I follow the beat up Range Rover for about eight miles before it stops outside an old farmhouse in Antrim. I park up a few hundred yards down the road as he walks inside the house. Lights go on in the downstairs windows and my heart races as I wonder if Jessie is in there.
I dial Shane’s number and a few seconds later, his voice fills the car.
“Liam?” is all he says.
“I followed him to an old house in Antrim.”
“What? He still has that place? Erin told me he sold it years ago.”
“Well, he’s just walked in there now. Shall I go in after him?”
“No. Just wait and see what he does next.”
“But she could be in there, Shane.”
“I know, but she might not be, and if you go in then you completely blow our cover and we might never find her.”
“I hate sitting here thinking that she could just be a few yards away. Wondering what he might be doing to her, Shane,” I say as emotion wells up in my throat. I am so fucking angry I could tear Paul’s head clean off his shoulders with my bare hands, but I am also terrified. I haven’t been this scared of losing someone since the Russians took Conor two years ago.
“I know, kid. We’ll drive out there now, and then at least one of us can follow him if he leaves. And you can check the house.”
As I’m talking to Shane the light goes off again and I freeze. I watch as the front door opens a few seconds later. “Hang on. He’s leaving.”
“Already?”
“Yeah. He’s got a gas bottle with him.”
“A gas bottle?”
“Yeah. Like the kind we use for a barbecue.”
“Fuck!”
“Do I follow him or do I go inside the house?” I ask as my heart starts racing in my chest.
“Fuck! What does your gut say, kid?” he asks me.
“I think she’s in there, Shane.”
“Wait for him to leave then and go check. If he’s taking a gas bottle to be filled he’ll come back.”
“Okay,” I breathe.
“Be careful,” he warns.
“I will.”
“And be prepared for anything,” he adds.
“I will,” I swallow hard. I have no idea what state Jessie is going to be in when I go in there and I have no idea how I’ll deal with my emotions when I see her, because the thought of anyone touching her, of anyone hurting her, makes my insides burn with fury and guilt that I wasn’t able to protect her. But I know in my gut that she’s inside that house, and I’m not leaving without her.
My car is parked out of view beneath some trees down the road. I shrink down in my seat as Paul walks to his car and I wait until I hear him drive off before I look up again.
As soon as his taillights disappear out of view, I drive a little up the road and turn into his driveway. This car was dropped off at the airport by an associate of Shane’s and it has a Glock in the glove compartment as well as a small knife. I tuck both of them into my jeans before I jump out of the car.
The lock is easy enough for me to pick and I’m inside the house within two minutes. I walk along the hallway. It’s cold and dark and I have to stop myself from calling her name just in case there is anyone else here too. I check each room as I pass but there is no sign of Jessie or anyone else.
The whole place is dusty, like it hasn’t been lived in for years, however there are signs of recent occupancy in the kitchen. As I walk into the room, I see two doors. One leading into the yard out back and another I assume is a basement. It has a huge steel bolt on it and my heart lurches in my chest when I see it, because why the fuck would you need to lock your basement door on the inside? Taking out my cell, I turn on my phone’s flashlight as I draw back the huge bolt. It screeches like old steel does and I wince as I look behind me to see if anyone has come running, but I’m still alone.
The light from my phone is the only thing illuminating the room as I step onto the dark basement steps. “Jessie!” I whisper.
There is no response. I shine the light down, sweeping it across the room. It is a small concrete room with no furniture except for one single bed in the middle. My phone almost drops from my hand as the light sweeps over it and she is lying there. Naked and alone and chained to the bed.
Blood thunders in my ears as I take the stairs two at a time, trying to get to her as quickly as possible. “Jessie! I’m here baby,” I call but she doesn’t move.
There is no flicker of life from her. I place my hand on her arm and she is cold to the touch and for one heart stopping moment I think she’s gone and that sick cunt has killed her. I move the metal cuff up her wrist as I feel for her pulse and I almost sink to the floor with relief when I feel one. He’s only drugged her. I glance over her body, looking for any signs of injury. Her thighs are peppered with fingertip bruises and she has a cut on her mouth. I brush my fingertips over the dried blood on her lips and my heart aches like there is a gaping wound in the middle of my chest. The rage that I’ve been feeling since I found out she’d been taken threatens to overwhelm me and I have to take deep breaths, sucking in lungfuls of air to so that I can calm my racing pulse and focus on what I need to do. I can’t let myself think about what that sick fuck has been doing to her because it will break me and I need to be strong for her more than I ever have right now.
I lift her hand and the clinking of a chain tells me that the metal bracelet on her wrist is chained to the bed. Her feet are chained too. Fuck! I need to move fast.
The ones on her feet are a simple lock and pin mechanism and I remove them quickly, but her hands are a different matter. My heart races as I look around the room for something to help me. I can hardly think straight. What if he comes back here? What if I can’t get her out of her before he does?
The car. There are bolt cutters in the car. I saw them when I put our luggage in.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell her even though she can’t hear me. I run to the car faster than I have ever ran anywhere in my life. I almost trip over my own feet coming back down the stairs. Resting my phone on the bed to shine its light where I need it, I cut the chains on her wrists, freeing her but leaving the metal bracelets in place for now. I can remove them when I get her to safety.
Shrugging off my jacket, I wrap her in it before I lift her into my arms. As I lean over her, I see the used condom on the floor beside the bed and bile burns the back of my throat. Sick fucking cunt! I will make him feel pain like he has never known when I finally get my hands on him.
She is like a rag doll when I lift her. Completely limp and almost weightless and I don’t remember her being this light. “Hang on, Jessie. I’ll get you home soon, baby.” I choke back the tears as I whisper in her ear, then run up the steps and out of the house. Placing her in the passenger seat of the car, I jump in the other side and lock the doors before I start the engine and get us the hell out of here.
We are half a mile along the road when I see Paul’s car approaching from the opposite direction. For a split second, I contemplate running him off the road and putting a bullet in his head, but it would be too merciful for him, and more importantly, I need to get Jessie back to safety as quickly as possible. With that in mind, I dial Shane’s number.
“Liam?” he snaps when he answers. “Have you got her?”
“Yes,” I reply and I hear the collective sigh of relief from my three brothers and realize I’m on speaker phone.
“How is she?” Conor asks.
“She’s unconscious. The bastard drugged her,” I say, trying to keep my emotions in check as I glance at her in the seat beside me.
“Fuck!” Mikey hisses.
“Get her back here as soon as you can.”
“I know you have friends at that hotel, Shane, but I think if I walk through the lobby with her in the state she’s in, the cops will be called on us within five seconds.”
“What do you mean the state she’s in?”
“Well, she’s unconscious. She’s naked. And she has bruises on her thighs and face.” I swallow hard and focus on the road ahead. Please don’t make me think about what that evil cunt has done to her.
“You remember the house in Carrickfergus?” he asks.
“Yeah?” I frown. I thought he’d sold that place. He had it built a few years before we left Ireland. He always intended to live in the countryside one day.
“Take her there. We’ll meet you.”
“You still have that place?”
“Yeah,” he clears his throat. “We’ll see you there, Liam.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
