Powerful Page 3

  I didn’t know about the ransom note until it was too late, and the only reason I found out was because I heard my parents arguing about it. Ever since the day Jess was thrown onto our doorstep my mother has been in and out of rehab, recovering from alcohol and prescription drug abuse. It was my father’s decision to ignore the note that drove her to use them, it was him who failed to save Jess, and as a result he has turned our family upside down. My mother was beautiful once, a headstrong woman who loved her kids and husband. But whatever changed my father into this ego chasing, big headed, hot shot was not who she married. These days she’s too numb to even think of filing for divorce, no matter how many times both Jess and I have pushed her. I’ll make it my life mission to get her away from him and living again. It fell on my shoulders to pick up the pieces he left behind, so I did all I could at the time.

  I gave Jess half of my pay check each month, so she could move out of the family house, I made sure that whatever free cash I did have she would get. My father might have given me a helping hand with the firm, but he would never extend that hand to Jessica. If he could, he would have married her off years ago to some woman abuser just to get her into the doting wife role – where she belonged. I hated his sexist views, and I hated him even more for putting her through one of the most traumatic experiences someone can go through. Once Jess was settled I made sure she had round the clock care, with on call psychologists and nurses whenever she needed them. I never once asked my father for money, not that he would have given it to me anyway. I broke my back making sure that Jess was looked after, and when she met James I was over the fucking moon. I felt like I had accomplished something on my own for the first time in my life. And that was priceless. I pushed myself in the firm to take it from my father. The bastard didn’t deserve it, or the money and high life it brought with it.

  But history has a nasty way of repeating itself. It hasn’t escaped my attention that I’ve been sucked into this when I hardly even know Amelia. Not really anyway. We both have so much left to learn about each other, I hate that I might not get that chance. The most unsettling thing is that I wouldn’t have it any other way. Who else does she have to take care of her? I miss her voice, her damned attitude. The heat of her skin. The way her eyes had glistened with unshed tears before the lift doors took her away from me almost broke me in two. Is that the last time I would have seen her? Does she really think that I would sleep with another woman after everything she and I talked about? I’ve never once shared as much about myself as I have with her, and I’ll be damned if I’m letting her get away this easily. It’s time to put the same determination I had with work into my personal life. I got my father out of the company and into ‘early retirement’ I can get Amelia back. My anger and frustration reach boiling point, and Jason’s insistent tapping on the keyboard drums in my ears as my arm lashes out and breaks through the plasterboard wall.

  I refuse to let sordid images enter my head. The memories of Jessica and these fresh ones with Amelia are all blending into one and I’m trying with all my damn power not to believe that Amelia will be in the same state. My hand throbs as my knuckles contract and release against the new cuts I’ve just put there, and I let out a huge breath.

  “Better?” Jason mumbles from the corner.

  “No” I shake my hand out, not even glancing at the gaping hole in the wall I know I’ll have to pay for.

  “I’m not paying for that” he huffs, but my sarcastic comeback is interrupted by a knocking on the door.

  Swinging the door open, James, Jess’s husband is stood with his arms braced on the door frame.

  “What are you doing here?” I question, the creases on my forehead deepening.

  “That’s nice” his deep voice tries to be intimidating, but he’s anything but with me. We’re roughly the same height, his shoulders are slightly broader than mine, but we’re both pretty on par with each other.

  “Jess called, you need all the help you can get so I hear” he moves his arms to cross over his chest and eyes me questioningly.

  I know he’s right, but I don’t want any more people involved with this that is necessary. Not until we know what we’re dealing with anyway. I would have called the police, especially given my line of work, but Amelia’s fear of the authorities stopped me. I don’t know what kind of state she’s going to be in when we find her, but I won’t put her under more stress. Besides, if these people think they’re big, they haven’t met me yet. I’ll stop at nothing to get my girl back. Believe me, inside I’m seething. My intestines are so twisted up it’s a wonder I’m still standing. I’ve never unleashed the wrath I’m saving for these people before. Damn the consequences when the monster inside me finally springs free. Stepping to the side, I hold the door open wider and let him through, he is my brother in law after all. I always knew there was another side to me. Always knew that I could switch from professional businessman to ruthless lawyer far too easily. Take a look at my track record in court. I’ve won ninety eight percent of my cases. Amelia ninety-seven. Yes, I checked. We’re both ruthless inside and outside of work. I just pray she’s strong enough to hold on while I find her. Because I will.

  Walking over to where Jason is sat James shakes his hand briefly before glancing at the screen in front of him.

  “May I?”

  Jason eyes him before glancing at me where I answer with a swift nod. James takes over and with a few clicks and taps on the keypad, a new screen opens with what I can only make out as CCTV footage.

  “Done”

  “How did you…?” Jason looks on, mouth agape, obviously pissed that he got there first.

  “Never you mind, you going to come and look at this or what?” he growls over his shoulder at me.

  I will my feet to move, fear keeping me firmly rooted to the spot. Do I want to see what’s on these tapes? Sensing my hesitation, James gets up from his chair, buttoning his suit jacket as he does.

  “Hey. Stop it” he demands, coming closer to where I’m standing in the middle of the room. When his eyes are level with mine we give each other knowing looks. He knows all about Jessica, he knows that I’m shitting bricks right now.

  “You get your ass over to that chair, and you look for your damn girl” his voice doesn’t waver, and his eyes never leave mine as he gives me a shove in the right direction. My girl.

  New determination courses through my veins as he steps out of my way, giving me a clear path towards the waiting monitor. Taking a seat and a deep breath I press the play button.

  The screen doesn’t show anything for a long minute, the black and white picture unmoving. I shake the mouse to make sure it’s playing just as the double doors at the front of the Nursing home swing open and Amelia walks out. My heart leaps into my throat watching her. I wish I could see more of her beautiful features, the camera does nothing for her high cheekbones and beautiful chocolate eyes. I squint at the screen, hoping to get a better look at the woman who’s broken all of my rules and turned me into a woman hunting man. Tugging her coat closer around her, she steps to the side of the door and glances at her phone before shoving it back in her pocket. A hint of pain lances across my chest at the thought of her ignoring me. I know I texted her, I know I called her, but seeing her knowingly reject my calls hurts. Watching as she steps towards a little bench shrouded with darkness, I watch as a dark shadow advances from the trees behind her.

  Totally helpless, I watch as a masked man wraps his arm around her thin neck and presses a rag across her mouth and nose. My eyes blur with red, and my hands curl in on themselves. My nails dig into my palms almost to the point of pain but that’s nothing to the feeling I have growing inside me. She’s yanked backwards, and her arms go limp, the fight fleeing out of her body like a bird escaping its cage.

  I failed.

  I failed again.

  My gut turns with anger and fear as I watch the one woman who’s ever showed me any emotion other than want and greed be tugged away into a waiting car. I can’t make out the make or model, but I do notice the edge of a number plate.

  “Can we run that plate?” my voice is cracked and full of emotion, causing James to rest his hand on my shoulder. Glancing over my shoulder, I hadn’t realized they’d both come to stand behind me, and I hadn’t heard my sister and Becca both coming to a stop with eyes filled with nothing but horror.

  Glancing back at the monitor I promise silently to kill each and every one of the bastards involved in Amelia’s kidnapping. Kill them fucking dead.

  Chapter Four

  Amelia

  I

  t’s so cold. My teeth chatter together in the back of the car, and my bones shiver against the thin jumper I’ve been wearing for what feels like days. I lost my coat somewhere along the way, and the ice-cold leather beneath me is doing nothing to heat my insides. I recall the days Gran would shout at me to wear a coat to school, and I’d wear it until I got to the end of the street before quickly removing it. I didn’t want to be picked on more than usual for being ‘uncool’ and wearing a coat, even though the temperature was well below freezing. Looking back at it, I realize how idiotic teenagers can be a small laugh escaping my blue lips. Simple things to me now used to be such a big deal in my teenage brain. I was the prime target for bullies in school, I mean look at where I came from. I was shouted at, screamed at and had my hair pulled on a few occasions. I wasn’t the only one, but when no one wants you to be a part of their friend group, you end up feeling like you’re the only one. Nothing could make me feel more alone than I do right now than my own thoughts. How many more times will life knock me down?

  Lying face down on the old torn leather in the back of the car, I see how alone in this world I am. Without Becca and Jason, I would truly be on my own. I knew things had got
ten too good to be true, I knew that Karma was going to rip into my life and tear at the pieces until I ended up with nothing.

  I know that they aren’t going to kill me, but that doesn’t make the tensing of my entire body disappear. I hate not knowing what they have planned, but they aren’t going to drop me at the train station looking like this are they? I open my one good eye and get a view of the backseat. The passing streetlights whiz past, lighting up the interior of the old car, but giving me no idea where we’re headed. It’s freezing outside, and condensation has risen on the glass. I don’t know the area well, so planning to get home is feeble. Home.

  I don’t have the energy or the will to fix my flat. I’ll have to move anyway, I don’t want another run in with these people. I’m still trying to decipher the whole situation with my mother. What the hell is going on? The pounding at the base of my neck starts up when the car turns suddenly and whacks my head against the door. The gravel road makes the car jump and bounce repeatedly before it comes to a screeching stop.

  Squeezing my eyes shut I take a deep breath, my ribs aching as my chest inflates. I blow out slowly, trying desperately to gain some control over what happens next. The driver door opens, and slams shut before the door holding my head steady is flung open and I nearly topple out of the car. On second thought that would have been a better way that being yanked too harshly and pulled up and out of it anyway.

  Stumbling on my already shaky knees, I struggle to right myself with the goons’ fat hand wrapped around my bicep. My boots catch on the gravel beneath them, but he won’t let me fall. Instead he presses his chubby fingers tighter into my skin as he reaches into his pocket and withdraws a blade.

  My eye flicks between the glistening steel and his almost black eyes, and he snickers. Bringing the blade down to my cheek, the cold metal burns my skin as he drags it further down my face. I swallow as he traces the line of my neck to my collar bone, right down between the swell of my breasts before bringing it back up again. The scar on my neck from the attack at the night club burns as he draws the blade across it. Swallowing nervously, I risk a glance at his face. A jagged scar lines his chin, a crooked nose that’s clearly been broken too many times and black eyes.

  “Learnt your lesson little one?” his smoke riddled voice breaks through the otherwise dead of night silence and I can only nod. Little girl? The word churns in my stomach and I force my teeth into my tongue to stop the onslaught of verbal abuse I’m just itching to give him.

  “Good” he spits, turning me on the spot and pressing my front to the side of the car. Fear and panic move faster through my veins, but it’s short lived as he slices the cable ties from my wrists and spins me back around to face him. With his big, beefy body stood in front of me and the cold metal car behind me, I’m trapped.

  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” he huffs before shoving me away and opening the car door. Reaching inside he tugs out my coat and handbag before throwing them on the floor next to me.

  “See you soon” he winks, before jumping into the driver’s seat. Dust and gravel kick up behind the wheels as he spins the car around, but I daren’t move. Only when the car is out of sight and the thrum of the engine quietens do I glance around.

  A distant light way beyond the confines of this space, gives off just enough hue to illuminate the area around me, giving way to the half-built houses dotted here and there. Scaffolding and building materials litter the gravel road, I must be on a building site. The place is deserted, eerily quiet and pitch black. Gingerly I reach down to grab my coat, immediately wrapping myself up in it before grabbing my bag. To my surprise everything is still inside it, so I reach for my phone.

  Holding down the power button I wait for what feels like an eternity for the stupid thing to turn on.

  “Come on” I say to no one. Finally, the screen lights up. I look up again and turn around slowly, noticing the small lake at the end of the street. I can see the appeal of wanting to build houses here, I bet it would be a great place to live. I shove my phone into my pocket, waiting for it to load up before heading towards the glistening water. I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to live here. None of the houses are complete yet, the shells look cold and empty, yet somehow picture perfect. Glancing to my right I would guess a family home is being built, with large gardens and a tall picket fence. This street would be perfect for children to ride their bikes on. Where would I be now if I’d had one of these perfect childhoods and not the one I was landed with?

  The moon breaks through the thick clouds every now and then, making the dark waters shine, enticing me further towards it. I know it’s probably freezing, but ice-cold water sounds like heaven right now. My mouth is so dry, my tongue is sticking to the roof of it. My bones protest with every step but I keep going. I wouldn’t change many things about my life. Certain bits I’d rather forget obviously but I worked so hard for everything I have today, I doubt I would appreciate it as much if it had just been handed to me.

  A small, old stone wall lines the edge of the water and I drop my bag onto it, before walking gingerly to the water’s edge. Leaning down, my legs give out and I end up on my knees, crying out as the shock pulses through my body, igniting every broken piece of me. I cup my hands together and scoop up some water before bringing it to my lips.

  The icy water numbs my mouth and split lip before soothing the burning in my throat. I relish in the discomfort a few more times before swiping at my dripping chin with the back of my sleeve.

  Glancing around I note the darkness around the side of the water, the trees creating a blanket from the outside world. I have no idea what creatures could live out here, but I don’t fancy sticking around to find out. I could be anywhere but here right now. I could be at home having dinner, or still stuck at the office, even cuddled up on the sofa with Liam.

  Liam.

  Squeezing my eyes shut, I image what he would be doing right now. He could be working out or doing some work. I smile at the memory of him working at his desk at home. How that weekend changed everything between us. I have a million more things I want to say to him, I have a million things I want to ask him, but the one thing I want to know is if he came after me. I never looked back, and I ignored all his calls and texts, but I don’t know if he followed me.

  Why would he?

  I push myself to my feet slowly, wrapping an arm around my waist and biting my tongue to stop my pained scream from escaped and move to sit on the wall next to my bag. I don’t want to make any more noise than is necessary. My stomach is doing somersaults with anxiety, but I swallow it down and breathe deeply through my nose.

  Things haven’t been this bad for a while and somehow, I always forget how to deal with it. Usually a long bath and a glass of wine is my go to, or a long chat with Becca about something totally random. Out here, by this beautiful bed of water, with nothing but the whispers in the trees for company I decide I need to use the one thing I always carry with me. The one thing I swore I’d never do again. I know I have one left, the one I was keeping to remind myself why I don’t do it anymore. I breathe heavily before rummaging through it for the one vice I know is hidden at the bottom.

  Chapter Five

  Liam

  J

  ames has been trying to run the partial plate number for the past hour with no fucking luck. He too had called in favors from work to get the systems and codes to be able to do it. I had no idea that he had these types of contacts, but I will never be able to tell him how grateful I am that he does. Once all this is done, I’m in my right mind to get Jason and James to work for us. We need these types of computer nerds.

  “Anything?” I almost shout but school myself before it comes out too loud.

  “I’m trying” he replies without looking away from the screen.

  I start to pace the room, burning a trail into the carpet as I do. Everyone is in work mode, with the exception of the two girls. Jess took Becca into the other room to watch some crap Tv before she had a breakdown, but James is deep into the computer and Jason stands by watching and learning. Sleeves are rolled to elbows and jackets are strewn across chairs. I’ve had enough of this fucking room already and we’ve been here for less than six hours.