County Lines Rider

by Samantha Bassett

  “Sorry…” I muttered the phrase. I wasn’t sure that the others had even heard me.

  “What?” Kate looked up.

  “Sorry… I don’t know what else to say. I brought you into this.” Kate reached across, both Adam, and she took me in my arms.

  “Look, we’re a family. Your brother has just about made you my sister-in-law…” She kissed my cheek. “Don’t be sorry. I would have liked a longer future, but I’ve had a great past.”

  We held each other in our arms, the warmth felt good as the water lapped around my chest, inching higher by the moment. I don’t know how long we stayed there, I had given up hope and finally resigned myself to my fate. She was right, we might have a short future but, together, we had had a hell of a past.

  “What the hell was that? Oh, God!!” Kate looked up, twisting around to see what the approaching noise was.

  I looked around, suddenly seeing the source of the noise as a bright yellow and orange boat came around the bay towards us. Was that? I looked more closely and saw Dan standing at the bow of the boat yelling.

  “Amanda?”

  I raised my arm, I was cold, my energy sapped. The boat was soon beside us, life-boatmen were bustling around forcing rods into the sand, I felt a rush of air and my legs started to come free. I screamed as I was dragged from the mud, slithering onto the boat. The men grabbed me, wrapping me in a blanket. Dan grabbed me.

  “I got your message…” He shrugged.

  “Just in time…” I stuttered, panicking as I saw Adam freed.

  Adam fought with the men, his face pale, it was clear he’d lost a lot of blood and was deeply confused, as Kate was dragged free, she grasped hold of him, calming him. He became still in her arms.

  ***

  Time passed in a blur, from the rapid trip back to shore and into ambulances. I moaned, struggling as they took Adam away, Dan held me, telling me that he needed urgent attention.

  His warmth was so soothing, it engulfed me, just needing to close my eyes for a moment.

  IV

  IMAGINATION OR REALITY

  33

  Forward Transitions

  The water engulfed me, I was struggling but I couldn’t get free. I screamed but it only caused more water to flood into my mouth. He was laughing, standing and watching me die. I felt alone, so desperately alone.

  ***

  The chill air did not mask the feeling of excitement, the Met had waited a long time to finally close down this operation. A tip-off and CCTV footage from Cumbria Police had proven pivotal, showing, in high definition, threats to murder and the main suspect admitting his part in a major country lines drug-running operation. He had been under surveillance for months, but this had been the breakthrough. His stupid boasts that he had left three people to drown as punishment would be enough to see him put away for a long time.

  The squads were ready, they had what they called the ‘door knocker’ a huge ram ready to smash down even the heaviest door, another group of officers standing at the rear door. They gave a countdown and then all hell broke loose.

  ***

  Amanda

  I was surprised and rather touched to receive your letter. I saw in the press that you had a run-in with my one time subordinate, I have to tell you that I would have never wished that upon you and I am deeply sorry about what happened to your brother. He was a brave man.

  I know that you cannot find it in your heart to love me, and I can understand, you would have never loved me if you knew what I did, however, you were beautifully naive and I just wanted you to remain innocent.

  There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of you and miss you, maybe, one day you would come and visit me.

  However, I will be a very old man when I am eventually free and I know you will not wait for me. I understand. Please know, you will be in my heart forever.

  With Love

  Edwin

  ***

  Kate sat with her head bowed, the weight of all that had happened weighing heavily on her. She looked up as I gently placed a mug of tea in front of her.

  “Are you okay?” I saw the tiny nod. “I know you aren’t… How could you be?” I sat down. “Come here.” We hugged, I felt her tears flowing down my shoulder.

  34

  Drifting

  I had been close to death before, so I guess this was old ground I was treading. From the accident when I was so young, my beautiful sister had saved me, however, there were limits to what she could do. Limits to the miracles one can have in one life and I had had my lot and then some.

  The light was blinding at first, however, with time my eyes adjusted. There was whiteness, the soft sound of birdsong, trees blowing in the wind. It was heavenly.

  The loss of pain. That was what had relieved me the most, the fact that, after everything I was no longer cold, no longer sore, no longer in that abject agony. It had slipped away, replaced with the softness which held me now.

  I closed my eyes, drifting, I had done so little but felt that I had achieved everything I desired, it was a lovely, relaxing feeling one of bliss where I was detached from the realities which had held me back before.

  Maybe I would have a nap. Maybe, in this warm and beautiful place in which I found myself, I could just drift off. No work to do, no plans, no expectations, just the bliss of the moment, and birdsong.

  35

  Recovery

  “Oh hello sleepy…” I smiled, Adam was slowly opening his eyes, still somewhat unfocused. He groggily smiled and I helped him sit up in the hospital bed.

  “You’re an angel…”

  I am sure he truly believed I was an angel, more likely a product of a combination of blood loss, hypothermia and a good dose of morphine. Between us, Amanda and I had been sitting beside Adam’s bed for three days now. He had been unconscious for most of it with a couple of exceptions when he had woken in shock, his eyes blindly darting around the room, before he had slipped again back into his dreamless sleep.

  I felt totally unlike an angel, no matter how close I had come to becoming one, another few inches of water and we would have been no more. Instead, Amanda and I had been washed down, warmed up and declared generally fit and well after our ordeal. It had taken some time for the shock to hit us. We had been on autopilot for hours afterwards. It was not until we returned to the normality of the farmhouse, thanks to a lift home from the friendly policeman that it dawned on us, realising we had been so close to death and we have wept. Loud, cathartic wailing in each other’s arms for what felt like hours and then, almost as suddenly as it had started there were no more tears.

  We realised we’d won! Amanda and I were home, free and well and Adam was recovering. In time this would be nothing more than one of those memories you tell the grand-kids. That thought stopped me. Had he proposed? Did he really mean it? I had asked Amanda who laughed and said yes he had and it was clear that he had truly meant it. So we had the happy distraction of wedding planning, albeit without the groom but he would be amongst our number soon.

  The next day we had called Judith and Emily, asking them if they would like to return. Judith had arrived just over an hour later, dropped off by a nervous father full of hugs and tears. Emily had come before nightfall and had, embarrassingly fallen in the ditch which Adam had dug across the drive. She came in soaked to the skin yet laughing at her predicament.

  A change of clothes, a warm fire and good company, helped with bottles of wine had soon made her feel better, I made a mental note to fill in the ditch and prayed there were no more booby traps to be found in the woods.

  We had fallen asleep together on the sofa, in the morning the girls set to getting the stables back in business and Amanda and I went to the hospital.

  ***

  “I haven’t got my wings yet… How are you?” I took his hand, thank goodness it was warm and his colour had returned. He had looked so ill in the frigid water, slashed deeply across the chest, he’d been so pale and weak. I’d been holding him up again
st the tide. I shuddered as I remembered his words, weak, whispered in my ear, ‘leave me, save yourself’. I knew that nothing could be further from my heart. As we heard the boat and I had begged them to take him first, get him safe and the pain of not knowing if he was okay. Well, at that stage I knew that I needed to spend the rest of my life with him, no matter how long that was.

  He smiled, how that made my heart melt, that beautiful, innocent smile as he sat in a hospital bed, I so wanted to hug him, to never let him go. I looked around the ward, it was all quiet, so I pulled back the covers, kicking off my boots I slipped into the bed next to him, arms around his chest feeling it’s slow rise and fall. He gripped me tightly, his eyes closing a smile playing on his lips. I felt totally safe in his arms.

  ***

  “Hello…” I opened my eyes, the bright light of the day replaced with the harsh hospital lighting. Looking up I saw that it was dark outside. The nurse smiled. “We thought it would be best to let you both sleep. We know that you’ve all been through a lot.”

  I slipped from the bed, mumbling apologies. Of course, we’d been the talk of the area, the story of our rescue and the arrest of the people who had tried to kill us had made the national news. I couldn’t go into a shop without people wanting to know more, excited to discover the gory details.

  The nurse was taking Adam’s blood pressure. “He’ll be back home soon, although you had better look after him, he’s had a lot of stitches. No working or riding. I know what you horse people are like. Make him rest!” She smiled, walking to the next patient.

  “Hello. Have you just got here? I had some lovely dreams.”

  I smiled as Adam babbled about his dream of a red-haired angel comforting him as he slept. He stopped and looked at me, a look of concern on his face. “What’s up?”

  “You did say yes, didn’t you?” I nodded. “Thank goodness. I don’t think I want to be without you.”

  Okay, this was just too much for me. Days of withheld emotions, shock and fear just came to the surface and I sobbed. Adam reached out for me and I fell into his arms. After a few minutes, I was able to gulp back the tears, sitting back down, wiping my eyes, thankful I didn’t generally wear make-up.

  “Oh goodness, is the thought of a lifetime with me that bad?” We both laughed. “Come on you…” He took my hand. “We’re survivors.”

  ***

  I had to be forced to go home. A new and rather cross ward sister told me I couldn’t stay overnight again as Adam slept and so I had better go away. Amanda had been waiting, she had come back to visit and to give me a lift home, so after three hours of chatting his eyes had started to close. She’d told me to say goodnight but it was at least another hour before I came out to the car park where she was sitting.

  “Sorry!”

  “I seem to spend my life waiting for you two!” She snorted. “But, I am more than happy to do so.”

  ***

  I’d brought him a change of clothes, what he had been wearing were in a bag, however the way they were caked with stinking mud I wished that they had just been thrown away. He looked smart in a button-down shirt and his ‘good’ jeans. These were the ones with only one hoof oil stain on them. He hugged and thanked the nurses and we were packing the few items he had when we were disturbed.

  “Mr Bishop?” I looked up a police officer was standing beside the bed. “Could I please ask you to come with me.”

  “Oh?” He frowned. “Is there something wrong.”

  “It’s about your sister sir, it is rather urgent, please hurry.”

  “I just left her parking the…” The officer cut me short and gestured that we should follow him.

  ***

  We stepped into the lift. “What is this about?”

  “It is about Mr Bishop’s sister.” The officer glared at me. The lift ground to a halt. “Out!”

  I looked around, this was not a part of the hospital I had seen. The ceiling was lower and lined with pipes and cables, it was dimly lit with blinking tubes casting shadows. We approached a set of doors. “The morgue?” The policeman shoved us through the door.

  “Rather fitting, I think. Don’t you.”

  My scream was cut short as I was grabbed from behind. There was the blond-haired man who had attacked us, the same man who had taunted me when I had been lashed to a chair. He was facing us, holding a gun towards us.

  “This will save them a trip.” He sneered. “Tell me, why is it so bloody hard to kill you?”

  36

  Cold Justice

  I did a double-take as I stepped out of the lift. I was sure I’d seen Adam and Kate in the next lift with two policemen. I walked onto the ward, his bed was empty. Running to the nurses’ station I asked where he was. They hadn’t seen him but they were sure Kate had been here and they had been packing to leave.

  I grabbed my mobile, letting it ring for a moment before there was a response. “Dan, it’s Mandy. Tell me, is there any reason why I might have seen Adam with a police officer?”

  ***

  “For fuck’s sake!” Adam shook his head. I stared at him in disbelief, what the hell was he doing? This man wanted to kill us. “Can you not do anything right? No wonder Edwin thought you were such an idiot.” Patrick yelled, running towards Adam. What happened next was a blur, there was a struggle, the man holding me flew towards the pair. Adam pushed hard, shoving Patrick into a gurney, he slipped, releasing his grip for a moment and in this split second he bolted, grabbing me by the arm, dragging me to a run.

  We crashed into the dim corridor, the sound of angry men far too close behind us, then a gunshot which scattered plaster dust over us. Adam shoved me through a door into a massive kitchen, he grabbed a huge pot, tipping boiling contents onto the tiled floor. There were yells and one of the policemen slipped, falling heavily causing the others to fall also.

  There were white-coated cooks screaming, we ran but could find no exit. Adam yanked at a huge door, pulling it open. I slid inside, falling and being dragged behind a huge shelf, the door slammed shut.

  The men stood up, sliding in the oil which now covered the floor, they ran through the kitchen, pushing aside people. Patrick stopped, pulling open the door. I held my breath, praying that he could not see us.

  ***

  My phone rang. “Dan! What? No, say that again, what do you mean?” I paused. “Then who were they?” He had told me that there was no outstanding charges and no officers who would be looking for Adam or Kate. But there was news, Patrick had been given bail and had left London. My heart sunk.

  ***

  “Give me those.” He grabbed a pair of handcuffs, slipping them through the hasp on the door he locked them. “I am sorry ladies and gentlemen. There were some people we were looking to question, however it seems they have doubled back. I must ask however that you leave this area clear. Scenes of crime will be down soon to check for evidence. Thank you.”

  They left the kitchen. One of the men turned to Patrick. “Where did they go?”

  “I saw them.”

  “So we can go and deal with it…” He turned to go back into the kitchen.

  “No, you bloody idiot. We cannot execute two people in front of a kitchen full of witnesses, they’ve seen enough already. No, I think that this time, things will resolve themselves naturally.” The two men stripped off the police jackets and hats, throwing them into a skip outside the kitchens. “Let’s get out of this damn place.”

  ***

  I was pacing, Dan had told me he would come to the hospital but that had been almost an hour ago.

  “I know… I’m late… Sorry. I needed to check as much as I could at the station. We can’t know that Adam and Kate have gone off with some of Patrick’s people. It may be something totally innocent.”

  “Your face is not looking like it’s innocent. Tell me, what the hell is happening?”

  “I have men out all over town looking for them, there are number plate cameras looking for known vehicles, but…”

&nb
sp; “But, but what?”

  “It’s a long shot. If it was them, he could have hired someone who had stolen a van and have them in the back. I’m sorry, but I need to be honest with you. We need to talk with hospital security and check the CCTV images.”

  ***

  Flashing his warrant card had got us into the main security office. They cued up the CCTV tape which showed Adam and Kate getting in the lift, but there was no matching image for them getting out at the ground floor.