Chapter 104
They were battered, they were bruised, but they hadwon.
All was chaos in the dusty farmyard as the liberated workers embraced their freedom.High on blood lust, ecstatic, they tore through the farmhouse, gorging themselves on the delights of the kitchen, pulling clothes from the wardrobes, revelling in the piping hot water, but Helen ignored this gruesome carnival, doggedly placing one foot in front of the other as she made her way to the main gates.The ambulance was on its way and all that mattered now was getting Viyan to safety.Despite her rapidly fading strength, Helen cradled the young mother in her arms, determined to deliver her personally into the care of the paramedics.
Despite the meagre weight of the emaciated worker, Helen found the going incredibly hard.She had been burned, beaten and strangled, her aching, beleaguered body already a riot of bruising, and she swayed back and forth as she staggered towards the road.This had been one of the darkest, most difficult days of her life and it was hard to summon the resolve to keep going, her buckling legs threatening to give out at any point.Despite this, she kept moving, her mission, her purpose clear.Viyan, a young mother of three, needed help and Helen was going to ensure she got it.If Viyan survived this, if she managed torecover, to embrace her life again, then perhaps some good could be culled from the wreckage.
This is what propelled Helen on now, the image of Viyan reunited with her children once more.Their joyous, youthful faces had been such a tonic first thing this morning and she clung to their exuberance now, imagining the overwhelming happiness and relief Viyan and her family would feel when reunited.Although she had a long road to travel, Viyan’s cruel nightmare was over and with a bit of luck and a lot of determination, a better future awaited her.Helen had money and though she knew instinctively that Viyan would not want charity, there was nothing to stop her getting the young mother and her family back on their feet.A terrible natural disaster had driven Viyan into the hands of the worst of humanity.It was Helen’s job now to show that in the end goodness, love and compassion always prevailed.
Sweat creasing her filthy brow, Helen battled on.To her immense relief, however, she now saw blue lights up ahead, an ambulance bumping down the dirt track towards them, a police car close behind.Now finally, she admitted defeat, dropping to one knee to rest, as she continued to cradle the injured woman.Moments later, the ambulance pulled up alongside them, the doors flying open as the paramedics hurried over.
‘Twenty-seven-year-old female, with severe burns and possible damage to lungs.Her name’s Viyan and she’s from Turkey.She has no family here, so for now I’m your point of contact.My name is—’
‘We know who you are, DI Grace,’ the paramedic replied, smiling warmly.‘Right, Viyan, let’s get you to hospital ASAP, shall we?’
Stepping forward the young paramedic and his colleague gently hoisted Viyan from Helen’s arm, transferring her swiftlyto the back of the ambulance.Rising to her feet and dusting herself off, Helen felt an uncharacteristic surge of pride, pleased that the paramedics had recognized her, that her service and dedication to the people of Southampton had not been entirely forgotten.She was still the woman she’d always been, capable of doing good, of protecting the weak and the vulnerable, of making a difference.
The ambulance was already on its way, blues and twos blaring, a curious PC now making his way over from his patrol car towards her.Helen had a long, strange tale to tell him, but as she prepared to recount her recent adventures, her phone started buzzing urgently in her pocket.Tugging it out, she was surprised to see that it was DC McAndrew calling.
‘Hello Ellie,’ Helen said brightly, as she answered the call.‘Have you got your Dutchman in cuffs yet?’
There was a long, pregnant silence, DC McAndrew’s short, gasping breathing the only sound.
‘Ellie, are you OK?What’s wrong?’Helen demanded, suddenly on edge.
‘I’m fine,’ she gasped, her voice riven with anguish.‘It’s Charlie.’
Helen froze, a sickening, terrifying fear stealing over her.Her voice shaking, she demanded:
‘What do you mean?What’s happened to her?’
Helen waited breathlessly for a response, her heart pounding in her chest.But DC McAndrew didn’t respond, couldn’t respond, simply bursting into tears instead.
Chapter 105
‘Don’t you die on me.Don’t youdaredie on me.’
Emilia hissed the words at Charlie, her desperation rendering her pleas harsh and urgent.If she could command the fallen officer to survive by sheer force of will alone, she would do so, but Charlie was slipping away and she knew it.
Emilia was hunched over the new head of the MIT, who lay on the dockside outside a cavernous warehouse, in a pool of her own blood.The sticky, crimson trail from within the building told of her erratic progress, the injured police officer just about making it out of the storage area before collapsing in a heap on the ground.Still Charlie’s life force seemed to flow from a nasty wound in her chest, so Emilia redoubled her efforts, increasing the pressure on the wound, rich, dark blood seeping through her fingers.Cursing, panicking, she tugged off her jumper and held it tight to the wound, the rich, luxuriant wool greedily sucking up the viscous liquid.If she just kept the pressure on, if she kept her conscious until the ambulance arrived, there was a chance, wasn’t there?
‘How long until the ambulance gets here?’Emilia barked, but when she looked up, she saw only anguish on DC Roberts’ face.
‘Five minutes, maybe a touch more,’ he replied, stricken.
‘That’s too long, that’s too bloody long.’
The fresh-faced DC stared back at her, helpless and forlorn, agonized by his powerlessness.Behind him, DC McAndrew appeared equally poleaxed, weeping copiously as she spoke urgently into her phone.In truth, Emilia felt much the same way, still desperately trying to process what was happening.She had been the first to spot Charlie, as she raced along the dockside, desperately searching for the missing fugitive.Confused at first by the MIT chief’s odd gait and jerky movements, she had been shocked to see her collapse to the ground.As she tore over the rough concrete towards her, she prayed that she’d simply fainted or at worse been struck by Visser.For a moment, she was tempted to continue into the warehouse in pursuit of him, but the sight of the blood pooling around the fallen officer had stopped the journalist in her tracks.Horrified, Emilia had immediately gone to Charlie’s aid, waving the approaching DCs into the warehouse.Visser had vanished, however.Only his grim handiwork remained, coughing and gasping in Emilia’s arms.
‘Come on, Charlie, stay with me …’
Emilia’s tone was stern, urgent, but it elicited no reaction, as Charlie slid into unconsciousness.The journalist had had her run-ins with the new DI in the past, but had never disliked her, finding her always fair, committed and honest.She also knew that Charlie had a partner and two daughters, who stood on the brink of catastrophe.Pressing down hard on the wound, Emilia felt more determined than ever to save this young woman, to ensure that her death wasn’t Visser’s final insult.It was she who had summoned Charlie and her team here, she who had followed him into their carefully laid trap, she who would be responsible if anything happened to Charlie.
‘Come on, Charlie, I know you can do this …’
Once more she glanced up at the growing crowd of by-standers, who looked as distraught and desperate as she was,then beyond them to the port entrance.There was plenty of activity there, but still no sign of an ambulance.Where the hell were they?Didn’t they realize how urgent the situation was?
Returning her attention to Charlie, Emilia was alarmed to see that the fallen officer had gone slack in her arms, her head lolling backwards.Panicked, Emilia removed her right hand, shoving two blood-stained fingers onto the side of her throat, desperately searching for signs of life.For a moment, time seemed to stand still, all present falling silent, until finally DC McAndrew’s voice cut through, tentative and fearful:
