The Grey Woman: You never know who's watching

by M J Hardy

  Declan recoils and moves away as a man comes into view. He shouts, “Leave us alone, can’t we have a little privacy here?”

  The man backs off and says quickly, “I’m going for help.”

  I’m not surprised he runs because Declan is one huge beast of a man and as he runs off, Declan zips up his trousers and snarls, “I’ll be back bitch and next time you won’t be so lucky. Look over your shoulder because I’m coming for you.”

  Then he lands a hard blow to my stomach and the pain is so intense I think I’m about to pass out and slide to the floor in a heap on the ground. I hear him running away and I gasp for air as I realise just what happened. Once again, I hear footsteps and a woman’s voice says kindly, “It’s ok love, he’s gone, you’re safe now.”

  I look up into the kind eyes of a lady who is dressed in the uniform of a nearby restaurant chain. She looks around and gathers my things and helps me to my feet. “Let me help you, shall I call the police?”

  The only thing I want is to get as far away from here as possible, so I shake my head. “No, it’s fine.”

  She hands me my phone and shakes her head. “Bastard. Thank God Mark saw him drag you in here. You should go to the police, dear; the next girl may not be so lucky.”

  “I will, thank you.”

  She looks at my phone and shakes her head. “I think you need a new one. Do you want to use mine to call anyone?”

  There is only one number I can think of and I’m not sure if he will even answer, but I grab my address book from my bag and nod gratefully. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

  With shaking fingers, I dial Julian’s home and wait with bated breath for the phone to ring. Then I hear, “The Landon residence, Nicola speaking.”

  Almost shaking with nerves, I say falteringly, “Nicola it’s Emma, is Julian home?”

  There’s a short silence and then she says kindly, “Not yet, but he shouldn’t be long. Shall I tell him to call you?”

  I can’t help it and sob, “My phone was smashed, I’ve been attacked.”

  “Oh my goodness, you poor thing, where are you?”

  “At the office, I’ve… I’ve been fired. Mr Slater, he’s told me everything, I’m so sorry.”

  “Listen, Emma, I’ll call you a cab. Come here and wait for Mr Landon.”

  The relief hits me hard as I sob. “Thank you, oh thank you, Nicola.”

  I hand the phone back to the kind woman who looks worried. “Why don’t you come with me and I’ll clean you up. You know, you really should call the police.”

  Shaking my head, I take a few deep breaths and say with more confidence than I feel. “It’s fine, she’s sending a car for me. I’ll call them from home.”

  I start to walk away and feel the pain travelling up my leg as I limp out of the alley. My face hurts along with my stomach where he punched me and I feel broken inside. However, I will not fold here outside Crossline and across the street from Barrington’s. I will not be a victim and will find a way out of this mess. As the woman follows me out, I say with gratitude. “Thank you…”

  “Angela.”

  “Thank you, Angela, I owe you so much.”

  She shakes her head and looks unsure about what to do next, and I smile. “I’m fine. I’ll just wait for my car, thank you.”

  She heads off, but I can tell she’s uncomfortable leaving me and I sink down onto a nearby bench and wait.

  35

  The car arrives exactly fifteen minutes later and as it pulls to the kerb, a man jumps out and scans the pavement. Seeing me sitting there exhausted and dishevelled, he heads across and says gently, “Mrs Carter.”

  Nodding, I look up into the dark brown eyes of a man who looks to be of Arab origin. He smiles kindly and offers me his hand. “Nicola asked me to fetch you. I am Angelo, a friend of hers.”

  He leads me to the luxury car and settles me into the back before taking the driver’s seat and we pull away.

  Slumping back in the seat, I let the tears fall as I realise what a lucky escape I just had. It was one thing being fired and escorted from the premises, but nearly being raped by an angry man intent on revenge was on another level entirely.

  It hurts everywhere and I am struggling to breathe where he pinned me to the wall by the neck and I’m pretty sure there must be some incredible bruises developing which will show for days, if not weeks.

  As the scenery flashes past, I think about Julian and the problems he’s now facing. Fraud, but how? If anyone was arrested for fraud, I would have expected it to be Mr Slater. I need to talk to Julian and find out what’s going on. Maybe I can help him; I certainly hope he lets me at least.

  By the time we turn into the gates of Julian’s impressive home, I feel on edge and agitated. What if he throws me out? I will have nothing. No job, no home when I can’t make the rent and no prospects without a reference, but most of all, I won’t have him, which is the hardest thing of all. Why did I ignore his calls and messages? I was so wrapped up in my own misery, I let the one person down I should have trusted to help me through it all.

  The car pulls up outside the huge wooden door and Nicola hurries out.

  “Oh, my dear, look what happened to you, come with me.”

  I feel the ever-present tears building as she helps me from the car and says to the driver, “Check she’s left nothing and then you may leave.”

  She helps me into the impressive home, and I almost cry with relief. I’m safe.

  We head for the sumptuous sitting room where she settles me down on the comfortable settee and says firmly, “Right then. I’ll fix you a drink for the shock and then run you a bath. You can take the guest house until Mr Landon says otherwise.”

  “Where is he?” I have to know because I can’t see him soon enough and she says kindly. “He won’t be long. I’ve called him and told him what happened.”

  “But his phone, it was cut off.”

  “No, his personal one. He’ll explain it all when he gets here. Now sit back and relax, I won’t be long.”

  As she hurries from the room, I allow myself to relax for the first time today. He’s coming. Thank God. He is just what I need right now and we will deal with this mess together.

  Nicola comes back and offers me a glass of something hot that smells like alcohol.

  “What is it?”

  “Just a tonic, brandy and a little something for the shock. Trust me, it’s guaranteed to make you feel much better.”

  It does smell good, so I take a sip and immediately feel the fiery effects of the liquid as it burns a calming trail to my abused stomach.

  I don’t need any further invitation and drink it down quicker than I should and lean back and groan. “That’s better.”

  Nicola shakes her head and says angrily, “Look at the state of you. Come with me and we will sort out that bath. Your clothes are still here, so you can change into something more comfortable as soon as you’ve finished.”

  It feels good having someone take care of me. Wrapping me up in kindness and taking control.

  I follow her to the guest house, feeling much better already and by the time I have the luxurious bath filled with bubbles and shrug on a dressing gown, I feel so tired I almost can’t keep my eyes open.

  Then she says firmly, “Go and lie down my dear and sleep it off. I’ll come and fetch you when Mr Landon returns.”

  Needing no further invitation, I do as she says and sink into the comfortable king-size bed and drift off to sleep as soon as my head touches the pillow.

  36

  Something’s wrong. I feel it as soon I open my eyes. I can’t see anything; there’s only darkness. I feel cold and I’m shivering as a draft caresses my body with a chilling breeze. My limbs ache and I’m lying on something cold and hard and the smell - it’s overpowering and I can’t breathe.

  Am I dreaming? I must be because this isn’t where I fell asleep, where am I?

  Something touches my leg and I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes ou
t. I’m screaming and screaming, but I must be deaf. I can’t hear anything; all I can do is feel. My senses are shutting down one by one, and yet I hear the soft breathing of somebody nearby - someone’s here.

  A prickle of fear quickly gains momentum until I feel so afraid, I almost pass out. I feel sick and retch, but nothing happens. I try to move but can’t. Am I paralysed or worse – dead?

  Where am I? The stench is overpowering me, it smells familiar but I can’t place it.

  Then the pressure on my leg increases and I hear a soft, “She’s coming round.”

  I try to put a face to the voice, but it all seems so distant. Then I hear a man’s voice, louder, more urgent. “We don’t have long.”

  What’s happening, where am I?

  Then I feel a liquid running down my leg that burns and I scream and this time my voice works, although it’s weaker than normal. A sharp voice hisses, “Shut up, we are just cleaning you up to prepare you for transit.”

  Transit, what the hell is happening, who are these people?

  I want to be sick; the smell is too intense and I retch. Then I feel a calm hand on my forehead and the man says, “She’s burning up, how much did you give her?”

  “The usual dose; she’ll be fine.”

  I feel her hands all over me now. Scrubbing, kneading, burning and torturing. They move to my stomach and I wince as the pain grips me and she says angrily, “She’s damaged; they may reject her.”

  “No, they won’t care. She’ll look a lot worse by the time they’ve finished with her.”

  I can’t move and I can’t talk. What the hell is happening?

  I start to shiver, I am so cold, so sick and in so much pain it consumes my entire body. It’s too intense and I can’t breathe. What is that smell?

  Then I hear, “It’s done, you can bring the truck around.”

  I hear movement, loud noises and the scraping of a heavy object across a concrete floor. The cold is intense and the pain hurts from the inside out.

  Then I hear a whisper, a soft sound in my ear as she says, “It’s time to go.”

  Go where, what is she talking about?

  Somebody is lifting me, but still I can’t move. Then another grabs my head and pulls it back by my hair. I cry out in pain and then the light hits me, blinding me as something is torn from my eyes. I can see again.

  As my eyes focus and their faces swim into view, I stare at them in shock. “You!”

  Nicola smiles. “Yes dear, only me, nothing to worry about.”

  But who? I try to twist my head to see my captor and she smiles. “It’s just Angelo, he’s here to deliver you.”

  “Deliver me, what are you talking about?”

  My skin burns and I say in disbelief, “What’s happening?”

  “Nothing personal dear, just business. You see, it was lucky you called, really. For me, anyway. I’ve had an order waiting for a while now and nobody to send. Then you came along with your tale of woe and nobody to turn to and I saw my chance.”

  “What chance? Please tell me what’s happening.”

  She laughs and yet it sounds brutal and cold. “As I said, just business. You see, for a while now, I’ve had a little side business that’s quite lucrative. I provide girls with no baggage to friends of Angelo’s for certain parties they arrange. They use the goods I send them and pay me well for my trouble. Very well as it happens and then I get paid all over again by the next customer.”

  I stare into the eyes of a madwoman as she laughs again. “Then I sell what’s left of you for spare parts, shall we say. People that need what you no longer have use for.”

  She runs her hands over my chest and says, “Heart, kidneys, eyes, oh the list is endless and I make quite a killing on the black market.”

  The panic takes over and I open my mouth to scream and as I do, she places her hand over my mouth and sinks a needle into my arm. “Sleep well my dear, like I said, it’s nothing personal, just business.”

  37

  I hear voices and this time I feel warm. There is something soft beneath me and there is no pain. I move slightly and someone says, “She’s coming round.”

  Then the fear grips me. Where am? What are they going to do to me?

  I jerk and I hear louder voices and one that I recognise. “For fuck’s sake do something.”

  It brings a smile to my lips and then I hear no more.

  The next time I wake, I feel someone stroking my head and it feels nice. My eyelids flicker and he says, “Emma, it’s me, Julian. Blink if you can hear me.”

  I open my eyes and his face swims into view. He looks concerned, worried, angry. All of those things that make him mine.

  He smiles and I see tears in his eyes as he whispers, “I almost lost you.”

  He calls out, “Nurse, she’s back.”

  I hear movement and then another face joins his and smiles. “Hi, Emma, I’m Marion Davey and you’re safe in hospital. Try not to speak and we’ll just run some tests.”

  For a while I am happy to let them do their job and all that concerns me doesn’t leave my side throughout.

  Julian holds my hand and tells me how much he loves me; how scared he’s been and that I’m not to worry about anything ever because he’s not leaving me again.

  Much later, I finally get to hear what happened.

  I am sitting up in my hospital bed in a private room and have been told I’m to be discharged shortly. I’ve just finished a meal of soup and crusty bread and have never tasted anything so good in my life.

  Julian is sitting beside me looking as if he’s been through hell and back and I say, “Well, what happened?”

  The pain fills his eyes and he says, “It was a good thing you were out of the way because the shit really hit the fan when Cressida was served her divorce papers. The day we left her in the kitchen, I told her I knew about her deal with Slater and that I found her retirement fund and the police would be informed. Unless she agreed to divorce me, I would prosecute and she would lose everything. She denied it, of course, and told me she was just sleeping with him but when I told her there were witnesses, she broke down – finally. She told me he agreed to help her frame and discredit me. They would make it so I was the one in the firing line for insider dealing and manipulating the stock market. They had been very careful to cover the tracks that could easily be redirected to my door, especially as I had been the one to benefit from their scam. Then I told her about the money in the retirement fund, and I had handed it over to my solicitor. She denied all knowledge of it and as it turns out she was right.”

  “Nicola?”

  He nods grimly. “Yes, she had access to our computer and discovered Cressida’s password. She used her details to open an account and transfer the funds from her ‘business’ therefore incriminating Cressida if she was ever discovered.”

  “She used Amelia’s name because she knew Cressida wouldn’t notice.”

  “Yes, Cressida isn’t one for sentiment and wouldn’t have been remotely interested in anything professing to be made up of her daughters’ memories, so Nicola used it to disguise the transactions. Cressida hates computers, anyway, and always delegated her admin to Nicola, so she was pretty safe from being found out. You can say what you want about my now ex-wife, but she will always admit the truth when backed into a corner. So, I handed the lot over to the police who have pulled it apart with a fine-tooth comb.”

  “But Slater, he told me you’d been suspended for the same crime you are saying he carried out.”

  “It was a set up. The police agreed I would act as a decoy and allow Slater to think his plan had worked. We bugged the office and his private phone, and it wasn’t long before he gave himself away. The day he fired you was the day they moved in. He’s now on remand in prison awaiting trial and we thought that was an end to it.”

  I look down and almost can’t say the words because what could have happened is so frightening. “How did you find me?”

  “The police again. They looke
d into Cressida’s retirement fund and traced the transactions. They all pointed to a bank in Switzerland that belonged to a man called Omar Naser Abbas. It turns out he was Nicola’s previous employer and she had worked for him for ten years in Qatar. The police put a tail on her and then went back over their records and noticed the transactions tied in with a spate of missing girls from the area. They investigated the private airfields for any flights that left to the middle east around those dates and narrowed it down to the local one. It all added up and they sent in surveillance. The day you were supposed to be...”

  He breaks off looking upset and I say gently, “Sold.” He nods. “They intercepted the pair at the airfield and arrested them. They are also on remand and if I have my way, will never see the outside of a prison again.”

  “Those poor girls.” I look down and the tears spill for the girls that were reported missing. Thinking of their fate, which could have so easily been mine, makes my blood freeze. I almost can’t speak, such is the horror running through my mind and Julian says softly, “You can’t think about it. It never happened, to you, anyway and I will pay for as much counselling as you need to make sure you get through this.”

  He comes and sits beside me and takes me in his arms. “I want to care for you, Emma. I want to be by your side for the rest of our lives and will spend mine making this right. What happened to you is the stuff of nightmares, and I can’t imagine how you must be feeling. Please, let me love you, darling, don’t turn away from me.”

  Reaching up, I cup his face in my hand and say softly, “I’m going nowhere - deal with it.”

  Grinning wickedly, he kisses me gently and with so much love, my heart flutters. Suddenly, I know what life is all about. It’s not the money, the power, the nice home and material possessions. It’s this. The love of one person for another and a life shared. Caring for each other through thick and thin and making each other a better person along the way. Now I can move out of the shadows and dance in the light. Today is the beginning of the rest of my life and I am not going to waste a second of it.