by Fiona Palmer
Oh my God, thought Ryan. His stomach turned and he felt the worst he’d had in days.
A sound of a door shutting echoed nearby and Ryan felt the girl’s hand tense against his skin. She moved away from him and he felt the bed move as she sat at the end. Good girl, she was already learning that she needed to distance herself from him. He hated to think what she’d been through already. Without even seeing her he got the feeling she was a fighter.
‘Hey, he’s awake.’ Randall’s voice was playful.
He loved his job far too much. He heard the shuffle of more feet and keys jangling as the cell was unlocked.
‘He looks like shit, Randall,’ came Jamison’s voice.
‘He’s a tough nut to crack, sir. But I will. One way or another we will have our answer by tomorrow.’
Shit. Ryan knew what that meant. They were making a decision soon. Ryan didn’t like his chances with Randall, who would love to kill him, or Jamison who hated any little blip in his plans.
He hoped if they killed him the poor girl wasn’t around to see it. She’d been through enough already.
‘Come on then, time to get reacquainted,’ said Randall.
His big hand wrapped around Ryan’s arm, gripping it like a vice as he pulled him up off the bed. Ryan clenched his teeth, refusing to cry out in pain. He stood on his tender feet and went where Randall pushed him, each step feeling like it was on broken glass. Putting out his hand he tried to feel for a wall or a door, instead finding the cold metal of the cell. He tried to keep track of where he was going, if only he could prise open his eyes. The water the girl had washed them with was helping, he felt the blood that had helped glue them shut starting to soften.
He worked out they went through the door to the other area of the warehouse, where he’d been taken each time for his torture. This is where they had the pulley chains that hung from the ceiling, which they tied his hands into. Randall had enjoyed lifting him off the ground for hours on end, his wrists bruised to the bone from the heavy chains.
Before the beatings had started Ryan had seen the area they’d taken him. It was behind a half wall that segregated the open space, this place being where the sorting of fish was done; the other side was where the forklifts brought the crates in from a locked sliding door on the side. So if anyone happened to come in they were still hidden from view. Ryan wondered if the crew ever noticed his blood on the floor, or did it just mix in with the blood of the fish? Maybe Jamison had given them the week off? Ryan did recall hearing noises, the beeping of machines and the squeal of forklift tyres on the concrete floor, so he assumed they had worked some days. Maybe it was only when the boats came in with the fish?
Maybe Randall had one of the Shesha Serpents clean up after he’d spilt Ryan’s blood all over the floor?
Even though Ryan couldn’t see, in his mind he knew exactly where he was. His wrists were bound together again, the cold chain instantly causing pain and he wasn’t even lifted up yet. Jaz’s picture came to mind as he tried to escape to another place where the pain wouldn’t touch him.
The clang of the chains rattled through the shed as Randall had the pulley lift Ryan’s arms up above his head.
‘So have you got anything to tell us, Reece? Is your name Reece?’ said Randall.
‘Yes, my name is Reece Lancaster. I want to see my girlfriend. Is she here? Can I see her?’ he said, starting his usual tirade. He tried to think like an innocent person. What would they say? ‘I’ve told you, Randall, you’re barking up the wrong bloody tree. You will see,’ he said confidently.
And that’s when Randall hit him in the chest on one of his broken ribs. Ryan fell forwards, struggling for breath and wondering if it really was blood he was tasting in the back of his throat. A wave of nausea hit him and if he could see he was sure it would all be fading to a hazy grey. Randall always got mean when Ryan talked so confidently. He knew he was pushing his buttons, but he wanted Randall to see him as sure and smug. He wanted Randall to second-guess what he’d seen but if he wasn’t careful, Randall might just accidently kill him so the boss never found out if Randall had been wrong or not. It was a deadly game of cat and mouse to play but Ryan was confident with Jamison around.
‘Reece, I hate seeing you like this,’ said Jamison. ‘I know Annaliese would like to see you again but you understand we have to be sure.’
‘I understand, sir. I don’t know who Randall thinks I am but I do love your daughter and I’m loyal to you. Randall is just threatened, scared I’ll take his job,’ said Ryan quickly, before he felt the next blow. He needed to put the doubt into Jamison’s mind, had been working hard on it over the last few punishments, but he couldn’t tell if it was working.
‘If we can’t find anything, you are who you say you are and you’re not working for the police or my enemies, then you have nothing to fear. And to compensate for this unfortunate situation you find yourself in, I will make it up to you, buy you and Annaliese a new house and cars, and you will have earned some trust.’
Jamison sounded sincere but Ryan couldn’t bring himself to trust him. If he’d learnt anything over the last few months working for Jamison, it was that he was slippery like oil. No wonder the police couldn’t find anything on him, it was hard enough for the agency to gather information on him. But Ryan had collected bits to put him away, if only he survived.
***
Jaz watched from the dark shadows as Tilly hoisted Cody up onto his shoulders. Cody was armed with a spray can and coated the camera in seconds. It would only be noticed if someone had been watching the camera, but they were counting on them being busy with Ryan. Tilly waved them over so they ran through the darkness in silence, guns in their hands, loaded and safety off. They all wore black, Jaz wore her hair up and under a hat as a disguise.
Jaz nodded to them all. Tilly, Cody, Tay and Ian. They knew their parts in the plan. They all signalled back and Tilly pressed in the code. It unlocked and he slowly opened the door as silently as he could. When the gap was big enough, Ian and Tay scooted through to one side and then Tilly and Cody to the other. Jaz crept down when she got inside and made sure the door shut behind her silently. Except the lock clicked back into place loudly, causing her heart to pound in her chest. She looked to Ian who signalled all was okay. Soon she realised why. Just as the door had clicked shut a rumble of chains had masked the noise. A moment later she heard the chains rattle again, and voices.
Ryan! She’d know his voice anywhere. He was still alive.
Right then Jaz felt the most amazing euphoric high. They weren’t going in to retrieve a body like Ryan ended up doing with his mate Chris. Thank God because Jaz didn’t think she’d be able to handle that. But Ryan was alive. He was bloody alive!
With her pulse racing, she followed Ian around behind the forklift where they hid, Cody and Tilly circling the other side behind some crates. Jaz saw a man step into the light at the last second, he was tall and one of Jamison’s men. Jaz managed to catch her gasp before it gave them away when she recognised Wilkins.
When Wilkins turned around Tilly was behind him within seconds, his hand over Wilkins’ mouth and the glimmer of a blade at his throat. For a split second Jaz didn’t want Wilkins to die, she’d come to know him through the pub and the thought of his bloodshed made her uneasy. But she shouldn’t have worried, for Tilly just made him pass out then dragged him back slowly into the dark where he would then tie him up with the cable ties in his back pocket, which they all carried. And tape over his mouth for good measure.
She was relieved, she’d rather Wilkins go to jail and have a second chance than being slaughtered.
Ian and Taylor crept forward, getting closer to the voices. Ian indicated that he saw three men and one was Ryan. Jaz trembled with excitement. Ryan was so close. She slowly moved forward so she was near Ian, she needed to see Ryan for herself. Her gun gripped firmly in her hands, ready to maim or kill.
Ian moved back so she could take a quick peek around the corner of the freezer the
y hid behind. It was level with the half wall that separated the room. Jaz moved her head out as far as she dared, just enough for her to see Jamison, another man and Ryan.
Oh my God!
She moved her head back and took deep breaths. Ryan looked like death warmed up, his chest a canvas of blood patterns and purple to black bruises. He was strung up like a cow for carving, his arms stretched out above his head. Jaz could cry at the state of him, the pain he must be in, but she bit down on her lip and glanced to Ian.
He gave her the nod then signalled to Tilly that they were to move in three seconds. It was the longest countdown Jaz had ever experienced. Each millisecond seemed like hours as she waited to save her soulmate.
Just as Tilly and Cody stood up to move, the main door opened and two guys walked in. There was a moment where Jamison’s men and the agency’s guys just looked at each other, trying to determine friend from foe, and then guns were drawn.
‘Who are you?’ one of them shouted.
Jaz cringed as she heard Jamison and his man go silent as they listened. She hoped they didn’t decide to shoot Ryan then and there. Ian signalled to her, his aged face serious and almost scary in the half-light. He wanted them to act now.
Ian and Tay rose with their guns drawn and aimed towards Jamison. ‘Don’t move,’ yelled Ian.
This caused confusion with the men at the door, they were trigger-happy and fired off bullets causing Tilly and Cody to dive for cover. While this went on, the man beside Jamison went for his gun and fired off bullets in their direction. Tay cried out and ducked behind another freezer while Ian and Jaz went back to their hiding place. The stench of fish clung to the freezer as she pushed her body against it for protection.
Jaz signalled to Tay, asking if he was okay. He lifted his arm, it was bleeding.
‘Just a flesh wound,’ said Ian, putting her mind at ease. Ian had practically yelled as the firing of guns and pinging of bullets made for a hell of a racket in the warehouse.
She tried to see how Tilly and Cody were going. They were hunkered down behind a box with nowhere to go. Jaz rose enough to see the two men by the door and took aim. She fired just as she realised one was Bud. He was flung backwards and to the ground.
Oh shit.
Bud.
She didn’t have time to contemplate the nature of his wound because bullets were now coming her way. She dropped to the floor and found Tilly and Cody by her side.
‘Nice work,’ said Tilly. ‘Drawing their fire.’
‘Thanks,’ she said back, while her mind was worrying about Bud.
‘Who are you?’ bellowed out a voice.
Jaz risked a glance at Jamison’s man, he had his gun pointed in their direction. Jamison was hiding behind Ryan with his own gun poised.
Cody stood up, thinking he was hidden from the man at the front door and Jamison, when a bullet slammed into his shoulder, sending him sliding to the ground.
‘Shit.’ Jaz was stunned momentarily. Where had that shot come from?
‘The corridor,’ said Tilly, pointing to the opposite side, and he grabbed Cody’s good arm and dragged him to their shelter.
A man with a bald head and looking like Vin Diesel had appeared from another area. Jaz could see sectioned-off rooms. Damn, how many were hiding back there? Were they outnumbered? This wasn’t good.
Tilly lay on his back, Jaz unsure of what he was doing, then he pushed himself along the ground so his head and gun were sticking out from behind the freezer. He took aim and shot the Vin Diesel man before he even saw Tilly slide out. Jaz grabbed his feet and yanked him back to safety.
‘Cheers,’ he whispered before moving to check Cody’s wound.
‘I’m okay,’ she heard him say.
Ian motioned to Tay, he wanted him to take down the guy at the door. Tay nodded and shifted behind them all, trying to make his way back down the warehouse towards the door. This was his test, his time to learn and grow. Jaz was shit scared for him.
At the same time Ian and Tilly stood up, aiming their guns at Jamison and his man. There was a round of bullets fired, she could hear them fly past and through the tin wall behind her. Jaz wanted to stand up and scream at them to stop before they hit Ryan, but she had trust in Ian and Tilly’s aim.
The only thing on their side was that Jamison and his man were cornered. They couldn’t get out from where they were without getting shot. All they had was Ryan to hide behind.
The warehouse went quiet as they stopped to reload.
Jaz heard the click of a gun. For some reason it made her skin prickle.
‘Move and I shoot this man dead,’ said Jamison’s man.
Chapter 30
Jaz snuck a peek and sure enough a gun was now pressed against Ryan’s temple, his body used as a shield. Shit. They had figured out they were here for him, or at least they hoped so.
It was then that Ian and Tilly stood, guns aimed. Jaz did the same and now had the time to really assess the situation. Ryan hung from the chains, his eyes looked like overripe plums and his body even more so. His pants were torn, his feet were red with blood. She couldn’t fathom what he’d endured, it took all her energy not to rush to him. The smell of blood, his blood, that stained the concrete near his feet, turned her stomach. There was a table against the wall to the side, on it was a collection of knives, ones that looked like they’d just cut up hundreds of fish, yet there was no fish in this warehouse, not today.
Ian and Tilly stepped closer.
‘Stay where you are, or I’ll pop him right now.’
‘There is nowhere for you to go,’ said Ian.
Jamison glanced towards the corridor where Vin Diesel man lay. Was he still alive? Was Jamison waiting for more men?
‘Those shots will have caught someone’s attention. It’s only a matter of time,’ said Tilly.
Jamison’s man, the one with hands like a rugby player, kept his gun on Ryan’s temple while he unhitched his hands from the chain. Then, carrying him like a sack of potatoes against his chest, he shuffled towards the front door and possible safety. Jamison crouched behind them both, a double shield as such.
All three of them stepped a bit closer so they could keep their guns trained. Backing towards the corridor. Jaz glanced behind them, it could be a trap, but Vin was still lying where he fell, blood pooling out from underneath his body.
‘I’ll check the rooms,’ said Tilly, and disappeared to do a sweep.
It was more important that Jaz’s gun aimed at Rugby’s hands as he kept shuffling back towards the door. Where was Tay? All had gone silent. Was he okay?
She felt a wave of panic, what if he wasn’t?
‘Put your guns down,’ came another voice. One Jaz knew.
She turned to see Salvatore walking towards them from the corridor, Tilly in front with his hands up and Sal’s gun resting at the back of Tilly’s skull.
Jaz felt her mouth drop along with her gun. What the hell?
She’d been so wrong. The disappointment stabbed at her, like a million knives that Sal had just imbedded in her back. How had her gut got this wrong? She should have known you couldn’t change a person overnight. Shit didn’t happen like that in real life.
‘Great timing,’ said Jamison with a big smirk on his smug face.
Jaz just wanted to kick him where it would hurt like hell.
Jaz and Ian watched as Sal led Tilly towards Jamison, using his body as a shield also. Jaz watched his every move, the way he held his gun, and then she caught his eyes.
Sal recognised her but he didn’t flinch; his eyes did take in the gun in her hands and she saw something weird flash across his eyes momentarily. It seemed like disappointment or something similar. But she was too pissed at him to figure it out. He told her he’d never killed anyone. He’d lied to her, but what did she expect. That being his daughter would be enough to change his spots? She felt like such a fool and her face burnt with the shame.
‘Everyone okay?’ asked Sal when he reached Jamison’s side.
Now that they had the upper hand, Rugby guy was more relaxed, even smug like his boss.
‘Yes, thanks to you.’ Jamison nodded. He was impressed with Salvatore.
Jaz wanted to scream and stomp her foot, but only because she couldn’t kill them both without risking Ryan and Tilly. Goddamn was she pissed.
‘We don’t need this one now, he will only slow us down,’ said Jamison as his gun moved back to Ryan’s head.
‘Noooo,’ Jaz screamed. She could see it all happening in slow motion.
Not her Ryan!
A shot was fired.
A body slumped to the ground.
Jaz felt like throwing up.
But Ryan was still standing.
More shots were fired.
Another body dropped.
What had just happened?
Jamison was on the floor with a bullet in his head, smack bang in the middle. But how?
She looked across and Salvatore had his gun still aimed at Jamison, not Tilly.
Ian stepped forward, his gun had been on Rugby’s hands and Jaz knew then that he’d shot him. Which meant that Sal must have killed Jamison.
Sal was staring at Jamison on the ground with an expression of disbelief. It really was his first kill. She could tell by the rigidness of his body and the slight shake of his gun hand.
‘Thank you,’ said Jaz as she walked to his side. She reached out and put her hand on top of his gun and gently lowered it. His eyes found hers, and he nodded.
‘You better go before the DEA turns up,’ she said.
Sal nodded again and headed for the door.
‘What just happened?’ said Ian as he watched Sal leave.
‘That was Salvatore De Luca, have I missed something?’ said Tilly. He rubbed his forehead in confusion.
‘I’ll fill you both in later,’ she said. There were more important things on her mind. Like holding Ryan.
‘Jaz. Is that really you?’ Ryan’s words were like hot fudge during an Antarctic winter.
Jaz caressed his face gently, she wanted to hug him tightly but she didn’t want to hurt him anymore than he already was. ‘Yeah, it’s me.’
