So, chapter 4! Had some good feedback, that you all soooo much! This is more of a 'meanwhile' chapter, with no violence… but don't worry so much to come! I'll probably put another on today too... this is quite short and nothing much happens. Let me how what you think!
Chapter 4
Once they had left, the house was silent. The rain was stopping, suddenly surrounding her in silence. She let ten minutes pass before reaching up to remove the tape from her mouth, dragging in a breath to steady her nerves. With shaking hands, she felt the handcuff securing her. It wasn't tight, just secure. The phone was out of reach, but the clock said 7.45pm. She had arranged for Neal, Jones, Diana and Reese to come to dinner at 7.30, they were late. Well, Neal wasn't. She just sat there, waiting to be rescued.
It took seven minutes before all three arrived at once. Typical. Seeing the case files plastered to the path, all entered the house guns first. The door was open but intact, this gave a false sense of order. Inside was a mess, furniture all over the place, showing the obvious struggle. They stopped in their tracks when they saw her, sitting quietly, staring into space, like they weren't even there.
Diana was first to walk forward, towards her. That's when her eyes snapped up, both eye to eye. She started to cry, as Diana walked closer, ready to take the cuff off. As the two men cleared the house, Diana hugged Mrs Burke.
"So talk us through exactly what happened." Reese was satisfied El had time to calm down, a cup of coffee in her slightly shaking hand, house swarmed with agents and crime techs. His eyes kept drifting to the pool of dried blood, still warm to touch, with the black moulted plastic mixed in. The half battered electronic device sitting not far to the left. He swallowed, again.
"I was making the dinner, roast, full Monty. Waiting for Peter to get home. You said he'd be earlier. The rain was bad, weather cold, I couldn't really hear anything from outside, just the rain..." She sipped her mug tentatively, readying herself for what came next, and what came after that,"… next thing I knew, three men – including Peter – were in the house. One came right for me, grabbing and pulling me. I fought back, before he struck me," she gestured at the already blue hue of her eye, ice pressed on it gently, "I was a bit dazed and before I knew it, was in the living room."
Jones was writing it down, Diana following, making sure everything was documented. Hughes just sat there, listening and waiting to hear something he didn't want to hear.
"They tied Peter to the chair, and left me sitting. They punched him twice, em, they kept looking at his laptop, its in the kitchen I think," Jones got up to check, "before long Neal arrived... they knew he was here," Jones came back in with the laptop, open on Neal's tracking data, "when he was thrown in he was shivering and soaking. One of the guys had a gun, pointed at him. They threw him on the sofa."
She was exhausted and wanted to sleep, but knew she wouldn't be able to, not after tonight, not for a while. And not when her husband was still out there. She knew what they wanted to hear, about the anklet, but she didn't know if she could say it, relive it. But she had to.
"After a few minutes, they pulled Neal to the floor, holding him down, one had my soufflé burner and..." She trailed off in to sobs. Everyone in the room silent, letting the understated statement hang in the air, the pieces fitting together on their own. Hughes put his hand on El's shoulder.
"They cuffed me before, so I wouldn't try stop them. Once it was done, Neal was close to unconsciousness, but he stayed awake. They brought the first aid kit, let Peter treat the wound. It was bad. Once he was more lucid, they wanted them to move, Peter said no, not Neal only him, but they said they'd... they'd take me instead, and Neal agreed to go. They left." She was crying again, couldn't hold it in. Everyone else was silent, letting the reality of the situation to sink in.
