"Oh hell! He threatened to kill her if I informed on him, but that's by the by now. I've been keeping tabs on him, he's preparing a jet, he would be at a small airfield in Oakrow, hangar 2. And James, he'll have armed men there."
"I'll get her back." He said simply and hung up. Looking down into Makepeace's bag, he noticed her gun so he picked it up. Then he called Spikings for back up but could not risk waiting so he stormed out of the house and got into his car.
It took him forty nail biting minutes to get to the airfield; he got out of the car hastily and assessed the area. On finding hangar 2 he approached it carefully as he noticed armed men entering and exiting the place. Waiting until there was nobody around, he peered into the hangar.
He spotted Lock immediately; he was making his way across the building to a small jet. Dempsey waited until he had disappeared inside before approaching it. Voices could be heard inside and he scanned the hangar once more before edging his way up the steps. As he entered the plane he could distinguish Makepeace's voice, along with Lock's, but there seemed to be nobody else in there. He planned to take out Lock without using his gun, if possible, so as not to alert the men outside before back up arrived. He focused on Lock's voice. "Now, I'm going to try this again Harriet, let's not have a repeat of last time shall we, I don't want to have to hurt you." Dempsey frowned, he could just see around the partition as Lock approached Makepeace, gun in hand. To his horror he watched as Lock pulled her to him and kissed her roughly on the mouth. Makepeace pulled away but he forced her head back and went to kiss her again.
Dempsey went to enter the room then, throwing caution to the wind, but he paused when he heard Makepeace speak. "Listen Nathan, I just need a bit of time to get used to this, okay?" He grunted. "Why?" She searched for a way to appease him. "Err, it's been a long time for me…" She trailed off then but she'd got his attention. Nathan backed away from her, holding the gun up between them. "When was the last time?" She looked down. "Look, just give me a bit of time, okay?" He replied in a purring voice. "I'll give you your time, we've got long enough, just tell me who was the last person you were with. Not Mr Dempsey then eh?" She stared at him stubbornly and he became suddenly angry. "Or we can pick up from where we left off." He advanced again but she put her hand up. "It was my husband."
"He had no right to be your husband." Lock said, his anger rising as he continued to advance. Dempsey went to move then but he felt something hard in his back and heard the click of a gun. "Drop the weapon." He paused but the pressure of the gun on his back increased. Closing his eyes and cursing himself, he reluctantly dropped the gun. "Move." The man led him into the plane.
When Lock saw him he laughed and turned to his man."Cuff him." The man pushed Dempsey to his knees and handcuffed him to the bars of a seat. Lock smiled. "Feel familiar?" He continued. " I wondered when you would turn up Mr Dempsey. Come to rescue Harriet here?" Dempsey knelt, seething with anger at Lock. "It's over for you Lock, back up is on its way here right now, you aint getting' outa here quick enough." He grinned at him. This pushed Lock over the edge and he flew across the plane towards Dempsey, putting the gun to his mouth. "Wait!" Makepeace screamed at Lock, terror coursing through her. She flew towards him, tugging desperately at his arm. He turned towards her, the fury still raw in his face. "You want him!" He looked at Dempsey. In the next instant she did the only thing she could think of to stop him, pulling his head away from Dempsey, she kissed him. Dempsey went cold with fear for her as he watched Lock react. He pushed her with force against the wall of the plane and moved his leg between hers. Dempsey hollered. "Alright Lock, you want me, come here! What you waitin' for!"
Lock turned to look at him then and Makepeace saw her chance, she grabbed his arm, twisting it and forcing the gun out of his hand. Lock's man reacted, moving towards them, at which point Dempsey lunged forward, tripping him and sending his gun skidding across the floor. Lock went for it but Makepeace anticipated his action and put his own gun to his head. "Don't tempt me." Makepeace threatened.
Back up arrived soon after that and Lock's men were eventually rounded up. Makepeace slipped away then to a side room, as she felt the events of the last few hours threaten to overwhelm her. Lock himself was handcuffed and brought to the waiting police vehicle outside. He was lead past Dempsey and he stopped on the way, turning to him. "She was promised to me, before you'd have even understood the words 'British aristocracy'. What with both my money and my father's, I have the right to marry into that family, as my father had wished. She should never have married that bastard husband of hers!" Then he focused on Dempsey more closely. "You had better watch your back Mr Dempsey, I won't give up so easily what's rightfully mine!"
Dempsey stared at him. "Finished? Now I'm speaking you piece of dirt! I don't give a rat's arse about British aristocracy, when she comes to me that's where she'll wanna be! You aint even close to earning the right to be in her company! If you knew anything about her at all you'd know that no one on earth, heaven, hell, or any other place you'd care to mention, is ever gonna own her. You think she'da gone quietly with you!" He laughed. "You think yourself lucky you didn't get that far!" In an instant then Dempsey had Lock against the car, his arm crushed against Lock's throat. "Oh, and I need to watch my back do I? You so much as look in her direction again and you'll think that the Russians and the British were a picnic in the park compared to what I've got in mind for you! Capiche?" He let him go suddenly with a jolt and strode away, leaving Lock gasping for air. Spikings stood yards away, grinning at Lock, his arms folded as he nodded his head.
Dempsey eventually found Makepeace sitting in the room, her head in her hands. She jumped when he opened the door and stood up. They stood in front of each other for a couple of moments, searching each other's faces. Then instinctively they both moved forward, throwing their arms around each other's bodies. Dempsey held her head next to his, closing his eyes in relief. She closed her eyes also and a shaky smile spread across her face as tears threatened her eyes. He stroked her hair and breathed in her scent and held her so tightly, as though if he let her go he'd die. He felt like he'd been suffocating for the last couple of hours, he needed her like he needed air to breathe. If only she knew.