Ransom

Chapter 10

With Robert having left for the bank, Chas and Cain were now sitting together by the table. Chas was sipping on a brandy, despite the early hour she'd needed something to calm her nerves.

Feeling a little more in control of her emotions she eyed her brother. Cain had been lost in thought for a good few minutes, she wanted to know what he was thinking, what he was planning on doing about the money. He had to have worked out something by now. "Cain?"

Cain met his sister's searching gaze, he wished he could offer her some words of comfort but knew nothing he said would ease her mind. It was best he stayed on point, "I'll phone around, someone might know something..."

"No!" No way were they going to do anything as stupid as to try and free Aaron themselves. "We're not handling it that way, we pay up like this Shields is demanding. I want Aaron back Cain. I want my boy home safe, so we pay however much it is to make that happen."

"Robert can only raise so much of what he's demanding..."

"And you can get the rest, I know you can."

"Yes with a crippling rate of interest!"

"I'll sell my share in this place, the family will help out and there's Paddy, and don't forget Robert said he could get his hands on more."

"That's all going to take too long. I know these people, how they operate. The interest would keep being added, and on a daily basis." They would never be able to settle such a debt... but then it could be just as dangerous to try and outwit Shields, he wasn't a man to cross. They were trapped between the devil and deep blue sea.

"We have to pay up Cain. Whatever it costs us." She would willingly sell her soul to the devil if it meant Aaron's safe return.

"Ok." Cain conceded reaching into his pocket for his phone. They would get Aaron back then somehow deal with the resulting nightmare of paying back 'the loan'.

/

Aaron's first inclination had been to run to the door but he'd stopped himself. His inner voice of reason had told him it would be locked and that what he needed to do was get a grip on the situation. He needed to keep a calm head and work out some sort of a plan. The nut job who'd brought him here was his first obstacle. He was going to have to overpower him somehow. It didn't take long to work out how to put him out of action, he'd take him by surprise the next time he opened the door. Aaron would get great satisfaction from hitting him in the face with the bucket he'd used to relieve himself. It would add to the damage he'd already inflicted on his captor. Then he'd make a run for it, hopefully the van that had been used to bring him here would still be parked on the other side of that door. If the keys weren't available he would hot-wire it. If there was no van then he'd make do with Shanks' pony. All he could do now though was ready himself and wait.

/

Robert had arranged with the bank to collect the money at half nine. He'd done that and was supposed to be heading straight back to Emmerdale to Chas and Cain. But he was now heading in a different direction, away from the village. Cain's words had planted a seed and he was now almost certain he knew who was behind Aaron's kidnapping. It all made sense, if you could make any kind of sense of such a brutal act of revenge, and that's what this was, revenge pure and simple.

He was just minutes away from his destination now, travelling a very familiar route. Despite his haste to get there he had no idea what he was going to do when he arrived. How did he do this? What did he say? Did he come right out with an accusation or did he play it cool and look for some sign of guilt before pouncing? He didn't know what to do, not yet. Aaron's life was at stake here and he had only one option and that was to get it right.

There had been no cars parked outside of the house, but that didn't mean there was no one at home. Robert charged inside, systematically checking each room. There was no one to be found and once again he was unsure of his next move. He wasn't ready to go back to the Woolpack yet, he wasn't ready to admit defeat.

Standing by his car he looked at the vast expanse of land that surrounded the property. It went on forever and was liberally dotted with buildings, some were in use, some empty awaiting empty and unused ones would be the ideal place to hold Aaron, but would they keep him so close to home? It would make things easier he supposed.

It could take hours to check them all out and what if he was wrong? What if it turned out to be a wild goose chase? He'd have wasted all that time, and time wasn't something Aaron had much of right now. He didn't have time to dither he had to decide on his next move and quick.

/

Plan in place Aaron felt for the metal bucket and after emptying it of its contents he stepped in the direction of the door. He couldn't see a damn thing but knew it was only yards away. Holding out one hand he soon made contact with the door. He felt around for its handle, instinctively turned it and was stunned to find it wasn't locked! Why hadn't they locked it, as a precaution if nothing else? That seemed odd to him but now wasn't the time to mull over his kidnappers mistakes, he should just be grateful for them.

Aaron listened for any sign of life before yanking the door fully open. The relief to be out of the dark stinking hole he'd been kept in was immense, he didn't think he could have hacked it much longer.

He quickly looked around the room he was now in. It was huge, and it looked like it had been used to store stuff. Disappointingly there was no van but at least that meant he wouldn't have to deal with the bastard who'd been holding him here. He could make his escape unhindered and make a beeline for Robert. He had to get out of the room first though and he'd spotted a large metal shutter and a wooden door... his heart sank, they were bound to be locked. Before trying them and getting his hopes crushed Aaron looked up at the two windows spilling in daylight, they were way off the ground and of no use to him. 'Think positive' he scolded himself, if the doors to freedom were locked he was just going to have to break through them.

The wooden door looked to be on an inside wall so Aaron wrote that off and after setting down the bucket hurried over to the shutter. The van would have been driven in and out through here, the prick driving it wouldn't forget to lock it surely? Aaron held his breath on testing it, he couldn't believe his luck on finding that unlocked too. His captor had a slapdash way about him, if he didn't know any better Aaron would have believed he wanted him to escape.

Aaron heaved the metal shutter upwards, it was heavy and his so very tender ribs protested the effort. A wave of dizziness suddenly washed over him and he had to lean against a wall until it passed. When the world finally stopped spinning around him Aaron pushed away from the wall and stepped out into the open air.

He gazed around, hoping to see something familiar, a landmark he recognised, but no. There was a stone wall that seemed to run around the back of the property and beyond that an army of trees. It had to be a wood or a forest even. He was going to have to stick to the dirt track that led away from the building, it had to lead to a main road. Remembering how long it seemed to take to get here he didn't think he was close to home but wherever he was Emmerdale was his destination. He would have to keep out of sight and ... he could hear something! It was a vehicle of some sort and it was getting closer. It didn't sound like anything big or heavy, so it had to be a car. Aaron's heart began to thump in his chest, anger rose from the pit of his belly, was it Robert? Had he got the message that he wanted to him? Sensing the car was about to come into view Aaron stepped back inside the building, if it was Robert he was more than ready for him!

/

Robert had checked six of the unused or derelict outbuildings. He was beginning to think he had got it wrong, that a gut feeling had for once led him astray. His phone had been ringing constantly for the past half hour or so. He wan't going to answer it, he knew who it was without looking... Cain. He should have been back in Emmerdale an hour ago, of course they'd want to know where he was, what was keeping him. Robert couldn't tell them, not yet anyway.

He could now see the next property he had on his mental list of possibilities. It was on the outskirts of the estate, far away from prying eyes and any kind of interference. There were only a few such buildings left now, if they all turned out to be... no that still didn't mean he was wrong just that he'd been looking in the wrong place. He knew in his heart that Chrissie was responsible for all this.

What an evil bitch she was! She really was capable of anything, no wonder Lachlan was the way he was!

Switching off the car's engine Robert sat looking at the stone building in front of him. It looked deserted, like it had been for years, still he couldn't leave without making sure. As he got out of his car his phone started to ring again, and again he ignored it, closing the door on it. As he walked around the corner to the front of the building he noticed the shutter was open, it had him stop in his tracks. It had been put up a year or more back and was always kept locked, parts of the building were unsafe and it was intended to keep anyone happening on it out... so why was it open now?

Was Aaron here? Robert sensed he was and broke into a run. He was desperate to get to him...

Pain suddenly exploded in Robert's head, his knees buckled beneath him and darkness claimed him before he hit the floor.

tbc