Call me Bodyguard
You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon / 'Bodyguard' By Ghost
Mercy
"Are you going to hurt me?" Mercy asked as she lay on the single bed, a dirty sheet, wrapped around a pillow for her head as the handcuff's clanked on the iron bed frame headboard and her feet struggled against the rope tied way too tight around her ankles "Are you going to hurt me?" she asked again when she got no answer as a shadow walked right up to her making her flex away from the oncoming frame
"If we don't get what we asked for, you can bet on it" a black man said as he pulled her face around to look at him, pure venom in his voice as he spoke, she couldn't make his face out because of the black rag he wore across it and the black hat he donned that peaked at the front suggesting he had a high top, his eyes spelt bad intentions making her pull her face out of his grasp and turn her head away from him again
"What do you want?" she asked turning back to face her capturer
"1m and a flight out of here" he told her
"1m?" she asked the fact almost taking her breath away "I don't have that kind of money"
"You don't?" he asked as his hand came into view to grab her again, instead she felt a sting hit her face, he hadn't used his whole hand just the tips but she knew it had left its mark "You'd better pray someone finds it for you or you'll be dead" he told her
"Dead!" she said alarmed "I've maybe got 12K in my savings account I could maybe call my brother see what he can get together, please let me call my brother I don't want to die" she begged a tears rolled down her face
"What are you doing?" A voice from behind the man asked as Mercy saw another black man and a white man emerge "Don't damage the merchandise" the other black guy said as the white guy stood listening all with black rags across their faces and hats on all standing looking down at her, she felt vulnerable, scared and stupid
Flashback
I had thrown caution to the wind, I'd begged Sam for some attention; something we hadn't had for over two months due to his latest tour, official parties and stuff going on. There had been a few booty calls when I'd get time off and the last one was well over three weeks ago, I couldn't lie I'd used the word desperate in our communication and freaked him out a bit, but I was longing for my man
"Can I come see you tomorrow?" I'd asked "I'm desperate" I slipped in laughing for the freak out I knew he was having on the other side of the world right now
"Babe, please, don't do this, I'm flying off to Japan tomorrow, you know this, the tour will be over soon"
"Can I come down today then?" I whined "Please Al" I'd begged
"Betty please don't beg, I'm sorry but I'm on stage in like 90 minutes and just four hours sleep before I'll be flying off, I'll be gone before you even get on the plane" he said disappointedly
"Babe we need to do something about this, I really can't do this any more, sorry for the pressure but can we discuss this some more when we finally do meet up?"
"I hear you love, just hold on in there, I'll be back in a week, we already have stuff on the conversation agenda we can add that, right now I can only say sorry so many times before it starts sounding fake" he told me, I could feel him rolling his eyes at the repetitiveness of it all
"Okay babe, break a leg, and take no notice of me" I said trying to deflect from my whine to make him feel better
"But I do take notice of you, you're the only person in the world I need to take notice of" he laughed "I love you Mrs Evans"
"I love you too Mr Evans, hurry back; Oohh the door" I said jumping up to go answer it "It's the girls" I told him down the phone
"There's an idea, why don't you have a girls night?" he asked
"In or out?"
"In" he almost commanded "I'm not there and I don't trust anyone with my most valued possession" he laughed
"Boring" I'd said almost singing my response "I say out"
"Did that not sound like an order to you?" he asked sharpish as she stopped her smile
"What?" I'd asked looking at Tina, Britt and Santana standing looking at me waiting to say hi
"Okay" he said a smile in his voice "If you're going to go out remember to be careful babe and please take a body guard everywhere, even the powder room"
End of Flashback
'The very last thing he said to me and I went against it he's going to be so damn mad with me' she thought as the three guys conversation came into her head
"So just phone the number and make the demand, if they have her they'll just wonder what we're on about. If they don't pay up we can just do away with this bitch and go find the real one" one of the guys said she couldn't see which one, they weren't in the room
"Hello" she said a desperate bid to put a face to the voices, she would need all the information she could get when they got her out of there to get these bastards locked up "Hello" she repeated "Is anyone there?" she asked knowing full well they could hear her "Hel..." she got out before the ruthless black guy appeared again
"No, no don't, I'll deal with her" the other black guy, who was the larger of the two, came rushing in saying pulling the ruthless one back
"Just shut her up I can't think with this bitch wailing all the while"
"I'll sort her out" he said holding his hands up to stop him from doing whatever was in his mind, Mercy lay looking at the two guys interacting before the ruthless guy looked at her, she moved her head out of his line of sight quickly looking at the wall the bed was leaned up against
"What do you need?" the calm black guy said coming towards her, she could see he had no hair, his hat was far back off his head, like he wasn't used to wearing hats or that particular one, his eyes were soft compared to the other guy and he semi smiled when he spoke 'Victim of circumstances' Mercy surmised before she started talking
"Could I get to use the bathroom please?"
"Sure but I should warn you everything's secure and please, don't try and make a run for it, that won't end well" he said smiling wider, 'like that was a joke of some sort, you've just told me you'd kill me if I tried to escape. There was no chance of that Mr, you don't even know that my husband is going to kill me for this, let alone if I put myself further at risk, he'd wake me up and kill me again, verbally that is' she told herself as she followed the guy towards the bathroom, shivering at the thought of Sam's tongue lashing she wasn't even scared of these bastards, for that second
"I'll give you three minutes" he told her
"I might need five and some sanitary things" she told him
"I think there are some in there" he said nudging her towards the door "I'm counting" he said taping his watch as Mercy slipped in and shut the door, she looked around the sparse bathroom and dirty bath and decided against the bath she was planning on having to stretch things out a bit, she sat on the bowl looking into space
Flashback
Getting Sam to agree to that night out was just too easy, he'd even suggested it, I'd given a high five to the girls when he'd agreed and had a smile ear to ear. I really do enjoy going out with them, we'd have be in some secluded VIP area if I was with Sam and for me, it was hardly worth going out just to look at the damn bodyguards. I got off the phone looked at the girls and just burst out crying "God I miss him" I told them
"You have a right too Girl" Tina told me as she held me
We'd been married for just over two years, Sam had overnight become this massive Country singing God from a demo Julian; my Agent at Goldstar, had sent out of him messing around with some R&B song I was trying to scratch out of my head, I'd got to stuff it point and Sam, just to break the ice, put a country spin on it making me laugh when all I really wanted to do was throw something. Julian said it was good and they thought that was it, then about two months later Sam gets a call, out the blue, and some recording company in Nashville wanted to sign him up. He skirted around it for a while but, after some time on the road with me he decided that he wanted that and signed with them, his first record was a hit, suddenly he was in demand, we were excited about it, very excited about it. He'd always said he'd wanted that life for me but when it came for him too I literally lit up for him, laughing when he experienced his first group of fan girls, no I wasn't phased by that we'd loved each other forever and we, unknown to the world at that time, excluding family, were getting married in six weeks, of course we were loved up.
Sam's first album came fast, he'd always written lyrics, it was just what he did while I'd be off on tour, writing was definitely his thing, he wrote country songs, his preferred genre, but every now and again he'd drop me a melody I could use on one of my songs and, more often than not, I'd use it
Everything stopped for a week to accommodate the wedding, which was a beautiful, tasteful, family affair so we had two days previous and four days after. We had a beautiful crack up moment at the reception when Sam requested a song 'You can call me Al' by Paul Simon, with the intention of acting some of it out, the DJ promised he'd play it and when it finally came on it was a reggae version called 'Bodyguard' by Ghost Sam was dancing me around the room singing along to this reggae song as some of the family stood around impressed that he knew the song, we never told them it was because he loved the other version, he just became cool. On the eighth day of married life Sam had to say bye to me, his new wife, and go off promoting his first song from his album and showcase some of the others ready for release.
"Two weeks baby, it's only two weeks" I'd assured him things would be fine as I saw him off at the airport turned to leave and cried my heart out for a good twenty minutes. Sacrifices had to be made we both knew that, if we were lucky, we'd maybe expect five good years at the top and we knew we needed to make them good ones otherwise we'd have to find real jobs in the aftermath
Pause in flashback
"Who the hell were we kidding?" Mercy asked her self
"Who are you talking to in there?" the guy standing outside the door asked
"Myself" she told him "I'm in a bit of a mess here" she said to deter him from coming in
"Hurry up" he shouted back
"Just trying to clean up a bit more"
Flashback
'We went from seeing each other nearly every day to nights only, on to weeks and now we're at months, with no real warning, yeah there were booty calls, as many as we could get in but there's only so many times you can go to bed completely satisfied laying in the arms of the one person in the world you totally want to be with, to waking up in a big empty bed with a note on the damn pillow, feeling like a dirty little secret. The phone somehow became our lifeline and distance became our family growing all the time
In just the two short years there were times one or the other of us wanted to give up but after crying, shouting, laughing, apologising and loving we survived until the next time, telling ourselves it was all only for five years. So there I was all dressed up and ready to go out with my friends to get some girly time in
"Come on" Britt said "We're going out lets get rat faced" she suggested, same as everyone else my face lit up too
"Yeah lets" I said moving away from them, wiping my eyes dry and going upstairs to get dressed
"Something sexy Diva, Sam's away we can play, get out flirt on" Santana shouted after me
"Forget the flirt girl, I's married now" I said in my best Miss Celie voice, thirty minutes, okay, an hour later I came down in one of my signature purple dresses, Sam might not have approved if he were here, but he wasn't and that shit happened once in a blue moon "I'm ready to party" I laughed throwing my arms in the air
We'd been at the club for about an hour slamming drinks down like it was going out of fashion, Santana and Brittany were into each other leaving Tina and me to our own devices "Let's get our flirt on" Tina suggested
"I can't do that" I told her "I didn't even bring the bodyguard like Sam asked, I'm not going asking for trouble, and what about Artie?"
"I'm not talking sleeping with anyone Merc we're just going to grab a few drinks and shoot" she laughed
"One drink?" I warned her
"Okay one drink" she agreed as we headed to the bar, we were sitting for about two minutes before we attracted attention, Tina smiled at me for how easy it was. I remember maybe the third drink and Tina sitting at the bar while I ventured off to the bathroom the next thing I knew I'm laying on a bed handcuffed to it and some black guy shouting orders at me and demanding money. Is that shouting?
All I can remember right now is what Sam has put in my head "Deny who you are, never tell them who you are, you could die for doing that, Mercy promise me" she heard him say as clear as day in her head shaking her out of her thoughts as she looked round for Sam
End of flashback
"Mercy come on out of there" the voice said, she knew she'd gone way past the few minutes he'd given her and she needed to conform before the angry one made an appearance 'Trap, did he call me Mercy?' she asked herself as she froze in the bathroom "Mercy" the voice said again "Mercy" he said again a bit louder banging the door this time
"Hello" she said "I'm still here" she told him "I'm ready now just coming out" she said getting her poker face on and finally opening the door
"Why didn't you answer me?" he asked when she emerged
"I thought you were talking to someone called Mercy" she told him
"What's your name?" he asked
"Bethany but my friends call me Betty" she smiled at him making him smile back, only visible by the wrinkles appearing around his eyes
"If I told you my name I'd have to kill you" he said the wrinkles still around his eyes so she assumed he was joking, 'but maybe not' she told herself after considering the situation she was in, she'd almost forgotten for a second, as he walked her back to the bedroom
"I've checked the phone no Sam in there" she heard, then mumbling "I'm not stupid I tried that too" the person said. Mercy lifted her eyes up to the heavens, Sam had insisted they not use their real names in anything outside their home and that included the phone, it suddenly dawned on her why. She sat wondering how he'd become so forward thinking in such things when she'd been in the business maybe a year or just over before him and smiled for his always wanting to protect her.
Sam
Sam came off the call a bit deflated, he hadn't seen his wife for the longest time and now she was on with this begging thing, she was really pulling at his heart strings, he had to be on stage in like two hours and all he could think about was her crying, he knew she'd be crying when she got off the phone "And instead of me holding her she's got Satan, Brittany or Tina" he said getting up kind of angry for his situation. The last thing he really needed to do when he was feeling like this, was to opt not to pull rank, he was mad because he hadn't pushed it for her to stay in, he was going to be on hot bricks until he was able to grab some time to talk to her again. He hated when she went out with the girls without any guys with them, but he'd told her to take the bodyguard so he placed comfort in that.
He was on stage doing his thing when he noticed panic back stage distracting him a bit as he looked for Julian, who seemed to be panicking more than everyone else. He sung his song and asked for some water heading to the side stage to hear what was up "What's up?" he asked as everyone looked round at him "What's wrong?" he asked again looking at Julian for a response 'Mercy' his mind alerted him
"Can we deal with this once you've finished?" Julian asked
"No, come on, your freaking me out now, what's wrong?" he asked again
"Tina's just called to say she can't find Mercy"
"What does she mean she can't find Mercy?" Sam asked looking around his group of people "Sort this out Julian" he shouted as someone pulled him to go back on stage. He went back on and sung his list with hardly any of his usual banter between, his mind heavy on Mercy. Fifty minutes later he was off stage asking the question again "So tell me what I need hear Julian, what's wrong?"
"Sam the girls have searched the club, she went to the bathroom and now she can't be found"
"Where was the guard?" he asked before taking his phone out to call Tina "Tina, where was the guard?" he asked before saying anything else, when she answered
"Sam she didn't have one we just wanted a blowout night, I'm so sorry I should have gone with her" Tina said as she started crying
"Damn right you should have gone with her" he replied paying no attention to her upset "If anything happens to her I'll hold you all responsible I swear I will"
"It was her idea not to have one, not ours" Tina blurted out in her defence
"Seriously; you guys need to find her before I get there or there'll be hell to pay" he threatened "And where's Satan and Brittany in all this?" he asked blowing hard for his mad right now
"They're here with me looking" Tina said, angry to the point of wanting to throw the phone down for the way Sam spoke to her, as she looked up at the two women standing in front of her and handing them the phone
"Sam" Santana got out before he started talking
"I swear like I said to Tina, if anything happens to her there'll be hell to pay, those blades you hold in your damn hair, take them out because your likely to cut yourself with them when I start" he shouted at her
"Sam it's not our fault, she's a grown woman" Santana shouted back down the phone
"If she chooses to get drunk and behave like a slut that's her bad not ours" Brittany said in Santana's defence, Sam end of the phone was silent as Santana looked at Brittany in shock for her just telling Sam that about his wife
"Brit she's not a slut" Santana told her "Sorry Sam" she said for her
"Satan you need to straighten that wife of yours out before I take things into my own hands, what the hell were you all thinking? Do I ever joke on the subject of Mercedes Evans?"
"Sorry Sam" Brittany followed with as Santana had put him on speaker and all three stood listening
"Calm down Evans" he told himself "So what happened?" he asked as they went into song and dance about the night "So she could have just gone home?" he asked, confident that was the case as he hadn't felt her scared or anything
"Or she could have been kidnapped" Brittany said as everyone went quiet
"Stop it Britt, what is wrong with you" Santana said getting a bit agitated with Britt, mainly because she'd seen Sam's mad come out on occasion and it wasn't a very nice thing to see. The only person she'd ever seen calm him down from any stage of his mad was Mercy and if she wasn't there to stop him she trembled at the thought of how damn far this man could take mad
"Kidnapped" Sam's last breath whispered "Just as a precaution, Mercy has nothing on her connecting her to me so if it is kidnap they'll have a job finding out who to post anything to" Sam said getting into think mode "She'll use our code"
"What?" Tina asked
"Guys get out of that club and go home, if they've got Mercy you guys are not safe, and stay together, get Mike to come pick you guys up if you didn't use the car either" Sam instructed as they stood listening, suddenly the situation became real for them, Sam believed Mercy had been kidnapped, they could feel it. He didn't say bye he just clicked the phone off "Everything needs to stay as normal as ever" he said to his people as they'd stood listening to the whole situation
He didn't look up as he spoke he was tapping numbers in to his phone "Del" he said when someone picked up "I believe we have the situation" he said to the person and cut the call off before doing something with his phone as they all still stood watching him "Okay we done here?" he asked looking on stage to see everyone packing up "Can you guys get that for me please I have something to do" he asked nodding at his instruments on the stage as he walked away
"Sam" Julian called after him "Is the gig on tomorrow?"
"Shit, is that the live one?" he asked
"Yeah"
"Yeah sure, I just need to sort this" he told him as he carried on walking away
Sam called home just to check but she hadn't been seen since she'd left with her friends in high spirits, he got onto his accountant to discuss available funds and how quickly that could be made available, instructing him to prepare to sell everything. He got onto the police to inform them of the situation he thought they might be dealing with and the plan if it worked, informing them that under no circumstances must his wife be put at risk "A man walks down the street, he says why am I soft in the middle now, why am I soft in the middle, The rest of my life is so hard, I need a photo-opportunity I want a shot at redemption" he sat singing "They know my weakness, how the hell?"
He sat waiting for Del to get back to him with some information, Del's background was in special forces and he'd taken on the job of getting them out of the biggest scrapes you could imagine, his brief was to take on the identity of Al, Mercy's brother, in the event of her being kidnapped, highly dependent on her keeping her wits about her, getting over her scared and playing her biggest role ever. He was confident she could do it, but he wasn't so confident on how gullible the idiots that had her were, if they were professionals he'd have to rethink, but professionals didn't go after relatively small fry like them "Any means necessary babe" he said still not allowing himself to panic until he'd got the call from Del telling him for sure she was in the hands of kidnappers
"Mike" he said when he saw the call on his phone rolling his eyes for the shit he was going to get for his mad on Tina earlier "Hi Mike" he said as Mike ranted down the phone at him "I know Bro and I'm sorry, I'll make it up to her when all this is over" he finally said
"Bro I understand frustration at not being with your wife, but please never again, please not my wife"
"I'll apologise to her and the others in such a big way when I get back Bro, but I'm still waiting for contact from Mercy right now, I need the airways"
"Wasn't she at home?" Mike asked "Tina said you said she'd gone home"
"No she wasn't so I'm just waiting for some confirmation information before I panic"
"My God man is anyone with you?"
"Not just now I don't want anyone with me, I get mad you know?"
"I know Dude but with no Mercy around who's going to calm your mad?"
"I don't need it calming till I find her"
"Bro just stay safe and think, keep me in the loop, keep everyone in the loop" Mike told him "You coming home?"
"No, if they've got her and she's playing the game they don't know who she really is so I've got to act normal I'm off to Japan for three days but I've got someone on it" he laughed nervously "I wish this damn thing wasn't televised"
"Sorry Bro" Mike said "Clearing the airways"
"Yeah in a bit" Sam said closing the call down
About an hour after his call with Mike he got a call from Del confirming his deepest fears "Sam" he said down the phone "Sorry for the news but my source says she's been kidnapped" he told him his heart sunk
"Shit, just give it, whatever they want just give it, and get my wife back"
"Anything Sam?" Del asked for confirmation
"Any damn thing we've got, If they ask for my head I'll give it" he said throwing the phone down and flipping the coffee table in the middle of his hotel room, his fists white with anger "Why the hell didn't you listen to me Mercy?" he shouted kicking the already broken table "I knew I should have pulled rank on this"
"Sam" Julian called through the door "We need to get going" he told him
Sam closed his eyes and fell back on the couch he'd been sitting on before Del called him, holding his head now he had a dilemma. Everything; his damn life was being held by some crazy bastard, he wasn't even sure when Del was going to get her he didn't want to know the detail, he just wanted her back and he was about to sit on a fucking plane to go to Japan to sing to some people he didn't even know "Why did I tell her to act and I can't, I can't go"
"What did you say?" Julian called through the door
"I'll be ready to go in a bit" Sam shouted back no way was he about to let her down, he searched through the broken table bits and found his phone to call Del "Del have they said where, when or anything?"
"I thought you didn't want to know?" Del asked him
"I don't think I do, but bring her straight to me when you get her, won't you, we're talking my life here Del?" he said waiting for Del to confirm that he understood before putting the phone down he was scared for her now he sat on the couch rubbing his calves
Mercy
"What's your brother's name" Ruthless came in asking marching towards her like he wanted to do her harm, she cowered away just like he expected her to
"Al and in Alvin" she told him as she protected her head
"Errol" one of the guys shouted as Ruthless sucked his lip and stared at her for a while before moving off
'Ruthless is Errol' she told herself as she turned to watch him walking out, he shouted something then she heard two shots, ringing through her like bells inside her stomach unable to stop her insides from shaking, she let out a muffled scream "Don't want to end up a cartoon In a cartoon graveyard Bone digger Bone digger, Dogs in the moonlight Far away my well-lit door Mr. Beer belly Beer belly, Get these mutts away from me you know I don't find this stuff amusing any more" she sung in her head, this situation she'd found herself in a far cry from the laughter and dancing they'd made that song their own for, just over two years ago 'God we haven't even had children yet' she thought bursting into tears for all the things they were going to miss out on, these bastard had guns they meant business
She heard muffled talking and then the white guy came into the room "You have to be real quiet, or things will go bad for you" he said looking like he had been crying, watching the door as he spoke "Call me John if yo need anything" he said before he semi smiled and turned to leave the room
"John" she called softly making him turn to look at her "Could I get something to drink please?"
"I'll ask" he told her before leaving the room
"Listen to me, eat this no more bathroom requests unless I request them" the calm guy came in shouting throwing a brown bag at her lap, his tone surprised her "You thought he was the rough one yeah?" he asked her "He's the dead one so you listen to me now" he said. Mercy was mega scared now as he roughly undone the handcuffs, she rubbed her wrists as she sat quietly eating her cheese sandwich and warm bottled water "Get in the bathroom" he said once she'd finished, she got up and went "Get in the bath" he told her as she looked at the quarter filled uninviting bath. Surprisingly he stood in the doorway watching her this time as she stripped and got in the bath. She sat for a while imagining what vile thing he was planning on doing to her, as she remembered Sam's conversation 'Get back to me babe, whatever happens, any means necessary, get back to me' she got out the bath then without warning he showed her some black sticks of dynamite telling her he was going to strap them to her back and attach a microphone to her chest, shouting instructions at her, Mercy's head was buzzing, he was planning on turning her into a human bomb he was going to blow her up, she didn't hear a thing he said, all she could think was 'I'm going to fucking die' over and over again
"Al" she said faintly
"Hold this, Hold this" she heard him say holding her hand out almost automatically, looking down to see the sticks of dynamite in her hand, she started shaking with such uncontrollable nerves she couldn't see straight. She wanted to run but her feet wouldn't let her, she needed to cry but she feared this guy using her weakness against her "Now what's you damn name?" he asked
"If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal, I can call you Betty And Betty when you call me, You can call me Al" 'Sam, Sam, Sam' she screamed in her head "Betty" she blurted out in a splutter of spit, fear and anger "My name's Betty Simon" she said looking at him with hate in her eyes, had she just broken through her fear barrier
"John" he shouted and he came to the bathroom door, the two men standing talking as if she wasn't standing there naked "Call this Al see what he's saying she's going to tell him to bring the 1m to the place" he said turning back to Mercy "My name's Peter by the way, and you might as well know you're not going to get out of here alive" as much as she tried to be tough about this her eyes crumbled she fell to the floor and cried inconsolably for the information he'd just shared with her "Get up" she heard and although the last thing she wanted to do now was obey orders she had to because Sam was risking his life to get her now she knew that for sure "Read the script one word out and your dead" he said throwing a piece of cardboard in her hand with writing on
"They said 'Bring 1m to 45 Fentham by 2 pm tomorrow or I'll be dead" she read looking back up at Peter when she finished 'Such fucking amateurs' she thought
"Get dressed" Peter said taking the dynamite from her and leaving the bathroom, a few minutes later John came back to get her and took her to the main room "Give her the phone" Peter ordered, as she got to the table full of dirty cups, she was pushed down into the chair "Say exactly what I've written"
Mercy took the phone off John after he'd dialled the number and sat waiting for someone to answer, at that second she prayed hard it was Sam so she could at least tell him she loved him before her end but she heard Del's voice which brought her right back to character "Al" she barely whispered into the phone, before reciting the script
"Are you alright Betty, have they hurt you?" he asked when she'd finished
"No but he's going to kill me any..." she got out before the phone was snatched from her
"What did I tell you?" Peter asked pointing the gun to her face "Well we can forget the money, they'll just have to hunt for your damn body" he said letting off a shot before cutting the phone off to Mercy's screams "Next time it will be for real" he told her as she sat shivering with fright A man walks down the street He says why am I short of attention got a short little span of attention, and wo my nights are so long where's my wife and family what if I die here who'll be my role-model
Sam
Sam was in the air on his way to Japan when he got the call from Del "Speak to me, what's happening?" he said almost too scared to ask
"They want 1 million" Del said
"That's fine, just get it from Harry, he knows what's going on"
"There's more Mercy told me they were going to kill her anyway and then two shots were fired and the call went dead" Del said to total silence on the line
"Detail Del, I need details" he finally said
"I asked her if she'd been hurt and she said no then gunshots Sam that was it, but I'm still going to deliver, just in case"
"She hadn't been hurt already?"
"No"
"She's still alive then, get the money together, and Del, don't leave that scene without her" he told him putting the phone down, he wanted to cry, shout; give me my damn wife back, smash something to get this feeling out, looking around the plane he knew that wasn't going to happen he sat back got his Mercy memories going and sang to himself 'Now that my role-model is gone gone he ducked back down the alley with some roly-poly little bat-faced girl, all along along there were incidents and accidents there were hints and allegations' Smiling at the irony of it all there was nothing he could physically do right now anyway, his wife was being tortured by some damn hooligan and he was on a plane about to sing to 50K strangers, how was that protecting her, he'd promised to protect her from anything that could harm her and now this "Where's the blond chameleon when I need him?" he asked, his thoughts mingling in with the hum of the engine as he got closer to his destination and further way from the love of his life
Mercy
'What was the next line, I can't think of the next line' she thought as she sat wanting to scream for Sam but knowing that would be the death of them both "Al can't get all that money you talked about" she told John as he handcuffed her hands behind her back
"He'll need to, I don't think Peter will kill you but he'll hurt you if he doesn't get his money" he replied
'Surely you mean if we don't get our money' she thought as she sat watching the two men about to eat burgers out of brown paper bags
"Peter" John said with his mouth full "I didn't come into this to kill people man, I just wanted some fast cash"
"Well now you're in it till I tell you you're out" Peter replied as Mercy sat listening for any little clue that might tell her something about any of them
"Let her call her brother back see if we can make a deal ?" John suggested
"No he gets one chance" Peter replied "He talks to me now" he shouted getting up and kicking the chair over as he walked away from it towards her, Mercy closed her eyes for the negative outcome 'If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you, Betty And Betty when you call me, you can call me Al Call me Al' "This Bitch has had her last ride on this train" she heard him say as his voice got closer making her open her eyes 'He's got a fucking knife, he's got a fucking knife' her insides screamed as she watched him getting closer to the bed she was sitting on handcuffed to the headboard
Suddenly the cold silver blade touched her skin "No No" she shouted as the blade moved up her body "Please no" she begged as she stared into the eyes of the man pressing the steel against her skin, her body jerking with fear weak with terror "Please stop" she cried in desperation, seeing a smile come to his face
"What's your name, this is your last chance" Peter looked at her saying
"Betty my name's Betty" she looked into his eyes saying
"Well Betty you're going to die today because I don't need you" he said digging the knife into her chest skin before quickly removing it as she looked down to see her blood oozing from the cut on her breast "We'll be back in a bit" he said turning to look at John and they both left the room, turning the light off.
"What's happening" she shouted as she adjusted her eyes to the dark room "John?" she called several times before the bright light came through the door
"You have to stop talking you'll get him mad" John said before closing the door again and she was left in the dark
Al
It was 11 am the following day and Del had been to his meeting with Sam and Mercy's bank Manager and the money was being prepared "1m to 45 Fentham by 2 pm?" inspector Palmer asked as he stood with Del watching it get counted
"Yeah, Boss said give them anything they want" Del informed him
"We'll probably give them half of that they'll clock on he's the man if he just gives it all" the inspector said
"Boss just wants is wife back, I'm going to need to have a conversation with him before anything changes"
"I guess I'm not asking you anything, this is how it's going down" the Inspector told him
Del wasn't happy, something was wrong with this scenario, 'how did they grab Mercedes of all the artists to grab, why did the kidnappers want a meet on Palmer's turf, how's this man taking over the damn show' he thought it but he didn't want to believe it, after all Sam held this man in high esteem, he'd trusted him with top secret information but he was giving Del this feeling and he was never wrong about his feelings "Okay so what's the plan" Del asked sitting down at the desk
"As I said half the money now, and the other half on delivery of Mercy"
"And Sam trusts your judgement?"
"One hundred percent"
"And your men are all over Trentham?"
"Trentham?" he asked "You mean 45 Fentham?"
"Yeah sorry Fentham" Del replied, the Inspector he thought answering his fears "I guess what we'll do is bring the lot then if they decide to get nasty about it we've got the other half of the money and you could walk out with it" he smiled grabbing the bag off the Bank Manager as he came towards them
"I guess" the Inspector said
"Well I'm one hundred percent sure Sam would want all the money handed over so between us we'll get it right" he laughed as they got up and headed to the door to make the journey to the drop point
"They'll expect you alone" the Inspector said as Del got in his car
"Fine, just stay a safe distance behind and don't get seen"
"You telling me my job?" he laughed
"No way" Del said shutting his car door and driving off to the meet
He stopped off at a shop to buy something as a cover while he used the pay phone to call Sam "Del" Sam almost shouted when he answered and realised it was Del "Tell me everything is alright and she's safe?" he asked
"It's only 12.15 here Sam" he told him "But I did need to run something past you"
"What's up?" Sam asked anxiously
"Palmer says you'd give half at this stage is that right?"
"No I've never had that conversation with him why would he say that?"
"So you want me to give the lot?"
"Not just the lot anything they ask for" he breathed "If it's more than we've got I'll find a way"
"You know if we rock up with even half now they'll kill her don't you?"
"How the fuck are you telling me shit like this at this point in the damn game?"
"Calm down Sam, you told me to do a job and I have every intention of doing it, I've got your back, Trust me"
"I trust you Del, please get my wife back, any means necessary"
Mercy
The light came into the room suddenly, she hadn't heard when they'd come back into the building, she must have been asleep she saw the shadows and then it was dark again she assumed they'd just come in to make sure she was still there when she heard ripping and suddenly her mouth was being covered with sticky tape. Instinctively she stated to scream and struggle against what was happening this was it her last few minutes "What's your name?" John asked
"Betty" she screamed through the tape before she felt a blow to her head and then blackness, she didn't know how long it was before she woke up again but when she did she was in different surroundings, a small container with light coming in and she could hear water running
"You're awake?" Peter looked down at her saying "Stay in there" he instructed as she curled into a ball 'Is this it now, the end, is that what's happening here?' she thought as she tried to stop her body from involuntarily shaking and closing her eyes to dull the throb that was going on in her head from the thump she'd had before she passed out, hearing locks locking and footsteps leaving
Sam
Sam put the phone down and flew at the hotel room wall literally, how the hell was he over the other end of the world to where his wife was and pretending there was nothing wrong while some bent bastard, who he thought was his friend, was double crossing him at a time like this 'Maybe he's behind the kidnap' he thought getting his phone out to make that call
"Hi Errol" he said as soon as he answered
"Sam?" he asked
"Just thought I'd check up on Del, did the money go alright?"
"Yeah fine"
"So have you checked his plan? Is it foolproof?"
"He was going to give all the money but I told him to at least half it first off and then I'm going to be close by with the rest just in case" he laughed "I know you didn't give those orders but I'm trying to think like the kidnapper here and I figured there was nothing to keep her for once the money was paid"
"I guess your right"
"You're guessing I'm right, there was a time when you'd have known I was right, I was going to say what's up but, I guess with Mercy being where she is, it's a given"
"Okay I'm on now live, I guess I'll need that plastic smile more than I ever have before tonight" he half laughed "Later" he told him
"Later"
Sam put the phone down thinking about that conversation too, he sounded genuine enough and he was upfront about what Del was concerned about 'Maybe they're on the same team' he thought shuddering as he heard his name called and left the hotel for the gala room. Doing his show with Mercy heavy on his mind, smiling, joking and even laughing with his audience aware that every gesture was being made to save his wife's life as her kidnappers would surely be watching. His obligation was to stay in Japan for the two days as agreed when he took the invite to perform at the festival but, his circumstances dictated that he tell no one and return to America directly after his performance hopefully to pick up his wife and get back to Canada the following day with her attached to finish his tour, anything she thought she had planed was cancelled. He just about waited around for the recall at the end of the show and then he was back in his hotel room, grabbing his bags and off to the airport.
Sitting on a plane he made a call to Del, it was 2.15 now surely she was back, they'd got their money and why hadn't this man called him yet "Where is she?" he wondered his heart racing as he waited to hear her voice, with no signal on his phone he slumped back in his chair. The noise of the engine finding him rest as he sat humming 'A man walks down the street It's a street in a strange world maybe it's the Third World , Maybe it's his first time around he doesn't speak the language he holds no currency he is a foreign man' he sang in his head as he made up his mind he'd go and get his wife if it came to it. He imagined 'her sitting or laying in some cold dark room eyes covered, mouth taped up and hands tied to some metal pole or something needing food and water and even the bathroom as they tried to force out of her who she was. Burn marks on her body, teeth being extracted, eyes being gouged out, electric shock treatment "Fuck" he jumped out of his sleep saying looking around at the faces looking back at him "Sorry" he said before closing his eyes again this time for thought, he dare not sleep again remembering his call earlier he grabbed his phone again "Del" he said "Where is she?" he asked
"How much longer have we got before we hit America" he finally asked the stewardess "Will we get there before breakfast?" he asked hoping he'd get home in time to wake his wife up.
"Around 07.30 am Sir" she replied
Al (Del)
Del walked toward his target spot talking himself up for the task, he'd got all the money in the bag, his mic on him and he was packing "Ready" he checked himself as his destination came to view, parking the car he got out with bag and stood at the spot waiting as his phone rang
"You need to leave the bag in that blue bin over the road" he was told and the phone went dead, he looked around but couldn't see anyone, so making his way across the road he looked around one last time before dropping the bag in the blue bin and waiting for a while, his phone rang again and he didn't stay quiet this time
"Where's my sister?" he shouted down the phone "You said you'd give me back my sister"
"You're not getting any details until I get my money" he laughed "Now get back in your car and drive away"
"It's not that simple I want evidence that she's alright otherwise the money comes back with me I kept my end of the bargain you need to keep yours"
"Look over by the Nike advert" the voice told him, as he spun round looking for the sign, to see Mercy standing there "Now move away form the Money" he said again and Del done as requested, the next part of this was down to Errol and his guys, his focus was on Mercy
Sam & Del
Del's phone rang as he got back in his car "Sam" he said bracing himself for the fall out of his ending report
"Where is she?" he asked excited to hear about his wife
"She's with me Boss, a bit shook up and not talking right now but I'm taking her home"
"Give her the phone" Sam ordered itching to talk to his wife "Babe" he said so quietly she whispered back
"Sam" she said before bursting into tears
"I'm on my way babe, I'll be there in hold up" he said asking the attendant for landing times "8 am the latest" he breathed "Hold on for me" he told her "Give Del the phone babe" he said
"Boss" Del said to a laughing Sam on the phone
"Sorry I had to ear her to believe it, sorry you've got to deal with that now but I'll be there at 8 am don't leave her till I get there" he said closing the call down, taking a breath and resting his head on the window as the plane moved closer to home 'He is surrounded by the sound the sound Cattle in the marketplace scatterlings and orphanages, he looks around, around he sees angels in the architecture spinning in infinity he says Amen! and Hallelujah!' a smile forming on his face as he realised his wife was on her way home. The rest of the flight went slow as Sam fidgeted in his seat waiting for the landing sign to come up and checking his watch every five minutes "Finally" he gasped when he saw the sign clipping up ready for landing and willing it to come safely and swiftly. Eventually he landed, with hand luggage only he had no waiting to do, he was out the airport and in a taxi within minutes, making the ten minute journey to their home.
Home
Sam didn't hear how much the Taxi was or even how much he actually took out and almost threw at the driver, he just knew he could see his front door and behind there his wife was waiting for him. He almost flew to the door as it opened for him stopping the collision he was about to have with it "Sir" the Butler said as he walked in "Mrs Evans is in the bedroom" he heard it but he didn't stop to acknowledge it he flew up the stairs bursting through the door to see Mercy sitting on the bed looking up and falling back with fright onto the bed
"It's me babe" he said his heart breaking for the revelations she was going to tell him next as he looked at his wife a mere shell of her outgoing self shaking with fear. She seemed to hear him because she looked as he spoke and blinked several times before her cry started
"Sam" she cried jumping up and grabbing hold of him
"Mercy" he said finally able to breath again
"I'm so sorry I did this" she said crying harder into his chest as he lifted her up and stood holding her unable to speak he was so overwhelmed, tears welling up in him and suddenly he was sobbing too. They stood clung on for a long while before Sam moved off towards the bathroom, Mercy still attached as he turned the shower on and they went in letting the water wash them over
"Babe did they..."
"No Sam, they slapped me about a little bit but nothing else" she said turning away from him "Go on shout I know you want to" she said looking at him for the last word
"Babe I've gone through so many emotions these past 48 hours and yes shouting was the first one but now I'm just so fucking grateful your alive and back with me I just want to hold you" he said hugging her back in. They finally got out the shower, took the wet clothes off and got into their sweats, falling onto their bed and just laying there silent, happy and grateful
"I love you Sam" she said through her tears that had only stopped for minutes at a time since she'd got back
"I love you too Mercy" he said pulling her in "If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty and Betty when you call me you can..."
he jumped up to hear her sing "Call me Al" she finally got out
"Call me Al" they both sang
"Was that a smile?" he asked "Come on babe, they tried, it..." he stopped when he heard the phone ring, picking it up to hear Errol on the other end telling him they'd got two men and expected to find a third as Mercy waved in the background "What babe?"
"Errol was one of the guys names I thought Peter killed him" she told Sam who relayed the information
"How far did they get?" Sam laughed "Okay thanks Inspector" he said closing the call down "They caught them trying to open bank accounts with that marked money" Sam laughed "They recovered nearly all of it with the guys so it might just have been the two but they kept talking about a third guy" he smiled "And I'm sorry but whatever you've got planned you need to cancel it, your with me for the rest of this tour Mrs"
"Can I call the girls and tell..."
"On our way out tomorrow, and that's final" he looked at her saying
"Fine" she said, her Diva showing its head
"Park it Betty, you need a firm hand, you don't listen" he smiled
"Okay Al" she smiled as he pulled her back down into his arms
THE END