by Lee Wood
Dragos picks himself up and despite the beating, he grins. He knows something his partner Kronid doesn’t. It will be difficult to keep it to himself but he just needs to bide his time a little bit longer.
The trio goes back inside.
The fight is forgotten, for now.
Daniel has heard their plan. Maybe trying to rescue the girls on his own is too dangerous.
The men are stronger than he thought. The girls could get hurt if there is a scuffle.
He’s not a fighter by nature. Perhaps it would be better to involve the police after all.
When the girls find out he has been the one to call the police and rescue them then he will get a chance to meet them and they will still be grateful.
So he will call the police and let them know the basic details of what is going to happen. Then tomorrow at four o’clock he will ring again and tell them where the girls are being held.
All he needs now is to buy a pay-as-you-go phone so they can’t trace who he is. He knows a shop where they sell such phones. It is only a ten-minute drive away.
Daniel sits in the hire car round the corner from the shop where he purchased the mobile phone.
He dials 999.
“Emergency, which service do you require?”
“The police.”
“Hello, Trentbridge Police.”
“I need to speak with someone regarding the kidnapping of the two girls.”
“I’m sorry sir, which two girls?”
Daniel remembers. There hasn’t been anything about the kidnapping on TV or in the newspapers. Even the police seem unaware of what is happening.
“Can I speak with a detective please?”
After two minutes, Daniel is about to give up when a voice comes on the line.
“Hello sir, my name is Detective Inspector Eden Gold. You mentioned something to my colleague about a kidnapping.”
“I know two girls have been kidnapped from the airport and I know where they are. I will phone you tomorrow at four o’clock. Be ready to send people to rescue them and you will find the men responsible.”
“Where are they being held, sir?”
“Somewhere in Trentbridge.”
“Can you give me your name, sir?”
But Daniel has hung up. He has watched the TV shows where the police are able to trace a phone call. He dares not risk them finding him, yet. He turns off the phone so the police cannot trace his location.
Daniel reminds himself to call the car hire company tomorrow morning and book the car for an extra day. He doesn’t have to be at work again until 8pm on Monday.
He’s bought some bottled water, snacks and a couple of sandwiches. He’s also bought some extra supplies, in case his plans change and he needs to rescue the girls himself. Now he is heading back to the old telephone exchange to check up on the girls.
Looking down from the first floor, he can see the twins. They are lying on their beds. They look so beautiful.
It’s almost midnight. Daniel has been watching all day to make sure the girls are safe. Everything is quiet. It looks like the two men have settled down for the night. Daniel doesn’t think anything else will happen until tomorrow.
He takes one last look through the window at the girls.
“Don’t worry. Daniel is here. It won’t be long now and you’ll be safe.”
He’s ready to call the police tomorrow at four o’clock. But maybe he might get a chance to rescue the girls before then.
So perhaps best to prepare, just in case.
After all, his hero Ethan Hunt always has a plan ‘B’ in the movies.
Chapter Fifty-One
It’s past midnight when Daniel leaves the old telephone exchange building. He has work to do. First, he heads to the old furniture store on Mitcham’s Corner. He drives round to the driveway and parks the car. He takes the supplies he’s purchased and let’s himself into the basement and puts the supplies in the kitchen.
He checks to make sure everything is tidy, especially the bedroom where the girls might stay. Once he's satisfied everything is good, he locks the doors and gets into his hire car. Daniel heads home to his bedsit.
He decides it could be a long day. It’s 3am. He needs to grab a few hours of sleep. He sets his alarm for seven.
Four hours later, he awakes feeling refreshed.
The bathroom at his bedsit is shared with two other people but he knows they don’t use it before eight.
A long hot shower and he washes his hair, cleans his teeth and puts on some smart clothes. He cleans his shoes and makes sure he smells nice with his Lynx deodorant. He needs to make himself look presentable. Cereal and toast for breakfast.
Daniel has some gifts he’s bought. He decides he needs to wrap them up before he gives them to the girls. He doesn’t have time now. He’ll leave them in his bedsit to collect later.
He jumps in the hire car and turns on the radio to his favourite local station.
The record fades out.
“And that was Echo Beach by Martha and the Muffins. Now to get us off to a cheerful start on this sunny Monday morning, let’s see what is in the news.”
“The main story is someone has thrown a milkshake at Nigel Farage while he was out campaigning for the Brexit Party.”
It brings a smile to Daniel’s face. But not as much as the follow-up story.
“Grieving Game of Thrones fans can pay £40-an-hour to speak to a counsellor about the show’s ending. What are your thoughts about that? Let’s have your calls or send me a text or engage with me on Twitter. In the meantime let’s listen to Shake It Off by Taylor Swift.
On his way, Daniel pops into a mini-supermarket and buys bottled water and biscuits and a sandwich for himself.
By the time he gets back to the old telephone exchange, it’s 8.20.
He grabs his binoculars and checks on the girls. They are sleeping. One of them, he’s not sure which one, is sleeping without a blanket. She’s wearing just her bra and panties. Daniel feels embarrassed and quickly turns away.
He checks on the two men. They are sitting on the sofa watching TV.
At 9am, Daniel hears one of the men saying he is going out to the café to get some breakfast. While he is out, the man left guarding the girls watches TV.
At 10am, the man comes back, with a bag from a supermarket.
The second man says he’s going out for breakfast. The man left guarding unlocks the office door and goes in with the carrier bag and puts it on the floor and then leaves. He locks the door and puts it in his pocket.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Harry Richardson arrives at Albert’s house at ten minutes to nine. He makes just one journey from his car, with two suitcases stuffed full of cash.
He is paying less than three-quarters of a million for a property worth close to two.
Albert doesn’t know that Harry owns the adjoining unit and being able to build on both sites will enhance the value even more. Plus, Harry has another reason for wanting to buy the property.
Albert hasn’t asked him how he could get hold of so much cash in such a short space of time and Harry hasn’t asked why Albert needs the money so quickly.
The paperwork and ownership will take some time to sort out and involve lawyers on both sides and a written agreement of land purchase but they have known each other for over twenty years and Harry is certain Albert won’t go back on the deal. Not if he knows what is good for him.
Besides, Harry had done a quick search and it seems the business and Albert don’t have any financial problems so he is pretty sure it is a good move.
Albert is fully aware of Harry’s reputation. But right now, all he cares about is getting Erica and Leona back safe and sound.
To count £700,000 in cash takes over forty minutes. Once Albert is satisfied it is all there, he signs the loan note guaranteed against the sale of the Tennis Court Road property. Albert’s wife Beatrice acts as the signature witness.
The two men shake hands and Harry wa
lks out to his car. It may have an empty boot but he has a huge smile on his face.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Albert Mitten has just returned home with £300,000 in cash he collected from the bank. He glances at his watch. 11.50. He had received some odd looks from the bank manager and his assistant but eventually, the money was ready. A member of staff was allocated to walk him out to his car, for security reasons.
Albert goes upstairs and returns with four empty suitcases and proceeds to separate the cash between them just as the kidnappers instructed. He won’t use the two that Harry left. He just has a feeling.
Francis Mitten told the kidnappers he couldn’t decide which daughter to save and begged for more time. The response was the phone line went dead.
It has been two agonising days since the forty-eight-hour deadline passed. Nothing has been heard from the kidnappers and everyone fears the worst.
After consulting with his superiors, DI Eden Gold has made the decision to go public and release details of the kidnapping.
A press conference is planned for later today to give out full details, showing footage of the abduction and asking for help to locate the Mercedes car and minibus used and give out the vehicle registration numbers.
The Mitten family plan to offer a reward of £100,000 for any information leading to the safe return of their two daughters. Mr and Mrs Mitten will also make an appeal to the kidnappers to return their daughters unharmed and will say they are still prepared to negotiate a deal for their release and to please get back in touch and let them know the girls are safe.
Eden and Tracy are in the kitchen of the Mitten house. They have come to go over the last-minute details before they collect Mr and Mrs Mitten to take them to the police station for the press conference appeal, timed to tie in with all of the one o’clock TV news programmes.
Francis phone is buzzing with a message from his father telling him to call right away. He is really not in the mood to speak with anyone right now, but the message says it’s urgent.
Francis walks out of the French doors and into the conservatory and presses recall.
“Hello Dad. We’re just getting ready to–”
“Are you alone? Can we talk privately?”
“Hang on, Dad. I’ll go into the back garden.”
“Listen, son. Great news. I’ve been contacted by these people. They know you’ve got the police there so they contacted me. They say the threat was simply to scare you. The girls are alive.”
“Really? How can you be sure this is real?”
“They sent me a video of the girls with a newspaper dated from yesterday. They want a million then they’ll release both the girls unharmed.”
“Dad, I haven’t got a million.”
“Listen, son. I’ve got the money sitting right here in cash.”
“How the bloody hell did you get that sort of money together?”
“I’ve got £300,000 from our savings. The rest was from Harry Richardson. I’ve agreed to sell him the old property at Tennis Court Road for £700,000 cash.”
“But that place is worth far more.”
“I don’t care. All I care about is getting Leona and Erica back. I’ve been to the bank this morning and taken out the money, after Harry had delivered the £700,000. I didn’t want to tell you anything until I knew I had the money. The kidnappers are calling me back at one.”
“How the hell does Harry manage to get his hands on £700,000 in cash by noon?”
“Look, son. I’ve known him for over twenty years. He’s not the straightest person I’ve ever met. He bends the rules shall we say, but right now I don’t care if he has to sell his own grandmother. All your mum and I care about is getting our granddaughters back. Whatever it takes. You can’t tell the police what I’m doing. We can’t risk it. These people are extremely clever. They know you’ve involved the police and that’s why they’ve contacted me. Maybe they’ve got someone on the inside. Who knows? What I do know is we can’t trust the police to handle this.”
“I don’t like it, Dad, but I agree. No police.”
Francis walks back into the house. He goes and sits next to his wife as if to comfort her. It seems the police are still busy on their computers in the kitchen.
“Listen, darling,” he whispers, “Dad’s been on the phone. The girls are alive. The kidnappers sent a video to Dad with Leona holding a copy of yesterday’s newspaper. They’ve contacted him because they know the police are here. They’ve demanded a million and Dad’s got the money. We’ll have the girls back by tonight. He said not to involve the police and I agree.”
“Oh Francis, thank God for-”
“Schhh. We need to go through with this so they don’t think something is happening. Who knows, by the time we get to the police station, Dad might ring with news they’re safe. But we need to keep up appearances. Can you do that?”
“If it means the girls will be safe, of course I can.”
“All this about only sending one of the girls back, they told Dad it was done to scare us into paying. Dad will handle it while we’re doing this bloody TV thing. We can’t risk anything going wrong.”
The TV press appeal shows a photograph of the two girls dressed in skin-tight ripped jeans and figure-hugging tops with their long blonde hair and full lips.
The police are well aware the public tend to respond best to people who look good in photos so the photographs have been carefully chosen.
Within minutes, the ten phone lines set up in the control room at Trentbridge police station start ringing. It is the usual mixture of people trying to help and the crank calls that always follow a TV appeal.
People saying they have kidnapped the girls and they are in their basement, men saying they want to marry them, psychics claiming the girls are already dead and they can locate the bodies, and even someone who says he is a famous film producer who wants to feature them in his next film.
Chapter Fifty-Four
The kidnappers told Albert they would phone at one o’clock. That was twenty-eight minutes ago and so far no call. Albert double checks the dialling tone is working. He is getting worried. What if something has happened? How can he tell his son he got it wrong and the girls are not coming home?
Two minutes later the phone rings.
“Hello. Albert Mitten.”
“Have you got the money?”
“Yes, yes I have. It’s right here. I’ve got the million in cash. It’s all in £10 and £20 notes, as you wanted.”
“Listen very carefully. Don’t write anything down. Come alone. We are not stupid and we are not nice people if we are crossed. Don’t forget, if the police get involved and one of us gets caught, you’ll never see your granddaughters again.”
“I understand. Their safety is paramount. We haven’t called the police. I promise.”
“Take the mobile I sent and get in your car and drive to Pickstone and on to the Old Quarry Road. Go out of town towards Stonebridge Road and turn left. Drive along to the first layby that’s about one mile past the turn-off for Trentbridge Road that leads to Asbury Park and pull in and wait for my call. Got that?”
“Yes. Perfectly. I understand. We just want Erica and Leona back. We won’t do anything silly to jeopardise their safety.”
“Leave your house now.”
The line goes dead.
Albert pulls his car into the lay-by. He switches off the engine and waits for the call. A couple of cars drive past but they don't stop or even slow down.
Without warning, one of Albert’s rear passenger doors opens and a man with a mask jumps in. Albert can see him in the rear-view mirror and is about to turn round.
“Stay looking ahead. Have you got the money?”
“Yes. It’s in the boot. All of it.”
“Listen carefully. After I’ve taken the money, you drive on to Stonebridge and park on the market square and wait until I call you.”
“What about my granddaughters?”
“They’ll be release
d unharmed when I know it’s safe. Remember if I’m caught, one of my team will deal with the girls and you wouldn’t want that, would you?”
“No. No. Please let them go. I’ve done everything just as you instructed. The police know nothing. I haven’t told anyone. The girls, they’re all that’s important.”
The rear door opens and then the car boot. Albert can feel the rear of the car lift as the four suitcases of cash are taken out. The lid slams down. The man opens the rear passenger door.
“Remember, if anything happens to me…”
“Yes. I understand. I promise you, I haven’t told the police.”
“Okay. Drive at normal speed and wait for my call.”
Albert checks his side mirror, nothing is coming, and he drives off looking in the rear-view mirror and seeing the man drag the suitcases into the hedge. Then Albert loses sight of him as he drives on.
Two miles further down the road Albert fails to spot the Black BMW hiding behind a hedgerow. The car waits for thirty seconds and then drives out, heading back towards the lay-by and the money.
Albert drives into Stonebridge and parks on the market square as the kidnapper instructed. He waits for a phone call that will never come. But he isn’t to know that.
Chapter Fifty-Five
As so often happens, it can be down to one phone call from an alert member of the public and one quick-thinking police officer taking calls from the TV appeal and putting two and two together to give an investigation the break they have been waiting for.
It’s a bright sunny afternoon and George Saunders is walking his Yorkshire terrier on the regular route he takes that includes Tennis Court Road. It’s the same route he’s walked with his dog for the past ten months.
It’s his first day back after a week away. He has been visiting with his wife’s relatives. He can’t really stand them but it makes for a quiet life.
