Alec awoke with a start, his vibrating phone bouncing around on the side table like a jumping bean. He snagged it, looking at the screen, but it wasn't Ellie. It was her father.
"Hullo?"
"Hardy, have you seen my daughter?"
Alec pinched the bridge of his nose, forcing his mind to remember when Ellie left her office. "Ah, she left to check out a lead at half-past six. Said she'd let me know when she was heading in so we could go over her notes." Alec's stomach suddenly tied up in knots. "Why? What time is it?"
Ellie's father was trying to restrain his voice, Alec could tell. Their shared dread crept into his pores. "It's gone midnight."
Alec checked his mobile, and found no messages, calls, or texts from Ellie. "I know where she was going. Call in to the station, ask them to transfer you to DI Washbourne. He's on tonight. Tell him Ellie went to the manufacturer of the blue twine, and I'm going now after her to check it out. Say she's missing. Have him send back up," Alec rambled. He took a breath, deep and calming. "And whatever you do, don't tell the boys and don't open the door for anyone. Especially Joe."
Ellie's father held his breath. "Joe?"
"Yeah, he's back."
Alec threw on his suit jacket and grabbed his keys, forcing down the bile threatening to rise in his throat. I'm not gonna lose her too, he told himself, not now, not ever. His body triggered in the adrenaline rush of a lifetime, and he flung himself through the front door, down the hill to his waiting car, ground out the transmission and took off, blue lights flashing.
A thousand scenarios skipped into his mind on the 20-minute drive. Ellie lying dead somewhere. Or bleeding and crying for help. Or the sick son of a bitch that took Daisy is holding them both hostage, beating them, breaking them, killing them slowly. Just to spite him.
When he pulled in through the gate, he could see Ellie's car parked, half-hidden in the loading dock. It was obvious the person responsible had stashed his haphazardly, planning to come back for it later. How much later, though? Alec ducked into the building through the open loading dock door, ready for literally anything. He stood with his back to the wall, checking inside Ellie's car, but there was no evidence of a struggle. She made it into the building at least. Alec took a moment, fighting off the fear quickly growing inside him. He slowly and silently stalked through the warehouse, looking for a sign. Then he spotted it, blood on the concrete floor outside that little shit Leo's office. He made his way around the puddle on the floor, elbowing open the door to the office, and reached into his pocket for rubber gloves.
He approached the bank of screens and went back several hours, bringing up the CCTV footage. He watched Ellie enter the building, make her way through the darkened building, and stop at the office door. She called out for Leo Humphries. Then she pushed open the door, and light slowly crept across her face. The look of terror that flicked through her countenance was too much for Alec to bear. She knew, he thought, she knew something was coming.
A creaking noise off camera drew her attention, and when she turned to investigate, out of the corner a cricket bat darted into the light, catching Ellie flat on the back of her head. She crumpled to the floor, moaning. Her attacker stepped out of the shadows.
"You stupid bitch, couldn't leave well enough alone. Oh well, at least I'll get some time with you. Before he has his turn, anyway." Leo Humphries sneered, bending down to look at Ellie in the face. His mobile rang, and he answered, "Yeah, I've got her. Come to my place." There was a pause. "Nobody knows she's here, mate, she came alone. You can do whatever you like, nobody will know." Another pause, the person on the other line talking. No, I'll bring her to the house and before anyone knows she's gone I'll come back, take care of the cameras and get rid of her car. Nobody will think to look for a body in a burned-out Fiat."
On the tape, Leo bent down and started tying Ellie's hands. Her body was limp, but Alec could tell she was breathing. When he started unbuttoning Ellie's top and removing her trousers, Alec stopped the tape. He made a quick copy and slipped the disc into his breast pocket, stumbling through the motions robotically. Alec found his way back through the loading dock just as DI Washbourne and four other officers arrived. The rookie DI ran up to Alec, running his fingers through his cropped blonde hair. Alec couldn't focus on him , just leaned back against the wall, trying to regulate his breathing, hoping the burning in his chest would stop.
"Hardy, what did you find?" Washbourne asked, grabbing Alec's upper arm to keep him from falling over. He turned, signaling the other offers to secure the area. Alec reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and handed the footage over to the DI.
His voice wouldn't come right away, Alec had to clear his throat just to speak a few words. "He got her." Alec's eyes bore into Washbourne's, trying to convey the seriousness of the situation. "Leo Humphries has Miller, its all there. Blood outside the office. He said over the phone he was taking her to his place to meet up with someone. I think it's Joe Miller."
"You're in shock, let's sit down and discuss this…"
Then the fire inside Alec that was struggling to stay lit suddenly roared to life, "For fucks sake, an officer has been assaulted and raped. We know where she is. I'm going and I don't bloody care if you're coming along." Alec pushed the other man out of the way, storming to his car. Washbourne grabbed a uniformed officer and instructed him to send backup to the home of Leo Humphries, and to come prepared for a standoff, and send EMS as well. He hopped into the passenger seat of Alec Hardy's car, and Alec, who glanced his way with an eyebrow raised, nodded his acceptance.
They tore out of the lot, on a race against time, and Alec Hardy would do anything to get them back, alive if at all possible.
Ellie awoke to the feeling of someone wiping a soft cloth against her face. "El?" It was the voice of a young girl. "Wake up, Ellie, please."
Ellie sat up, immediately leaning back against metal bars, her head pounding. She tried to focus on the face in front of her.
"Daisy?"
"Yeah."
Ellie swept her up in a tight hug. "God, girl we've gone through hell trying to find you! Are you ok? Did he hurt you?"
Daisy shook her head. "Not really, he cut my arm open, saying he was gonna use the blood to give my Dad a message. But that's it."
"He didn't…"
"No," Daisy stoically replied, "But he made me watch him do it to her." She pointed to another cage across the room. The woman in the cage was tied with her hands behind her back, hung by a sheet attached to the ceiling beam.
Ellie followed Daisy's gaze and found the black and purple face of…
"Trish. He found her."
Daisy nodded. "He dragged her in here kicking and screaming hours ago. Started doing things to her. Told me if I made any noise I was next, and he'd make my dad watch." She shuddered, and tears streamed down her face. "Oh my God, Ellie, I should have stopped him," she whispered.
All Ellie could do to stop herself from shrieking out into the dark was wrap her arms around Daisy even tighter. She tried to reassure her companion with a smile, "Your dad's stubborn. He'll find us. In the meantime, we need to figure out a way to get out of here."
"Well, they left fifteen minutes or so ago, I heard them talking about getting something to eat. They usually leave this time of night and are gone for about two hours, I think. I recognize the sound of the shipping yard, there's a ship that docks around midnight and they blow their horn. I can watch them from my window at Dad's. Then when they're done, around two hours later, they blow the horn again. The second horn hasn't gone off yet."
Ellie's heart swelled. This girl was so remarkable and completely the daughter of two coppers. Never misses an ounce of detail, Ellie couldn't be prouder.
Ellie reached around he bars and felt the door. The lock was the kind she used on her storage shed, and if Ellie's time as a juvenile delinquent was going to be of any use in her adult life, this would be the opportunity. She pulled a pin from her hair and set to work.
"What are you doing?" Daisy leaned over Ellie's shoulder to watch.
"I was a bit of trouble as a youth, and you never forget how to pick a lock."
Within a few minutes, Ellie had the lock open and off the door. She climbed out of the cage and waved Daisy to follow, placing her finger over Daisy's lips to signify silence. Ellie climbed the steps to exit the room, which looked to be the root cellar of a very old cottage. She turned the knob to the door, and it opened easily. Ellie poked her head out, and not seeing any light, or their captors, Ellie grabbed Daisy by the hand and pulled her though the kitchen, into the hall, and out into the entryway. She pushed Daisy in front just as flashing blue lights filled the room. Daisy turned to smile at Ellie, but the smile dropped, the color from Daisy's face drained, and she screamed. Ellie turned and there, standing directly behind her, stood her ex-husband.
"If I can't have you, no one will," he whispered into her ear. Joe grabbed Ellie's shoulder and rammed a long-bladed hunting knife into Ellie's belly, three times. Each time, the smile on his face grew more maniacal and satisfied with himself. She pushed him away, and as he lunged to stab her a fourth time, Ellie calculated the risk and forced her quickly numbing arms to slap the sides of his head, then forced his nose to connect with her knee.
She turned to Daisy, holding the wounds in her abdomen. She panted, "Run."
Daisy threw open the door and made a mad dash for the first officer in sight, who bolted toward her, scooped her up and buried his face in her hair.
"Oh my God, Daze, I'm so glad you're alright," Hardy sobbed into Daisy's shoulder.
"Dad, put me down!" Daisy demanded.
Hardy put her onto her feet as EMS arrived and helped her onto the cot. He started to object, then Daisy yelled, "Dad!" and he stopped talking. She looked at him, tears filling her eyes. "Ellie's in there. She saved me."
