My eyes widened. They were paying me off? I opened the envelope to a thick wad of gorgeous red fifty-pound notes. But they’d still done the wrong thing. What if they did it to someone who didn’t have friends on the inside who could help? I looked to Angelica for guidance. She gave a half nod, which I was pretty sure meant take the money and run.
“There’s ten-thousand pounds in there, Lily. I think that’s fair compensation for two days of your life and any residual nightmares that will surely fade in time.”
You know what? I was going to take that money, but I was still going to come back and witch-slap his niece. She was going down, and when I got my brother and Millicent out, we would all enjoy the ten thousand, which was actually about seventeen thousand Australian dollars. Our dollar was so crap. It was nice to think my suffering was worth more over here.
I quickly read the two-page document and signed down the bottom. “Done.”
Drake and I both stood, and he held out his hand. “Safe travels, Lily. And rest assured, we’re doing all we can to find your brother.”
I shook his hand. “Thank you, sir. I have a feeling he’ll be found very soon.” I smiled and turned to Snezana. “It’ll be so good to see him back with his wife, won’t it? I just know how much he adores Millicent. I bet she’s what’s keeping him going, wherever he is.” Snezana’s face turned red from the neck up. She so wanted to kill me right now. Go on, witch, try it, while everyone’s watching.
“Time to go, Lily,” Angelica called from the other side of the table.
Sophia held the door open. That must be my cue. The two guards took me downstairs, signed me out, and stayed with me until we reached William’s PIB-issue black Range Rover. Beren jumped out. “Thanks, Sophie. Adam. We’ll take it from here.”
“Right you are, Beren,” said Sophie before they turned and went back inside.
Beren’s grin as he opened my door was infectious. I grinned back and got in. I was free. Woohoo! In a moment of déjà vu, I strapped myself in and met William’s solemn eyes in the rear-view mirror. “Please stay out of here this time.”
“I’m planning on it.”
William started the engine and accelerated towards the gates.
“Here’s your camera. Angelica asked us to give it to you.” Beren turned and handed it to me. My baby! I clutched it to my chest. “Those photos from the lab got you out of here. Angelica had to show them to Drake. They’ve arrested Michael, but he won’t talk, says he’s spelled to die if he breathes a word of anything. Looks like he’ll take the rap all by himself. Drake wants it all kept hush-hush. If the higher-ups find out the lab was compromised, he’ll lose his job.”
“Well, that sounds familiar.” Snezana was something else. “Does Drake know his niece is pure evil?”
William shot me a glance in the mirror. “He didn’t get where he is by being stupid, but I’m sure he’s doing his best to look the other way for as long as he can. Plus, there’s no obvious evidence she’s actually involved in any of this.”
“What about Millicent?”
“They’re doing final checks, but she should be out tonight,” said Beren.
The burn of tears stung my eyes. Thank God. Some of the tension in my shoulders melted away. One down, one to go. “Thanks for helping. I know you both risked your jobs to do this.”
“It’s nothing, Lily. We’d do it all again in a heartbeat.” Beren turned and gave me a smile, then firmly elbowed William.
“Ow. Yeah, yeah, we would. Milly and James are like family to both of us. This whole thing’s been a nightmare.”
Hmm. “Do you guys have much on this afternoon?”
William eyed me in the mirror. “I hate to ask, but why?”
“I would love to grab a takeaway coffee from Costa, and then I thought we could visit the scene of the crime.” No one said anything. “Don’t chicken out on me now, guys. I haven’t been banned from going anywhere. You know this could give you the breakthrough we need. Think of James.”
William groaned but turned right instead of left at the next intersection.
“Yes!” I couldn’t resist a fist pump.
Soon the car was filled with the delicious smell of coffee, although Beren got tea. “Letting the team down, B,” I said.
“Tea’s in my blood.”
“Don’t worry, Lily. More coffee for us.” William held his cup up in a cheers gesture. I smiled, happiness coursing through my system with the caffeine. This could be it. The day we get a strong lead on where my brother was, and maybe by the time I got home, Millicent would be there—surely she didn’t want to be by herself as soon as she got out of Hotel PIB?
I drained the last of my coffee as we pulled up across the street from the park. Clouds muted the sunlight, casting a sombre glow across the landscape. I jumped out and placed my camera strap around my neck and turned the camera on. Lens cap in pocket, I crossed the road, William and Beren behind me. I was taking the lead on this. I couldn’t wait: we were so close. I looked into the sky. Good. There weren’t any rogue lightning bolts, dragons, or meteors heading our way. Honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I scoped things out through my viewfinder before reaching the gate. “Show me James the moment he was kidnapped.” Nothing happened. My heart raced, and my mouth went dry. I was torn, needing to see and not wanting to. Maybe that was affecting things. I took a deep breath, thought of finding him and blocked out the part of me that would hate what I might see. “Show me James being attacked.”
The light changed to a filtered early morning yellowish orange. Racing towards us, frozen with haunches bunched about to jump the fence were James’s dogs. Further into the park, framed behind a cloudless sky were three men standing together and someone standing just to the side of them. I was too far away to see what they were doing.
I sightlessly fumbled with the gate, never taking my gaze from the group or my finger off the shutter button. I snapped a couple of pics in case they disappeared. The gate latch finally undid with a tink. I pushed the gate open and jogged towards the scene, clicking as I ran. This was the longest four-hundred metres I’d ever run.
Oh, God. James was hunched over, gripping his thigh, his face contorted in pain. Two huge thugs stood next to him, one on either side. One held the dagger hilt that stuck out of my brother’s thigh, the other gripped James’s bicep. There was the snake tattoo on the hand of the guy stabbing James. A jolt of pain scored across my heart, and I bit back angry tears. Bastards.
Standing, watching the whole thing with fervour in her eyes and a satisfied smirk on her lips was Snezana. Click. Click. Click.
I walked the perimeter of the attack, shooting from every angle. I recorded every face, every expanse of exposed skin, the denim jeans and black coats of the attackers, the blood staining my brother’s grey tracksuit pants, the joy and mania on Snezana’s face.
My breath came in pants. I reached Snezana again and looked into her crazy eyes. I wanted to break her nose, smash her face into the mud and grind it in, stab her in the thigh, like her thugs were doing to my brother.
But she wasn’t really there.
I lowered the camera and tried to get my breathing under control. Unfortunately, there was no controlling the stupid tear that tracked down my cheek. “She’s going down.”
William and Beren stood staring at me. Of course, they had no idea what I’d seen—all they saw was me worked into a frenzy.
“What did you see?” William stepped towards me, his brows furrowed.
A violent shiver stung the back of my neck and raced down my spine. I drew in a quick breath.
Someone was using magic.
Snezana appeared next to me, her gaze just as insane as when she’d been here with my brother. My mouth dropped open—this wasn’t an image of the past, but the flesh-and-blood real-time version. I jumped back. She seized my arm. Instinct kicked in, and I grabbed the camera from around my neck and threw it at William. He caught it just as darkness swept away the lig
ht.
Chapter 14
We must have been in a doorway. In four steps, she’d dragged me into a dimly lit bunker-looking room, with grey concrete walls and ceiling, and a dusty concrete floor. The stench of damp hit me. I stumbled, then Snezana shoved me to the ground. I landed on my hands and knees. Snezana kicked the back of my thigh. Fiery pain scorched up my leg to my lower back. Son of a witch!
Before I had a chance to react, she yanked my arms back and slapped handcuffs on me. “Ow.” I fell to the floor, face first. Thank God my chest took the brunt of the fall—it still hurt, but not as much as breaking my face on the concrete. It was the first time I was glad for my C cups; normally they got in the way when I was exercising.
My shoulders ached from being pulled back too hard. And now I had no chance to magic myself out of this. Even if I didn’t know how to magic properly, I could have tried something.
I rolled over and sat up. A dirty double-size mattress lay in the corner, a body sprawled on it. Oh my God. James. He was as still as a pond on a windless day—his eyes closed, his hands cuffed and resting on his stomach. Shit. Was he even alive? I watched for the rise and fall of his chest. Please, please, please.
Snezana grabbed my ponytail and yanked my head back, forcing me to meet her bulging, crazy eyes. “You couldn’t leave it alone, could you? The problem is, I don’t want to keep you. I only want to keep him.” She looked at my brother, a dreamy look coming over her face. When she turned to me again, her face turned agro. Freaky scary mood change. “But how am I going to get rid of your meddling Aussie arse?”
If there’s anything I’d learnt from watching crime shows, it was to keep the perp talking to stall for time. Because that’s all I had right now. “Maybe you should keep me around. I can cook, tidy up.” I tried not to laugh. They were my two crappest things, but she didn’t deserve my best, and I’d enjoy spitting in her food when she wasn’t looking.
“Three’s a crowd, honey.”
“But I know how James likes his food cooked.”
She stared at me, probably sizing up if the new information was any benefit to her.
“Plus, James would be pissed if he found out you killed me. He’d never talk to you again.”
That really got her attention. She narrowed her eyes then spun around. She stopped at the foot of the mattress, knelt on it, bent and licked James’s face from his jaw to his eye. Ew. I pulled a face. I couldn’t help it. He was so going to want to bleach his skin when I told him. Snezana planted an open-mouthed kiss on his lips—double ew—before she stood and headed for the other side of the room where there was a door I hadn’t noticed before. Without a word, she left.
I stood and went to James. Knees-first, I dropped onto the edge of the mattress and pressed my ear on his chest, above his heart. Relief washed through me. He was breathing. Thank God. His face was pale, with the exception of a bruised right cheek, his dark hair knotted. She obviously hadn’t shaved him since bringing him here—his face was dirty, and his stubble was on its way to being a beard.
His leg was bandaged, but I had no idea if she’d cleaned or stitched the wound. What if it were infected? I went to put my cheek against his but remembered Snezana had just licked it. I shuddered and placed my cheek against his other cheek, which was quite tricky since I had no hands to hold myself up with. I ended up falling onto his chest. “Sorry, buddy. James, it’s me, Lily. Just checking your temperature. I’m using a trendy new way they invented for people without arms.” He didn’t stir, but he didn’t seem to have a fever, so that was good.
I stayed on top of him for a minute, just revelling in being with my brother. It had been too long since I’d seen him. Tears, yet again, worked their way out of my eyes. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again, but I made it. You can thank me later.” I sniffled then wiggled backwards until I managed to sit again. “What has she done to you?”
How was she keeping him asleep? It could be a spell or drugs, or maybe those guys had bashed him unconscious. I couldn’t see any blood in his hair, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a big egg in there somewhere. Damn. I had no hands to check with.
I took a deep breath and looked around. Was there any way out of here other than the door Snezana had used? There was a long, narrow, filthy window just under the ceiling on the other side of the room through which I could see vague outlines of what was probably the ground. This room had to be underground. And that was it. The only way out was through the door and the snake’s lair.
It was getting to evening, so she wouldn’t be going back to work. I had to be prepared for her to come back. What if she planned on killing me tonight? Yikes. I had to get us out of here. I wondered if William and Beren had any way of following her. If not, I was so screwed.
At least they had my camera. There wasn’t any evidence of where she’d taken me, but there was enough evidence to put Snezana in jail for a long time. Hopefully they’d be able to track the thugs down and figure out where we were from that. Unless the guys waited at the office and threatened it out of her tomorrow morning.
But by then, it might be too late.
Crap.
Double crap. I needed to go to the toilet. Messing up witch-face’s floor didn’t bother me, but how was I supposed to get my jeans pulled down with my hands behind my back? There was no way I could undo the button. I so needed James to wake up. “James. James, wake up.” Nothing. “James, this is your annoying little sister begging you to wake up.” His eyes stayed closed, his thick dark lashes I had always been jealous of resting against the top of his cheeks. I shook my head, sadness settling over me like a heavy blanket. I had to do better.
I shut my eyes and looked for the river of power, listened for the deep hum. I could sense it beyond an invisible barrier, which would be the handcuffs. No shock, thank goodness. Maybe you only got the pain if you tried to do magic rather than search for the power.
There could be a gap somewhere. Surely these weren’t perfect. I shut my eyes and investigated further. Nope. There was nothing I could sense that constituted a fault I could take advantage of. Bummer. Maybe I should try the old-fashioned thing and attempt to get the cuffs off.
I stood and searched around for anything that might help. I walked the perimeter of the room and tried not to cry. Nothing but walls, floor, and my brother. I backed up to the wall. Pushing the chains linking the two bracelets together with my thumb against the wall, I rubbed it up and down. If I could keep it up long enough, maybe I’d wear it out.
After a few minutes, I tried to look over my shoulder to see if I’d made any headway, but the damn cuffs stayed out of sight. Times like this, it would have been useful to be a contortionist. Actually, a contortionist would have gotten their hands to the front and would have been able to undo their jeans button. Instead of looking at the cuffs, I ran my thumbs over the chain. Instead of being smooth, there were tiny ridges, but nothing more than scratches. It might take me years to escape this way.
I swallowed my scream of frustration. Think, Lily.
The door opened. Crap.
Witch-face walked in with a needle and syringe. A really big one. Was that for me or James? I did my best not to show fear—psychopaths lapped that crap up. I would not give her the pleasure. She wiggled her fingers at me. Pain slammed into my stomach as if I’d been punched. I cried out, double over, and fell to my knees. “Argh!” Knees hitting concrete was freaking painful too. I tried to breathe, but it wasn’t easy. I forced myself to raise my head so I could see what she was doing to my brother.
She had the needle poised at the inside of his elbow.
“What are you doing?” I didn’t expect her to answer, but I had to ask.
“He needs to sleep just a while longer. Soon we’ll be able to be together as man and wife, but I have some things to take care of first.” Her chuckle froze my blood. “You’ll be happy to know, I’ve decided what I want to do with you.”
I swallowed.
“James never needs to know I’ve
killed you. But I’ll have to do it now while he’s asleep.”
My legs turned to jelly. If I hadn’t already been kneeling, I would’ve keeled over. Jesus. I couldn’t let this happen. This witch was not going to kill me. Stuff her and her lunatic desires. “You know, if you make a mess, you’ll never get the stains out of the concrete, and James isn’t stupid. He’ll know something happened here.”
“I really don’t care. I know you’re stalling for time, Lily. You’re a dead woman kneeling.” She laughed. “See, I have a sense of humour. I'm a lot of fun, and you could’ve been my friend, but you ruined it. Stupid girl.” She stood and walked over to me. I struggled to get up. I would not die kneeling before her.
I managed to right myself just as she reached me. She gripped my neck with her long skinny fingers. “Hmm, how will I do this? I do have a thing for choking, as you’ve probably realised. I’m not one for messes, and blood might get on my jeans, and these are my favourite pair.”
Anger boiled inside me. Before I could stop myself, I spat in her face. “Ugly cow. Screw you!” Her face reddened like it had in the conference room earlier today. “Yeah, you heard me. Ugly, vile, disgusting. Not only does that describe you, but you’re going down. You’ll never spend any time with my brother. None. He’d rather be dead than with you, so I’ve decided to tell you my big secret.”
She had her hands on her ears. “I’m not listening. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.”
It was my turn to laugh. If this was the only way to hurt her, I was going to inflict as much pain as I could before I died. “You know what my special talent is?” She la-la-d louder. I could yell. Just watch me. “I can see the past with my camera. I have photos of you and your two goons kidnapping my brother. William and Beren have that camera, and I bet they’ve already shown it to your uncle.”
Her la las mustn’t have been loud enough, because her face paled, and her hands dropped to her sides. “You’re lying.”
Witchnapped in Westerham (Paranormal Investigation Bureau Book 1) Page 14
