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Chapter 11: Save Him
He didn't know where he was. There was nothing here. He wasn't even sure that he was here. He couldn't feel his body at all; it seemed as though he was floating. He didn't quite mind the feeling, but he really wanted to know where he was.
He heard sounds around him, but none of them made sense. They were too far away for him to determine what they were. He became aware of an ache in his head and was immensely relieved. He was alive, at least.
Slowly, feeling started to come back to his body. He realised he was tied up, sitting in a chair. His neck ached from his head being bent in the same position for too long. Gene desperately tried to figure out what had happened and where he was.
He remembered Bolly talking nonsense again, being immensely confused, and being about to ask her what she was talking about. Then an arm had wrapped around his throat and squeezed. Although he struggled, the attacker was strong, and kept his hold.
That was the last thing he remembered. Now he was faced with a dilemma. Should he open his eyes, or should he pretend to stay asleep?
Curiosity overwhelming him, Gene slowly opened his eyes. He was startled to see that someone had stripped him, and now he was clad only in his pants. He raised his head to see his clothes in a pile in the corner.
Gene raised his head, trying to figure out where the bastard had gone who had done this. He started to look around, getting increasingly frustrated with the fact that he couldn't turn fully because he was tied up.
"You're awake!" a voice he recognised said cheerily. Gene heard footsteps coming up from behind him and struggled to see who his captor was.
"No need to fight the rope," the man said laughingly. "You'll see me in a minute, Guv."
Suddenly the voice clicked in his head.
"Riley," Gene spat. "DC Jeff Riley."
The detective constable appeared in front of him, a wide grin on his face.
"You're supposed to be dead."
He just laughed. "Yes, I am, aren't I? Don't worry about that though, Guv. I'd be more worried about myself if I were in your position. Because, quite honestly, in a little over an hour you'll be dead."
~(*)~
"Alex! Wake up Alex!"
Someone was tapping her lightly on the face. Alex struggled to open her eyes, slowly becoming aware of a persistent pounding in her jaw.
"Boss! Er...Ma'am! Wake up!"
"Chris, you twonk."
The voices continued, slowly growing closer to her. Alex recognised them, but could not place them.
"C'mon Alex!"
A few more taps and she opened her eyes, blinking furiously against the sun and trying to dispel the blurriness. One man was holding her head off the ground and another was standing over her, both wearing looks of concern. She knew those men. Slowly, she waited for her brain to make the connection.
Ray. Chris, she thought. Good. Her brain was making connections.
"Where's the Guv, Alex?" Ray asked.
Alex thought hard for a moment before the thought snaked its way into her head.
"Guv," she said, thinking hard. "A man. The man. Josh Burrows."
Ray nearly dropped her head onto the ground. "Shit. Burrows got him?"
Alex nodded, still thinking. "They got into a blue Escort." She was distracted for a moment by a memory of a blue Escort exploding. For a horrible moment she thought that was what had happened to Gene, but then remembered that it had happened at an earlier time.
"Do you have any idea where they went?" Ray asked worriedly.
Alex shook her head, her jaw still throbbing.
Ray helped her to her feet before looking at Chris. "We've got to get back to the station. And the Guv had the keys to the Quattro on him."
Alex groaned inwardly. She knew what this meant. They had to walk all the way back to the station, or find a bus. Neither option was appealing.
"Well," she said, ignoring the throb of her jaw. "Let's start walking."
~(*)~
They had sat in silence for a while. Gene wasn't entirely sure what Riley was waiting for, in fact, the waiting was making everything worse.
"Riley," he finally called out, annoyed.
"I think you'll find, Guv, that my name is Burrows," he said, coming around the corner.
"Why join the police?" Gene asked. He was genuinely curious.
"Remember, all those months ago, I told you that I wanted to be caught? Back when Alex was in the same position as you, remember?"
"Yes. But you gave me the wrong clues! You made it so I couldn't find her!" Gene raged.
Burrows grinned. "That's because I realised, I didn't want to be caught just yet. I suppose Alex has told you everything? Yes, I know she has her memory back. I always knew it would come back. I knew it right from the moment she first cowered at me in CID. I heard you tell Chris and Ray she was having nightmares about her time with me. It was only a matter of time before she pointed me out. So I faked my own death. But first, I reunited Alex Price and Evan White."
"Why would you even give a shit?" Gene spat.
Burrows looked at him a moment before responding. "I'm not a monster, Guv," he said softly. "The girl is already an orphan, why take away the only person she has in this world? She cried every night she stayed with me. She longed for Evan, so I let him out. I had her disappear a little before so it wouldn't look like he kidnapped her."
"You still haven't answered my question," Gene said, covering his fury. "Why did you join CID?"
"Because it was the easiest way not to get caught," Burrows said laughingly. "I realised all those months ago, when Alex was here, that I wanted to see how people healed. I wanted to see how much it hurt the day after, a week after. So I kept her. In this house, actually. On the room to your right, I remember she would sit right next to the door and try and get out. IF I played the footage I had, the first few dyas, she begged me to stop. I suppose it was painful listening to herself go through it, the others..." Burrows trailed off thoughtfully before putting a tape in the VCR. He turned on the telly and left Gene to stare at it.
Gene watched it in horror. Alex was on the screen, in much the same position he was. It was evident that she was a ways into the torture, as bright red burn marks were all over her body. One of her fingers and one of her toes were bleeding, and though she looked calm, there was a panic in her eyes.
He saw her flinch as Burrows advanced towards her with pliers. She was trying to move away, but couldn't. Gene saw the idea dawn on what Burrows was going to do as he put something in her mouth.
Gene looked away. He couldn't watch this. He flinched as he heard her scream loudly.
Suddenly, he heard his voice. Gene looked up at the telly. Alex seemed to be momentarily unconscious, her head hanging down and blood dripping out of her mouth.
"Bolly! BOLLY! Where are you? Bolly! Bolly! Come on, talk to me!"
He saw her head start lifting up as she came back to consciousness. She opened her eyes, and Gene saw her look around hopefully before a look of disappointment came on to her face.
"You pushed the button on the radio," Burrows said before speaking into it for himself. "Thirty one minutes, Hunt."
Gene remembered how horrified he had been in that moment. To hear the raw agony in her screams had torn him apart, and he had been left in stillness for a moment, wondering what the man had done to her.
"What did that feel like, Alex?" Burrows asked. Gene was delighted to see her spit in his face.
Suddenly the telly turned off. "I think that's enough," Burrows said dryly.
"You angry about that Burrows? Angry that she got one over on you?"
"May I remind you, Guv, who ended up winning that battle? I did. I kept Alex from you for six months. I made you think that she was dead. Actually, you still would, if I hadn't have shown you where she was."
"So how come White had her?"
"He figured me out. I don't know how, but he came here. He told me that I either hand her over, or he'd turn me in. So I handed her over that night. He told me he killed her. I finally persuaded him to tell me where he buried her. I dug up the grave, because I didn't quite believe him. As soon as I saw that the body had all the teeth, I knew she was alive. I held on to this knowledge though, until I was ready to use it."
"So you watched us, and when we talked about her, you just laughed at us."
"No, Guv. I waited, and listened. When she stopped getting mentioned in conversations, when her favourite mug was being used by CID again, I knew finding her would be the last thing on your minds. So one morning, I rung you. I knew you got to the office early every day. Boyle would always complain about it. When you came in later...you should have seen your face," Burrows grinned. "Every time I phoned you, I'd come back in and laugh. I'd just go downstairs to ring you. It was all so easy."
Burrows laughed. Gene infuriated, struggled against the rope tying him down to no avail.
"Bastard," he spat.
Burrows stared at him for a long moment. "I think it's time to end your life. I'll grab the phone. Enjoy yourself, Guv. You've only got sixty-four minutes to live."
~(*)~
They had been waiting anxiously for over an hour. Ray had been watching Alex for that long, convinced that something was going on with her. She had been staring at her phone for an hour, not moving, hardly blinking. There was an underlying panic in her eyes.
"Alex," he said cautiously. She acted as though she didn't hear him.
Ray wondered if there really was something wrong. There had been that moment earlier when she didn't recognise either him or Chris. At first, he thought it had been because she was still coming round from being knocked out. But now, he was remembering what the Guv had said.
"The psychologist said a month or more. The only reason I would let her on a case sooner is because I'd want her insight. Alex can't go through too much trauma at all, either emotional or physical. We've got to protect her Ray. If I'm not here, you do."
Ray had nodded then, surprised at the way the Guv was treating the whole ordeal. He looked back at Alex. Surely this was a load of trauma, seeing the man she loved faced with almost certain death.
As Ray reached for the phone to ring the psychologist, Alex's phone rang.
The whole room stopped, staring at the phone on her desk. Alex almost sprang out of her seat to answer it.
"Drake," she said.
Ray stood next to her, trying to hear what the person on the opposite end was saying. To his horror, but not amazement, he heard the Guv's voice.
"If you do not find me in an hour, he will kill me."
A new voice came on the phone.
"It's all down to you, Alex. He's being held at the same place you were, for that month before you were moved. I know you saw the street sign. Find me, Alex. Step six is me taking him. Step seven can be one of two things. Either finding me, or finding Gene. He's your last hope. After this, I disappear."
The line went silent and Alex stared across the room for a full minute before Ray tried to tug the phone out of her hand. Finally she came to, looking around the room and staring at Ray.
"Ray," she whispered brokenly. "If we don't find him, it's my fault."
"We'll jog your memory, Alex. We'll find him," he assured her.
She nodded at him, but he couldn't help but notice the faraway look in her eyes.
Half an hour later, after many distressing messages from Gene, Alex's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Abbey Road!" she exclaimed suddenly.
"Bolly," said Gene's voice over the radio. Even the word he spoke was slurred.
"Gene," she whispered back.
"Have you thought of it yet, Alex?" Burrows' voice said over the radio. "Thirty minutes."
There was nothing more from them and Alex looked at Ray. "Abbey Road is twenty minutes away. I know the house. We need a fast car."
They ended up taking the fastest pool car they could, radioing ahead for ambulance and racing down the streets of London, sirens wailing. Alex said nothing the entire way. She was too focused on what she was doing to offer anything to say.
"Ten minutes," said the Guv's voice as Ray suddenly hit a massive traffic jam.
Alex suddenly stirred. "Faster Ray!" she yelled.
"I can't go anywhere Alex! I'm stuck!"
"Oh for Christ's sake," she griped, jumping out of the car.
"Alex! No!" Ray got out after her and Chris followed, abandoning the car altogether as they ran toward Abbey Road.
Ray saw one of Alex's heels break, but she continued to run like nothing had happened.
"One minute," Gene's voice said as they reached Abbey Road.
Alex went to the second house and started to slam on the door with her shoulder. She looked absolutely frenzied now. Ray pushed her aside and placed a well aimed kick below the handle, opening the door. She rushed past him, nearly knocking him off his feet. Ray caught his balance and followed her in, running to where the Guv was held, stopping dead as he heard Alex's shriek of rage and loss.
The Guv sat motionless, tied to a chair, a knife sticking out of his chest. They had been too late.
to be continued