As the police swarmed into the attic, Jools saw her Uncle Jack disappearing over the window ledge in pursuit of Alexios…
… just as her father wrapped her tightly in his arms. As she felt the solid, secure, safeness of him, Jools began to cry. Everything she’d experienced up until that moment – the abduction, the isolation, the uncertainty and fear – suddenly hit home. She thought she might never stop crying.
“He had a knife, Dad,” she mumbled into Oliver’s shoulder between sobs. “And he said he’d push me out the attic window. And he m-meant it! He despises Uncle Jack – I didn’t even know they were brothers, did you? – and he was so k-kind at first, but then he changed…Oh God, he changed—”
“It’s all right,” Oliver murmured into her hair. “You’re all right, and that’s all that matters. It’s over now. He can’t ever hurt you again.” He drew back and searched her face. “Jools,” he said hesitantly, “I don’t know quite how to ask this, so I’ll just – say it. He didn’t…?”
She understood his meaning at once. She burrowed her face deeper into his shoulder and closed her eyes. “No,” she whispered. “He didn’t.”
“Thank God. Thank God…I was so afraid for you.”
Jools lifted her tear-stained face to his. “You needn’t have worried. He was quite nice to me, right up until today when I tried to escape. His guards caught me and brought me back. He said I’d betrayed him…just like all the r-rest.”
She began to cry again. “How could I be so stupid? I believed him, I believed everything he said – all the lies he told me, calling me ‘little one’, bringing me HobNobs. I even felt a bit sorry for him. I even started to…” She took a deep, shuddery breath. “To have feelings for him.”
A detective constable overheard her. “It’s all right, Miss Beauchamp,” he reassured Jools in a low, firm voice. “It’s not uncommon for a kidnap victim to fall for her kidnapper. There’s even a name for it: the Stockholm Syndrome.”
“I’ve heard of that,” Jools said slowly. “I never imagined it might happen to me.”
“Simply put, he played mind games with you – kind one moment, abusive the next. You never knew what to expect. So that when he was good to you, it seemed all the more generous and meaningful, especially when you knew you might get a slap or a kick as easily as a kind word the next time.”
“Yes, that’s it, exactly.” She bit her lip and glanced over at the open window. “You lot won’t…hurt him, will you? When you catch him?”
“We’ll do whatever’s necessary to bring him in. We’ve put out an APW, and there’s a crack team – not to mention your Uncle Jack – hot on his heels. Still, he’s a very dangerous man. Whatever happens to him, he’s brought it on himself.” The DC’s face was set in grim lines.
Suddenly Jools remembered Alexios saying almost those exact words to her. “Just remember, querida…whatever happens, you brought it upon yourself.” She shivered.
“Jools? Are you all right, then?”
She looked up to see Adesh standing just behind her father, a hesitant expression on his face. “Desh!” She ran, choking back sobs and laughing at the same time, and flung herself straight into his arms.
“I was so scared for you,” he breathed into her hair as he held her tightly against him. “I was afraid…so afraid I might never see you again.”
“It’s okay, I’m fine,” she told him, and drew back to give him a shaky smile. “It wasn’t exactly a holiday, but I wasn’t treated too badly. It could’ve been much worse.”
He scowled. “He took you from your family, from your friends. I hope they catch him. And I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more.”
Valery, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, thrust her way past the police and SOCOs and made straight for her daughter. She caught Jools up and held her tightly. “Oh, my baby, my darling! Thank God you’re safe! You gave us all a horrible fright. I want to hold you, very tightly, and never let you go.” She lifted her head and added firmly, “And then I want to ground you for the rest of your life for putting us through this.”
“I’m sorry, Mum,” Jools said, and drew back to wipe her nose with the back of her hand. “Truly. I know I put you and Dad and everyone through hell.”
“Yes, you did. Things might have ended very differently. Thank God Jack and the police found you in time.”
“I’m sorry,” Jools said again, and closed her eyes as her mother wrapped her once again in her arms.
“I’m just glad you’re unharmed. But that doesn’t mean,” Valery added firmly as she held Jools at arms’ length, “that there won’t be consequences for your actions. You’re coming back to stay with me, for starters.”
“It’s fine, I don’t mind. I want to come back home.” She thought of Jez and her throat tightened. Where was he? “I’d rather be back in Maida Vale anyway, with my friends. It’s where I belong—”
She broke off and turned as she heard her name called. “Jez!” she breathed, and hurtled herself into his arms.