Troy put his arm around her. “You’ve already done so much. I bet no-one else on the planet would not have risked their life like you have.”
Troy gave a little squeeze. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
Jen smiled through the tears. “You may have mentioned it once or twice.”
46
The following day
“I’m going to make this really simple for you. Either you tell us where the compound is in Morocco or we will remove you from protective custody and release you back into the general population.”
Liam sat across the table from Gary Morris in Parc Prison. Lisa stood by the door. She was agitated. Her anger was swelling inside her. Every inch of her body was wanting to punch the smug paedophile. Her restraint was only due to being with a superior officer and in the prison environment.
“Fuck you!” Biscuit answered.
“I’m going to give you one last chance,” Liam replied. “I don’t need to remind you of who is still serving on the wing we plan to send you to.”
“The guards would never allow it,” Biscuit replied.
“That is where you are wrong,” Lisa interjected. “Turns out that in the last six months that Ali has got himself clean. He’s become a model prisoner. He’s up for parole soon. The guards don’t think it’s an issue.”
“Yeah, right!” Biscuit replied. “That spiced up twat would never be clean.”
“He said his daughter would never have been abducted if he wasn’t in prison. A realisation like that made him turn his life around,” Lisa answered.
“He won’t touch me then,” Biscuit answered, annoyingly.
“Do you really want to test that theory?” Liam said.
“Fuck you!” said Biscuit.
Lisa knocked the door.
“Is his cell on the wing ready?” Lisa asked the guard.
“It most certainly is,” the guard replied. “Let’s see how many friends Mr Amrani really has. I’m betting it’s considerably more than you, Mr Morris.” he said, turning his attention to Biscuit. “Because we all know how many people respect nonces like you, and a nonce who has raped an inmates’s daughter, oof, I don’t fancy your chances.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll talk,” Biscuit replied.
Lisa sat down, “About bloody time too.”
47
A few days later
Lisa sat in the staff room of the medical facility. Hannah sat next to her, she was gently stroking Lisa’s hand. Troy couldn’t help but smile, he knew that they were meant to be together.
Jen walked in, “Sorry I’m late, I was finishing my application to university.”
“Soooo exciting!” Hannah squealed. “Did you go for the Psychology course?”
“I did!” Jen replied. “The one with the year work placement. It leaves my options more open as to whether I want to do counselling or psychology later on.”
“Perfect,” Hannah replied. “I’ll help you as much as I can.”
“What did you want to tell us, Lisa?” Jen asked, before she walked to the other sofa, sitting down beside Troy and planting a kiss on his lips.
“We got them!” Lisa grinned. “I won’t bore you with all the international hoops that we had to jump through, but we located the compound in Morocco. We’ve rescued eleven trafficking victims and we’ve arrested three men.”
“That’s wonderful!” Jen replied. “Were Maxine and Abdul two of the people rescued?” she added, hesitantly.
“They were,” Lisa beamed. “They’re being supported by Amnesty International volunteers at the moment. They are trying to trace families of the children but they are safe.”
“Does Nadia know?” Jen asked.
“Liam has gone over there now,” Lisa replied.
“She’ll be so relieved. I’ll have to ring Gemma and let her know,” Jen said.
Troy smiled, “Well, as double dates go, this isn’t a bad first one.”
“That obvious, huh?” Hannah laughed.
“Well, kiddo, you haven’t stopped touching Lisa since she arrived,” he said.
Lisa blushed, “We will have to go on a proper double date soon though.”
“God, no!” Hannah joked. “I get sick of his ugly mug in work, don’t need to see it socially too.”
Troy laughed, “Well, you’d better get used to my mug if you are going to be helping my girlfriend with her degree too.”
“I’ll be sick of the sight of you!” she replied.
“Enough, children!” Jen grinned. “You’re like squabbling siblings. Lisa, would you like a coffee? And I hear you like shortbread biscuits.”
Jen winked at Hannah, and this time it was Hannah’s turn to blush.
Epilogue
Six months later
Nadia sat at the bar sipping her Pepsi. She looked around at the rainbow flags that hung from the walls. She felt happy in here. Even though she had become infamous in Cardiff as the little girl who was kidnapped and disappeared for months, returning pregnant, the patrons at the Old Market pub left her to be. It was if they understood, through being part of a minority community, that people should be allowed privacy, to be allowed to be who they were, no questions asked.
Maxine finished serving a customer and returned to Nadia.
“I love my job,” she grinned. “Here, everyone understands me as Maxine. Nobody judges me. Thank you so much for persuading me to come to Wales.”
“You’re the only person who understands me,” Nadia replied. “You’re my best friend.”
“And you’re mine,” Maxine grabbed Nadia’s hand. “So, are you ready?”
Nadia nodded, “I’m so nervous. I don’t know what I am going to say.”
“You’ll be fine,” Maxine reassured her. “You’ve been speaking on the phone for months now.”
“I know.” Nadia nodded, “But seeing him face to face is different somehow.”
“You are only going for lunch. If it goes wrong, just ring me, I’ll come and get you,” Maxine said.
“What if we don’t get on?” Nadia replied.
“But what if you do, Nadia. He got clean for you. He deserves a chance.”
“My mother doesn’t think so.” The indignance was clear in Nadia’s voice.
“Your mother doesn’t agree with a lot of things. She didn’t agree with you giving the baby up for adoption. She came around to that, and she will come around to this.”
Nadia nodded. “It hurt to give the baby away, but I know that he will have a much better life with the Robinsons than I could have ever given him. They were so desperate for a child.”
Maxine smiled, “You are a brave and beautiful woman. Your Dad is going to be as proud of you as I am.”
“Thanks, Maxine,” she lifted Maxine’s hand and kissed it. “I’m so lucky to have you living here in Cardiff now. You’re like family.”
“Stop, you’ll make me cry, and I can’t do a shift if my mascara runs!” Maxine said, playfully. “Now, go and meet your real family.”
...
Nadia felt at peace as she finished her ice-cream.
“I’m stuffed!” she announced.
“Got my appetite, that’s for sure,” Ali said.
Ali paused a moment, a sadness filled his eyes.
“I will never forgive myself for what happened to you,” he said, remorsefully.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Nadia replied.
“At least that bastard Biscuit got what was coming to him,” Ali added.
“Now you are out, can I ask you, was it you who stabbed and killed him in his cell?” she spoke in whispered tones, to ensure that nobody else could hear.
Ali shook his head. “It wasn’t me. Although I wish it had been.”
“You don’t mean that, Dad,” Nadia replied. “You’d never have got out if they had caught you.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Ali smiled. “And now I’ve got my girl back. There’s no escape from me now.”
The End
> If you have enjoyed No Escape, you may want to continue with the third in the series and read Mob Justice. You will recognise a few familiar characters from the first two books, along with a new twist in the tale. I have added the first chapter with a link to buy at the end.
Chapter One
Penny could hear Oscar barking as the door was knocked. She placed the plate she was currently washing onto the rack on the draining board and wiped her hands in a tea towel.
“Quiet, Oscar,” she said to her barking dog, as she shut him in the living room before opening the front door.
She was greeted by two police officers. A petite black female and an older white gentleman. It was the female who spoke.
“Mrs Locke?” the officer enquired.
Penny nodded, “How can I help you?” she asked.
“Is your husband home?”
“No, he’s at work, he’s working late. What is this about?” Penny replied.
“We have a warrant for his arrest and to search the premises,” the male officer said.
“I don’t understand!” The confusion was clear in Penny. “What do you want with Jason?”
“Can we come in, please?” the man took over.
“Yes, of course,” Penny replied.
She stood aside, letting the two officers into the hallway and shut the front door.
“What is this about?” she asked.
“Your husband has been accused of having sex with an underage girl,” the female officer replied.
“Jason?” Penny laughed. “You have to be mistaken. Jason would never do something like that.”
“When is your husband due home?” the man asked.
“He should be home soon, but I’m telling you, you are wrong.”
“We will start searching the property while we wait for him,” the woman said.
Both officers took plastic gloves from their pockets and started to put them on.
“Does your husband have a computer?” the man asked.
“Yes, it’s in the study,” Penny replied.
Oscar continued to bark from within the living room.
“Can I ask you to take your dog outside, please?” the woman said.
Penny began getting annoyed.
“No, you can’t. This is Oscar’s home and this is my home. I’ve let you in.”
“Then can you please get your dog to be quiet? You can leave us to it, thank you, Mrs Locke.”
Penny opened the living room door, stopping Oscar from running into the hallway.
“Come here, Oscar,” she said as she closed the door behind her. She guided Oscar out to the kitchen.
She sat at the table and took the phone from her pocket and text her husband.
Jason, you need to come home now. The police are here. They have a warrant for your arrest.
She sat there for a moment in contemplation. The Jason she knew and loved would never be capable of such a thing. She was sure that in their twenty-year marriage he had never been unfaithful, let alone with an underage girl. The whole thing was preposterous. Besides, he would never have time for an affair, he was a real home bird. They did everything together. The only time they spent apart was when she or Jason were at work, or when he was out walking Oscar, but even then, if she wasn’t on shift, she would walk Oscar with him.
This didn’t make any sense. Jason was a well-respected history teacher. The school loved him, his pupils loved him, didn’t they?
Ok, their sex life had waned in recent years, but didn’t every married couple lose interest in sex in their forties and fifties? She had certainly lost her desire as she hit perimenopause. That was normal, wasn’t it?
Or could it be possible that Jason had sought sexual pleasure outside the marriage? He had never had that high a sex drive anyway. It had brought issues to their relationship in previous years, when Penny’s desire had been greater.
No, Penny couldn’t believe it. This was bound to be a terrible mistake. There was no way that Jason had done these terrible things. No way at all.
mybook.to/mobjustice
Authors note
This book was tougher to write than Project Payback. There were a few themes in the book which were really hard to write, but it was a book that I was compelled to write. I had been reading some news items about people trafficking for the sex industry. It’s something that is really painful as a woman to contemplate. However, I tried to put this at the back of my mind. It’s the kind of thing that happens elsewhere in the world, surely?
Then I read that there is an estimated 130,000 people in the UK right now that are modern slaves, most of them sex slaves. Let that sink in. I live in a town of about 40,000 people. That is the population of over three towns my size, enslaved in the UK right now.
We hear on the news frequently about teenagers going missing, about them being groomed. More often than not, they end up as sex slaves one way or another. This hurts my heart.
So, I wanted one child, just one teenager to have a better outcome. Even if she is a fictional character.
The idea for Maxine, also came from reading that I have been doing. I consider myself a proud ally to the LGBT community. I wanted Nadia to be supported by a trans woman, to raise the profile of trans men and women, to provide understanding and acceptance, to be a voice against the hatred that many trans people receive. In this book and in the previous book, I have had characters from the LGBT community. The more that characters are portrayed as strong people, regardless of race, sexual orientation, religion etc, the sooner that diversity is applauded, and then the sooner we, as a human race, become stronger for it.
I started plotting this book just before Brexit and the Coronavirus pandemic. I’m glad that Maxine managed to get to live and work in the UK before Brexit would have potentially have shut our borders to Eastern Europeans.
I also had a holiday to Lanzarote booked. I have had some criticism about Jen’s swimming being a pointless sub plot in Project Payback, that it didn’t add anything to the story. However, I needed you, my readers, to know this about Jen for No Escape, as I had already had the idea. I needed Jen’s swim for survival to be plausible.
I had planned to do extra research whilst on holiday. However, COVID-19 had other plans, our holiday was cancelled and I had to rely on memory and Google Earth instead. I am quite sure that my husband Phil would be relieved in many ways, as I had also researched about organised swims that you can do between Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, about how I could do the swim I had planned for Jen and I was indeed planning on packing my wetsuit!
Anyhow, I hope you have enjoyed the book.
Also like other styles of books?
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Wrong! That was exactly what 41 year old Debs did.
Not caring that she was more than a bit on the heavy side, and diabetic to boot, she signed up for her first triathlon.
However, despite her failings and lack of any form of sporting prowess she decided "what the hell" and gave it her best shot. Living proof that if she could train for a triathlon anyone can.
This Novelette follows the first part of her remarkable and surprising journey into becoming the Unlikely Triathlete.
Link to order: mybook.to/TUT
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No Escape (Sinister Minds Quick Reads Book 2) Page 11
