“Riley, what are you doing?” Olivia screamed as pain sliced through her arms.
“This will be easier if you just SHUT. UP!” I shoved her forward and it took everything in me to hold myself back from rushing to help her. Taking the duct tape from my pocket I tore a piece to cover her mouth with.
“Ah, you’re here.” Frank called as we got closer to him. Taking her by the left arm, Frank took her right; together we pulled her into the barn. In the middle of the open space sat a large metal bed. Olivia’s body momentarily went weak before she gave us the fight of her life. Writhing and screaming she desperately tried to get away, her heels skidding on the concrete beneath her as she tried to dig them in.
“Will you just shut up and fucking move?” Frank shouted at her. He quickly cut the ties at her wrists and shoved her forward so that she landed face first on the bare mattress. “Hold her down, for fuck’s sake!” I climbed on top of her like I had only a few days before but I couldn’t think of that. Not with Frank so intent on hurting her. I had to stay focused on my plan. I thought of Caitlin and how upset she must be to be out of her routine and in a strange place.
I could feel Frank pulling at Olivia’s feet but she didn’t respond. Her body went completely lax, eyes pinned dead ahead but not seeing anything in front of her. She’d shut down. I pulled back once told to and got up from the bed. Her still form scared me; how was it possible to switch off so quickly? She’d closed herself off just like she had in the car when she’d caught Jamie in bed with someone else, but Frank didn’t realise.
“Now, Olivia… Do you know the access codes to your accounts at Mason?” Silence. “Olivia, I’m not a very patient man so do not play games with me. Do you know the codes or not?” Leaning down over her face he yelled at her to no avail before kicking his heavy boot into her ribs.
“Stop! You’re hurting her!” I moved forward but Frank pulled a gun from his back pocket and aimed it straight at my chest.
“You, get out!” he spat as his foot connected with Olivia’s ribs again. She came around with a scream, her body arching and rolling as if she was trying to get away from the pain, only the ties on her wrists and ankles stopped her. “Answer me!”
“I never heard you.” Olivia gasped; her breaths coming in sharp pants. He told her that he wanted her to transfer money out of her accounts for him to which she replied by laughing at him. He slapped her cheek, quickly wiping the smile from her face as her head snapped the other way.
“Frank, you got me to do what you wanted now give me Caitlin back, I want to take her home.” Olivia looked up at me, pain filling her eyes more than any kick or punch could give her. I wanted so badly to explain what was happening to Olivia, but I needed to get Cait out. Frank stood up from his position over Olivia and threw a bunch of keys at me.
“She’s in the house. Get her and fuck off out of my sight.”
“Riley!” Olivia called after me earning herself another slap.
“Shut up!”
“Connor, please, don’t leave me here!” My chest tightened as tears welled in the corners of my eyes.
“I said shut the fuck up! You…” Frank pointed at me “…out of here!” I pushed the heavy barn door closed, to the sound of Olivia screaming and Julie’s footsteps crunching over the gravel.
“Is that her? Wow! She always was such a whiny little bitch so I’m not sure why that surprises me.” I launched myself at her, taking her down to the hard ground with both of my hands at her throat. “Go on, kill me. I dare you! Then see where your precious sister ends up!”
Caitlin. I jumped up from Julie who laid on the ground laughing as I ran towards the house. I didn’t bother to sort through the pile of keys that were cutting into my hand, I kicked the door straight in. “Caitlin? Caitlin?” I called as I ran through the house checking every room.
“Connor? I’m upstairs.” Taking the stairs three at a time, I was met by her at the top. I picked her up and carried her into the room she’d just come from. It was pink and girly with teddy bears scattered around the room. Photo frames littered a chest of drawers, filled with pictures of Robert, Julie and Olivia here at the farm. I felt nauseous as I took in his happy, smiling face in every picture. Olivia as a happy toddler playing in the fields, her expression changing to one of masked sadness as Julie disappeared from the photos and Olivia aged. She’d started wearing her hair down so that it covered her face.
Tears rolled down my cheeks for that sad little girl as she sat alone in a field of daises, her eyes avoiding the camera, instead focusing on something far off in the distance. A cold shiver rolled through my bones as I realised it was the same stare that I’d just walked away from.
FIFTEEN
After making sure that Caitlin was secure in the back of my car, I stuck the key in the ignition and ran back towards the barn. Olivia was out cold again; the bandage on her head was soaked through with blood, as were the bandages covering her arms.
Julie and Frank were off to the side, sat on the stairs that led to the loft above. “I thought I told you to leave?” Frank stood, walking over to me with his hand resting on the gun on his hip.
“I just wanted to check that she’s ok”
“I think you should leave now. We’ll handle her from here.”
“You’re going to kill her!”
Julie laughed as she walked towards the bed. “Wasn’t that the plan all along?”
“You never mentioned any of this when you told me what you wanted from her. I’d never have agreed to all of this shit if you’d have told me! Please, just let me change her bandages and I’ll leave. I swear.”
“You need to leave now.” Frank pulled the gun from his hip and pointed it to the centre of my chest. There was no way I could get it from him before he tried to fire it. I was screwed. “Walk that way.” He nodded at the door that I’d entered through, walking me back towards my car. He watched me get in and didn’t move even as I drove away. I could see him in the rear-view mirror, gun still raised and aimed ready to fire at my car if I dared to stop and get out. Why didn’t I grab my own gun? Once I’d heard that Caitlin was in danger I couldn’t think clearly, but now that she was safe with me I had an abundance of clarity.
I had to get Caitlin home and safe. She was my first priority. I’d grab my spare weapons from the apartment I hadn’t lived in in so long and I’d go back for Olivia. I’d kill Frank and Julie if it meant that I could get her out alive.
On the drive home a news report interrupted the music playing on the radio; my heart immediately fell through my stomach in dread.
“Multi-billion pound heiress to Mason Enterprises, Olivia Stevens has been abducted from her hospital bed and reports are that her family are being held to ransom for her entire fortune. It is not yet known who her abductors are, but informants from the hospital have claimed that her captors are close to the family. Police are following up on leads at the moment after reviewing CCTV footage from the hospital, which recorded Miss Stevens being escorted out of hospital early this afternoon. Her family remain close by to the scene in the hope that she returns there. We’ll have more news for you as soon as it comes in.”
I pulled the car over to the hard shoulder, throwing my door open to be sick. “Connor? You’re sick. We should go home.”
“I’m fine, Cait, just get back in the car.” With every breath of air I felt worse; I started to feel dizzy, pressing my hands against the side of the car to steady myself. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I dialled the number that I had saved for the hospital ward which Olivia was on and asked to speak to Jamie, giving the name of his friend which I’d found on one of my digging expeditions.
“Mate, it’s good to hear from you but–”
“Jamie, listen to me. If you want to find Olivia, you need to listen to me.”
“What the fuck have you done with her, you piece of shit?”
“Shut up! She doesn’t have time for this, just listen! She has her phone on her, you can track it. Tell Austin that
Frank has her up at the old farmhouse. He’s with Julie. She’s the one behind everything. I had no idea this was going to happen! Tell her I’m sorry. Please. I’m so sorry.”
I threw my phone down onto the ground and stamped on it, shattering the screen into hundreds of tiny pieces before getting back into my car.
“That was the girl you had to take to Uncle Frank, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Uncle Frank isn’t a nice man.”
“No, he’s not.”
New plan. Get Caitlin home safely to her carer then head to hand myself in at the police station. I didn’t know how long I’d get jailed for, but Olivia would need my help if she was going to convict Frank and Julie any time soon.
Police cars with their sirens blaring were passing by on the other side of the carriageway which brought my attention up from the road in front of me. I felt the smallest piece of hope rise in my chest for Olivia; that she would be safe and home soon.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Natalie Graham was born and resides in England with her husband and their two children.
She can often be found curled up with a cup of tea and her phone wearing out her Kindle/iBooks Apps, hugging her laptop furiously close to her while she writes or cringing in a corner as she thinks about how to write about herself in third person.
Natalie has always had a passion for both reading and writing, especially writing short stories before attempting her first full length novel, Broken Ever After – Breaking Her from Olivia’s perspective.
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