‘It’s not my fault,’ Eloise breathed, tears pricking her eyes.
‘What do you mean?What’s happened?’Helen demanded.
‘They must have broken into the basement, set a fire.I did try to stop them, but they pushed a gun in my face …’
‘Who?Who did this?’
‘Two shaven-headed guys,’ she gasped.‘One of them had awful scars on his—’
‘Where are they?’Helen interrupted tersely.‘Where did they take Viyan?’
‘Out the back.There’s a small car park there …’
Helen didn’t linger for the details, ripping back the throttle and roaring away down the side of the building.Abandoned boxes and bulky bin bags littered the narrow side passage, but Helen sped down it, bursting out into the small car park beyond.Immediately, she spotted her charge.Viyan was once again in grave danger, Helen’s heavily scarred adversary from yesterday forcing the distraught woman into the back of a van with the aid of an accomplice.Spotting Helen, Viyan screamed out in terror, but her appeal was brutally cut short, her abductors hurling her into the vehicle.Her cry seemed to alert her assailants to the danger, the battle-scarred leader now clocking Helen’s arrival.Making a split-second decision, he grabbed his accomplice and leapt into the back of the van himself, slamming the doors shut behind him.
The driver reacted immediately, spinning the van around and driving directly towards Helen.She had only a moment to react, yanking the handlebars to the left to avoid a sickening collision.She almost made it, leaping clear of the onrushing vehicle, only for the speeding van to clip her rear wheel at the last moment, catapulting the bike around.Instantly Helen lost her grip, the force of the impact too hot to handle, and she felt herself flying through the air, before connecting sharply with the ground, skidding to a halt on the tarmac.
Surprised, but unharmed, Helen clambered to her feet.She expected to see the van driving free and clear, but the contact with her bike had flummoxed the driver, the vehicle suddenly changing course, sliding sideways towards a parked car.Tyres shrieked and a loud bang rang out, the right side of the van dented badly by the collision.Spotting her opportunity, Helen sprinted towards the van, determined to get there before it moved off again.She powered across the concrete, zeroing in on her prey, but at the last moment the van moved off once more.Acting on instinct, Helen threw herself forwards, her fingers reaching out towards the departing vehicle.
This time her luck was in and she felt her right hand grip the van’s rear handle, fastening her gloved fingers around it.She held on for dear life, even as the tips of her biking boots ripped across the tarmac, throwing her legs up and down in the air.The van was moving fast now, speeding out of the car park and out onto the street.Helen was being buffeted from all sides, but held on grimly, determined not to desert Viyan.Reaching the corner of the street, the van swung sharply right to avoid the growing crowds.Helen felt her world turn as her body swung dizzyingly to the left, her legs connecting painfully with the side of a parked car.Still she didn’t let go, putting her left hand on top of her right, anchoring her to the van, as she tried to drag her legs upwards.If she could mount the bumper, put a foot on the protruding tow bar, then she might save herself, riding the vehicle until it was forced to slow for traffic.
Suddenly, however, the world seemed to stop.Helen had only a split second to process that the van had braked violently, before she was catapulted into the back door, her helmet smashing into the sheet metal.Her left hand came free and as the van now roared off again and she felt her right-hand loosening, as she bounced along the road, her body slammed up and down on the rough tarmac.Screaming, she tried to hang on, using every ounce of strength she could muster.But the battle was lost, the buffeting too severe, and with a cry of defeat, Helen finally let go, her helmet striking the ground hard as she plummeted downwards.Bouncing off the road, she managed to scramble to her feet, but the van was already some distance away.Now her legs seemed to give way, as the world slowly span around her, and she slumped back down on to her knees.
Breathless, defeated, Helen stared after the retreating van.And it was as she was kneeling there, distraught, desperate, that she felt it.A hot stickiness on her left thigh, as the blood crept down her leg.And in that moment sheknew.
Throwing back her head, ripping open her mouth, Helen let out a howl of pure agony.
Chapter 83
Viyan lay on the floor of the van, sobbing as her abductors stared down at her.Each jolt, each bump in the road seemed to go right through her, but Viyan barely registered the blows, still in a state of shock.How could this have happened?How could things have gone so disastrouslywrong?She had been set fair, she had beenfree… but now she was heading back to Hell.
The journey passed in a blur of tears and anguish and to her horror, Viyan soon recognized the familiar lurching of the van, as it negotiated the rutted dirt track that led up to the camp.Soon they were barrelling across the yard, before the speeding vehicle came to an abrupt halt.As the engine died, Viyan’s fevered mind scrolled forwards to what lay ahead.The reckoning was at hand and she would not have to wait long for her punishment, her captors flinging open the doors and hauling her out.Crashing to the ground, Viyan tried to raise herself, but before she could do so, a familiar voice rang out:
‘Well, well, well … Look what the cat dragged in.’
Looking up, Viyan saw Leyla standing above her, her eyes ablaze.
‘Thought you’d got away from me, did you?Turns out it’s not that easy.’
Viyan looked away, unable to stomach her tormentor’s triumphant smile, but she could hear the joy in Leyla’s voice.The truth was that shehadbroken free, shehadescaped, only to blunder back into captivity through her own stupidity.Viyan had suspected it was a trap, so why hadn’t she heeded Helen’s advice?Why hadn’t she just stayed put?
‘What’s the matter?Cat got your tongue?’
Viyan kept her mouth firmly shut, refusing to respond.
‘Oh, I know I won’t get an apology,’ Leyla continued bitterly.‘But you are going to tell me what you told that bitch, Grace, and I meaneverything…’
Viyan’s thoughts rocketed back to her rescuer.She’d seen her race towards the van, had shuddered when she’d heard the vehicle clip her bike, had marvelled when she realized that Helen was clinging onto the back of the van.For a moment, panic had reigned, her abductors terrified that Helen would manage to open the doors and climb inside.Viyan had no idea what kind of police officer Helen Grace had been, but clearly she had a formidable reputation.Her hopes of liberation, however, were no sooner raised than dashed.The van braked sharply, there was a loud bang, then silence, the vehicle continuing on unencumbered.What had happened to Helen?Was she injured?Killed even?It beggared belief, after all she’d done for Viyan, the bravery, kindness and determination she’d shown.Had it all been for nothing?
‘I know you can hear me,’ Leyla continued aggressively.‘And you will talk.’
Viyan now heard the familiar, repetitive whooshing noise as the bicycle chain gained speed, arcing round and round in her tormentor’s hand.Bracing herself, Viyan heard her attacker let fly, the first blow striking her on the shoulder and neck, rocking her sideways.Straightening up, she felt it bite again, this time onthe side of her head.She fell to her left, before righting herself, aware now of a terrible ringing in her right ear.The third blow landed heavily on her back, her assailant circling her now, forcing Viyan’s face into the dirt.As she raised herself up once more, the battered worker felt blood pooling in her mouth, tasting its coppery bitterness, as she turned to take in her captor.
‘I am not going to tell youanything,’ she hissed fiercely.
Leyla looked outraged, bending down over her to strike once more, but Viyan beat her to it.Turning to confront her, she looked Leyla squarely in the eye before spitting a mouthful of blood straight into her startled face.
Silence filled the yard, the handful of workers present stunned by this shocking act of defiance.For a moment, Leyla did nothing, simply staring at Viyan, bug-eyed with rage, as the sticky blood crept down her cheeks.Tensing, Viyan waited for the inevitable explosion, for the barrage of blows, but to her surprise Leyla tossed aside the chain, reaching down to grip her arm instead.
