Blood Sport (7 page)

Twenty
-Three

The dark road stretched ahead for miles with nothing to break the monotony. It got dark early at this time of year and it was only just past six p.m., but being completely surrounded by darkness gave the feeling that it was the middle of the night. Daniel was asleep on the back seat so there wasn’t a sound in the car other than the wheels turning on the road. She didn’t want to turn the radio on as she didn’t want to wake him. They were on their way back from his first therapy session and it had clearly drained him as he’d fallen asleep almost as soon as she’d driven out of the center’s parking lot.

The therapist
was one that was recommended by CPS and she had seemed very warm and welcoming. She’d insisted that Kat wait outside while she talked to Daniel alone, so she’d sat in the waiting room anxiously, hoping it was going well. She had no idea what had been said, but when Daniel had emerged at the end of his session and the therapist had asked him if he wanted to come again, he had said that yes, he would.

A sudden flash of light in the darkness made her close her eyes briefly and
she looked around, confused as to where it was coming from. Looking in her mirror, she realized that while she’d been lost in thought a car had appeared on the road behind her and it appeared to have its high beams on. 
Idiot,
she thought as she adjusted her mirror so that the glare didn’t blind her.

The bump when it came shocked her
.
What the hell?
Checking her mirror again, she realized that the car she’d seen behind her had sped up and was now inches from her trunk.
Had he just hit her?
As she watched, it sped up and hit her car again, the jolt harder this time and throwing her forward against her seatbelt.

“What’s happening?”

The impacts had woken Daniel up and he was now looking out the back window fearfully.

“I don’t know
, honey.” Whatever was going on she knew one thing for sure. It wasn’t good. She was on a deserted stretch of road, after dark, with a child in the car being rammed by God knows who. Putting her foot down, she sped up, keeping an eye in her mirror as she pulled away. Whoever was driving the car, though, matched her increase in speed and was quickly right back to where he was.
Shit. Shit. Shit.

Keeping one hand firmly on the wheel, she reached over to the passenger seat with the other. She’d put her purse there when she’d got
ten in the car and now, sliding her hand inside, she rummaged round for her cell. She quickly found it, her hand touching its smooth surface and took it out. One handed, she dialed 911 and held the phone to her ear. Silence. A quick glance at the screen told her that there was no cell service.
Dammit!
The next jolt made her lose her grip on the phone and sent it flying onto the floor. She knew that whatever happened she just had to keep going; she had no idea who was in the car or why they were doing this but if she stopped there would be no getting away from them, whatever their intentions were. This thought had no sooner entered her brain when the car was hit again. This time, though, they had inched alongside and hit the car sideways. “Hold on!” she screamed as they were pushed into a spin. There was nothing she could do except hold on to the steering wheel as the car spun out of control, leaving the road and crashing into a ditch that ran alongside. The car teetered on two wheels for a moment before settling back on all four wheels with a crash and a grinding of metal. In shock and breathing heavily, she just sat for what seemed like an age before quickly turning in her seat.

“Are you ok
ay, honey?” she asked Daniel, visually checking him over for injuries. Thankfully, he had none, though he was clearly terrified. Scrambling for her belt, she quickly undid it but before she could get out of the car the back door was flung open and a pair of arms reached in.

“What are you doing?” she screamed as she saw them reach for Daniels belt. “Stop!” Flinging her door open
, she leapt from the car only to be grabbed from behind by another pair of strong arms that quickly wrapped around her and held her tight. “Let go of me! What are you doing? Stop!” She struggled against the arms as she watched the other man pull Daniel out of the car. “Nooo!” she screamed again as she watched him being dragged out of the ravine and up towards the road.

“Kat!”

The scream cut to her core and filled her with renewed strength. Bending her knee and raising her leg, she kicked back with all her strength and was rewarded by a satisfying crunch as her shoe made contact with bone.

The man cried out in pain, his arms releasing her as he clutched at his now shattered kneecap. Without looking back, she scra
mbled up the bank towards where Daniel was now being forced into the back of the car that had rammed them. The man pushing him into the car was standing with his back to her as he pushed Daniel into the back seat and with a hard kick, she struck the back of his right knee which immediately gave way, causing him to drop to his knees. Her years of training in the LAPD kicked in and she lashed out again, this time connecting with the side of his head as he was kneeling, the blow sending him flying onto his back where he lay motionless.

“Daniel, come on honey, quick!” she shouted to him where he sat cowering in the back seat of the car.

He didn’t move fast enough
, though, and the driver of the car reacted quickly, throwing open his door and getting out. As he stood up, his eyes met Kat’s across the roof of the car and recognition hit her.
She’d seen him before!
“You’re the guy from the coffee shop!”

Moving quickly
, she reached into the back seat and grabbed Daniel by the hand, pulling him towards her. It was all the time he needed, and before she could get him out of the car the driver was by her side. The stab of pain in her neck was completely unexpected and immediately she felt her knees give way before crumpling onto the ground beside the open door. She stayed conscious long enough to see his big hands reaching down toward her before her world went black.

Twenty
-Four

Jamie was worried. They should have been back hours ago. She’d called the clinic, thinking maybe they had been delayed, but the office was closed. Calls to Kat’s cell had gone straight to voicemail and, despite leaving several increasingly worried messages, she’d failed to call her back. Something was wrong and she’d waited long enough. Picking up the phone, she dialed Finn’s number. It seemed to ring for ages as she paced up and down in the kitchen, keeping one eye on the window in case Kat’s car suddenly appeared, but at last he picked up.

“Hi
, Jamie,” he answered.

“Finn, something’s
wrong.” She didn’t waste any time with niceties.

“What do you mean something’s wrong? What’s happened?”

“It’s Kat. She took Daniel to the therapist’s office ages ago and she hasn’t come home.”

There was a silence on the end of the phone. “Have you tried her cell?”

“Of course I’ve tried her cell!” she snapped.

“
Okay, look, it’s probably nothing. You know what the cell signal is like around here. She’s probably broken down at the side of the road or got a flat.”

He was right
. Of course he was right, Jamie told herself. She was being paranoid. “Okay, you’re right. Well, I’m going to go and retrace her steps, then, and see if I can find her.”

“No, you stay there in case she comes home. I’ll get a couple of the guys to go and do it. You’ll see
. She’ll be home in no time. I’ll let you know as soon as we’ve found her, okay?”

Looking out the window with the now silent phone in her hand
, Jamie tried to relax but she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Not until she saw her safe and sound for herself.

Twenty
-Five

Though he’d tried to reassure Jamie when she’d called, he’d immediately had a bad feeling when she’d told him that Kat hadn’t made it home. She was a very capable woman and if she’d had a flat she would have been more than able to change it herself. Yes, she could have broken down, but her car was new and it seemed unlikely.  Making his apologies to Sally, he’d left her at his house and immediately joined the search.

The police radio in his cruiser crackled to life and Jason’s voice came over the air. “I’ve found the car
. It’s on the top road, about five miles out from Brecon Point.” Finn held his breath. “There’s no one with it.”

C
ursing, Finn put his foot down.
That didn’t sound good.
He was there in a matter of minutes. Jason was leaning against the door of his cruiser, smoking, when Finn pulled up alongside. “Put that out. You’re on duty,” he told him as he stepped out of his car.

He
watched as Jason shrugged and dropped the cigarette to the ground before grinding it out with his shoe. Satisfied, he turned and gingerly made his way down the bank to where he could see Kat’s car in the gloom, almost invisible from the road. “Well-spotted,” he said to Jason, who had followed him down the bank and now stood next to him. “How did you spot it from the road?”

He just shrugged. “Just lucky
, I guess.”

The driver
’s door of the car was open, as was one of the back doors, and there was extensive damage to the trunk and to the driver’s side. But Jason was right; there was no sign of Kat or Daniel. Crouching down, Finn pulled his flashlight from his belt and pointed the beam at the damage. There, clearly visible, were flecks of red paint. “Get on to CSI and get them out here.” He indicated the red paint with his flashlight. “Whatever happened here, another vehicle was involved.”

Next he turned his attention to the inside of the car, noting that Kat’s purse was still
there, its contents scattered over the passenger floor, including her cell. Slipping on a pair of latex gloves he retrieved from his pocket, he carefully picked it up, being careful not to disturb anything else. Standing up, he quickly flicked through her call logs and noted the 911 call. It appeared that it hadn’t connected and he saw that the phone wasn’t picking up any service. Any doubt that this had been a deliberate act vanished.

There w
ere no obvious signs of any blood which was good news. He had to hope that wherever they were, they were uninjured. The alternative didn’t bear thinking about. Instructing Jason to stay at the scene, he made his way back up the bank to his own car. He needed to go and break the news to Jamie and it wasn’t going to be easy.

Twenty
-Six

Consciousness came slowly at first, her body in no rush to wake up. As she became more awake, memories started filtering through until finally she remembered the car crash and she awoke fully. Groaning, she opened her eyes and realized that she was lying on her back looking up the strangest ceiling she’d ever seen, one made of dirt.
Daniel!
She sat up quickly, too quickly, and the room started to spin out of focus. Closing her eyes again, she took several deep breaths until the spinning stopped. Carefully she opened them again, thankful that the room didn’t spin this time. It was very dark, with only a faint glow coming from the end of the room farthest from her, and it took a while for her eyes to adjust. When they did, what she saw made her gasp.

She was in a cell, a cage really
. The wall behind her and the one to her left where made of dirt, but in front of her and to her right, metal bars joined the floor to the ceiling. Standing up gingerly, unsteady on her feet, she walked to the bars at the front of her cell. In the dark, she could make out that several of the bars formed a door but that they were held closed by a padlock on a chain. Even before she took them in her hand and shook them she knew they’d be locked, but she tried anyway. The door shook but did not give way.

“Kat!”
The sound of his voice made her spin round. A face was pressed to the bars that ran between her cell and the next. She felt the relief rush through her as she went to him. “Daniel! Oh, honey, thank God you’re okay.” The words caught in her throat as she got near him and saw the bruises that marked the left side of his face. “Dear God, what did they do to you?”

He just shrugged. “I’m ok
ay.”

She reached up and gently ran a thumb over the side of his face, tears streaming down her
s. “I’ll get us out of this, honey, I promise.”

Daniel just smiled sadly. “Thank you for trying to help me.”

“It’s not over yet so don’t you dare give up on me, okay?” She tried to sound positive. “Finn and Jamie will be looking for us and they’ll find us.”

A groan from somewhere in the darkness made her jump. “What’s that?”

“It’s one of the others.”

“The others that you told us about?”

She saw him nod.

Dear
God, where were they?
Well, she wasn’t about to just sit around and wait for whoever had taken them to come back. She needed to try and figure out a way to get out of here, and fast.

“Is everybody down here locked in?”
She couldn’t see the rest of the room in the darkness. She could only just make out her own cell.

“Yes, all the time.”

“Is there anyone else in there with you, Daniel? Anyone who can help us?”

He shook his head. “No, the b
oss keeps us all separate.”

Not that she knew how that would help anyway
, but if they were all separated in different cells and they were all padlocked in, as she was, then there was no hope of getting them all out.
You just need to get yourself out and get help.

“Daniel, can you tell me about this room?
Tell me everything you remember.”

Her heart fell as she listened. There really was no way out.
Their lives depended on Finn now.