Chapter 55

SPOV

I stirred from sleep feeling more rested and for a moment felt content, until of course I felt something wrapped around my neck. I sat up remembering where I was and who was now holding me prisoner here. There was no way I would ever let them know where Buckley's secret was hidden. I just hoped that Carlos knew that we'd been betrayed, he'd be devastated with that, trust was something that Carlos didn't give easily. I slowly sat up looking around for the closet. I'd need something to wear. Much as I loved the dress I had on; it was ruined. Inside the closet I found some sports gear to wear. Sports bra, panties, leggings, a T-shirt and a long-sleeved shirt.

The shower had a powerful supply of hot water and using the soap and shampoo inside I was soon feeling much better. With a towel around my body I found some conditioner for my hair and finger combed it before putting on the clothes. I Looked closely in the mirror at the band around my neck. It was a black material, almost similar to a fabric belt, but even from where I was, I could see thin strands of metal running through it. It was tight enough that there was always a section in contact with my neck, but not tight enough to hurt. I twisted it until I eventually saw a small black box that had a flashing red light coming from it. The box seemed solid, so I had no idea how it had been locked or how to get it off. If I pulled the band away from the front of my neck, I could just see small metal prongs sticking out but had to release it as the prongs were digging into the back of my neck. I didn't think I'd find anything that would stop the flow of electricity to my skin. The gap was small and there was nothing that I could think to use.

I wasn't going to go downstairs so moving out of the bathroom I sat in a chair next to the window and looked out onto the back yard. I heard the door open but intentionally ignored whoever it was, knowing that someone was walking over to me.

"Angel I'm sorry"
Oh no he didn't, I wasn't going to talk with him.

"I've got to know you really well, I like you Angel, hell if you weren't with Ranger I'd make a play for you"
"It isn't you, it's the situation you got yourself into"

"Angel it was me who got you out of Hastings. I eventually opened both of the doors. Something you did shut off the laser beams, but then I made sure the whole place would be destroyed. I saved your life"

"Angel all you have to do is tell us where Buckley hid his research program then we'll let you go"
"I have to get back soon, Remi doesn't care about hurting you, she's determined to find that research, so please Steph, tell me where it is"
I couldn't believe that he was lying to me, or was it Remi who'd lied? Whichever it was I'd had enough of them playing good cop, bad cop. If I didn't know where it was then I couldn't tell them and that's what I had to make them believe. I squeezed my eyes shut and thought of Carlos laid bleeding in front of me. The tears that fell down my cheeks were real. I turned to Ash, showing him my face.

"Ash I don't know where it is. I never did know, he never gave me anything or told me anything"
Shit I hoped he hadn't been around when I'd made a fool of myself trying to find that key.

"Angel work with me then to solve the riddle. I know how good you are and how you can't refuse the problem of solving something"
"Don't you think I've tried, hell Ash, people were trying to kill me. They just about ruined my life"
"Then work with me, maybe together we'll see different things"
"I won't work with her"
"Remi?"
"Yes"
"Why not?"
"I don't trust her Ash and maybe you shouldn't either"

"I am sorry Angel. Had I known how all this was going to turn out I would never have got involved with her. I'm in too deep now but I never ever wanted to see you hurt"

"Too late now Ash. Remember that day when you sat and listened to why I was so upset?"
"Yeah, I couldn't believe all the shit you'd been through"

"It's not the physical pain that hurts, Ash. It's the betrayal"

I watched as he absorbed what I'd said and meant and I think from the expression that flickered across his face that he understood what I was saying to him. Immediately his blank face slammed back into place.
"I have to get back before they get suspicious. Ranger is back at Rangeman, a bit worse for wear but he's fine"
"Thanks for that"
I turned back to the window as Ash left the room. Maybe if I could separate Remi from Ash by pretending to work with him, I'd gain some time. Time, I hope that would let Ranger find me.

I should have known Remi couldn't stay away from me. I'm sure as soon as Ash had left the house she'd headed upstairs. I wondered if he'd spoken to her or if she felt she needed to be the one in charge, the one who made decisions and took control.

"Steph, how are you feeling now?"
I turned and just looked at her, she had no idea what I was capable of.

"I have some food for you downstairs"

Why not, it would give me a chance to take a proper look around. I followed her down the stairs and back through the lounge area only to be taken into the dining room again. Just as before there were domed plates set out at the end of the table.

"Do you cook Remi?"
"Hell no, I got Ash to pick up some Chinese on his way here"
"What time is it?"
I suddenly realized I had no idea how long I'd been here.

"It's 6pm. You slept all afternoon"

I had to admit the smells coming from the dishes did smell wonderful and my stomach was definitely grumbling at being so empty. I watched as Remi served a variety of the dishes and then I chose the same things, but not taking as much. I sat down with a fork and began to slowly put food into my mouth. The taste was nowhere near as good as the smell, so I was glad I hadn't overfilled my plate. I poured some water from a jug, but didn't drink it, waiting to see what Remi would do or say next.

"Ash said you'd work with him to solve our little problem. I don't know why but I don't think you have any intention of doing that"
"I told him I would, so I will"
"Why not work with me?"

"I don't know you Remi"
"We could get to know one another"

"Why don't you give me what you have, and I can get started"

"That wasn't what I was thinking"
"I have nothing here with me, if you won't give me what you have then I'll have to start from the beginning. So, if you have a laptop and search programs I can get started"

I was surprised that she didn't know what to do. She was trying to decide which would benefit her the most without giving the power to me. Interesting.

"You can do your own searches, maybe you'll look in places we would never think of"
"Fine with me. Where do you want me to work?"
"There's an office upstairs"

I pushed away from the table, leaving uneaten food. Maybe when I was anxious I ate, but when I was wired ready for a fight I lost my appetite. As I turned to walk from the room Remi pushed past me. This time I didn't see the man by the door, or the one upstairs, interesting. Once upstairs she opened the door I had mistaken as my room earlier and showed me in. The only furniture in the room was a desk with a laptop on it and an office chair.

"It's ready to go, it uses most of the programs you're used to. Let me warn you there's no way to use email, it's blocked. In fact, the only programs you can access are the search programs"

"Fine, just leave me to it, I can't work with someone watching over me"
"Fine"

Once she'd gone, I opened up the search program and started with Josie Gauge. Buckley had loved her so it would seem like a logical place to start if Remi checked up on me. As I waited for the search to run, I had an idea. I just wasn't sure if Remi could see what I was doing. I put my name into the search, I could argue that if Buckley chose me, maybe there was something in my life that he felt a connection to. The real reason was that I knew Hector would get an alert from any search on my name. I then started to read through the results from Josie. By 10pm, according to the time on the computer I saved the two searches and shut down the computer. My eyes were aching and the muscles in my back were twinging having sat for so long. I needed to move around. The hallway was quiet as I opened the door and headed across to my room. For some reason I was feeling nervous, as though my spidey senses were tingling. As soon as I went into the room Remi was behind me.

"Why did you put a search in for yourself?"
"I was looking to see what it was about me that Buckley may have seen"
"You're lying"

"No, it was a reasonable thing to do, I thought maybe he saw something of Josie in me. I'll do a similar search on Buckley tomorrow"
"I don't trust you. Maybe I should show what happens if you try to trick me"
I took a step back expecting her to attack me. There was something in her eyes that shouted "Danger" to me. What she did though was to remove a phone from her pocket and started to tap her finger on the screen. I couldn't work out what she was doing, was she phoning someone? Then I felt a tingling around my neck that slowly increased until it was causing my neck to burn. I grabbed at the collar but that only made the pain worse at the back. By now I was screaming at her.

"Stop, it's hurting, please stop it"
I sank to my knees as the pain increased, tears pouring down my cheeks.

"Please stop, please"
That was the last I heard as I sank to the floor watching her smiling down at me.

It was voices that woke me, voices that were shouting and arguing. So I tried to focus on what they were saying. I instantly knew it was Remi and Ash.

"Why the hell did you do that to her?"
"She's playing us Ash, she needs to understand I won't have that"
"Remi she was doing searches"
"On herself?"
"She told you why"
"Well I don't believe her"
"Remi, if you kill her it won't matter if you find those dam programs. Ranger will hunt us to the ends of the earth"
"Oh please, he's not that good. He didn't even know you were rogue and he has no chance of finding us here. You said he's not even looking in the right places"
"Remi, think this through. She's going to hate you. At least let me work with her, she'll work with me"
"She'll play you, turn you against me"
"Are you jealous?"
"Maybe"
I heard a thump against the wall and someone moaning and then the slam of a door. Hell they were having make up sex now. I was still laid on the floor so got to my knees to look around. Maybe I could cause a distraction, find a way to get me out of the house.

I felt at my neck as it was sore but decided to ignore it for now. I stood up and crept to the door, opening it quietly, just a little bit to look out. All was quiet so I slowly headed to the stairs, I couldn't see a man at the top so started to move down. Remi hadn't provided footwear so being barefoot meant I was quiet. The second man wasn't here either so maybe they were taking a break, and no one expected me to wonder around the house this late at night. I tried the front door, but it was locked with no bolts or latch to open it with. Maybe it had to have a key. Next I made my way to lounge. The windows were also locked solid. How the hell would anyone get out if there was a fire? A fire, maybe if I started a fire, they would have to open the doors. I looked around the room and noticed alarms and sprinklers and then by the open fire saw wood and coal. There had to be a way to light the fire, so I started to look on the hearth. I found a packet of matches and then dropped them back down where I had found them. I couldn't leave the house. Remi had told me that if I stepped through the door the collar would activate. If that happened, I wouldn't be able to run. As I sat on the floor in front of the fire, I felt so defeated, I'd never felt like this before, I'd always found a way to escape. I had to think, think hard. I had to come up with a way to get out of here.