The telephone rang, echoing loudly throughout the office. Charles came over from the window where he stood and picked it up. "Charles Peterson."
"Mr Peterson. Jonathan Hart," answered the caller.
Charles raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Mr Hart. I, er, read about what happened to your wife. I'm terribly sorry—" began Charles.
"Forget it, Peterson. I know you were involved," Jonathan interrupted. "Joan told us everything; I know it's her fault. She also told me how you threatened her."
"Mr Hart—"
"So I want to make a deal with you," he continued loudly over Charles. "I'll give you Joan Peterson if you take care of her for me. I want to keep my hands clean—you understand."
There was a shocked silence.
"This is very, um…unexpected, Mr Hart," said Charles, carefully.
"I don't care. Do you want Joan or not?" asked Jonathan impatiently.
There was a pause as Charles considered.
"Yes."
"Good. Then, I'll meet you at your office tomorrow at twelve pm. Be ready." And the line went dead.
Charles stayed frozen for a moment, the telephone still at his ear. Slowly he put the receiver down. He went back to the window, a cruel smile beginning to form on his face.
H2H
Hastings faced Charles behind his desk, the little tape recorder between them. Hastings watched his employer's face as they listened to the conversation between Jonathan Hart and Joan.
"He's agreed to my plan. He thinks he's hit the jack pot," Jonathan was saying.
"Well, just be careful, Jonathan. Charles is smarter than you might think," Joan warned him. "So, what do we do now that he's agreed to kill me for you?"
"I don't know. I've told him we'll come to his office tomorrow at twelve pm. Somehow we've got to organise this…I'll call you back when I think of something," he decided.
"OK. Thank you so much, Jonathan—"
Charles snapped the recording off, and Joan's voice was cut short. He stood up and began striding angrily around the room. "It's a good thing we had her telephone bugged," he barked as he paced.
"So what do we do, boss?" asked Hastings, taking the tape out. He felt like he'd been asking that a lot lately.
Charles paused mid-stride as he thought. He glanced at his desk, where the newspaper still lay. Jennifer Hart smiled at him from underneath the black headline. They were certainly very similar, Joan and her.
"Well, we know Mr Hart will come running the moment his wife is in danger," he said. He walked over to the window and looked out. After a moment, he chuckled darkly. "I think I see a way how we can get Joan back here in time."
H2H
Jonathan and Jennifer sat at the breakfast table, their cutlery chinking against the china plates as they ate.
Jennifer looked up suddenly and twisted around to Max, who was cooking another omelette. "Max, I've got a presentation to attend today for a journalism conference, so I won't be home for dinner tonight," she said.
"OK, Mrs H. I'll leave a plate in the fridge," said Max.
"That would be great," she said, and turned back to her breakfast.
Jonathan stared at her. "You've never mentioned this before," he said.
She looked up at him. "Well, it was a rather last-minute decision. I was asked to attend the conference a month ago, and with everything that's been happening lately, I just didn't think I was able to do it. In fact…" She glanced at her wrist-watch. "I've got to go."
She stood up and left the kitchen, shrugging on her jacket as she made her way to the front door, with Jonathan following behind her. Just as she put her hand on the door handle, he spun her around so that she faced him again.
"Darling, are you sure you're ready to go back to work so soon?" he asked quietly. "I mean, things have just gone so fast. Are you all right?"
"Jonathan, I'm fine. Today is just a one-off thing. We've all been asked to attend this conference," she assured him, swiftly kissing him goodbye. "I'll see you tonight," she said, and closed the door as she left, leaving Jonathan standing uncertainly by the door.
H2H
Jennifer followed Melanie out onto the pavement and waited as she locked the door.
"I thought Dr Jones' talk was very inspiring," Melanie was saying.
"Yes. He seems to have had a lot of experience for someone so young," said Jennifer, stopping by Melanie's car. "Well, I'll see you later, Mel."
"Yeah, bye Jennifer. Will you be all right walking to your car?" Melanie asked, dropping the keys into her pocket.
"Yes, thanks. That's the problem with arriving late—you have to park a long way away," smiled Jennifer.
"OK. Bye," said Melanie, getting into her car.
Jennifer waved as she drove off down the street, then everything was silent. She pulled her car keys out of her pocket and walked quickly along the dark street, pulling her jacket tighter around her as a cool breeze lifted her hair.
Suddenly, head lights flooded the street as a car raced around the corner and stopped with a lurch beside her. Jennifer froze in shock; there was no time to move as a man jumped out and grabbed her. He swiftly clamped a rag to her mouth just as she began to scream and pulled her into the car with him. The engine started again and the car sped away, leaving the street as empty and quiet as before.
H2H