by Natasha West
Sophie knew where April was; the information sat on her all day. She began to walk quickly, breaking into a run. She didn’t care if anyone was looking.
She was at the collection of back street garages not two minutes later, sweating and scared. There wasn’t a soul to be seen. But there it sat. Unit two. Sophie strode toward it and stood at its entrance, impotently for a moment, before she pressed her ear to the shutter door to collect any sort of clue before doing whatever she was going to do next. She heard talking, a woman’s voice, older. And then a male voice. And then…
April!
April was in there, Sophie could hear her. She was saying something that Sophie couldn’t make out, but she knew without a doubt that it was her. Her April, just on the other side of the door! And she sounded OK. It wasn’t too late.
But Sophie didn’t have time to celebrate; she had to think about what to do next. Yes, there was still time, but how much? And how best to use it? She could leave, borrow a phone from a stranger, get the cops here, and they could sort this out. Better than Sophie, unarmed and not what you’d call dangerous unless you happened to be Mexican food.
But then Sophie heard a scraping noise from inside the garage, and she didn’t like the sound of it, its urgency. She shoved her ear back up against the door. Voices were being raised. Panic shot through Sophie. She did the only thing she could think to do. She banged her fist on the garage door and waited.
Everything went quiet. Sophie liked the quiet even less than the shouting. A plan sprung to mind, and she didn’t have time to question its workability, she just went with it. ‘Hey!’ she yelled through the door. No answer. ‘Police!’ she bellowed with all the confidence she could summon. ‘Open up!’
She heard something then, muttering. The inhabitants of the garage were talking, discussing. Sophie decided to keep momentum. ‘I said police! We know you’re keeping April Gardener in there! Come out now with your hands above your head, or we’re coming in with an armed unit.’
Someone cleared their throat from inside the garage. ‘You got a warrant?’ a male voice asked gruffly.
Sophie obviously didn’t have a warrant, nor an armed unit, but she was in for a penny now. ‘Yeah. Open the door, and I’ll show it to you.’
‘Shove it under the garage door,’ the man instructed.
Sophie looked down at the garage door, and she couldn’t see a gap to put her imaginary warrant through. ‘There’s no way to do that. You open the door, and I’ll show it to you.’
‘Look, I’m gonna open the door a crack, and you can pop it under.’ The door creaked and cranked open a few inches. A large hand appeared. ‘Give it over, then.’
Sophie stared at the hand. ‘No, open the door properly.’
The hand withdrew. ‘This is starting to sound shifty. Are you sure you’re a copper? Because I don’t hear the sound of anyone else, no cars, no footsteps, no dogs, nothing.’
Sophie was officially out of bluff. She had no card left to play. Except one… ‘April?’ she called under the gap in the door. ‘It’s me, are you there?’
‘Sophie?’ replied April. ‘I thought that was you! You’ve got to go, get out of here now!’
‘What the fuck?’ asked the male voice. ‘That’s your little girlfriend?’
Sophie took a deep breath and screamed, ‘You’re right. I’m not with the police. But I’m going to get them now!’ and turned on her heel and started running. She heard the screech of a garage door, and she sped through the garages, hearing footsteps coming for her, finding her way back onto the street. But instead of running for people, a phone, help, she doubled back to an alley that ran right back behind the garages, until she hit a dead end. She heard footsteps, two pairs of heavy ones, spill out onto the street she’d been on just a minute ago, and she knew that if they came up the alley, she was trapped, done. But the footsteps moved away.
Sophie knew she had to move quickly. She jumped over the fence and headed back to the garages.
Thirty-Four
The second that ‘Policewoman’ started talking, despite how commanding and confident she sounded, April knew it was Sophie. She didn’t have time to process Sophie’s surprise appearance, because she was quickly caught up in Sophie’s act, talking about warrants and armed units as she tried to get April’s suspicious-looking brother to open the door. April didn’t know whether to wish for her success or not.
Steve looked at his mum. ‘You buying this?’ She shook her head. Her brother turned back to the small gap he’d opened. ‘This is starting to sound shifty. Are you sure you’re a copper? Because I don’t hear the sound of anyone else, no cars, no footsteps, no dogs, nothing.’
There was no reply for a second, and then the phony policewoman act fell away, and Sophie called, ‘April? It’s me, are you there?’
Sophie?’ April cried. ‘I thought that was you! You’ve got to go, get out of here now!’ she warned passionately.
‘What the fuck?’ Steve said irritably to April. ‘That’s your little girlfriend?’
Before April could say anything, Sophie screamed, ‘You’re right. I’m not with the police. But I’m going to get them now!’ And then came the unmistakable sound of Sophie legging it. April listened with joy. Sophie was leaving, thank god. She just hoped she’d get far enough away.
Steve turned to Ryan. ‘We gotta get her.’ Ryan nodded, and they wrenched the rusty door open together. April was distracted and didn’t see her mother step toward her. She slapped the knitting needle out of April’s hand, promptly placing the cuff attached to the pipe back on her wrist. ‘You!’ her mother spat. ‘Sit back on your chair!’
April, weaponless again and re-cuffed, didn’t have a lot of choice and she sat down quickly. Her brothers had the door open now, and they were out. Her mother began to pull the door down behind them, but it was a bit sticky, and though she was quick, she didn’t have Steve’s arms, and she was struggling with it. ‘You try to do something,’ Marla puffed as she yanked the creaky door. ‘Try to make everything OK,’ she went on, gaining some ground with the door. ‘You forgive the sins of your children, give them everything, and still…’ She almost had the door down. But she couldn’t seem to get it totally shut. ‘This fucking thing,’ she moaned, trying to pull it all the way. She managed to close it an inch further. But then it moved back up an inch. Marla looked confused and pulled again, getting it closer to shut.
But then a foot appeared, hooked underneath the door, putting a stop to any further progress. Her mother looked shocked and stepped back. ‘Steve?’
The foot was replaced by two hands, and the door flew up with a scream and there, framed in golden sunlight, stood Sophie, wild-eyed and sweating, looking in at April and Marla. April looked up at her in astonishment. ‘Sophie, get out of here!’ she screamed. ‘My brothers will come back!’
But Sophie took a step inside the garage. Marla didn’t move, only regarded Sophie for a moment with an almost impassive face. April was getting more desperate by the second to get Sophie out of the garage. Every danger she could imagine would descend on Sophie if she stayed even another minute. ‘No, no, Sophie, please-’ she started to beg as Sophie walked deeper into the garage with determination.
But her mother didn’t let April finish her sentence. ‘This is rude. You haven’t been invited.’
Sophie stopped and looked at Marla in surprise. ‘It’s a kidnapping, not afternoon tea.’
Her mother smiled. ‘It’s not a kidnapping when it’s your kid.’
Sophie shrugged that craziness off. ‘You’ve got her chained to a radiator; you’re parent of the year. Where’s the key?’
Marla still had her knitting bag over one shoulder, and she reached in, though not for the key. She had the knitting needle she’d confiscated from April earlier. ‘Leave now, or I’ll put this in your eye,’ Marla said sweetly.
Sophie looked to April to see how real this threat might be, and April said, ‘I don’t think she’s bluffing.’
S
ophie turned back to Marla. ‘You know I can’t leave.’
Marla raised an eyebrow. ‘And why is that?’ she asked conversationally, still brandishing the needle.
‘Because you’ll hurt her.’
‘That’s my business,’ Marla answered.
Sophie looked briefly appalled, but she kept her cool, April was surprised to see. ‘It’s also mine.’
Marla sighed. ‘Here’s the thing. You bring a child into the world, you get certain rights. One of those rights is to decide if they need to be removed from it again.’
Sophie blinked. ‘Never heard them talk about that on Loose Women.’
Marla turned to April. ‘Tell her to go. Steve and Ryan are coming.’
April nodded vehemently. ‘You should,’ she told Sophie.
Sophie shook her head. ‘Not without you.’
‘Sophie, you’re a brave idiot, and I love you,’ April said, her voice breaking. ‘But you need to go. This is the only chance you’ll get.’
‘Not without you,’ Sophie repeated. April saw in her eyes that she meant it. She would not be moved.
‘You stubborn mule!’ April cried, frustrated.
Sophie shrugged. ‘Gotta see some things through. I think you and me is one of those things.’
‘Even though it brought you to a dirty lock up around the corner from a street full of thieves and criminals?’ April asked disbelievingly.
‘Hell of a way to meet the in-laws,’ Sophie said philosophically.
‘OK, that’s enough,’ Marla snapped angrily. ‘My boys are going to realise you’ve doubled back any second. And when they come back-’
‘You know what I’ve just realised,’ Sophie announced suddenly. ‘You keep talking about how they’re gonna come back. But the thing is, if you were sure of that, you’d just wait for it, wouldn’t you?’ Marla didn’t respond immediately, and Sophie took that as an opportunity to keep talking. ‘Cos you know, if I’ve learned anything from your daughter, what you’re doing is playing for time. She’s a master at that, taught me a thing or two. So, I think the reason you’re trying to talk me into going is because really, you’re an old lady with a sharp bit of plastic. Granted, you’re still quite terrifying, and I think on your best day, you’d give Freddie Krueger a run for his money,’ Sophie added. And then she flicked a look at April, who was stunned to see a slight smile on Sophie’s lips. ‘But what if it’s not your best day?’ Sophie went on. ‘What if it’s mine and April’s?’ Sophie’s smile faded, and she fixed Marla with a steely look April didn’t think she’d ever seen. ‘And hey, what if you don’t test me, because I’ve had a really long day and my arm hurts, and I’m really fucking pissed that you abducted my girlfriend and then brought her here to this horrible place and no doubt scared the shit out of her? What about that, Mrs Gardener?’
April looked at her mother to see something else she’d never seen. Her mother was faltering. The arm holding the needle was lowering, her eyes unsure.
Sophie sensed her moment because she said firmly, ‘Right, key!’ putting her good arm out, hand extended.
Marla looked angry, but she let out a little sigh like she knew when she was beaten. She dropped the needle onto the floor. ‘Fine.’ She reached into her bag and started to rustle about, and Sophie gave April a look that said, ‘It’s almost over.’ April beamed at Sophie, who was, just like the day they met, her hero.
And then her mother stabbed Sophie in the hand with another knitting needle.
Sophie screamed in pain and shock, looking at the giant bit of plastic sticking out of her palm. April stared at it too in disbelief. Her mother had put a hole in Sophie.
‘They come in pairs, you fool,’ Marla said scathingly.
Sophie looked at the needle in her hand and back at Marla disbelievingly. ‘You crazy little-’
Before she could reach the end of her insult, the light coming through the open garage door was blocked out. Marla smiled. ‘Ah, here we are.’
April looked up to see her brothers looking in at the scene, Sophie bent double in pain, knitting needle sticking out of her palm, her mother triumphant. ‘Bloody hell, Mum, what you been up to?’ Ryan asked, laughing. Steve didn’t say anything, just took a knife from his pocket and unfolded it, sighing to himself like he knew he had a big job in front of him.
April’s stomach dropped. It was over. She and Sophie didn’t have a snowball’s chance in-
Wait. What was that noise?
‘RIGHT! EVERYBODY DOWN ON THE FUCKING GROUND!’ yelled a familiar gruff voice. It was the cavalry, aka Barry.
Thirty-Five
‘RIGHT! EVERYBODY DOWN ON THE FUCKING GROUND!’ yelled a voice, and everyone spun around to see a swarm of cops flood into the grounds, surrounding the garage, guns out. Steve and Ryan got down in seconds, Steve tossing his knife quickly, real fear in his eyes. Sophie, in her shock, started getting down too. When she was on the floor, she looked over to see April grinning at her, and she grinned back. It was going to be OK, after all. They were saved.
‘You don’t have to get down, Sophie,’ Barry said in exasperation as he walked in.
‘Oh, right,’ Sophie said, getting back up. ‘Because it wasn’t easy. I’ve got a cast on my left arm, and Old Mother Hubbard put a shiv in my right hand,’ she said, now standing, waving both her messed up extremities, the knitting needle still waggling out of her palm.
‘Bloody Norah,’ Barry muttered, looking at her wound. ‘I knew you’d get into trouble. Thank god I came.’
‘Took your sweet time, though, didn’t you?’ Sophie muttered. As soon as she was on her feet, a collection of uniforms came in, and three members of the Gardener family not currently chained to a pipe were removed. Marla went last. She shot April a dirty look that Sophie didn’t like at all. ‘Hey!’ she called to the woman. ‘You don’t look at her like that!’
Marla turned to her as a policeman began to pull her from the garage. ‘I knew I should have put it in your eye,’ she muttered to herself.
‘Back at ya,’ Sophie said, though it made no sense. But she’d always liked the last word in an argument and today was no different. Marla glared at her as she was pulled from sight, ‘You…’ Marla said, and then some extremely choice expletives were directed at Sophie as the woman was dragged off. But Sophie had no interest in whatever insults were coming her way, she was drifting across the garage, to something she needed to do.
She went to April and grabbed ahold of her, as best she could. ‘Oh god,’ April moaned in her ear. ‘I know,’ Sophie said. They held onto each other until Sophie realised that April was still chained up. ‘Anyone find a key?’ she asked of the coppers swarming around.
Barry was on it, heading over with bolt cutters. ‘Who’s got time to look for fiddly keys?’ he said as he crunched down on the chain. April, free at last, went to hug Sophie again, before she saw that the needle was still stuck in Sophie’s hand. ‘Oh my god, can we get this situation sorted!’ she cried out, gesturing at the needle.
‘I’ve had a few things to do,’ Barry complained, before calling, ‘Medic!’ over his shoulder.
The medic was on hand, and she ran in and demanded that Sophie sit down on the chair April had been stuck on, attending her hand. The needle turned out to be less deep than it looked, and it was taken out quickly, the wound cleaned and stitched on the spot. ‘Fuck, that hurts worse than the knitting needle,’ Sophie complained as she was patched up. April touched her wrist and the pain seemed to lessen.
Once that was all done, Barry pulled both girls out of the garage. ‘Come on, you two, that’s a crime scene now.’
‘Beg your pardon,’ Sophie said. ‘Sometimes, it takes me a minute to gather myself when I’ve been trying not to die.’
Barry rolled his eyes. He turned to April. ‘So what about you, you alright?’
‘I’m fine. I mean, I’ve had better days, obviously. But they never got the chance to… I’m not hurt, physically,’ April said vaguely. Sophie, for want of an unhurt limb
, pressed her shoulder to April’s for comfort. She felt April press back.
‘So Barry, what the fuck?’ Sophie asked the policeman. ‘How the hell did you find us?’
‘Like you said. I came down here, picked the weakest member of the gang, and I slapped him until he told me where you were.’
‘You didn’t!’ April said, shocked.
‘No. I mean, I would have!’ he said defensively. ‘I was maybe going to anyway. But then I realised Sophie had buggered off and I came to find her. I got lucky. Saw the idiot brothers running around all panicked. I only had to follow them after that. They led me right here. Had the troops on standby.’ Once he’d finished his little homily, he got a strange look on his face, and he suddenly grabbed ahold of April, squeezing her to him. ‘I’m so glad you’re alright.’
