior light switched on. Willing myself to go limp, to become a dead weight I felt myself being dragged along the seat till a pair of strong hands heaved me up into his arms. Letting my head loll and roll about freely gave the impression that I was still out cold. This might prove to be my greatest acting performance yet I thought ironically. He shifted me to a none too comfortable position over his shoulder so he could open the other car’s door. He grunted as he struggled with the door of the other car. Obviously he was swapping cars to hide his trail and cover his tracks. I felt myself being pushed roughly onto the seat and my skirts tucked about me so they didn’t catch in the car door when he shut it. I sensed him staring at me I could feel his eyes boring into me. Trying with all my might to keep my breathing even, I prayed I was fooling him. He made a noise, whether it was a noise of satisfaction that I was still out cold or that he knew I was pretending I didn’t know. But then I sensed him moved away into the driver’s seat, and my guess that I had conned him was borne out by the fact that the car moved off without him tying me up.
The interminable drive finally came to an end, I had lost track of time and I think I might have actually fallen asleep. What was I to do now? But I didn’t have much of a choice. The door opened and lucky for me he grabbed hold of my arm that the cell phone was not hidden up. I felt my sleeve on that arm being rolled up and a needle jab into my arm, and I realised he was drugging me. I tried to fight the effects in my mind but it was no use as slowly the world went black and I was unconscious for real.
************************
Steve got up off his chair stretched and yawned. He had not felt this tired in years and he doubted he would get any peace now either till all this was resolved one way or another. He was worried, really worried if he could stop this maniac before….. well he didn’t want to think on that implication yet.
‘Do you think he’ll hurt her?’ Kevin asked softly into the silence breaking into Steve’s thoughts. Steve looked over at him and thought carefully about what to say, the pain in Kevin’s voice was difficult to bear. He wondered if he was too involved, for he had gotten to like this couple a lot.
Sitting hunched over in his chair staring down at the ground Kevin fiddled restlessly with his wedding ring. He looked shell shocked. Carlos sat quietly off to the side watching Kevin with concerned eyes.
‘Truthfully Kev, I dunno. I’d hate to make any assumptions about this guy, and you know what they say about making assumptions?’
‘Yeah I know.’ Kevin sighed. He stood and paced restlessly about picking up an object here and there and putting them back down again. It was like he didn’t know what to do with himself. Steve had sent them both home earlier in the night and he felt at a total loss. Kevin continued softly ‘ If I could just know she would be safe, to have some hope that he won’t harm her. I could, I could…’ his voice trailed away and looking helpless he slumped back down in his chair again.
‘Kev, just try to stay positive and don’t go borrowing troubles yet. Jac’s got a cool head on her. Look she snuck that phone right under his nose let’s just hope she can find a way to use it. Look it’s late Kev, why don’t you try and get some sleep, I’ve got to get back to the precinct, I need to contact Scotland Yard and bring them up to date. And hopefully they might have some info for us.’
‘Yeah I’ll try I suppose. Jax’s father is arriving tomorrow.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Well this morning anyway. Hang on I’ll see you out.’
Steve put his hand on Kevin’s arm. ‘No don’t bother I know the way, I can see myself out, now you try and get some sleep ok? You too Carlos.’
Kevin reached over and poured himself another cup of coffee from the pot on the table, he took a sip but put it down. He felt sick in the stomach, he knew it was tension that was making him feel this way but for the life of him, he couldn’t get rid of the feeling.
He scrubbed at his face with his hands, he lay back against the headrest, his eyes were burning and he felt wetness on his cheek. He raised his hand to touch it and realised with surprise that he was crying. He rubbed the tears away and looked up to see Carlos standing in front of him holding out a glass filled with amber liquid. Kevin sniffed and wiped his face again with the back of his hand and took the proffered glass. Carlos took a swig out of his own glass and sat down in front of Kevin. He spoke gently.
‘You need some sleep, even just a few hours before Miles and the others get here.’.
Kevin swallowed the contents of the glass in one gulp. ‘Easier said than done Carlos, bloody easier said than done.’
Carlos shook his head sympathetically as Kevin placed his empty glass on the table beside the coffee pot and wordlessly left the room.
Kevin stood on the threshold of their bedroom and looked about. There were clothes tossed carelessly about, and shoes scattered all over Jax’s side of the room, typical of her organised chaos. Picking up a photo of the pair of them off her bedside table he sat down wearily on the bed. Placing a kiss on the cold glass he whispered. ‘Where ever you are babe, I love you. Please be ok, please be safe, please come home to me.’ He placed it back where it belonged and hit the beside light switch before falling backwards on the bed fully clothed. He shielded his eyes with his arm and willed his mind to cease thinking. And even though he thought it would be impossible to do he fell into a restless slumber of the emotionally exhausted.
*************************
I came to with a headache reminiscent of the day after Kevin and I had got married. I wondered as I shook my head to clear it, if someone had spiked our drinks at that night of our infamous marriage because this horrible feeling was awfully familiar. The drug he had knocked me out with was producing simular sensations of unpleasantness in my skull and I felt terrible. My mouth felt like a bottom of a birdcage and my tongue was furry and swollen. I had obviously been lying here for a while because my limbs felt like lead weights.
Slowly, gradually the fog in my mind began to coalesce into definite sensations as the world came into focus and the picture became clearer. The heat from the sun’s warmth caressed my face, maybe this was what has woken me. I was lying on my side still fully clothed in my dress still. The air around me filled my nostrils with a salty tang and a slight breeze stirred across my cheek. Seagulls squawked in the distance and I realised I must be near the ocean. Blinking my eyes against the sunlight streaming across my face, I finally opened my eyes and raised my head squinting as I took stock of my surroundings. Taking a deep breath I realised I was in a smallish sparsely furnished room and the sunlight was beaming through a tiny window. I thought it might not be early morning judging by the sun’s intensity.
I slowly, carefully i lifted myself up and eased my legs around off the narrow bed giving myself time to adjust to my body being upright again.
‘Ok you managed that Jac.’ I spoke softly to myself as I pushed up unsteadily onto my feet. ‘Ok managed that as well.’ I walked over to the small window and fiddled with the catch but found it bolted tight. I craned my neck and looked out and found this place was quite near the sea, so I was right in assuming by the salty smell that invaded my nostrils that it was near the ocean. There was a small secluded beach that was devoid of any human life, just the roll and tumble of the surf as it performed its endless tidal ebb and flow. Walking over to the door I tried the handle knowing it was to be a futile exercise, as I thought it would be, it was locked.
‘ You bastard.’ I whispered and I looked about. There was an old wooden chair that had obviously seen and past its best years, the bed, and a table of simular vintage to the chair beside the door. An ancient wooden chest of draws completed the furnishings of my prison.
‘Hell and blast, shit, shit shit and fuck, what am I to do?’ I said in my best queen’s English as I sat down disconsolately on the bed. If I had to swear and curse, to be able to do it in the cultured accents of my native tongue at least made it sound better to my ear. I normally always tried to keep the plum out of my mouth when speaking, unless I wanted to put someone, normally the press in their place or if I wanted to annoy someone. Then I found I could call on hundreds of years of aristocratic blood and bearing to make them realise they had overstepped the mark, besides it sometimes it amused me to play the haughty aristocratic Lady Jacqueline Ryecroft. I hadn’t tried that on with Kevin yet I thought with a slight smile. I wondered what his reaction would be if I did?
I suspected he would regard me with lazy amusement in his green eyes, ignore it, then in that cute but so sexy Kentucky drawl of his, bring me down a peg or two. I thought of Kevin with longing. I’ve have given anything to be able to see his face, to see his smile, to hear his voice, wishing to feel safe in his arms again. The thought of that never happening again chilled me to the bones, I shivered and wrapped my arms about myself tight, and closing my eyes I thought of how much I loved him, loved this man who had captured my heart and made me so completely his. I felt a sob lodge in my throat and escape against my will, two tears ran slowly down my cheeks. ‘Oh god Kevin I love you so much.’ I whispered as I hugged myself tight. Not wanting to give way I dashed the tears from my cheeks. ‘That’s why you have to be brave Jac.’ I spoke aloud to calm myself. ‘You’ve got to stay calm now, to be able to think straight.’
The sound of the door being unlocked and the handle rattling made me look apprehensively in the direction of the sound it was then at that moment I remembered I had the cell phone hidden up my sleeve. God great thinking Jac, I cursed my lamentable memory, how could I forget that I had the phone. I needed a find a place to hide it and quick. Pulling it out of my sleeve I pushed it between the crack of the bed and the wall where there was enough space to lodge it there, where hopefully it would be within reach if I needed to get at it quickly. I crawled back up against the bedhead and drew my knees up against my chest in what little protection and comfort they offered and swallowing the fear that was lodged in my throat the door opened and I looked into the face of my nemesis for the first time.
************************
The tall silent figure stood broodingly staring out of the window watching nothing in particular.
He had managed a couple of hours sleep, but haunting dreams had given him no peace and he had given up trying to will his mind to cease its worrying and had risen to face what the new day would bring. Kevin had picked up the early papers and sure enough the headlines screamed out at him about last nights tragic events at the award ceremony. His head ached throbbing away like a drumbeat inside his skull and he restlessly rubbed at his temples and stretched the back of his neck to ease the strain and he knew he would soon have to take some pain relief. It would most likely be a long torturous day and to get through it he would need to be thinking clearly. Picking up his coffee cup he sat back down at the table and pulled the papers towards him reading again the reports about last night. At the moment his mind raced like a whirling dervish, full of dreadful thoughts and worries. He couldn’t stop thinking about Jax’s fate, James’s death and poor Gideon wounded in the hospital. He would need to see him sometime today to reassure himself that Gideon would be alright. Whether the emotional scars healed as quick as the physical ones was another matter. Pushing the papers away the leaned back in the chair and thought.
He knew his father in law was arriving soon. Miles was flying into LA in a friend’s private jet. He had left London immediately after Kevin had rung him with the bad news. Kerry would be here early this morning, she had told Kevin she would take over all the press and media duties, and he was grateful and thankful for that. He didn’t think he would cope with the strain of having to deal with them and their constant questions and inquiries. Feeling helpless and frustrated he pushed back the chair from the table and he decided to go have long hot shower too see if that would release the tension from his body.
When he emerged later he found Kerry installed in the dining room phone already running hot in her hands. Papers and notes were scattered about her, and already the coffee cups were stacking up about her. She noticed him watching her and she spoke quickly to the person on the other end of the line. ‘Look I have to go, I’ll ring you back.’ She walked over and pulled him into a fierce hug feeling the tension in his body. ‘God Kev, sweetheart what can I say?’ she reached up and touched his face kindly. ‘We’ll get her back mate.’ She in her customary Aussie twang. He nodded uncertainly and she released him and held his hand. ‘We will Kev. I know we will.’ She sniffed and Kevin looked intently at her for the first time, taking note of her reddened puffy eyes and swollen nose from the tears she had shed.
‘You look awful Kezza.’ the words tumbled out of his mouth before he thought to stop himself.
‘The pair of us look like absolute frights. You didn’t sleep much did you?’ She said with a rueful half smile as he shook his head at her.
Running her fingers through her hair she said. ‘Christ this whole mess makes me want to take up smoking.’ She spoke distractedly as she let go of his hand and sat back down at the table. Resting her chin in her hand she looked up as Kevin sat down beside her. ‘Where’s Aj when you want him. He always has a packet of cigarettes on him.’
‘But you don’t smoke.’ Kevin said puzzled.
‘I know, now might be a good time for me to start. I’ve a feeling I might have a need to live of caffeine and nicotine over the next few days. How Steve manages is beyond me, he got no sleep whatsoever last night. Oh and speaking of Steve he rang while you were in the shower. He’ll be here this morning. He said he’s waiting on some news from Scotland Yard. AJ is flying in with Sue and Brian later, Howie and Nick want to know if you want them here as well and if so just say the word and they are here. Carlos is in the kitchen with Miles and they are cooking breakfast, I hope you’re hungry there is enough food there to feed an army. Miles brought supplies. Says he figured we’d need them.’
‘I dunno if I could eat anything Kezza.’ Kevin said using Jac’s pet name for her friend.
‘Good luck then, that’s what I said but I don’t think they are going to listen to us. Miles is occupying his mind by doing this and Carlos has that mothering look in his eye when he talks about you. I bet you fifty bucks you’ll be sitting down eating breakfast in ten minutes.’
And she was right. He soon found himself seated at the table with Kerry a plate of steaming bacon and eggs in front of him. At first his stomach heaved at the thought of food, but after the first mouthful he realised he was in fact extremely hungry and once his plate was cleared he felt a little more optimistic about things after having some food in his stomach. The feeling was to increase as Steve arrived. He looked dog tired, hollow eyed and his clothes were crumpled and he looked like he had lived a week in them.
‘Have you been home at all? Kevin blurted out and kicked out a chair for him.
Steve smiled ruefully and sank into it with a groan. ‘No, haven’t had the chance. Is that coffee I smell?’
‘Have you eaten?’ Kevin asked.
‘No to that as well, but you get used to it in this job.’ Steve said as he gratefully accepted the cup of coffee Carlos gave him. ‘Arhhh black and strong, just what I need.’
‘Well here’s some breakfast Steve.’ Miles said as he placed a plate in front of him. ‘Tuck in now, there’s a good lad. You can’t think on an empty stomach you know, its not good for the old grey cells.’
Steve sighed thankfully. ‘You have no idea how hungry I am, but I have some news to tell you all.’
‘Eat up lad, you can tell us after you’ve eaten. A few minutes won’t make any difference’
Kevin looked at Miles and could have screamed in frustration but he masked his impatience realising Steve needed some sustenance.
Steve didn’t need to be told twice, he ate like a man starved and within minutes he cleaned his plate.’ Carlos refilled his cup and he looked into the faces of those looking expectantly at him. ‘Scotland Yard have identified him.’ he announced. They all looked at one another, this wasn’t what they were expecting.
‘Who is he?’ Kevin asked his voice and face tightening with anger. Finally this faceless threat would now have a name.
‘Major Allan Reid, late of her Majesty’s Grenadier Guards, retired honourably due to injuries received on active duty.’
‘My god!’ Miles exclaimed as he sat down weakly in a chair. His legs giving way as the familiar name hit him right between the eyes like a closed fist. ‘My old head of security.’
‘Exactly Sir, bit of a shock isn’t it. Seems they used the DNA sample taken from Eric’s body and matched it up with the Major’s medical records. As Gideon said this guy’s a real pro, very highly thought of in high places amongst the military and MI5.’ He sipped at his coffee before continuing. ‘Chief Alec Inspector Bowden told me as you would know sir other wise you wouldn’t have employed him, he’s a very clever man, extremely good at what he does, as we have found out to our cost.’
‘Do you think he gained employment to further his own ends, by getting close to Jacqueline Steve?
‘Well Alec doesn’t discount that sir, would the opportunities have been there?’ Steve asked.
‘Jacqueline wasn’t a frequent visitor to head office, but she did sometimes visit.’ Miles said thoughtfully.
‘He might have gained a lot of insider knowledge about your family though, mightn’t he sir?’
‘Yes, he would have, my head of security was in a most trusted position, I shall never forgive myself. By employing this man I’ve placed my daughter at great risk and its has cost good men their lives, and caused Kevin no end of heartbreak.’
‘Don’t be too hard on yourself sir, I don’t doubt you or anyone would have not employed him, after all his record was peerless was it not? And at that time he had exhibited no signs of this instability that is plaguing us now.’
‘Steve’s right Miles.’ Kevin spoke for the first time. ‘There is nothing for you to be so hard on yourself for. Ok Steve we have a name for this guy, but can we catch him before its too late.’ He stood up and began to pace about. ‘Do we have a chance?’ he asked quietly but his voice wavered.
‘It’s more than we’ve had before Kev, and he doesn’t know we’ve identified him, that gives us a jump on him. An APB has been sent throughout the country. The FBI and Interpol have all been alerted and Scotland Yard are working from their end. I’m confident we’re going to get him Kev and get Jac back.’
Kevin sighed it was back to waiting again. He leaned back against the kitchen sink and thought. ‘Plus Jax has James’s cell phone maybe she’ll find a way to use it.’
‘There is that as well, Jac strikes me as being a resourceful woman.’ Steve said. ‘Ok I’ve got to get back to work. Kerry you’re doing a great job with the press.’
‘Oh I’m used to dealing with them, besides it’ll keep my mind busy.’ She waved off his praise. He smiled and said his goodbyes to everyone.
‘Well back to work for me.’ Kerry said ‘Come with me Kev and lets see if we can draft a statement from you, if we give the press a snippet, it might keep the wolves away from our door for a bit.’
If only they were to know it then, help and a clue would come from the most unexpected quarter.