by Shaun Hutson
‘We can’t hurt her,’ he said quickly, hoping Donna hadn’t heard. ‘Farrell said not to hurt her yet.’
‘Bitch,’ hissed Benton. ‘Fucking rich bitch.’ He nodded slowly. ‘Mouthy, just like your old man.’
‘You knew my husband?’ she asked.
‘I saw him a couple of times. Flash cunt. Thought he owned the place. Too much mouth.’
‘Did you kill him?’ she wanted to know.
‘No,’ said Benton, ‘but I wish I had. Perhaps I’ll have to make do with killing his missus. Now, tell us where the book is. Are you going to pick it up now?’
‘I don’t know what book you’re talking about,’ she said.
The steward passed by again and Donna even managed to smile at him. She felt suddenly more secure despite the fact that she was flanked by men with knives. The train wasn’t stopping until it got to London; there were other people in the carriage and surely these men wouldn’t dare try anything here, now. If they harmed her there was no way they could get off the train other than jumping and, with it travelling at over ninety-five miles an hour, that didn’t seem a very good idea. If she could call their bluff she might just be able to slip away.
Play for time.
She knew she had to keep her nerve.
Easier said than done.
‘Do I take it that you work for the same man as the two who broke into my house?’ she asked.
Benton looked at his companion, who merely wrinkled his brow.
‘I mean, they seemed to be incompetent morons like you. It’s an understandable supposition. Don’t you agree? Or would you prefer me to stick to words of one syllable?’
Benton leaned forward again, his face contorted with anger.
‘I’m going to enjoy doing you,’ he said angrily. ‘I might even slip you one before I do.’ He rubbed one hand across his groin. ‘Right up your tight, rich twat.’
‘And what do you think the other passengers are going to do? Just look the other way?’
‘You think anyone’s going to help you? Do you think anyone gives a fuck what happens to you? Nobody cares. They’ll be too busy looking after themselves,’ Benton hissed.
He and Donna locked stares for long moments.
‘Where’s the book?’ Ryker said, jabbing her in the ribs with his elbow.
‘Get off me,’ Donna hissed.
‘Where is it?’ he asked, jabbing her again.
She tried to move away from him.
‘Come on, bitch. Tell us.’
‘Fuck you,’ said Donna and kicked out hard under the table.
Her foot connected hard with Benton’s right shin and he yelped in pain, reaching down to massage the throbbing limb.
Ryker jabbed her again with his elbow.
‘Where is it?’ he persisted.
‘I’m going to fucking cut you,’ Benton said, wincing in pain. ‘I don’t care what Farrell says.’ He leaned closer. ‘Get on your fucking feet, we’re going for a walk.’
‘I’m not moving from here,’ Donna told him, meeting his steely gaze and holding it.
‘Get up,’ Benton repeated. ‘I’ll kill you, I swear I will.’
‘You can’t kill her,’ Ryker reminded him. ‘Farrell.
‘Fuck Farrell,’ he grunted. ‘We’ll tell him she made a run for it, we had no choice.’
‘He wanted her alive,’ Ryker persisted.
Benton pulled the knife free of his belt, leant forward and touched the blade to Donna’s left knee.
She felt the point against her stockinged leg.
‘If you’re not on your feet in five seconds I’ll open your leg to the bone. You got that?’
Donna regarded him blankly for a moment, then nodded.
She stood up and squeezed past Ryker, picking up her handbag in the process. Throwing it over her shoulder, she set off down the aisle, the two men close behind her. As she passed the steward she nodded. He returned the gesture, looking at her two new companions.
Donna swallowed hard.
As long as she was on the train she was safe. Well, reasonably safe, anyway. There were other passengers around. What could they do to her?
The lights flickered briefly as the train entered a tunnel.
Donna kept on walking, aware that her two unwanted attendants were no more than a foot or so behind her.
The buffet car was up ahead; there was a young woman buying a drink and some sandwiches. Donna passed her, squeezing by. Ryker and Benton followed.
As they reached the area between two carriages Benton told her to stop. He pushed her towards the door, then reached into his coat pocket and took out a packet of cigarettes. He lit one, standing beside Donna, blowing smoke out of the window. Cold night air rushed in, ruffling her hair and making her eyes water.
What to do?
Ryker was standing by the door to the compartment, watching both ways for anyone approaching.
‘Now, we’ll start again,’ Benton said, gripping Donna’s wrist in one powerful hand. ‘Where’s the book?’
‘I don’t know,’ she told him, trying to shake loose.
Benton leaned closer so that his face was only inches from hers.
‘Have you ever seen anyone stabbed?’ he said, spittle flying into her face. ‘Do you know how much knife wounds can bleed?’
Donna pressed herself against the wall in a bid to move away both from his presence and his foul-smelling breath.
‘I have to go to the toilet,’ she said.
‘What, so you can get in there and pull the emergency cord? Fuck off.’
‘Then I’ll have to piss all over your shoes, won’t I?’ Donna said defiantly.
Benton moved back slightly, then his lips curled into a crooked smile.
‘You can go,’ he told her. ‘I’ll stand in there with you. To make sure you don’t come to any harm.’ He chuckled and pushed open the lavatory door for her. ‘Keep an eye open,’ he told Ryker, pushing Donna into the small cubicle in front of him and pulling the door shut behind.
‘Benton,’ said his companion, grabbing the other man’s arm. ‘Don’t kill her. I mean it.’
‘I’ll handle this.’
‘Well then, you’ll have to handle Farrell if you kill her. He said he didn’t want her harmed until we find out what she knows about the book. Just go fucking steady, will you?’
Benton shook loose.
‘And you just keep your eyes peeled. Right?’
There was scarcely room for one inside the cubicle, let alone two. Donna found the big man pressed close to her.
‘What are you going to do? Stand there and watch me?’ she demanded.
‘I’m not going to turn my back on you, if that’s what you were hoping. Go on, get on with it. Or do you want a hand?’ He chuckled. ‘I’ll close my eyes, how’s that?’
He did.
It was only a split second but it was all Donna needed.
She lashed out with her right foot, driving it into Benton’s groin with all the power she could muster. She actually felt the bottom of his pelvic bone thump against her foot as she slammed his testicles up against the bone.
He howled in pain, the sound lost as the train hurtled into a tunnel.
Donna lunged at him, aware that his face was unprotected as he clutched at his genitals with both hands.
She raked his face with her nails, digging at his eyes, making him scream in renewed agony as she sheared a portion from his lower eyelid. Blood ran down his face. He tried to fight back, clutching at her throat and digging his thumbs into her Adam’s apple, but she bit into his thumb until she drew blood, kicking again at the big man. She drove three kicks into his shins and smashed her handbag into the side of his head. Possessed of a strength born of fear and rage, she rained blows onto him, pushing him against the lavatory door, which flew open.
His face scratched and bleeding, contorted in a grimace of pain and anger, Benton toppled backwards, one hand reaching for the knife.
The train was still inside th
e tunnel, the wind howling like a mad banshee through the open windows. The lights flickered on and off.
Donna threw herself clear of Benton’s groping hands.
She spun round and brought one heel down with tremendous force onto his outstretched hand.
The point of the heel crushed the tip of his index finger, splitting the nail as far as the cuticle. Blood burst from the shattered digit and Benton screamed again.
Donna turned as Ryker came at her, avoiding his clumsy attempts to grab her.
She was not so lucky with Benton, who sprang up and crashed into her, his arms locking around her waist, their combined momentum slamming them against the door.
The impact caused it to fly open. For what seemed like an eternity both of them were suspended in mid-air, filthy fumes pouring into the carriage from inside the tunnel.
Then the second passed.
Ryker tried to grab them but was too late.
They toppled out.
Fifty-Seven
She knew she was going to die.
In that split second, as she and Benton fell from the train, Donna knew.
The stench of the tunnel filled her nostrils; the roar of the train drummed in her ears. She felt weightless as they pitched into empty air.
Benton, in his terror, released his grip on her waist. His scream echoed madly inside the tunnel as he fell was slammed against the brickwork then bounced back against the speeding train, his body pulped by the impact.
Something inside Donna’s mind, some shred of self-preservation, made her shoot out a hand.
She managed to grip the frame of the window on the door which was flying open now, banging against the side of the train.
Hold on, her mind screamed. Hold on.
She used all her strength to grip the frame, her body buffetted by the high-speed wind that swept against the train as it roared along. Her hair whipped around her face; she felt the icy chill filling her. Her fingers were beginning to go numb.
She was losing her grip.
The train burst free of the tunnel and Donna shouted in defiance, managing to get her other hand onto the frame, too. But all she could do was hang there from the side of the speeding train, unable to move, knowing her strength would eventually fade. It was only a matter of time before she fell.
‘Grab my hand,’ roared Ryker, extending a hand. ‘I’ll pull the door shut.’
He gripped the open door and pulled, one of his hands closing over Donna’s.
She had visions of him slowly unpeeling her fingers, prising them from the door until she fell.
But instead he used all his strength to heave the door shut, battling against the onrushing wind as the train continued to hurtle along.
Donna felt faint; she thought her grip was failing.
HOLD ON.
Ryker pulled the door another few inches, pulled her closer.
If only she could hang on ...
She felt her feet trailing through the weeds that grew at the side of the track, nettles and thistles tearing her skin as she was dragged through them at high speed.
‘Take my hand,’ Ryker shouted, bellowing to make himself heard. ‘I’ll pull you in.’
Donna didn’t have time to think. She hadn’t the luxury of considering her options.
She gripped his hand as tightly as she could, feeling a terrific wrench on her shoulders as he tried to haul her in, steadying himself against the door to ensure that he didn’t end up suffering the same fate as his companion.
‘Your other hand,’ he shouted. ‘Give me your other hand.’
She had one hand clamped in Ryker’s, the other wrapped round the door frame. If she relinquished her grip on the door she was completely at his mercy.
‘Come on,’ Ryker screamed at her.
There was another tunnel approaching, looming large and dark, ready to swallow her and the train.
She heard a loud roar and realized that the 125 was sounding its air horn. A warning as it entered the tunnel.
She looked ahead, saw the yawning black mouth and the dark hillside around it.
Saw the lights.
Lights which got brighter as they came closer.
There was another train coming the other way on the track next to her.
It would leave the tunnel as her own train entered.
There would be less than five feet between the massive engines.
She would be crushed between them.
Donna let go of the door and allowed Ryker to grab her other hand.
He pulled as the two trains drew closer.
‘Come on,’ he screamed and heaved her upwards, clutching at her dress to pull her inside while she held his arms, squirming her legs through the window.
They both fell in an untidy heap on the floor.
The other train swept past with a roar and a deafening hiss of air. Then it was gone.
Donna rolled onto her back, her eyes half-closed, her limbs numb. She could feel nothing but the cold, that seemed to have filled every pore of her body. Her ankles and shins were scratched and bloodied, her stockings shredded by the trackside weeds and nettles.
Ryker knelt beside her, shook her, rubbed her arms as if trying to restore the circulation. She was still cold. Numbingly, almost painfully cold and some of it was shock.
‘Why did you save me?’ she said quietly, looking at Ryker.
‘Because I need you alive,’ he said, still rubbing her arms.
‘I need information from you.’ He looked worried.
‘Who are you?’ she slurred, close to fainting.
He struck her hard across the face to prevent that.
Then she felt his arms beneath her shoulders, lifting her, pushing her into the lavatory, locking it behind him. He sat her on the seat and stood looking down at her.
She glanced up and saw the knife hidden inside his jacket.
A thought occurred to her and she almost smiled.
Out of the frying pan into the fire.
Don’t all laugh at once.
Donna rubbed both hands across her face, her body quivering as she began to regain some warmth, some feeling in her extremities. Her shoulders ached; her hands and legs were throbbing.
‘I saved your life,’ said Ryker. ‘Now tell me what I want to know.’
She closed her eyes.
The banging on the door made her open them again.
Fifty-Eight
‘Conductor,’ the voice outside called.
Ryker shot an angry glance at Donna and mouthed something she couldn’t make out. She held his gaze then called, ‘Just a minute.’
Ryker looked at her with sheer hatred. For one terrible second she thought he was reaching for the knife.
‘Open it,’ she whispered, nodding towards the door.
‘I’ll kill you and whoever’s outside that door,’ Ryker said.
‘You wanted me alive, you said,’ Donna told him defiantly. ‘Kill me and you don’t get your information. Now open the door.’ They glared at each other for a second longer, then Ryker turned the lock and pushed the door open.
The conductor looked in on them, eyebrows raised.
‘What the hell is this?’ he said irritably, seeing the two dishevelled occupants of the lavatory. ‘What’s going on?’ He saw the cuts and scratches on Donna’s legs. ‘I’ve heard about this sort of thing before,’ he said, as if realizing what he’d stumbled on, or at least what he thought he’d stumbled on. ‘Very funny. I know what you’ve been up to. Another couple tried it on one of my trains a month or so ago. I caught them, too.’
‘It isn’t what you think,’ Donna said, running a hand through her hair.
‘No, I’m sure it’s not,’ the conductor said disbelievingly.
‘I can explain,’ Donna assured him.
Ryker said nothing.
‘I fell, I hurt myself,’ she said. ‘This gentleman,’ she nodded towards Ryker, ‘he helped me. I needed to sit down for a minute. I must have fainted, I think. This was the n
earest seat.’ She smiled and patted the toilet beneath her.
The conductor looked at Donna, then at Ryker.
‘Is this true?’ he asked the other man.
‘Yes,’ Ryker said sharply, trying to hide his anger.
‘Then why was the door locked?’ the uniformed man wanted to know.
‘I didn’t want anyone bursting in and getting the wrong idea, like you have,’ Donna said, smiling again.
‘Well,’ said the conductor, ‘it does look a bit suspicious, you’ll admit. Two people in one lavatory, I mean ...’ He allowed the sentence to tail off.
‘I agree,’ Donna echoed. ‘If I could just go back to my seat I’ll be okay. Could you help me, please?’ she asked the conductor.
Ryker regarded her furiously as the uniformed man extended a hand to help her up.
‘Are you two people not together, then?’ the conductor asked.
‘No,’ Donna told him, smiling. ‘It was just lucky for me this gentleman was passing.’ She looked at Ryker. ‘I hurt my ankle when I fell. The floor was harder than I thought.’ She looked down at her scratched and grazed legs.
‘Would you like me to see if there’s a doctor on the train?’ the conductor asked as he walked back through First Class with her. ‘I can get them to call it out over the loudspeaker.’
‘No thanks, I’ll be fine.’
Ryker trailed along behind, his expression one of growing agitation. His chance, it seemed, was gone. How the hell was he going to get the information he required from her with the conductor prattling about? He clenched his fists in frustration and annoyance. And fear?
What would Farrell do if he failed?
The conductor saw Donna to her seat and ensured she was comfortable.
Ryker sat down opposite her, his eyes still blazing.
‘Would you like a brandy?’ the conductor said. ‘It’ll calm your nerves. I can get you one from the buffet car.’ He winked. ‘On the house.’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ Donna told him. ‘Thank you.’
He scuttled off to fetch it, leaving them to face one another across the table.
‘I’m going to kill you,’ Ryker hissed.
‘You’re not going to do anything,’ Donna told him, anger in her voice. ‘You said you needed me alive, that you wanted some answers. Well, so do I. I want to know who you are and who you’re working for, and don’t fuck me around or I’ll have this train stopped. Tell the truth or the law will be here before you can make a move. I’ll tell them you pushed that other bastard out of the train and tried to kill me.’ She looked at him with a challenging stare. ‘Who’s Farrell? You said Farrell didn’t want me harmed. Who is he? The man who sent you?’
