Tears slipped from her cheeks. She felt the wetness tracing down her face until the coldness hit her neck. She couldn’t sit here and cry in the dark. She had to get away before he came back and killed her, but how? Thoughts swam through her head. Why was she here? Was it to do with Kain and the money he owed to everyone? Was there someone in her house before Justine came over? She didn’t see anyone but she had felt a presence. It was weird, like the air pressure had shifted. Last night, she felt that presence again but she dismissed it, then she was taken. She scrunched her brows. A lot of it was still a blur. She remembered being hit, then her house had been in darkness.The lights had been turned off, maybe from the fuse board in the kitchen cupboard.
Kain, it had to have everything to do with him.
A loud clunk came from the other side of the door and someone opened it. She couldn’t see anyone in the darkness, just the glow of green around the eye area.
Without warning, two hands reached down and dragged her across the stone floor so fast she barely managed to process what was happening. Her head was woozy, like she was on a ship in the middle of a stormy sea. Hunger, thirst, fear – all ganging up on her, pulling her closer to death.
The beast dragged her along the floor that tore her clothes and flesh with every cold and painful bump. ‘I’m sorry for whatever I’ve done. Please, I don’t deserve this. I’ve never hurt anyone.’
He slammed her head into the wall and forced her into some sort of chair that suddenly came to life. She was on a stairlift, going up. Blood trickled down the middle of her forehead. ‘Please let me go,’ she yelled as the tears flowed.
The stairlift stopped with a jolt. Her eyes adjusted to the chink of light at the other end of the large, open room. He dragged her from the chair, back onto the floor where he continued to pull her along. The pungent scent of the room hit her nostrils, taking her breath away, making her want to heave. Arms and legs still tied, she once again tried to wriggle out of the binds but they cut through her flesh. There was no way out of this. She was at his mercy.
He manhandled her into some sort of restraint, wrapping something around her, linking what felt like thick straps through the binds and around her body. A mechanical noise echoed through the space and she slowly began to lift from the ground, higher and higher until her bound legs dangled. The light caught the top of his head but all she could see was a baseball cap. Helooked up and the glint of his night-vision goggles stared back at her. All she could do was scream at the sight.
Her veins pulsed with blood as she gasped for air.
He lifted her higher and higher. The hoist mechanism jolted and began pivoting her as she dangled, then he climbed up something behind her, each of his steps clunking on metal as he ascended, until she could feel his breath on the back of her head.
‘It’s time to pay your debt. Kain has gone, Zavier has gone, now it’s your turn.’
She recognised that second name and in an instant she knew why but not who. She opened her mouth to say how sorry she was, but she didn’t get her chance. He undid the straps that were keeping her in place and she fell with a plop into a tank full of putrid liquid.
FORTY-ONE
As soon as the main building was cleared and the coat bagged for evidence, Gina followed a PC to where a large set of double doors led to the warehouse.
‘We found the keys in the suspect’s office upstairs,’ the PC said as she pushed the doors open.
All Gina saw was a long, dark corridor with an oil-stained threadbare carpet that gave off a musty whiff as she stepped on it. ‘This doesn’t look like a debt collector’s office.’ She caught a glimpse of an old car calendar dated nineteen eighty-seven with a Ford Cosworth on the front and next to it was a huge photo of a shiny exhaust pipe. ‘I wonder if this used to be a garage.’
Gina waved an arm to gather the team around. ‘I don’t know what we’re going to find in here but I’m hoping it’s Lindy. Check that everyone is in position. We are still looking for Craig.’
A PC spoke into her radio quietly and nodded. ‘All ready to go, guv. Every entrance and exit is covered.’
Gina stepped deeper into the dark corridor, her soles slapping on concrete where the old carpet had completely worn away. She nudged three doors open and all were full of what she could only guess looked like Fabien’s personal items. Each was piled up with furniture, some of it broken down into pieces. Shefollowed the sign to the warehouse. ‘Why would a debt collector need a warehouse?’
Jacob followed closely beside her. ‘I don’t know. Could he be a high court enforcement officer also?’
‘Maybe, although I don’t recall that being mentioned.’ They reached the end of the corridor and the PC used another key to unlock the next set of double doors which opened out into another room. ‘Police,’ Gina called, expecting to hear some sort of commotion. She shone her torch ahead, cutting through the darkness – nothing. She flinched as she heard a scuttle to her right. The shaft of light pointed at a rat’s tail.
Jacob shuddered. Gina knew he wasn’t keen on rodents but they were going in regardless.
She reached for the light switch but it didn’t work. Either the strip light needed replacing or there was no supply. There was another room ahead. She led the way and shivered, leaving Jacob a little further back. He flinched as a squeak pierced the silence. The deeper into the building they got, the chillier it was and the lack of light was eerie. She inhaled the smell of mould and damp. ‘Lindy?’
No answer.
Gina nodded to the PCs, gesturing for them to take the room on the left as she stopped at a set of three steps that she knew must lead to the back of the building. After stepping down while avoiding getting caught in the old carpet gripper, she heard dripping coming from behind the door. ‘I hear water. Stand ready.’ She pushed the door open and pointed her torch ahead. ‘Police,’ she shouted but there was nothing but what looked to be a huge electroplating bath positioned against the wall. She ran over to it, grabbing an old wooden box to step up on and peered inside and let out a long breath. Jacob flashed his torch around the rest of the room but it was empty. There was about an inch of murky water that must have gathered from the drips comingfrom a leaky pipe above them. ‘There’s no one here.’ Gina sighed, knowing they were still nowhere near finding Lindy and time was escaping them.
‘Guv,’ a PC shouted as he ran towards them. ‘We’ve found something in the front room, near the roller shutters.’
Gina ran through the maze of a building keeping up with him and Jacob followed. The PC flashed his torch at the only item in the room, a cardboard box spilling over with an entanglement of items. She peered in and pulled out a smashed wedding photo of Sheena wearing a wedding dress. Underneath it was a jumble of musty clothes and battered CDs.
‘There’s something else, guv,’ Jacob said as he reached in and pulled out some torn-up photos. He placed them face-up on the concrete floor and laid a few out.
‘These are photos of Kain, and what’s that?’ Gina pointed right to the bottom of the box.
He shone his torch directly at it. ‘It’s a piece of blue metal. It looks like a piece of racking and it has what looks like dried up blood on it.’
