'HOW MUCH?!!' Cook stared at Naomi in utter disbelief and all the others' mouths gaped open as wide as the Grand Canyon. They all looked first at Naomi and then at each other, gobsmacked.

'Well, I don't know! I didn't sit there and count it all! It must have been ten of thousands, I guess. What does it matter now they've got Ems? I don't care if it was millions, I just want Ems back. I don't give a flying fuck about the money!'

Naomi burst into tears once again as the thought of what unspeakable things the kidnappers might be doing to Emily right then flashed through her mind and caused her stomach to heave violently and almost made her throw up on the spot. She had never been someone who was particularly bothered about money and she cared even less about it at that moment. No amount of readies, bona fide or otherwise, was worth a fraction of Emily in her eyes. There were some things you couldn't put a price on and, to her, Emily's safe return was the most important thing in the world.

She had filled the rest of the gang in on the story of the money in the station locker and Emily's subsequent abduction as quickly as possible. It had given her something to do, she supposed, even though her first reaction had been not to tell them anything about the money at all. But Cook had been especially insistent that she tell them what the hell was going on and so, reluctantly, she gave in and spilled the beans.

It wasn't that she wanted to keep her friends in the dark about Emily's abduction – she could see they were genuinely concerned and distraught. It was more a case of her being terrified that, out of a perfectly understandable desire to help her in whatever way they could, they might make things worse and put Emily's life at greater risk. She was particularly worried about what Cook might do and she had already begged him not to interfere and to just let her do whatever the kidnappers wanted her to do.

Karen and Effy were on either side of the blonde, each with an arm around her shoulders and were trying to comfort her and keep her spirits up as best they could but they could see she was close to breaking down completely. Cook, on the other hand, whilst not insensitive to Naomi's obvious distress, was talking to Freddie about the details of Naomi's account of the extraordinary events of that day.

'What doesn't make sense, Freds, is how come they believed Naomi's explanation about why she couldn't get to the locker and retrieve the holdall. I mean, how come they knew she wasn't bluffing and just trying to buy some more time? That's what I would have thought, if I'd been in their place.'

'Maybe they heard about the bomb scare on the radio. I mean, the news must be all over the local radio stations by now.' Freddie's suggestion, although not without some merit and logic, met with complete disdain from Cook.

'What? You think that the kidnappers are likely to be passing the time waiting for Naomi to pick up the money by listening to the radio? Why not watch a bit of daytime TV while they're at it?'

'Well, how the fuck should I know what kidnappers do? I've never met any personally, you know. I don't know what a normal day in the life of your average kidnapper's like, do I?'

'No. I know why they accepted her story about the bomb scare so easily.'

Freddie looked at his mate quizzically and challenged him with a slight nod of his head to show off his clearly extensive knowledge of the habits and behavioural patterns of Bristol's criminal fraternity. 'Well?'

'Because they already knew it was true. Don't you get it, Freddie? They're here, somewhere, those fucking bastards. Or at least one or two of them are. They've been watching Naomi all the time, following her around without her knowing it, checking that she's doing exactly what they've told her to do.'

Cook was casually but keenly darting his eyes all around him, without making any extravagant movement of his head, closely eyeing up all the people who were still hanging around a safe distance away from the station, waiting for the all-clear to be given by the police so they could resume their journeys. Freddie found himself doing likewise, whilst nonchalantly reaching for a cigarette from his jacket pocket, lighting it and after puffing on it once or twice, passing it over to Cook.

'I can't see anyone particularly suspicious,' Freddie said after a few moments, having cast his eyes as far as he could without making it too obvious he was looking for someone.

'Well, I can,' said Cook, puffing on the cigarette before passing it over to Freddie. 'About three o'clock. DON'T look over there, Freds. There's a car pulled over on the side of the road. It's been there ever since we turned up, I reckon. I think there are two guys sitting in the front.'

'You can't know it's them, Cook. You're only guessing.' Freddie wasn't sure whether Cook had genuinely spotted the kidnappers or whether his friend was letting his fertile, melodramatic imagination run away with him.

'I know it's them, Freds. I just know it. They're parked just far enough away not to be too obvious and yet near enough to be able to keep tabs on Naomi all the time.'

'So what if it is them? What can we do? Emily's life's at stake here, Cook! We can't fuck about with that, you know!'

Freddie was really scared, probably for the first time in his life. He'd been dragged against his will into a fair few scrapes by Cook over the years and had managed to keep his mate out of any serious trouble, sometimes more by luck than judgement. But this was different. It was one thing rescuing Cook from danger to himself, whether it was hauling him away from a booze-fuelled punch up in some night club or from some irate drug dealers with whom he'd had a stupid argument about the price of the gear he'd been trying to buy. It was a completely different ball game when the life of one of their closest friends was at stake. This was no time for stupid, boys own heroics, he thought. Surely Cook wouldn't be so selfish as to risk Emily's life for the sake of some personal glory and adventure. Even he couldn't be such a fucking twat!


Emily reached out a hand towards the glass of water which had been placed just within her reach, picked it up and drank from it. It was the first thing she had eaten or drunk since she had been abducted and brought to this god-awful place and left there. She hadn't touched the food on the plate which was lying next to the glass: a sandwich of some sort, it looked like ham but she hadn't bothered to check it out, and a bag of ready salted crisps. Hardly a banquet but at least they had left her something.

But she had completely lost any appetite she might normally have had at that time of the day. The overwhelming fear that had paralysed her mind and her senses had well and truly seen to that. But she was thirsty, despite her terror and misery so she forced herself to pick up the glass and drink some water. It was by no means an easy feat given that one of her hands was handcuffed to a rickety old bed in the corner of the darkened room where she had been dumped. But with a little bit of concentration and taking her time she managed to grab the glass without spilling too much of the liquid and brought it to her lips and guzzled greedily.

She must have been imprisoned in this godforsaken hole for a good hour or two now but as there wasn't enough light for her to see the hands on her watch she was only guessing. She wondered what Naomi was doing and the thought of her girlfriend probably going absolutely frantic with worry brought tears to her eyes and she battled with herself not to burst out crying once again. She'd cried quite enough as it was when she had first been grabbed off the street and thrown into the car and she was desperately trying to gain some measure of self-control and composure. But it was really tough for her because she was so desperate to see her girlfriend again. She'd only been taken from her for a few hours but already it felt like it had been a lifetime.

Things will be okay, she said to herself, trying to clam herself down. Naomi will do everything the kidnappers tell her to and then she'll be free and back with Naomi again before the end of the evening. She had already worked out what her abductors wanted. It wasn't rocket science after all, she said to herself. This is all about Naomi's money, or rather the money left to her by her Dad. That's why the bastards had kidnapped her, to get to Naomi. They must have known that Naomi would willingly give up all that cash just to get her back.

And yet a strange part of her didn't want Naomi to cooperate meekly with these men and just hand over the money they obviously wanted so badly. She hated the thought of her girlfriend, who took such pride in bowing to no-one's will, in refusing to be bullied into doing something against all her principles, having to swallow her pride and surrender something that belonged to her just because she was being threatened by somebody bigger and stronger than her. Deep down Emily really wanted Naomi to fight back and refuse to give in to the kidnappers' demands and threats. That was the Naomi she knew, admired and loved so much.

The trouble was, if Naomi did refuse to bow to their demands, she would probably never see her again. Emily thought it highly unlikely that these guys, whoever they were, would only be bluffing. She totally believed them when they told her that she would see Naomi again – provided her girlfriend co-operated fully and did what she was told. It would be a token, futile gesture if Naomi was to put up some kind of resistance against them and try to play for time, give herself a chance to work out a way of getting Emily back without relinquishing the money. Unfortunately these men had all the cards in their hands and they weren't playing for matchsticks. The stakes were high, judging by Emily's rapid assessment of the amount of cash she had seen in the holdall, and they were deadly serious in their intent to recover the money which, she speculated idly for a few brief seconds, they must regard as morally theirs.

She drained a few more gulps of the refreshing water and put the glass back down on the little table next to the bed. Her throat, which had become quite sore and dry from the tape one of the guys had stuck across her mouth, now felt much better from taking in some much needed liquid. They had taken off the tape when they had brought the food in, after telling her there was no point in her screaming for help as there was no-one around for miles to hear her and, in any case, they would simply put the tape back on and take away the food and water.

So she hadn't screamed for help, preferring to conserve her energy for thinking and for keeping as calm as she could. Besides, she hadn't heard a sound from outside the room since she arrived so she guessed she was holed up in some remote place in the middle of nowhere, certainly not within screaming earshot of any casual passer-by. She lay back on the bed again, closed her eyes and tried to boost her flagging spirits by thinking of all the wonderful, fabulous things she and Naomi were going to do together as soon as they were reunited.


'Rob!' cried Jenna tearfully, 'For God's sake, stop pacing up and down! That isn't going to achieve anything!'

'Well, what do you want me to do? I can't just sit here quietly waiting to be told if my daughter's alive and well!'

'She's my daughter too, you know!' Jenna collapsed into a fresh bout of hysterical sobbing which immediately caused Rob to rush over to her and hold her in his arms, realising his reaction hadn't helped the situation and regretting having said it.

'Mum! Dad! Don't!' pleaded a tearful and shattered-looking Katie as she helplessly watched them bickering. She needed her Mum and Dad to be strong and united right at that moment, not at each other's throats, tearing each other apart. The sudden abduction of her sister was already tearing her apart emotionally inside; she didn't need to be worrying about the danger of her parents ripping each other apart too. She couldn't cope with that.

'Katie, please try phoning Naomi again!' cried her mother. 'Why won't she pick up the phone?'

'I've tried a dozen times already in the last half hour. She won't pick up the call.' Katie could guess the reason why but didn't dare say it out loud in front of her parents. Setting off another huge rant from her mother about Emily being together with Naomi was not what was needed right then. Cool heads and strong nerves were what were required and Katie was afraid they might all be found seriously wanting in that department, judging by the reactions of the last half hour.

'Try again, Katie,' asked Rob, looking up from Jenna and beseeching his other daughter with a pained, distraught expression, indicating to Katie the state of her mother who was in full flow again, sobbing her heart out on Rob's shoulder.

'Okay,' nodded Katie, not with a great deal of optimism as she hit the redial button one more time and waited for the familiar tone to ring out without the sound of Naomi's voice interrupting it to pick up the call.

She was just about to give up yet again and ring off when to her considerable shock and joyous surprise she heard the sound of the call being taken and a voice on the other end call out 'Katie?' Katie let out a small scream of relief and practically shouted down the phone 'Naomi?'


The sound of Naomi's phone ringing broke through the uneasy silence into which the gang had fallen over the past few minutes. Naomi instantly grabbed for her mobile to see who was calling and her face fell into an expression of despair as she saw that it was Katie ringing yet again. She looked at the others who had all gathered round her, assuming it was the kidnappers calling and said to them in a painful whisper 'It's Katie. She's been trying for ages. I can't face talking to her.'

Effy looked at Naomi's haunted, screwed up face and reached out for the phone, gently taking it from Naomi's hand. 'Let me talk to her, Naomi. You can't keep her in the dark forever. She's Emily's twin. She must be worried sick about her, the whole family must be. She has a right to know what's happening.'

Naomi's resistance was only a token one as in her heart of hearts she accepted the truth of Effy's argument. She knew it wasn't right to try to keep Katie and her family out of it but she was terrified on two separate counts. Firstly of having to face up to the Fitch family reaction to her getting Emily involved with this horrific business and secondly of what they might try to do to get involved which might jeopardise Emily's safe return. If Emily was to be brought back home alive, Naomi knew she alone had the power, the means and the opportunity to achieve that objective. Involving anyone else, particularly a sister, mother or father frantic and beside themselves with worry, however understandable, might be too risky an idea.

Effy took the call, as she patted Naomi comfortingly on the shoulder. 'Katie?'

'Naomi?' screamed Emily's twin down the phone. 'What's happening? Is Emily with you?'

'Katie, it's Effy…..' but before Effy could continue, she was interrupted by the angry, shaking voice of Katie giving it large with both barrels on the other end of the line.

'Effy?! What the fuck are you doing on the line! Put Naomi on. I want to speak to her, not you!'

The whole group winced to a man and woman at the sound of Katie's furious outburst which came over loud and clear and which made Naomi turn her head away and look like she was going to be sick on the spot.

'Katie, listen to me. Naomi can't speak to you right now. She's busy concentrating on doing what the kidnappers have told her to do to get Emily back alive and well. She can't be thinking about anything else or speaking on the phone to anyone. She's waiting for a call from these men. You might be keeping them from getting through to her and giving her more instructions, for fuck's sake!'

Cook nodded admiringly at Effy's quick, sharp presence of mind and gave her the thumbs-up in encouragement. Naomi looked up at Effy anxiously, unsure if Effy's words would placate Katie and persuade her to get off the line and leave her alone in peace to worry herself sick about Emily on behalf of the whole Fitch family. It appeared it might have done the trick, however, as the next time Katie spoke she sounded much calmer, less hysterical and more sympathetic to Effy's approach.

'Okay, but we're all worried sick here! How come you're with her? Who else is there? I should be there with Naomi, not you. Emily's is MY sister, not yours.'

'I know you're all worried sick, Katie. I'm just here to give Naomi some moral support and comfort her. She's beside herself with worry as well, you know. Emily's her girlfriend, remember.'

'Yeah and it was Naomi who got Ems involved in this, wasn't it? If Ems hadn't been involved with Naomi, none of this would have happened!'

After sounding like she had calmed down a bit, Katie appeared on the verge of going off on one again. Effy had to get her off the line quickly especially as there seemed to be some action taking place over at the station entrance. Barriers were being taken down, cheers from the still gathering crowds could be heard and the police were beginning to talk to the people through megaphones. Things were starting to move.

'What's that cheering noise?' Katie's sharp ears had obviously picked up the background noise at the other end of the line and sensed that something was happening where they were. 'Where the hell are you?'

'We're down at the railway station, Katie.' Effy said, shrugging her shoulders at the rest of the group. She didn't see what could be gained from lying to Katie. What could she do any more than the rest of them about the situation? It was all ultimately in Naomi's hands, not theirs.

'The railway station? What the fuck are you doing there? Oh Christ, DAD! Dad, there's no point going down there! DAD!!!'

The group all looked at each other aghast at Katie's clearly futile and desperate pleas to her father not to take off immediately for the railway station. Clearly it was too late. The ultimate Action Man Super Hero had already changed into his Superman costume in the blink of an eye and was soaring to the rescue of his little girl as Katie spoke.

'Did you hear that?' asked Katie. 'Dad's on his way over to join you. You'd better be there when he gets there, that's all I can say.' Effy said 'Okay' and rang off sharply.

'SHIT!' exclaimed Naomi, angrily and with the unmistakeable hint of fear and apprehension in her voice. But she didn't have time to expand on this oath any further as her mobile rang again and when she looked at it she glanced up at the others and nodded, swallowing hard and licking her lips nervously. She took the call with a racing heartbeat and a stomach that was lurching violently. 'Hello?'

The by now chillingly familiar voice came across loud and clear. 'Who were you talking to?'

'Just my Mum, she called me. It took ages to get her off the line. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry'

'Is the station open again yet?'

Naomi turned round and could see from where they were all standing that the preparations to re-open the entrances to the building were almost complete. The crowds were beginning to slowly move towards the forecourt, as the police were busy removing the barriers and other obstacles which they had originally put in position to keep the people well back from the immediate potential danger area. In a minute or two she reckoned she would be able to enter the station and retrieve the bag from the locker.

'Yes, they're just about to open it again. I should be able to go inside in a minute or two,' she said, breathing heavily, hoping that the man would believe her.

'Right. When it's open, go and get the holdall from the locker, come back outside and wait until I phone you again. No funny business, right or your friend will get hurt. Do you understand? You'd better be alone, missy. If anyone tries to go with you, your precious Emily will get seriously hurt. Do I make myself clear?'

'YES!' screamed Naomi. 'I'm going in alone and I'll be alone when I come out, I promise!' She waved frantically, and with more tears running down her cheeks, to the others to get the hell away from her. On seeing her distress and hearing her last few words the others all started moving away as Naomi leant her bike up against a wall and started to walk down towards the station forecourt, joining the impatient throng of travellers, all eager to resume their journeys.

As Naomi walked away from them, Cook turned to Effy and said 'Effy. Do us a favour, will you? Give me your car keys for a while.'

'What? Why? What are you going to do, Cook?' Effy looked at him suspiciously, refusing to hand them over until she was sure he wasn't going to attempt something which would screw things up. 'I'm not giving them to you if you've got some mad idea about following Naomi to the kidnappers. No fucking way!'

'I promise you I'm not going to follow Naomi. I wouldn't be that stupid. I'm not going to put Emily's life at risk, I promise you. I've just had an idea and I want to try it out. Please, give me the keys Ef.'

Still with considerable reluctance and suspicion Effy put her hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out her car keys, holding them out to Cook. 'If you're lying to me, Cook, if anything happens to Emily or Naomi because of what you do, I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life. That's if I let you live, of course.'

'Trust me, babe. I know what I'm doing. Come on Freds.' He pulled the arm of his best mate and quickly started dragging him away in the direction of Effy's car which was parked just thirty or so yards away.

'Whoa! No fucking way, Cook!' shouted Freddie, pushing Cook off him. 'I'm not going along with your mad ideas. Leave me out of it. Effy's right. I'll never forgive you if anything happens to the girls because of your ridiculous dreams of being a fucking hero.'

'Keep walking, Freddie, and just listen. I need you with me on this. I need your brains and your cool head. Your brains and my brawn – well, we make a pretty good team, don't you think? Besides, if you don't come with me, you'll be tearing yourself apart wondering what the fuck I'm up to, won't you?'

Freddie stopped dead and stared at his mate. He hated to admit it but Cook was right. He would be worrying himself sick wondering what the hell Cook was planning on doing. At least if he went with him he might be able to stop him doing anything really reckless and dangerous, he might be able to talk him out of putting Emily's life at risk for a desire to end up the hero of the hour. Cook let loose on his own, left to his own devices out there was a frightening prospect for everyone. For Emily, Naomi, even the kidnappers, never mind himself. The bastard had put him in a corner from which there was no escape.. He had no option but to go along with him – for Emily's safety.


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