by Anna Jacobs
He reserved that pleasure for himself.
Tess had overheard enough snatches of information to know something was going on. She’d already decided to find something to protect herself with, just in case. It’d make her feel safer. When she saw Jo stroll over to the workshop to take a mug of tea to Todd, she decided to act now.
She knew Jo wouldn’t linger there but this was a perfect opportunity to find something, because Silas had nipped out to the corner shop. He’d be back in a couple of minutes, so she didn’t waste any time. She ran down to the kitchen and found a drawer of kitchen oddments that were not likely to be missed, scrabbling through it till she came upon an old paring knife whose blade was bent and slightly rusty.
It was still sharp enough for her purpose, which was to protect herself. Her mother had often carried a small knife for the same reason, only he had used it on her mother instead. Slipping it into her pocket, Tess went back to her bedroom and got there just in time. She heard the front door being unlocked and Jo returning, then Silas coming in.
Her heart was pounding as she wrapped up the paring knife in a rag ready to slip into her waistband that night. Then she waited and the day seemed very long indeed, even worse than the previous days she’d spent here.
One thought never left her: she intended to make sure her kind cousin wasn’t hurt. She was nimble and if Jo left the house, she’d follow. She knew how to creep about unnoticed at night, because she’d often had to do it when her mother had customers.
Her cousin was so stubborn that she might even go against the sergeant’s orders.
Against his better judgement, Nick accepted a warm invitation to join one of his customers at a nearby pub for a drink to meet several of his friends who were thinking of learning to drive. It might bring in several customers for driving lessons, so Jo told him to go. She’d be fine with all the doors locked.
He frowned at her. ‘I’m not sure.’
‘Just go for one quick drink. It needn’t take more than half an hour. After all, Sergeant Deemer said he’d make sure the policeman on night duty walks past regularly.’
‘Well, I’ll be half an hour at most. You make sure you do keep every door locked. I’ll sneak out the back way, too, so that if anyone’s watching they won’t know I’ve gone out.’
He’d walked past the pub a few times because it was only two minutes’ walk away. It seemed to be frequented by decent folk.
Nick slipped into the pub and joined his customer, a very pleasant man, whose friends seemed equally good-natured. He accepted a half pint and sat down with them.
When another man joined the group, he had to stand up as they re-arranged the seats. As he did so, he caught sight of the reflection in the big mirror on one wall of a man wearing his cap pulled down low standing in the entrance hall staring into the room where Nick was.
The man turned away.
After chatting politely for a couple of minutes, Nick looked up again and was horrified to see the man again staring into the room. Why was he doing this? Were they planning to try to capture Tess? They must have seen him leave the house, though he’d tried to keep to the shadows.
When the man saw Nick looking at him he again turned away, but that was it, Nick decided. He shouldn’t have come and he was going straight back to make sure Jo was all right. Her safety came before trapping Rathley, and Tess wouldn’t be able to protect her.
He left the pub the back way and tried to get home without being seen.
Jo chatted to Tess, then when the younger woman fell asleep, went down quietly to the kitchen and began to read one of Nick’s books.
She found that she was sleepy too, so let the book fall into her lap and closed her eyes, just for a minute or two.
She was woken by a cold draught of air coming from the back scullery but before she could do anything, someone grabbed her by the hair and a hand covered her mouth, preventing her from crying out.
She struggled desperately, but whoever it was had a cloth that smelled of something that made her head spin. Chloroform! She panicked, renewing her efforts to get that hand and cloth off her face.
But it grew harder and harder to struggle and she could feel herself losing consciousness.
Despair filled her as everything faded away.
Tess had been listening from the bedroom, and yet she knew nothing about the break-in till she heard some faint sounds from inside the kitchen. Then she heard some scrabbling noises and what sounded like a chair falling over.
Worried, Tess crept further down the stairs. She was even more worried when she heard the outside door open and someone go out into the yard. Was it Jo? No, why would Jo go outside when they had agreed to keep the doors locked at all times?
She ran into her bedroom and peeped out of the window, horrified to see two men carrying an unconscious Jo out of the yard and off down the alley while a third one closed the gate carefully behind them. Why wasn’t Jo struggling? Did they really think they’d got Tess?
Had they killed Jo? No, if this was for Rathley, he would want her alive.
There was no way Tess could rescue her cousin, but she could follow them, find where they went and get help.
If only Nick hadn’t gone out!
She slipped out of the house the back way, using all the skills she’d learned over the years of trying not to attract attention as she followed the group of men.
Jo was still not moving and to Tess’s dismay, the men stopped at a car, shoved their captive in the back any old how and drove away.
She ran after it for a little while, hoping to see which way it went. It left the town centre by a less frequented road, which led only to one part of the valley, just beyond Backshaw Moss.
But where exactly were they going? There were too many people in the crowded slum for them to be taking Jo there.
Tess ran back to the house and to her relief saw Nick standing in the kitchen looking out of the back door.
He grabbed her and pulled her quickly inside. ‘Where did you go and where the hell’s Jo?’
‘Some men have taken her. I don’t know what they’ve done to her but she was unconscious. I followed them along the laneway, but they had a car so I lost them. I think they took that back road which goes near Backshaw Moss. I’d recognise the car again.’
‘Then we’ll drive after them and search the area till we find them. If necessary, I’ll rouse people from nearby to help me hunt for her. I’m not leaving her in their hands.’
‘Shouldn’t we get Sergeant Deemer?’
Nick hesitated. ‘Yes.’
But it was the sergeant’s wife who answered his knock and she said her husband was out on a job. When Nick explained what was going on, she said she’d call in someone else to help. She knew who her husband used in emergencies.
‘I’m not waiting. They went up towards Backshaw Moss.’
She grabbed his arm. ‘That’d be where that horrible Rathley man has a cottage.’
‘Send whoever it is after us and tell them about the cottage. I’m going to look for their car.’
As they set off again, Tess kept thinking, Please let her be all right. Please let them not hurt her.
Jo moaned involuntarily as she tried to open her eyes, and someone again put that stinking cloth over her mouth and held it there forcibly. She felt the dopiness clouding her brain again so held her breath, trying not to take in any more of the evil-smelling fumes. She managed to do that till she was nearly bursting and at the same time she tried to feign unconsciousness.
She felt woozy and didn’t think she could hold on much longer, when suddenly the cloth was taken away and she was able to take a shallow breath.
A man’s voice said, ‘She should sleep for a good half-hour now. Go and fetch Rathley now, Bill.’
‘What if someone sees me driving up the road to his house and chases after me?’
‘You put your foot on the accelerator and leave them behind, then ditch the car somewhere and run off across the fields. Pity if th
at happens. It’s a good car, and someone’s left things in it we can sell later. We fell lucky when we stole that one.’
‘Rathley won’t like us doing that.’
‘It’s a damn sight easier to use a car than a handcart or try to carry her all that way. She’s a lot heavier than I’d expected.’
‘She’s not going to be a child much longer. She has nice, firm breasts. I had a quick feel. She’s definitely becoming a woman.’ He chortled. ‘And in more ways than one tonight, eh?’
Jo felt fury sizzle through her at the thought of someone pawing her unconscious body and that made her feel more alert. These men were obviously sent by Rathley and still thought she was Tess, which showed that they didn’t really know what she and her cousin looked like.
What else had they done to her while she was unconscious? Jo wondered. Fear churned through her, but she continued to lie quietly because they hadn’t tied her up and they might do that if she let them see that she’d regained consciousness.
She might have a chance of escaping if she was lucky. No one else was going to rescue her because they wouldn’t know who had taken her or where.
She’d been so sure she could manage this. But it had all gone wrong.
The car stopped and she heard the door open, felt fresh air on her face, longed to take deep breaths of it, but didn’t, just continued to lie still, taking slow, shallow breaths and keeping her eyes closed.
When a man picked her up and started walking, she had difficulty staying limp, she felt so vulnerable.
Could she find a way to escape? She had to.
31
D eemer drove up to Backshaw Moss with his men by a roundabout way before it grew dark that evening. He felt sure if Rathley had arranged anything for tonight it’d be at his cottage.
He knew all the little farm lanes in the area – well, he knew the whole valley, didn’t he, because he’d grown up here? He was able to park in a lane near the rear of Rathley’s house and slip across a field to the cottage’s large garden. There was a fence and a sign forbidding trespassing, but the gate wasn’t locked and there was no one around to see them slip into the garden.
He and his men found hiding places among the overgrown shrubs. Piper also did a quick reconnoitre round the cottage because he was quieter at moving around than Constable Hopkins. He checked that it was unoccupied and said he’d seen a loaf and some other bits of food on the kitchen table.
He was proving very useful. Ironically enough, the man would probably make a good policeman, Deemer thought with a wry smile.
It was over two hours before anything happened, but the food had made the sergeant sure they were on the right track.
He sucked in a long slow breath of satisfaction when he saw a car draw up outside and some of the men Rathley occasionally used get out.
Breath hissed into his mouth as one of them lifted Jo out of the car and carried her into the house. How had they managed to capture her, and why was she unconscious? Should he take his men in to save her straight away? This wouldn’t have happened if he had other men he could call on for help at times of crisis, as he’d asked to arrange several times. It’d have been money well spent and the mayor had supported the idea, but the former council hadn’t, damn them.
Well, trying again was for another day. For the time being he had to deal with it somehow, so he sent Piper to see what he could find out first.
The man came back as noiselessly as he’d gone, making Deemer jump as he suddenly appeared beside him.
‘She’s alive, sarge. I saw her move, then they covered her face with a cloth and she stopped moving again.’
‘Is she tied up?’
‘No. And they’re not taking liberties with her or hurting her, either.’
‘Thank goodness. I bet those sods are using chloroform. Now, we’ll have to go in quickly. We don’t want them hurting her and—’ He broke off as one of the men came out and drove off in the big car.
The constable looked at him. ‘We should follow him but we can’t just leave her there, can we, sarge? I don’t like to think of her in their power. She’s a nice lass, was kind to me and my mate.’
‘I’ll go and keep an eye on them and yell if we need to go in.’ At the sergeant’s reluctant nod, Piper left again.
Deemer fought a battle with his conscience and the conscience won. It’d be nice to catch Rathley in the act of kidnapping, but Jo’s safety was more important. ‘We’d better get her out of there and—’ He broke off as he heard the sound of a car. ‘Is that it coming back?’
It was. The same car. It pulled up in front of the cottage.
‘Wait till we see who gets out,’ Deemer ordered.
It was Rathley.
‘Aaah!’ The sergeant smiled and whispered, ‘Be ready to go in.’
Rathley’s voice floated across to them, surprisingly loud for a man supposed to be here secretly. ‘Get rid of that car now . You were a fool to steal it. One of you take it into Rivenshaw and damned well walk back here. Do you want some nosy parker seeing it here?’
Then he went into the cottage.
Scowling, the man who’d driven the car said something to another man waiting by the door, then got back into it and drove off on his own.
‘That one’s leaving,’ Piper pointed out unnecessarily. ‘Pity! He’ll probably get away.’
‘That one who’s driven off is small fry. It’s Rathley we want,’ Deemer said.
‘Well, there are only three left, including him, so we outnumber them. And there’s plenty of moonlight, thank goodness. They’ll not get away from us.’
He sounded to be enjoying this, Deemer thought sourly. He wasn’t. He was too worried about Jo getting hurt if there was any fighting.
He took a deep breath and gave his orders. ‘Larry, go and stand guard at the front door and us three will go in the back way. Remember, keeping that lass safe is the most important thing, even if that means letting one of them escape.’
They all nodded, looking eager and excited.
Excitement was greatly overrated, Deemer decided sourly.
Nick drove up the hill with Tess in the front seat beside him. He took the direct route, driving straight through Backshaw Moss, but when he saw a car parked by the side of the road just outside it, with the headlights and engine still on, he slowed down. A man was peering into the boot, bent over as if searching for something, so engrossed he hadn’t noticed them approaching.
Tess shouted, ‘Stop! That’s the car they took Jo away in!’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Oh, yes. Definitely.’
He jammed his foot on the brake and jumped out. The man looked round and Nick saw that he’d been collecting a pile of small objects, piling them on a travel rug in the boot.
The man yelped in shock and tried to flee, but couldn’t get away fast enough. Nick brought him down in a flying tackle. The struggle was short and sharp because he was terrified about what the others might be doing to Jo if he was delayed.
To his surprise, Tess joined in, producing a rusty knife and brandishing it at the man’s throat so that he stopped trying to move and stared up at her, leaning his head as far away as he could from the blade.
‘I’ll be happy to use this if you don’t tell us where my cousin is,’ she said in a loud and very fierce voice.
‘Cousin?’ He stared at her, then exclaimed, ‘Oh, hell! You’re the one Rathley wants. Not her.’
‘Yes, you’ve kidnapped the wrong person.’
Her grip on the knife had slackened a little and the man tried to jerk away, but Nick grabbed the arm nearest to him and twisted it behind the man’s back. The pain made his captive moan and stay still.
‘We need to tie him up,’ Nick said to Tess. ‘Either that or knock him unconscious.’
‘Or kill him.’ She sounded vicious and quite prepared to do that.
The man twitched at that and went rigid, his eyes wide and scared.
‘See if you can find something in that
car to tie him up with, but keep your knife handy.’ He shook his captive. ‘Whose car is this anyway?’
The man scowled and said nothing, so Nick increased the pressure on the arm.
‘Ow, stop! I don’t know whose it is.’
‘Stolen?’
‘Yes.’
Tess found a length of rope in the car and Nick used it to bind the man’s wrists behind him.
They dragged their prisoner to their own car and shoved him into the back, and since she turned round in the front seat and continued to hold the knife at the ready, he didn’t make any attempt to escape from the rough bindings.
‘You’ve captured the woman I love, who is also this lady’s cousin,’ Nick said. ‘If you don’t tell me where she is, I’ll not hesitate to let my young friend use her knife on you.’
The chill tone and another wave of the knife by Tess made the man volunteer information quickly.
‘She’s at Rathley’s cottage. Go to the end of this lane, turn right and then first left. It’s not far away, but it’s set back from the road behind trees so it’s not easy to find.’
‘I hope you’re telling the truth. Let’s find out.’ Nick put his foot on the accelerator.
Rathley went into the cottage and through to the kitchen, which was lit only by an oil lamp. ‘Ah.’ He advanced towards Jo, his eyes gloating and lingering on her body before he even looked at her face. He waved one hand dismissively at the men. ‘You can go now.’
‘You said you’d pay us.’
‘You can come to the office for it tomorrow.’
‘My family needs to eat tonight.’
Grumbling, Rathley fished in his pocket and took out two pound notes.
‘And one for our friend,’ Hobbs said.
Rathley slapped another one down on his hand, then shoved them out of the door and locked it.
While he was doing that, Jo tensed, ready to fight him in any way she could.
When Rathley turned back to her, she moaned and stirred slightly as if still dopey, keeping watch on him through half-closed eyes.
He took off his coat and laid it neatly on the back of a chair, then took off his belt and kicked off his shoes.
