by Bill Ward
Scott was thoughtful for a second. “Okay, let’s go eat something and you can tell me everything you learned from Powell. Then we can come back here and finish the questions.”
“What’s for dinner?” Powell asked.
“Think you’re a comedian?” Tommy answered. “You won’t be laughing come the morning.”
The four of them left Powell sat in the dark. He was relieved to have some respite from their questions, even if it was only temporary. He could only hope Brian would be prompted into action by not being able to get hold of him.
Powell also hoped they were all as hungry as Hattie and took a very long time over their food. He wasn’t looking forward to them returning and asking more questions. He needed to come up with a reason why they should keep him alive.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Scott led the way to the kitchen and they all made sandwiches and grabbed cold drinks from the fridge. They decided to eat in Scott’s study so they wouldn’t be disturbed.
“Midnight feast?” the girl asked, as they rounded a corner.
“We missed dinner,” Hattie explained.
“Who are you?” Scott asked pleasantly.
“This is the new girl I mentioned earlier,” Hattie answered. “Anna meet Scott.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Anna said as she extended her hand.
“Don’t believe a word of it,” Scott joked. “I’m really a very nice person, whatever Hattie’s been telling you.”
“I’m sure you are,” Anna smiled. “Hattie tells me you are our leader so it’s good to meet you at last.”
“Leader sounds far grander than the reality. Sorry, I’ve been busy all day. I promise I haven’t been avoiding you.”
“Perhaps we can spend some time together tomorrow?”
“I’d like that, very much.”
“I’m off to bed now,” Anna said.
“Where are you sleeping?” Hattie asked.
“I’m not sure yet,” Anna answered coyly. “It’s difficult being the new girl. Where do you suggest I should sleep?”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
“On what sort of a night you want.” Hattie had fancied Anna from the first moment they met and knew Scott would also approve. “If you hang around for a bit, I’ll finish eating and then come find you. We can probably have a nightcap with Scott and talk further about what sort of night you want.”
“Okay, I’ll go back to the games room. If I’m not in there, I’ll be in the library.” Anna turned and walked away. “
“She’s gorgeous,” Scott said after a few seconds. “A nightcap sounds a great idea. After the day we’ve had, I could do with some unwinding.”
“I think Anna would be up for that.”
“Sounds like a plan. She seemed very taken by you. I hope she likes men as much.”
“She does,” Hattie confirmed. “What I’m not sure about yet is if she likes girls as much.”
“I assume you’re planning on finding out later?” Scott laughed. “Come on, let’s go eat and then we can get back to the cellar and finish with Powell. Then we can have that nightcap with Anna.”
Hattie repeated what she had been told by Powell, while they ate their sandwiches. The others listened mostly in silence with just an occasional question for clarification.
“We might have to rethink our plans,” Scott said, when Hattie finished speaking. “We may be better off handing him over to our friends in the police.”
“Can we afford to do that?” Roger asked. “Surely, he’s seen and knows too much.”
“Anything he says can be dismissed as wild allegations to try and save his own neck. The drugs and the weapon were found in his car and he’s trying to blame someone at the commune but he hasn’t a shred of real evidence. He saw a suitcase being handed over but admits he has no idea what was inside. We just deny ever meeting.”
“Why can’t we just kill him and throw him in the sea?” Roger asked.
“You are joking?” Hattie queried. “I was all in favour of teaching him a lesson for snooping into our business but killing him! That wasn’t ever on the agenda.”
“You were prepared to shoot him, in the cellar,” Roger replied.
“I was stopping him from attacking all of you. That’s different to killing him in cold blood.”
“The end result is the same,” Roger snapped.
“Stop arguing,” Scott demanded. “I agree with Hattie.”
“And I agree with Roger,” Tommy said.
“This isn’t a bloody democracy,” Scott retorted.
“Why can’t we make it look like a suicide?” Tommy asked. “Powell kills himself because of all the trouble he’s in.”
“And how do you explain the bullet in his leg? People intent on suicide don’t tend to shoot themselves in the thigh,” Hattie pointed out.
Tommy fell silent.
“We have a tough decision to make,” Scott continued. “But I think a dead Powell may cause us more problems than if we let him live.”
“How do you work that out?” Tommy asked.
“Because if he’s dead or disappears, then his friend in MI5 will almost certainly know we are responsible and will come after us. MI5 aren’t like the local coppers. They may not all be James Bond types but we can’t afford to have that lot on our backs.”
“But if we let him go, then he will tell his friend what’s happened and surely that’s just as bad?” Tommy asked impatiently.
“We’re not letting him go. The police will lock him up and this time he won’t get bail. He isn’t going to be able to do much from inside a prison.”
“And how do we explain the bullet in his leg?” Tommy quizzed.
“We don’t have to. Our police friends are going to apprehend Powell in the grounds here. Powell was armed and in a wrestle for the gun, he gets shot. Resisting arrest and trespassing will simply add to his catalogue of crimes.”
“But he’ll tell his MI5 friends the truth and they still might come after us,” Roger said.
“There’s a risk attached,” Scott agreed. “But we won’t be wanted for murder. MI5 are busy in other directions. They will leave it to the police to sort out.”
There was silence in the room for a few seconds.
“That might just work,” Tommy admitted.
“I’ll make the call,” Scott stated.
“Am I needed anymore?” Hattie asked.
“No,” Scott confirmed. “Keep Anna happy and I’ll catch up with you later.”
“I bet you will,” Hattie grinned.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Hattie hurried out of the office and headed for the nearby library. She needed to relax after what had been a very difficult few days and spending time with Anna seemed the perfect antidote to her stress. There was no sign of Anna in the library so she went straight to the games room. Again, there was no sign of Anna and Hattie felt a pang of disappointment.
“Hattie, I’m glad I found you,” Anna announced, walking into the room.
“Anna, I thought you’d gone to bed without waiting for me.”
“I was just looking around the house. I was down in the basement and I’m sure I heard someone shouting for help.”
“The basement is off limits, Anna.”
“But I heard someone. Come with me and I’ll show you.”
Anna turned and headed out the door without waiting for an answer. Hattie hurried after Anna, determined to stop her from going down to the basement.
“You couldn’t have heard anything in the basement,” Hattie said, pulling on Anna’s arm as she caught up with her.
“I’m telling you, I did,” Anna said firmly.
She shook her arm free and kept walking with a determined stride. She took the stairs that went down to the basement, closely followed by Hattie, who was torn between accompanying her and running to find Scott.
Anna stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “The shouts were coming from the door along
there.” She pointed along the corridor.
“Anna, we’re wasting our time. I can assure you there is nobody inside that room. It’s just used for storage. Let’s go back up and find a bed.”
“Not until we look in that room,” Anna insisted, folding her arms across her chest and looking as stubborn as any mule.
“I don’t have a key,” Hattie explained. “The room is kept permanently locked.”
“Well let’s see if we can hear anything from outside.” Anna didn’t debate the issue any further but marched towards the door.
When Hattie caught up with Anna, she listened outside the door for a few seconds then said, “I told you. I can’t hear anything. This is an old house. There are always strange noises. It could even be a ghost.” She managed a small smile.
“Open the door,” Anna demanded.
“I can’t. I told you, I don’t have a key. Now go back upstairs or I’m going to go fetch Scott.”
“You are lying. Open the fucking door.”
Hattie was shocked by Anna’s tone of voice but even more shocked when she realised Anna had a gun in her outstretched hand.
“Anna, what the hell are you doing?”
“I want this door open. I know you have all the keys to the house on that chain attached to your belt.”
“I’m not opening any door.”
“I should warn you that I have shot a man before. And at this distance I can’t really miss.”
“Who are you?” Hattie asked.
“Enough talk. Open the door or I will shoot you and take the key from your body, while you are on the floor bleeding to death.”
Hattie reluctantly took hold of the bunch of keys and unclipped them from her belt. She found the key to the door, inserted it and unlocked the door.
“Scott will kill you for this,” Hattie threatened.
“That will be right after I shoot you,” Anna promised. She pushed the gun into Hattie’s back before she could say any more. “Lead the way.”
Inside the room, Powell looked towards the door when he heard the key turn in the lock. He saw Hattie enter first and it took several seconds to register who followed her into the room.
“Afina, what the hell are you doing here?” Powell asked in shock.
Hattie looked at Afina. “So your name isn’t Anna?”
“Get Powell untied and be quick,” Afina replied.
Hattie moved to the chair and tried to release the plastic ties holding his wrists to the chair.
“Good to see you, Powell. I had no idea you were in here. I saw all of them coming up from the basement and I thought I would take a look around down here. I thought they might be storing drugs or something”
“But how did you even know about this place? I never told you where I was staying.”
“Brian told me what had happened to you and I thought I might be able to be of help and collect some evidence. I joined the commune this morning. Your friend Hattie seemed to take an instant liking to me.”
“I’m not sure she likes you anymore and she’s definitely not my friend.
“I can’t do it. They are too tight,” Hattie moaned, struggling with the ties.
“Stand by the wall,” Afina ordered.
When Afina decided Hattie had backed far enough out of reach, she approached the chair. “Have you been shot?” she asked concerned, suddenly noticing the blood on Powell’s thigh.
“It’s okay. Just get me out of here before anyone else turns up.”
Afina was desperately pulling at the ties but also found them resisting her efforts.
“I need a knife,” Afina screamed in frustration, becoming concerned she wasn’t going to be able to get Powell out of the chair.
“Stay calm,” Powell advised soothingly. “Take the gun and push it under the tie.”
His wrist had been secured palm downwards against the chair arm. He used all his strength to move his hand sideways and managed to create a tiny space between his wrist and the chair. Afina managed to get the gun sight of the weapon into the space and around the plastic tie.
“Pull as hard as you can,” Powell encouraged.
They both pulled in unison and Powell swore. The force they were exerting on one side of the tie was causing it to cut into his wrist on the other side.
“Don’t stop,” Powell urged.
They renewed their efforts and the tie snapped. Powell took the gun from Afina and repeated the effort on his other wrist. The tie broke quickly this time and Powell flexed his free wrists. He bent down and was able to free his feet without too much trouble.
“We need to get out of here,” Powell said, standing. “The three stooges could return at any moment.” He turned his attention to Hattie. “You’re coming with us.”
As Hattie came close to them, she bolted for the door. Afina pounced on her, grabbing her by the hair and swinging her around. At the same time she lashed out with her hand and slapped her across the face with all of her strength, sending Hattie crashing to the ground.
“I shall look forward to watching Tommy teach you a lesson,” Hattie snarled. Curled up on the ground she looked like a wild animal ready to pounce.
“Get up,” Powell snapped. “Give us any more trouble and you won’t like the consequences.”
Hattie climbed slowly to her feet.
“Give me your belt,” Powell instructed Hattie.
Seeing her slow to move, Afina took a step closer and raised her hand as if she was going to strike Hattie again. “Move quicker, bitch.”
Hattie removed her belt and handed it to Powell.
“Now give me your t-shirt.”
“What?”
“You heard him,” Afina said. “Or do you want me to take it off for you?”
Hattie removed her t-shirt and threw it at Powell. She was left standing in just a lacy, white bra.
Powell placed the t-shirt around his wounded leg, then used the belt to tie it firmly in place.
“You’ll never get out of here,” Hattie warned.
“You’re becoming boring,” Powell replied.
He took a firm hold of Hattie’s upper arm.
“You’re hurting me,” she moaned.
Powell tightened his grip. “May I remind you, a short time ago you were telling Tommy to hit me again. I suggest you keep very quiet and do exactly as I say.”
Powell led Hattie up the steps and out of the basement room. Afina followed close behind.
At the bottom of the stairs leading up from the basement, Powell turned to Afina, “See if it’s safe up ahead.”
Afina climbed the stairs and disappeared from sight. After a minute, she reappeared at the top of the stairs and beckoned it was safe for Powell to follow.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Powell was hoping they wouldn’t run into any other members of the commune on the way out. Most importantly, they needed to avoid Scott and his bruisers. As they would have to walk past the study to get to the front door, Powell decided a detour was necessary. In his present state, he wasn’t confident of being able to handle three fit opponents and Afina’s presence had added a whole new dimension to the need to escape. If they were caught, he doubted they would spare her life.
Powell led the way through the kitchen into the utility room and out the back door, which led into the rear gardens. As they took a few steps across the patio, they were suddenly flooded in light.
“Damn,” Powell swore, feeling very exposed. He should have realised the house would have security lights with motion sensors. “Quickly,” he urged, propelling Hattie towards the woods, approximately one hundred metres away.
He cursed his injured leg, which made every step painful and running at speed out of the question. He was holding on to Hattie not just to ensure she didn’t run away but also to support his leg.
He managed an ungainly jog across the grass. Afina ran beside him, nervously glancing behind from time to time. Powell concentrated on getting to the woods rather than worrying about what was goin
g on back at the house.
They made the trees unscathed and with no sounds of alarm coming from the house. He drew a deep breath and realised they were in a difficult position. His original plan had been to simply circle the house and make their escape down the drive and through the main gates, which was no longer viable. If they were to take the far longer circle around the house, keeping to the trees to stay out of the range of the floodlights, it was going to take far longer and increased the chances of detection.
The wall of the grounds was only another hundred metres straight ahead through the trees. He decided it offered the best chance of escape. Any indecision on his part was quickly dissolved by the sight of an animated Scott, followed by Tommy and Roger, emerging onto the patio. Scott was waving his arms around and the three of them were peering out into the darkness, trying to decide where to search first. The patio was again brightly lit but that wasn’t helping the three men staring out into the pitch black, beyond the patio.
“Let’s go,” Powell said simply, pulling hard on Hattie’s arm and heading deeper into the trees. He tightened his grip, knowing if she broke free and made a run for it, she would soon be able to disappear in the darkness of the trees.
They were crossing uneven terrain rather than following a path and Powell found himself stumbling a couple of times but continued to hold on tight to Hattie’s arm. She was going to be left with some large bruises but he didn’t mind her feeling a bit of pain, not after what she had put him through.
The trees gave way to a ten foot strip of grass in front of the huge wall. Powell crouched down and surveyed the scene, forcing Hattie to do the same. He couldn’t see how he was going to be able to get across the wall with his injured leg. At least there was no sign of glass or other objects set into the top of the wall.
“You’re going first,” Powell said to Afina. He finally let go of Hattie’s arm. “Sit there and don’t move,” he ordered, pointing at the ground. He had his gun in his hand to dissuade argument.
