Scott muttered beneath his breath, staring ahead at the two men in front, clad completely in black. Their identities hidden.
"What is this? The Aussie mafia or something?"
Kane glanced across at him, for once glad of the company, before facing the front again. With any luck it was Josh's henchmen. At least they'd be taking him nearer to Kirsty.
...........................
"Well?"
Dani ran up to the officer as he received a call down the radio
"Sorry Miss Sutherland, they searched the building - they didn't find her"
She stormed back towards Josh's room, but was stopped by a nurse at the door.
"What's going on?"
She glanced behind her into the room as doctors set to work on Josh, in a desperate attempt to resuscitate him.
...........................
The car pulled to a halt. Words were exchanged by those in front and the driver left, walking into the nearby building. The second, balaclavaed, man, opened the back door, indicating for them to get out, waving his gun at them. Kane climbed out and Scott followed. He seized his chance, making a lunge for the mans weapon as he passed. A brief struggle and a gunshot ensued. Kane turned immediately to see Scott slumping to the floor. He stared for a split second before the man walked forward, forcing him into the building at gunpoint. Kane attempted to turn back. Anything to see what had happened to Scott. As his back was turned something hit him hard on the back of his head and he fell, plunging into darkness.
*Later*
"Kane?!"
His eyes opened wearily. He tried to move but discovered his arms were bound together behind his back and his ankles had been tied as well. He could feel the rough rope cutting into his arms as he tried to prop himself up against the wall. He was in another small room. This time there was barely any light. A door at one end with a small window above to let in a slit of light.
"Kane?"
He thought he had been dreaming it a minute ago but now he could just about make out her shape, outlined against the opposite wall, several metres away.
"Kirst?"
"Are you alright?"
His head was throbbing. But just knowing she was with him was enough to distract him from the pain.
"I am now..."
He smiled faintly, knowing she probably wouldn't be able to see him.
"...how about you?"
"I'll live... it's so good to hear your voice"
"Tell me about it... I thought I'd lost you"
He frowned, recent events coming back to him.
"I guess you're tied up as well?"
An obvious question, but he had to be sure.
"Yeah"
She had been going out of her mind
"Who were those other guys?"
"No idea... they picked me up from the place Josh was holding me and brought me here... I haven't Josh since..."
Kane nodded. Scott had said he'd taught Josh a lesson.
"...how did you know it was Josh that did this?"
"Dennis told me"
"Sylvia's son?"
"Yeah... long story... now's not really the time to explain"
It wasn't going to be easy explaining to anyone how he'd managed to get into that mess. Even he was getting confused as to how everything linked together. Dennis and Josh working together for individual gains, Josh for revenge and Dennis for dodgy business matters. Scott had got rid of Dennis, and most likely Josh too, and now they'd found themselves captured by another set of armed men, who seemed to have got rid of Scott. They were going to have a job explaining it all when they got out.
"Where's Dennis now?"
He had dropped her at a lock up garage where Josh had been waiting, before driving away again to locate Kane. Kane coughed uncomfortably.
"He... he's dead... Scott shot him"
He didn't like to go into details. He needn't burden Kirsty with his bad memories.
"Scott? What's he got to do with it?"
"Another long story"
He laughed. They had a lot of catching up to do.
"So where's he?"
"They shot him... the guys out there"
He indicated towards the door.
"I'm sorry"
"What for? It wasn't you"
Silence. Kane hated himself for snapping. His short fuse. He wasn't sure if he was meant to be upset for Scott. After all Scott had done to him it didn't seem right, but that didn't stop the underlying knowledge that he may well have lost his only brother, the person he had spent most of his childhood with. The man who he had shared some of his most horrifying experiences with.
"Babe?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry about... you know... all that stuff back home... the argument"
He had never been good at apologies. But he had been out of line back there. He had got himself wound up too easily. Besides, it was all down to him and his lies. Rhys.
"I'm sorry too... I shouldn't have gone off at you like that... I just wanted to know what was going on"
"And I'll tell you... later... once we're safe"
"Just tell me one thing - are you seeing someone else?"
"There is no 'other woman' - I promise"
"A man then?!"
Kane couldn't help but laugh
"No! Kirsty... I love you... no one else... like I said, I'll explain everything when we get out of here... I just need to explain everything properly... not like this"
A short silence
"Any idea what the time is"
He laughed.
"Sure, I'll just untie myself, walk outside and take a look at my watch"
"Sorry... I'm just losing it in here"
She'd been carted around, one place to another, all day, curled up in the boot of two different cars.
.................................
CARAVAN PARK
Rhys slammed down the phone
"No further information"
He mimicked the officer on the other end. Dani looked at him in sympathy, she too upset at the lack of information as to Kirsty's whereabouts. But her mind was further occupied with Josh's death. It had all been so sudden. A few days before she had thought the world of him. Now she didn't know what to feel.
"Nothing?!"
He was getting himself more worked up by the minute. If Scott was out and with Kane then was Kirsty with them? Or was she alone somewhere? Vulnerable. He would never admit it, but had he known Kane was with her he would had felt better. Kane was a lot of things, many of them not good, but over the past months they had reached a level of understanding.
"I've half a mind to go down to the station and tell those incompetent men where they can stick their no information... they should do a bit of proper work for once... I mean, it's meant to be their job and - "
"Calm down Dad, they'll find her"
He saw Max entering, having been alarmed by Rhys' shouting. He seemed to shout most of the time now. It wasn't like before he left when he was in control. He had changed. Everything had changed.
"Yeah... she'll be fine"
Rhys put on a smile for Max's sake, knowing it wouldn't do his nephew any good to worry.
.................................
"This place is driving me crazy!"
She felt like screaming. Her only comfort was the fact that Kane was there. But she was getting claustrophobic. More and more scared about her situation as the minutes ticked by. For all she knew the men could leave. Leave them to die in there, without a soul knowing where they were.
"Babe, it'll be alright, everything will be fine"
"How can it be alright Kane? No one knows where we are... they don't even know that we're in trouble... they just... they just think we're still on the run"
Kane looked across at her sympathetically, desperate to comfort her in some way. Silently cursing the rough rope that bound his hands and feet together. Leaving him unable to be by her side when she needed him. Her pain was his pain, and he was hurting more than ever before.
"They'll find us Kirst..."
"How are they going to help us if they don't know we're in trouble"
"Kirst... your Dad knows... I spoke to him after you disappeared"
He forced it out, knowing that hope might take away her worry. Kirsty's look of distress altered gradually to one of shock and curiosity.
"How come you've been talking to my Dad? Is he back home?"
"Well... he is now... after he found out what was happening with your Mum"
"Kane, this doesn't make sense"
It made some sort of logic, but she refused to believe that Kane had been going behind her back. He wouldn't. He loved her.
"Kirsty, I... I found your Dad a while back..."
Kirsty stared at him, speechless.
"... this isn't how it looks... I was going to tell you but he made me swear not to..."
He received no response. Kirsty tried to shut out his pleas for her to reply. He had lied to her. He could have been lying for months. All the time hurting her family. Driving Shelley to extremes to block out the pain of her husband deserting her.
"Kirst, please?"
He willed her to reply. She just stared at him, slowly processing the information. The door flew open.
"Mr Phillips, good morning"
A man in a dark suit and glasses strolled in and the room was brightened by the light drifting in from the hallway.
"And you are?"
"I'm an acquaintance of Dennis'..."
"Right..."
Great. So more gangsters. Kane regretted getting Kirsty mixed up in it. It was all his doing. She wouldn't be there in the first place if Josh hadn't wanted to exact revenge on him. For what he did all that time ago.
"You see, we've been keeping an eye on him - heard a few rumours he wanted to get out of a... business deal we had"
He'd had men tracking Dennis all day. All around the area, picking people up and dropping them off, doing dealings with Joshua West. He in turn had led them to another building where they had found the girl. What she had to do with anything they had no idea, but it had been best to hold her just in case. In case they could use her to their advantage.
Kane grimaced. So these were the men that Dennis had hoped Josh would get off his back. His reasons for getting mixed up in it all in the first place. The reason he was no longer alive.
"Look, I've got nothing to do with that"
"I know... it's not you I've got the problem with... it's your brother... he killed Dennis and as two-faced as he might be doing deals behind my back, he was still one of us"
"So where is Scott?"
"That's not relevant... untie them"
He commanded his accomplice in the doorway, who hastily obeyed.
"You're gonna let us go?"
It was beyond a dream. It all seemed so easy.
"Like I said, we haven't got a problem with you... so long as you don't mention a word of this to anyone"
"What would I say? A couple of strangers kept me tied up for a few hours before letting me go... come on, I don't even know where I am! I've got nothing to tell"
All he wanted was to get out of there and never look back. To spend his time reconciling with Kirsty, who hadn't said a word since his revelation. He stood up as he was freed.
"All the same... you don't wanna mention this to anyone"
"And Scott?"
"Consider him out of your life"
"What is this? The Aussie mafia or something?"
Kane glanced across at him, for once glad of the company, before facing the front again. With any luck it was Josh's henchmen. At least they'd be taking him nearer to Kirsty.
...........................
"Well?"
Dani ran up to the officer as he received a call down the radio
"Sorry Miss Sutherland, they searched the building - they didn't find her"
She stormed back towards Josh's room, but was stopped by a nurse at the door.
"What's going on?"
She glanced behind her into the room as doctors set to work on Josh, in a desperate attempt to resuscitate him.
...........................
The car pulled to a halt. Words were exchanged by those in front and the driver left, walking into the nearby building. The second, balaclavaed, man, opened the back door, indicating for them to get out, waving his gun at them. Kane climbed out and Scott followed. He seized his chance, making a lunge for the mans weapon as he passed. A brief struggle and a gunshot ensued. Kane turned immediately to see Scott slumping to the floor. He stared for a split second before the man walked forward, forcing him into the building at gunpoint. Kane attempted to turn back. Anything to see what had happened to Scott. As his back was turned something hit him hard on the back of his head and he fell, plunging into darkness.
*Later*
"Kane?!"
His eyes opened wearily. He tried to move but discovered his arms were bound together behind his back and his ankles had been tied as well. He could feel the rough rope cutting into his arms as he tried to prop himself up against the wall. He was in another small room. This time there was barely any light. A door at one end with a small window above to let in a slit of light.
"Kane?"
He thought he had been dreaming it a minute ago but now he could just about make out her shape, outlined against the opposite wall, several metres away.
"Kirst?"
"Are you alright?"
His head was throbbing. But just knowing she was with him was enough to distract him from the pain.
"I am now..."
He smiled faintly, knowing she probably wouldn't be able to see him.
"...how about you?"
"I'll live... it's so good to hear your voice"
"Tell me about it... I thought I'd lost you"
He frowned, recent events coming back to him.
"I guess you're tied up as well?"
An obvious question, but he had to be sure.
"Yeah"
She had been going out of her mind
"Who were those other guys?"
"No idea... they picked me up from the place Josh was holding me and brought me here... I haven't Josh since..."
Kane nodded. Scott had said he'd taught Josh a lesson.
"...how did you know it was Josh that did this?"
"Dennis told me"
"Sylvia's son?"
"Yeah... long story... now's not really the time to explain"
It wasn't going to be easy explaining to anyone how he'd managed to get into that mess. Even he was getting confused as to how everything linked together. Dennis and Josh working together for individual gains, Josh for revenge and Dennis for dodgy business matters. Scott had got rid of Dennis, and most likely Josh too, and now they'd found themselves captured by another set of armed men, who seemed to have got rid of Scott. They were going to have a job explaining it all when they got out.
"Where's Dennis now?"
He had dropped her at a lock up garage where Josh had been waiting, before driving away again to locate Kane. Kane coughed uncomfortably.
"He... he's dead... Scott shot him"
He didn't like to go into details. He needn't burden Kirsty with his bad memories.
"Scott? What's he got to do with it?"
"Another long story"
He laughed. They had a lot of catching up to do.
"So where's he?"
"They shot him... the guys out there"
He indicated towards the door.
"I'm sorry"
"What for? It wasn't you"
Silence. Kane hated himself for snapping. His short fuse. He wasn't sure if he was meant to be upset for Scott. After all Scott had done to him it didn't seem right, but that didn't stop the underlying knowledge that he may well have lost his only brother, the person he had spent most of his childhood with. The man who he had shared some of his most horrifying experiences with.
"Babe?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry about... you know... all that stuff back home... the argument"
He had never been good at apologies. But he had been out of line back there. He had got himself wound up too easily. Besides, it was all down to him and his lies. Rhys.
"I'm sorry too... I shouldn't have gone off at you like that... I just wanted to know what was going on"
"And I'll tell you... later... once we're safe"
"Just tell me one thing - are you seeing someone else?"
"There is no 'other woman' - I promise"
"A man then?!"
Kane couldn't help but laugh
"No! Kirsty... I love you... no one else... like I said, I'll explain everything when we get out of here... I just need to explain everything properly... not like this"
A short silence
"Any idea what the time is"
He laughed.
"Sure, I'll just untie myself, walk outside and take a look at my watch"
"Sorry... I'm just losing it in here"
She'd been carted around, one place to another, all day, curled up in the boot of two different cars.
.................................
CARAVAN PARK
Rhys slammed down the phone
"No further information"
He mimicked the officer on the other end. Dani looked at him in sympathy, she too upset at the lack of information as to Kirsty's whereabouts. But her mind was further occupied with Josh's death. It had all been so sudden. A few days before she had thought the world of him. Now she didn't know what to feel.
"Nothing?!"
He was getting himself more worked up by the minute. If Scott was out and with Kane then was Kirsty with them? Or was she alone somewhere? Vulnerable. He would never admit it, but had he known Kane was with her he would had felt better. Kane was a lot of things, many of them not good, but over the past months they had reached a level of understanding.
"I've half a mind to go down to the station and tell those incompetent men where they can stick their no information... they should do a bit of proper work for once... I mean, it's meant to be their job and - "
"Calm down Dad, they'll find her"
He saw Max entering, having been alarmed by Rhys' shouting. He seemed to shout most of the time now. It wasn't like before he left when he was in control. He had changed. Everything had changed.
"Yeah... she'll be fine"
Rhys put on a smile for Max's sake, knowing it wouldn't do his nephew any good to worry.
.................................
"This place is driving me crazy!"
She felt like screaming. Her only comfort was the fact that Kane was there. But she was getting claustrophobic. More and more scared about her situation as the minutes ticked by. For all she knew the men could leave. Leave them to die in there, without a soul knowing where they were.
"Babe, it'll be alright, everything will be fine"
"How can it be alright Kane? No one knows where we are... they don't even know that we're in trouble... they just... they just think we're still on the run"
Kane looked across at her sympathetically, desperate to comfort her in some way. Silently cursing the rough rope that bound his hands and feet together. Leaving him unable to be by her side when she needed him. Her pain was his pain, and he was hurting more than ever before.
"They'll find us Kirst..."
"How are they going to help us if they don't know we're in trouble"
"Kirst... your Dad knows... I spoke to him after you disappeared"
He forced it out, knowing that hope might take away her worry. Kirsty's look of distress altered gradually to one of shock and curiosity.
"How come you've been talking to my Dad? Is he back home?"
"Well... he is now... after he found out what was happening with your Mum"
"Kane, this doesn't make sense"
It made some sort of logic, but she refused to believe that Kane had been going behind her back. He wouldn't. He loved her.
"Kirsty, I... I found your Dad a while back..."
Kirsty stared at him, speechless.
"... this isn't how it looks... I was going to tell you but he made me swear not to..."
He received no response. Kirsty tried to shut out his pleas for her to reply. He had lied to her. He could have been lying for months. All the time hurting her family. Driving Shelley to extremes to block out the pain of her husband deserting her.
"Kirst, please?"
He willed her to reply. She just stared at him, slowly processing the information. The door flew open.
"Mr Phillips, good morning"
A man in a dark suit and glasses strolled in and the room was brightened by the light drifting in from the hallway.
"And you are?"
"I'm an acquaintance of Dennis'..."
"Right..."
Great. So more gangsters. Kane regretted getting Kirsty mixed up in it. It was all his doing. She wouldn't be there in the first place if Josh hadn't wanted to exact revenge on him. For what he did all that time ago.
"You see, we've been keeping an eye on him - heard a few rumours he wanted to get out of a... business deal we had"
He'd had men tracking Dennis all day. All around the area, picking people up and dropping them off, doing dealings with Joshua West. He in turn had led them to another building where they had found the girl. What she had to do with anything they had no idea, but it had been best to hold her just in case. In case they could use her to their advantage.
Kane grimaced. So these were the men that Dennis had hoped Josh would get off his back. His reasons for getting mixed up in it all in the first place. The reason he was no longer alive.
"Look, I've got nothing to do with that"
"I know... it's not you I've got the problem with... it's your brother... he killed Dennis and as two-faced as he might be doing deals behind my back, he was still one of us"
"So where is Scott?"
"That's not relevant... untie them"
He commanded his accomplice in the doorway, who hastily obeyed.
"You're gonna let us go?"
It was beyond a dream. It all seemed so easy.
"Like I said, we haven't got a problem with you... so long as you don't mention a word of this to anyone"
"What would I say? A couple of strangers kept me tied up for a few hours before letting me go... come on, I don't even know where I am! I've got nothing to tell"
All he wanted was to get out of there and never look back. To spend his time reconciling with Kirsty, who hadn't said a word since his revelation. He stood up as he was freed.
"All the same... you don't wanna mention this to anyone"
"And Scott?"
"Consider him out of your life"
