by Daniel Hurst
STRANGER
It’s time to be honest with Amanda so she knows exactly how precarious a position she’s in. I told her that I’m an accountant, but she knows now that I was lying. What she doesn’t know yet is what I really am.
‘I know you’ve been working hard on your goals,’ I say to the woman across the table. ‘But so have I. I spent five years in prison deliberating on my own ambitions, and I learnt a lot of things in that time to make sure I never end up in there again.’
Just the thought of those endless nights inside staring up at the ceiling in my cell is enough to make me shiver, so I take a moment to look outside at the brilliant blue sky to remind myself that I am a long way from there now.
‘You’re a criminal,’ Amanda says scornfully.
‘No,’ I reply, holding up my hand to correct her. ‘I was a criminal. But not anymore. Now I’m a businessman.’
‘What are you talking about?’
I place my hands together and rest them on the table between us, aware that appearing calm and in control will be my best way of frightening Amanda into giving me what I want. I must be cool on the outside because I’m feeling nervous on the inside, but I can’t let her see that.
‘The reason I ended up in prison was because I let my emotions control my actions. I got too invested in the idea of the prize. Money. Success. I wanted it too much. Much like how you are with your writing, I imagine.’
I know she’ll hate the fact that I am assuming things about her.
‘You don’t know anything about me,’ she quickly replies. ‘You say you do, but you have no idea.’
‘Trust me. I know everything I need to know,’ I state. ‘I know that you will do almost anything to make your dream come true, but there is one thing that you would give it all up for. That thing is your daughter’s life.’
‘You’re crazy.’
‘No, I’m not. I’m clever. You are going to give me the code to that safe so my partner can take the money out, or you are never going to see your daughter alive again.’
I wave my mobile phone in front of Amanda again.
‘All you have to do is give it to me, and I can send him a message. We’ll take the money and be on our way. Nobody has to get hurt. You and your daughter can carry on as you were before.’
I study Amanda carefully to see what her next move will be. I am confident she will give me the code at some point, but I’m expecting she’ll put up a fight before she does. I know I would if someone were trying to take everything I owned. And I’m not wrong.
‘I don’t believe you,’ she says. ‘You’re not a killer.’
‘You’re right. I’m not,’ I reply without missing a beat. ‘I’m a con man. It’s my partner James who is the killer.’
Amanda’s face falls a little, and I press on to hammer home my point.
‘I went to prison for fraud. I was young. I was overeager. I made mistakes, but they were harmless. Nobody got hurt. Everyone got their money back in the end. But James was inside for something else. Something much worse than stealing money. And you’d best believe that people got hurt where he was involved.’
I’m hamming it up a little, but I’m not lying. James is a dangerous man. I might be the brains behind this operation, but he is the brawn, and that is what I need to get across to Amanda so she realises how much danger her daughter is in.
‘We were cellmates on the inside,’ I tell her. ‘Spending all day every day cooped up together, it’s only natural that we became friendly. I told him what I was in for, and he told me what he had done. James was in for assault with a deadly weapon. He’d got three years. But he’d have got a lot more than that if the neighbours hadn’t called the police when they had. He’d be serving a stretch for murder if they hadn’t got there in time.’
Amanda is completely still as I speak to her, probably trying to process all of this information whilst trying to figure out if there is any way out of this that doesn’t involve her daughter getting hurt and her savings being taken.
But there isn’t.
‘How did he find Louise?’ she asks me.
‘It was actually her who found him,’ I reply with a chuckle. ‘On a dating app. It’s the way of the world these days. Of course, like most people who meet on a dating app, it didn’t take them long to end up being intimate. James was just looking for a little fun after so long inside, but then Louise told him all about her mum and how she keeps her money in a safe. James passed that information on to me, we hatched a plan, and here we are. All that’s left to find out now is how it is going to end. With the code or with your daughter in a body bag?’
Amanda looks through the window at the houses passing us by, but she won’t find any answers out there. I click my fingers to get her attention back onto me.
‘It’s quite simple, really. Your daughter made a mistake, and now you are being punished for it. But don’t make this situation any worse for yourself than it has to be. Just give me what I want right now, and nobody has to get hurt.’
Amanda remains silent for a moment, and the only sound around us is the rumbling of the train’s wheels on the tracks below.
‘How do I know you’re telling me the truth?’ Amanda eventually asks. ‘How do I know Louise is with that man?’
‘I just showed you the photo, didn’t I?’
‘That could have been taken any time.’
I shake my head. ‘It was taken today,’ I assure her. ‘James has been visiting your daughter at your flat while you have been in London working.’
Amanda looks defiant, but she does well to keep her voice calm. ‘Even so, that doesn’t prove that he is there right now. Let me speak to my daughter. I need to know for sure before I do anything else.’
I shake my head to let her know that I’m the one who makes the demands, not her.
‘You’re in no position to tell me what you want.’
‘And you’re in no position to get my money unless you get that code, so I guess we’re both screwed,’ Amanda fires back, and even though it’s annoying, I’m impressed by her spirit.
I check my watch. There is time for a short call, I suppose, and if it helps speed things up, then I guess I’ll allow it.
‘Say I did let you call your daughter. How will it prove anything? She’s hardly going to tell you that she has a guy in the flat with her, is she?’
‘I just need to ask her a few questions. I know when she is lying to me, so I’ll know if she is actually alone or not.’
I think about it for a second but decide that I don’t have much choice. Amanda is a tough cookie. I can see that with how calm and logical she is being in the face of such pressure. But she isn’t stupid. She will know that she can’t take any risks until she knows her daughter is safe for certain, which is why I am willing to let her take out her mobile phone.
‘Okay. You can make the call. But listen to me and listen good. If you make any attempt to try to warn her, then I will call James, and Louise will be dead before you even get a chance to hang up. Don’t mention me. Don’t mention the money. Don’t mention anything out of the ordinary. Two minutes. That’s all you get.’
Amanda nods as she looks down at her phone, and I watch her as she presses a few buttons before holding her device to her ear.
Her two minutes start now.
11
AMANDA
I pray that Louise is going to answer the phone and not ignore my call like she sometimes does, although considering our last conversation ended with her hanging up on me, I’m not optimistic. But I need her to answer now. I need to find out if what this man tells me is true.
I need to know if she is in danger.
Keeping the phone pressed to my ear, I listen as I hear two rings go by. Then three. Then four.
Pick up the damn phone, Louise.
‘What?’
It’s an instant relief to hear my daughter’s voice at the other end of the line, even if she is greeting me in her customary way that tells me she
doesn’t appreciate the interruption.
‘Hey, is everything okay?’ I ask while under the watchful eyes of the man opposite me.
‘It’s fine. Why?’
I have to remember not to give anything away, so I try to think of a reason for my sudden concern. ‘You didn’t text me back when I told you my train was delayed,’ I say.
‘So?’
‘I was just checking you got it.’
‘Yep, I got it, so you can relax now. Thanks for that.’
I ignore my daughter’s sarcasm and press on with what I really want to know.
Is she alone?
‘What are you doing right now?’ I ask, averting my eyes from the man and looking out of the window. The train is travelling a little slower now that we are approaching the next station, and the closer we get, the more I feel the urge to run.
‘I’m just at home. What do you think I’m doing?’
I really wish my daughter wouldn’t treat every single one of my questions like I’m picking a fight, and especially now when I’m trying to determine a potential threat level.
‘Whereabouts are you? The kitchen? The bedroom?’
‘Why the hell does that matter?’
‘I just want to know where you are.’
‘I’m in my bedroom. Happy now?’
I’m not happy. Far from it. That’s because I still can’t tell if my daughter is safe or not.
My tormentor taps his finger against his watch to remind me that I haven’t got all day, so I just blurt out the question I need to know the answer to.
‘Is there anyone with you in the flat?’ I ask, and the man glares at me and reaches across the table to indicate that I’m pushing my luck, but I lean back in my seat and wait for the answer.
‘What?’ Louise replies.
‘I’m asking if you are on your own, or is there anybody with you?’
The line goes quiet for a moment, and I fear the worst, especially when I see the man take out his mobile phone and hold it up to remind me that he is prepared to make a call of his own.
‘Why would you even ask me that?’ Louise eventually replies.
‘Just answer the question,’ I say, my voice cracking a little.
‘Yes, I’m on my own!’ Louise replies, her voice raised. ‘Why are you being so weird?’
My heart sinks at that moment because I know that she is lying to me. She always gets louder and more defensive when she is trying to hide something. She has always been like that, from when she was a child trying to cover up a broken ornament to being a teenager trying to fib her way out of the real reason why she ended up in detention. I know when she is telling the truth because she just mumbles her responses. The fact she is so emotional right now tells me she has something to hide.
‘I’m sorry. It’s okay,’ I say. ‘I’ll be home soon, all right? I’ll see you then. We’ll have that takeaway, yeah?’
‘Fine,’ Louise replies, and then the line goes dead.
I lower my phone, but before I can put it back in my handbag, the man snatches it from my hand.
‘Hey!’ I cry, but he barely even flinches as he slots my device into his suit pocket.
‘How was your chat?’
‘Give me my phone back!’
‘Not until you give me what I want. So what do you say?’
I can’t bring myself to answer him right now because my head is swimming. It’s one thing to find out that Louise has been keeping a secret boyfriend from me, but it’s another to learn that what she has done has put everything I have ever worked for at risk.
I don’t want to believe any of what this man has told me is true, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to. The photo of Louise and James in bed together. The way she spoke to me when I questioned her. And the sheer number of things this man sitting across the table knows about me.
There is no way any of this could be happening if it wasn’t true.
‘I believe you,’ I say.
‘Good. Now we’ve got that out of the way, how about you give me the code, and we can get this over with before we waste any more time?’
The man holds his mobile phone in his hand, and I can see the screen is open on a new text message. I assume he is going to send the code to the safe to James just as soon as I give it to him. Then they will take everything I have and disappear into the night, leaving me with nothing by the time I get to Brighton except a flat I can no longer afford and a daughter who will hate me even more when we have to move out of it.
Why did I quit my job? Why did I put myself in this position?
Why did this have to happen?
But it’s not my fault. It’s not Louise’s either, even though I am mad at her for telling some guy she met on a dating app all about the money I have stashed away. The only person at fault is the man sitting opposite me.
The man with the smug look on his face.
I feel the brakes engaging on the train and look out the window to see the station platform coming into view. I’m almost halfway home now, but this journey has been unlike any I’ve experienced before. I thought I was done with this commuter route. I thought my life was going to get better after this week. I thought I was finally going to have everything I’ve ever wanted. But now it’s over. I’m going to have to give this man the code to the safe because I can’t risk anything bad happening to Louise. I’ll be broke, but at least she will be okay.
I guess I’ll just have to start again.
I guess this is it.
But then I see the bright green colour of the high-visibility jacket on the platform as the train slowly comes to a stop, and suddenly I have hope. It’s a police officer. He’s standing right there on the other side of the glass. If I could just get to him and tell him what this man is doing, then he could arrest him and stop him from contacting the man with my daughter. Then the police could go round to my flat and make sure Louise is okay. There might be a way out of this that doesn’t involve me having to give up the contents of my safe.
I have to try because I can’t afford not to.
I wait for the train to come to a complete stop before I make my move. Jumping up from my seat without stopping to collect my things, I turn and run down the carriage, ducking around a fellow passenger in the aisle as I go.
‘Hey!’ the man calls after me, but I don’t turn back. I’m determined to get off this train and reach that police officer outside.
I squeeze myself past several other passengers who have left their seats and are gathering up their belongings, and push on towards the doors. A quick glance over my shouldertells me that the man is in pursuit, and he is closing on me.
I reach the end of the aisle and break out into the area by the doors, but they are still closed. They won’t open until the driver pushes the button, and they only do that several seconds after the train has come to a complete stop.
‘Come on!’ I cry as I punch the button on the wall to release the doors. But it’s not yet lit up, and I know that it won’t work until it is.
I look behind me again and see the man is almost upon me. He’s going to grab me. I was an idiot for running.
Why didn’t I just stay in my damn seat?
Then I see the light go on behind the button. I can open it now.
I push my fingers against it, and the doors to the train slide open, allowing me to step out onto the platform.
I look for the police officer as soon as I’m off the train, and I see him several yards further along the platform with his back to me. Dozens of passengers are streaming off the train from the other doors, and I almost lose sight of the policeman until I see another flash of bright green. I’m just about to call out to him when I hear the voice behind me.
‘Get back on this train, or Louise is dead.’
I turn around and see the man standing in the open doorway with his mobile phone to his ear. ‘I’m ringing James right now,’ he tells me. ‘One word from me and she’s gone forever.’
My heart feels like it
could explode in my chest as I look back up the platform in the direction of the policeman. He’s close enough for me to call him but not close enough to stop the man making the call that could end my daughter’s life.
‘He might be able to help you, but he won’t be able to save Louise,’ he says, and I turn back to see him shrugging. ‘All I have to do is give the word and she will be dead within a minute.’
Several passengers hurry past me on their way home as I stand on the platform, trying to decide what to do. I thought I had a chance to stop this, but now I see that I don’t. He is right. Even if I do make it to the police officer and tell him what is happening, and even if they apprehend this man on the train, they will be too late to stop James at my flat. I might save my money, but I could lose Louise.
Then again, I could lose Louise if I give up the code and they discover what else is in my safe alongside that money.
With everybody here having disembarked, the train is preparing to leave again, and I see the conductor on the platform glance up and down the body of the vehicle before putting the whistle to his lips. As soon as he blows that, the doors will close and the train will leave this station. If that happens, the man will be gone, and I’ll be powerless to stop him or his partner harming my daughter then.
‘It’s now or never, Amanda,’ he says from the open doorway, the phone still pressed to his ear.
I take one last look down the platform at the police officer.
Then I get back on the train.
12
STRANGER
I walk behind Amanda as she makes her way back to our table, ignoring the puzzled looks from the passengers who have remained on this train. They are presumably wondering why we just made a mad rush for the exit only to be retaking our seats again, but I don’t care what they think. I’m just glad I stopped Amanda before she did anything stupid. While it would have been no trouble for me to call James and tell him to punish Louise for her mother’s mistake, I’d much rather we stick to the plan that ends up with me getting my share of the £20,000 in the flat in Brighton.
