Chapter 74

Emma stared up at David, who was looming over her.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she said.

He laughed, “Do you really think I would ever want to hurt you, Emma? It’s him that I have the problem with.” As David spat out the words he kicked Archie again in the ribs. Ironically, he was lying in the recovery position.

Archie groaned as spittle ran from the corner of his mouth diagonally across the edge of his chin to form a pool on the floor. He started to emit a small trickle of blood along the same route.

“C’mon, you’re coming with me,” David said to Emma and reached down to grab her arm but Emma refused to cooperate.

“We can play this the easy way or the hard way, Emma. Please don’t make me hurt anyone else in this room or hurt your lover boy even more.”

Emma started to rise to her feet whilst David dragged Archie a yard closer to the metal frame of the bed with the teenage daughter lying on top. David produced a third leg chain and shackle from the darkness of the far corner of the room. Archie was only semi-conscious and not aware of David clicking the lock into place around his ankle and then securely padlocking the other end around the base of the bed-frame.

Emma appeared to have given up, standing hunched in the corner of this basement room, as far away as she could be from David.

David went over to Emma. He took her in, the hazy glow of a beautiful female form was now buried under an exterior of hate, fear and coldness. David looked closely into Emma’s eyes. He touched her right arm gently; it was close to a caress. His left hand touched her cheek and drew a line down to her chin.

“Emma, did I ever tell you that I really like you, that I’ve liked you from the moment I first saw you at the hockey practice night. I recall all those times that we’ve had fun, that we have been lost in each other’s company. We just need to forget that this ever happened. Can you do that? Can you do that for me?”

Emma was whimpering in the corner of the room but she was attempting to hold it together. She would attempt to use this whole situation to her advantage. If she could just hang in there, fight for what she was worth, fight for Archie and his downed colleagues. She pulled all her strength together to stay focused, to keep the end vision in her mind, to concentrate on what was being said. Had that really just been said? She was trying to hide her disgust and ignore Archie’s shallow breaths and attempts at groans; to avoid any eye contact with the middle aged woman or the teenage daughter who had seen Emma and Archie as lifelines. She had seen the lights in their eyes. No-one could properly hide hope when it was as big as theirs.

David continued to speak, “Right, we’re getting out of here, Emma. We’ve a meeting to attend and you’re going to be safe with me. If you do anything stupid, then you’re going to cause pain and suffering here, and if pretty boy attempts to escape, then you might want to be worried, Emma. Don’t be worried for now though, I’m going to take care of you.”

He pushed Emma up the metal loft ladder, having locked the heavy wooden door to the underground room behind him. Once on the surface, David replaced the paving slab to match the surroundings, then he took hold of Emma’s hand slightly too firmly and they strode away from the church together.

If it was not for the wincing expression on Emma’s face, everyone else that Sunday morning would have taken them for a hungover, young, student couple. The ball glad rags gave them away as students, and at this early hour of the morning it could only be assumed they were scurrying back to their own homes.