Another short one to keep things tense. ..

Chapter Nine

Dan made it back to New York in record time. When he arrived at the apartment block he looked around warily in case it was under surveillance, but could see nothing unusual. When he walked into the apartment all seemed normal. At first glance the only thing missing was Lena. He took the opportunity to check his cell phone and was surprised to see no messages from Lena but a dozen from Carla. When he listened to them he froze. The last message was a blunt statement of her intention to tell Lena what was going on if he didn't call her straight back. Then he knew exactly what had happened.

Cursing furiously he ran into the bedroom, checking Lena's wardrobe. Sure enough a suitcase and a quantity of clothes were missing. She'd gone. She'd taken his money and gone. But had she betrayed him too? He thought furiously. No, he couldn't believe that she'd jeopardise her own chances of escape by giving him up. There was still time. The only thing that mattered now was his freedom. He still had one ace up his sleeve – the boy. After a quick phone call to Luke he grabbed a suitcase of his own, filled it and left. On his way out he noticed Lena's car keys on the table. That meant she'd gone away in a taxi, presumably to the airport. Just as well, as he wouldn't have managed a suitcase on the bike. Picking up the keys he left the apartment to return to the lake-house.


It had been a long day for Virgil. He'd told himself that today would surely see his release, but as the day went on he began to lose hope. Time went slowly when he was awake with nothing to do but wait and wonder. He'd realised that the orange juice his captors so generously supplied him with had been drugged. That morning he'd poured it away, fearing that if he simply left it he'd be chloroformed again. Sure enough his head had cleared and despite his thirst he felt better than he'd done for days. Finally the door opened and he lay down on the mattress, pretending to be asleep.

"Come on," Luke pulled him up and twisted his arm behind his back, pushing him up the stairs. His mind on Lena's failure to contact them and Dan's trip to New York, he didn't notice that the boy was walking more steadily than he usually did.

Standing outside the bathroom door, Luke was startled by the phone. Despite his desperation to talk to Dan, he hesitated, then reasoned that the kid would be too out of it to try anything. He moved to pick up the phone and forgot everything when Dan's voice told him what had happened.

"Sit tight, I'm on my way back."

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know yet. We've still got the kid. It's not over yet. We'll talk about it when I get back."

Luke didn't notice the bathroom door opening. Virgil looked out, surprised and relieved when his captor wasn't in his usual position outside the door. He couldn't see him but he could hear his voice. He looked around and tried the door to the next room. It was locked. So were all the other doors in the hallway. The window was too small for him to get through. He sighed. It looked as if the only exit was the front door but that relied on him getting past Luke. He quietly sneaked along the hallway to the door. He knew that it too would be locked, but that didn't matter as he could see a key in the lock. He edged closer and closer.

Part of his brain screamed at him not to be so stupid. Any moment now the ransom would be paid and he'd be released. What was the point of risking capture? The dark haired man hadn't been joking when he'd threatened him. Did he really want to die slowly and painfully, starving to death in a freezing cellar?

But the Tracy genes were stubborn and he wanted to take this chance. His captors had had it their own way for too long. Now it was time to fight back and regain some self-respect. He clung to the belief that if this went wrong then his father would find him and save him.

He reached the door and turned the key. He pulled open the door and was just about to step over the threshold when a shadow fell across him.