by R. J. Parker
‘Yes,’ Maisie answered.
‘We’re fine.’ Lily didn’t want him to know that. She couldn’t trust him.
‘I should call you an ambulance.’ The man took out his phone.
‘Call the police first. Tell them where we are.’ Lily held Maisie to her. ‘Where are we?’
The man’s finger poised on the keypad. ‘You don’t know?’
‘Just tell me.’
‘Fernham.’
‘Where’s that?’
‘You’re not joking, are you?’ He took in her expression and it confirmed she wasn’t. ‘Kent.’
She was relieved they were still in the UK, but they were miles from South London. ‘And what is this place?’
‘Seaton Gardens. What’s left of it.’
‘My daughter and I have been held here against our will.’
‘Whoa – what?’
‘Call them now. Tell them that we’re Lily and Maisie Russell and that we were kidnapped and brought here.’
‘Kidnapped?’ he repeated incredulously.
‘We’ve only just managed to escape.’
The man gazed down at them, open-mouthed.
‘Call them!’ Lily snapped him out of it.
He dialled. ‘Police. Yes, I’d like to report … a kidnapping. Yes, you heard right.’
Were they outside the signal jamming area? It sounded like a genuine conversation.
As he relayed the situation and location to the police, Maisie tugged at Lily’s sleeve. ‘Tell him to be careful.’
She was right. Their captors could be watching them right now.
The man hung up. ‘On their way. Shit, I should have told them you need an ambulance.’
‘Don’t worry.’ Lily was more concerned about who else might be about. ‘Listen, take a look around. Is there anybody nearby?’
He scanned his surroundings and shot a nervous glance behind him. ‘Not that I can see.’
‘We need to get out of here as quickly as possible. Help us up but keep an eye out.’
He seemed spooked. ‘For the people who kidnapped you …’
‘They could be looking for us.’ She didn’t want to frighten him away. ‘Maisie will try to climb up to you and I’ll push her out. Can you grab her?’
He nodded and leaned into the hole.
‘OK, like you did before.’ Lily supported Maisie as she ascended the cables again.
The man shuffled forward and extended his arms. ‘That’s good. A little higher.’
Maisie’s weight bent the rusted cables as she clambered up but she was soon in touching distance of the man.
Lily kept one eye on her daughter and the other on the space above him.
‘OK. Reach out to me now.’ He wriggled forward an inch more and took hold of Maisie’s hands. ‘Can you boost her from down there?’
‘Yeah.’ Lily climbed the cables but each one immediately buckled under her heavier weight. ‘Just …’ She slid her deck shoes as near the cement as she could but each one still bent immediately she went higher. She quickly seized Maisie. ‘I’m not going to be able to hold her long.’
‘Just elevate her a few more inches …’
The injuries in Lily’s side and arm ached and needled as she lifted her She heard bricks being disturbed at the top. ‘What was that?’
‘It’s OK. That was my feet moving them,’ he reassured Lily.
She hesitated to push Maisie forward. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, quickly. I can’t hold this position for long.’
But Lily didn’t comply. ‘Wait.’
‘There’s nobody up here but me. Just push.’
But Lily cursed herself for not thinking of it sooner. ‘What happened upstairs?’
‘When?’ He grunted.
‘When you came inside to investigate, and we spoke to you through the wall.’
‘What about it?’
But Lily didn’t like the hesitation before his reply.
‘If you couldn’t get to us, why didn’t you call the police?’
But at that moment, Maisie was tugged clean out of her hands.
Chapter 62
Lily reached out for her daughter, but she disappeared over the lip of the hole. ‘Maisie.’ She wanted to scream her name but was still mindful of who could be close by.
No reply from above.
‘Maisie, answer,’ she whispered.
Nothing.
She heard bricks being disturbed around the edge and climbed frantically, her soles slipping down the gnarled cables as she got closer to the opening. ‘Maisie?’ She stretched out with both hands from her perch and the pain of the wounds to her side snatched the breath from her. She couldn’t quite bridge the gap.
The man’s face appeared above her again, his forehead wrinkled with concern. ‘You OK?’
‘Where’s Maisie?’
‘I got her to hide by some white goods down below.’
Lily didn’t believe him. ‘You’ve left her on her own?’
‘She’s safe. Just give me your hand.’ He offered his.
But she didn’t take it. ‘What happened upstairs?’
‘Come on. Let’s get you out first.’
‘Tell me.’
He shook his head and looked shamefaced. ‘Some guy … he gave me some money, told me to keep quiet about what I’d heard.’
Lily still didn’t extend her arms to him. ‘He paid you?’ That didn’t sound plausible.
He briefly closed his eyes. ‘Just let me help you now.’
‘You walked away, didn’t think of calling the police?’
‘Look, why d’you think I came back?’ He opened his fingers. ‘Quick now. Maisie’s waiting.’ He squirmed forward. ‘Take my hand.’
Lily opened her mouth to respond but suddenly she was dropping, the cables underfoot giving under her weight.
The man lunged and grabbed her wrists and, as she lost her foothold, her body tautened.
Lily groaned as her arms took her weight.
‘Use your feet!’ he gasped, his face suddenly red.
Lily pedalled her legs and her right deck shoe found the surface of the collapsed brick wall. She took the pressure off her shoulders and tried to heave herself up.
‘I can’t hold on for long.’ His whole frame trembled.
She felt his body slide forward. Whoever this man was, he was her only lifeline. She had to get out and protect Maisie. She zoned out the agony, clenched her stomach muscles and pushed herself off the wall and up towards him.
‘I’m going to let your right hand go. Use it to grab my shoulder.’
She obeyed and clutched the cold brown leather of his jacket and repeated the action with her left hand. She crawled over him and collapsed at the side of the hole.
He rolled back from his position there and caught his breath.
As they both panted Lily was already looking for Maisie. ‘Where is she?’
‘I told you … she’s safe.’ He sat up. ‘I’ll take you to her now.’
But he hadn’t stepped away from the hole with Maisie for long. ‘Where?’ Lily got to her feet.
He stood and pointed downwards to the stack of freezers and cookers they’d tried to circumvent. ‘There.’
Lily squinted. ‘I don’t see her.’
‘Just follow me.’ He started off down the side of the stack.
Lily frantically scanned their surroundings for anyone else, but it was just the two of them. Why couldn’t she see Maisie? She reached between some of the bricks at her feet, pulled out a shard of glass and concealed it in her hand.
‘This way.’ He trudged rapidly, picking up momentum.
She tried to keep up with him. ‘Don’t make so much noise.’ She could feel the edge of the glass sharp in the joints of her fingers.
‘The road is on the southside. That’s where the police will arrive.’ He didn’t look back as he spoke.
Lily picked up half a brick in her other hand and prepared herself to strike him wit
h it.
‘I’ll take you there, but I don’t want to hang around and answer any questions.’
‘Why not?’
‘I’ve been trespassing here.’ He staggered onto the flat concrete, his pace slowing to a standstill.
Lily stepped off the rubble and followed him to the wall of junk.
‘Once they’ve arrived, I’ll make myself scarce.’ He turned to her and his gaze settled on the brick in her hand that she was trying to conceal at her side. He halted. ‘Thinking of using that on me?’
‘Just tell me where Maisie is.’ But hearing his reaction to her weapon had made Lily realize something about her escort.
‘Right here.’ He gestured behind him.
‘Where? And why have you suddenly stopped using your Irish accent?’
But at that moment Maisie started yelling.
Chapter 63
Maisie’s voice was muffled.
Lily hefted the brick and clenched the glass in her palm.
The man’s dark eyes darted then slid right to one of the freezers. He moved to the rusted door and pulled on the metal handle.
Maisie was crouching inside, clutching her arms around herself. Her petrified gaze switched from him to Lily.
But as she shot out of her prison, the man grabbed her by her hair.
Her head jerked back, and she screamed.
Lily lunged forward, but the man turned, swinging Maisie with him.
He had a serrated knife at her throat. ‘Not another inch.’ He tightened his grip on Maisie.
The blade was hard against Maisie’s jugular. Lily froze a few paces from them.
‘Step back.’
She complied. Acknowledged his real voice was the one that had spoken to her on the phone. ‘Take that away from her neck.’
‘Further.’
Lily reversed another few feet.
‘Now drop that and whatever else you’ve got in your other hand.’
What choice did she have?
The brick thudded to the ground and the glass shattered beside it.
‘Let her go now.’ She cursed herself for being duped by him again.
‘He told me he’d hurt you if I cried out for help.’ Maisie was on the brink of tears.
‘It’s OK. Just do as he says.’ Lily fixed her daughter and then him.
There was relief on his expression. He took a long breath, so his chest filled and his shoulders raised. ‘OK. Back on track.’
‘Please …’ She held out her palms to Maisie. ‘Just stay still.’
‘Listen to your mother.’
‘I’m not going to move.’ Lily’s voice tremored. ‘Just … please, loosen your grip.’
He looked down at Maisie, but her eyes were fixed on Lily. ‘Why not?’ He flicked his wrist, so the knife was at a right angle to Maisie’s neck.
Lily took half a breath. ‘I’m not going to try anything …’
He nodded, like that was a given.
‘You’ve been holding us?’ She had to distract him.
‘Trying to. That was a great trick with the boxes.’
‘So that whole routine – you pretending to be a trespasser and seeing us at the window …’
‘You could at least look relieved I’m not dead. But I did convince you I might be.’
A piece of theatre to keep them in line? ‘We did everything you asked.’
‘Except escape.’ His brown eyes briefly narrowed.
Lily took in the features under his baseball cap properly. His straggly dark beard covered half of them and his thick eyebrows converged on a narrow, slightly freckled pale nose. When he finished speaking the overgrown bristles of his lips sealed leaving only his eyes to express any emotion.
‘I needn’t remind you what happened the last time you disobeyed.’
But although his expression appeared calm, she detected panic in his body language. He clearly didn’t want them to be in the open like this. But nobody was coming to help. The only person who had was their captor.
‘But I’ll be prepared to overlook it if you behave when you walk home with me.’ He jerked his head back to the building behind them.
Did he really expect to put them back in their prison? But with a knife to Maisie, Lily realised he could do anything.
He studied her and nodded, as if he could hear her thoughts. ‘You can walk in front. I’ll follow with Maisie.’
Lily’s mind raced. This was the closest they’d got to freedom. Once he sealed them back inside, he would make sure they never got out again.
‘Let’s move quickly then.’ He darted his pupils around and nodded she should proceed.
Lily walked past them and made eye contact with Maisie again. ‘Just do everything he asks.’ She strode unsteadily to the smashed door and every cell of her screamed not to go back inside.
‘Pick up the pace. We’re right behind you.’
Lily pinpointed the pieces of rubble and twisted metal around her that she could use against him, but there was no way she could risk endangering Maisie.
‘All right, sweetie. Just pick your feet up.’
Lily thought of his hands restraining her daughter and how tightly he’d held the knife to her throat. Was he really capable of killing a child? Capable of killing at all? He’d fooled them into believing he’d murdered a trespasser, but that had been nothing but a charade. Should she allow him to return them to their prison when he might not even be a threat?
‘I can hear your brain whirring, Lily. Just focus on getting back to the elevator.’
Chapter 64
Lily dodged the shards as she walked back into the foyer. The elevator was still bouncing against the piece of plaster in the door. She heard glass being compressed as she was followed inside and stopped halfway across the tiles.
The splinters crunching behind her ceased.
‘Keep walking,’ he ordered tersely.
Lily shot her eyes about. The only alternative exits were the doors to the stairs and the office. But she didn’t want to go back up to another floor where he could trap them or get cornered in the parking zone again. Her options were rapidly running out.
‘Step inside the elevator and put both your hands against the wall.’
Then he’d kick away the piece of plaster, walk in behind her, the capsule would close, and they’d be on their way back to imprisonment. Lily continued forward, the clattering door only twenty or so feet away.
‘Ow, you little bitch!’
‘Run!’ Maisie exclaimed.
Lily spun around and saw that Maisie had broken free. She was heading towards the door to the stairs.
The man shook his head and sighed as he watched her scuttle away, as if her escape bid was nothing more than a tiresome inconvenience. He examined the bite on the back of his knife hand and looked at Lily. ‘Do you file her teeth or something?’
But in that moment Lily knew she had to seize her chance and buy her daughter time. She ran at the man, not considering what she would do when she reached him.
His expression sharpened and his knife hand came up. But he didn’t see her as a threat.
Lily knew she had to exploit that and, as her eyes focussed on the blade in his fingers, she bent her body forward and aimed herself at his waist, like Ewan had shown Julie Medlocke’s boys how to when he’d taught them rugby tackles in their walled garden. She closed her eyes, waited for the metal to pierce her face, but instead felt the buckle of his belt as her scalp slammed against it.
She heard the breath punched from him, but he seized her hair. ‘Run, Maisie!’
She couldn’t see her daughter. He was gripping her red locks with both hands now, her face looking down at the floor.
‘There’s no point in this.’ But the irritation was gone from his voice.
‘Let her go!’ Maisie bawled.
‘Run upstairs and hide!’ If he was holding her with both hands, then he was unable to use the knife, but as soon as he released her, Lily knew she’d have to attack him again
.
‘Don’t go through that door!’ he yelled to Maisie. ‘If you do, I’ll hurt your mother like I said I would.’
‘Don’t listen to him!’ Again Lily attempted to turn her head to see Maisie, but he held her fast. She gasped as his fingers tightened and pulled on the roots of her hair. ‘Do as I say! Run and hide, now!’
No reply.
Had she gone? Lily prayed she had. ‘Maisie?’
‘Just stay right there or I’ll hurt both of you!’ There was definite panic in his voice now.
‘Leave her alone!’ Maisie screeched.
‘Maisie, go!’ Lily tore the words from her throat.
‘She doesn’t want to leave you here with me. And she’s right not to. Just walk back over here, Maisie, and I’ll let you both go.’
‘He’s lying!’ Lily knew she had to act, even if his retaliation was swift. ‘Run!’ She interlinked the fingers of both hands into one big fist and brought it up as forcefully as she could between his legs. She felt them connect with the soft bulk between them.
The man howled and his grip loosened.
Lily jerked her head from side to side and freed her hair from his fingers. As she straightened, he was doubled over, so she immediately took off towards Maisie who was still standing by the door to the stairs. ‘Go!’
Heavy footsteps staggered close behind her.
Maisie’s eyes were wide.
‘Open the door!’ Lily shouted and anticipated being wrestled to the ground.
Maisie turned, pulled on the handle and quickly darted through it.
Lily knew there could only be a few feet between her and her pursuer. What could they do even if they reached the stairs? He was going to be on them as soon as they’d started climbing.
Maisie had started up the stairwell but her short legs meant she had to put both feet on each step.
Lily tensed herself and halted, crouching and balling herself as footfalls fast approached. There was a split second in which she thought he’d stopped the same time as her, but then she felt him strike her shoulders and his body landed hard on the floor in front of her and rolled left.
She was immediately on her feet again and rocketed through the doorway. Lily launched herself at the stairs and grabbed Maisie. She could move her faster that way, but her daughter’s weight would slow them both down.
