Caged

[Ludub]

Thanks everyone for the kind comments! Really hope you like this one!

WARNING: VERY ADULT THEMES!

 

Chapter 41

 

“Just stop talking!” huffed Bianca, “Just stop talking now… I’m not listening to anymore of this nonsense!”

She stood with her hands on her hips and looked back and forth from Ricky to Brax to Ash. They all looked guilty and a little red-faced. She’d come storming in with her phone in her hand and thrown it at Brax. It had just barely missed his head.

“Bianca… we…” Ricky started to say but Bianca cut her off mid-sentence.

“NO!” she shouted, “No more lies! …All any of you have done since I got here last night is lie to me!” She looked at each of their worried looking faces and shook her head in anger. “I phoned Cheryl!” she said, pointing at her phone. Brax had now placed it back on the coffee table. “You didn’t think I’d check, did you?!” she snarled at them, “Didn’t think I’d phone her! …Well, I did!”

Ricky looked pointedly at Brax and shook her head at him. Using Cheryl as an alibi had been his idea, but he hadn’t counted on his mother being uncooperative, as always. Cheryl had been less than enthusiastic about the idea, demanding to know what kind of mess Heath had gotten himself into this time, and had simply refused to lie. She was on relatively good terms with Bianca for once, and didn’t want to mess things up. With Bianca being pregnant, she was actually doing her best to mind her Ps and Qs. She’d told Brax in no uncertain terms that she wanted no part in it.

“Heath isn’t with her!” continued Bianca, “And she’s not in the hospital, and she has no idea what any of you are talking about!”

Brax rolled his eyes and gave Ricky an apologetic little shrug. They’d been put on the spot last night with Bianca arriving out of the blue. They hadn’t had time to think of a better excuse, so they’d told her that Heath had had to go help their mum. They’d said that she’d had an accident and that Heath was sorting some things out at the house for her. He’d hoped that he could count on his mother to back Heath up at least. Heath had always been her favourite! Brax looked up at Bianca and grimaced a little. He could see how angry she was. “Bianca… Look… I..” he stammered, “We...”

“No, Brax! No more lies!” she warned him, “I’m not stupid!” She shook her head at them in a disappointed sort of way. “I want one of you to tell me what the hell is going on… No half-truths, no fudging the details because of the pregnant woman! I want the truth! Heath wouldn’t miss this baby scan for anything in the world! He’s more excited about this baby than I am! Getting to see it in 3D?! He’s been talking about it for weeks! …So, you idiots had better start talking! I want to know where my husband is… and I want to know right now!”

Brax looked at Ricky, and then at Ash. It seemed like they didn’t have a choice. They were going to have to tell her everything. Bianca wasn’t the type of person that you could drip feed information. She’d want to know every tiny little detail. “Okay” sighed Brax, “But I think you should sit down.”

She gave an exasperated huff and sat down in the chair opposite him. “Well?!” she said, sounding more than a little impatient, “I’m sitting! ...Talk!”

“So… uh…” said Brax, running his fingers through his hair, “I don’t know where to begin…”

“At the start” she snapped at him, “And if you even think of being economical with the truth, or trying to pull the wool over my eyes… I swear to God, Brax! I won’t be responsible for my actions!”

 

*****

 

“You’re awake!” exclaimed Calvin as he opened the door to the farmhouse, “I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up!” Heath was standing on the far side of the room beside the stove and staring at him in a wide eyed and wary sort of way. “I mean… You were out of it for hours!” he said.

“Who are you?!” asked Heath. He didn’t recognise him. He was young and blonde and athletic looking. He had a tribal tattoo just visible on the side of his neck, and another on the calf of his left leg. He would have looked like he was dressed for the beach if it hadn’t been for the handgun tucked into the waistband of his shorts. If the two of them had met under any other circumstances, he might have thought that he was one of the River Boys. “What do you want from me?!” he asked, “Where am I?”

“I’m Cal” he answered, taking a sip from the large cup of soft drink that he was carrying in one of those cardboard holders, “Or Calvin… I don’t mind really… Whatever you prefer.” He also had a large bag of McDonalds takeaway food which he carried across the kitchen and set on the counter by the sink. “I see you had a bit of a falling out with my nan’s furniture!” he said, with a little smirk as he eyed the pile of splintered wood, “Have a bit of a temper tantrum, eh?!”

“Why am I here?!” asked Heath, “What the **** is this?!” He didn’t like the upbeat and chipper way that this guy had about him. It was unsettling. You can’t take someone hostage and then expect them to be your best mate.

“Hey!” said Calvin, holding his hands up in a conciliatory sort of way, “I just do as I’m told… Uncle Danny said to pick you up and keep you company for a few days… And that’s what I intend to do… So, as long as you play nice, we won’t have any problems… Okay?”

“You’re just gonna keep me chained up like this?! You left me here with no water, nothing to eat…. I could have died!” He still had his hands behind his back as though they were tied there. He was doing his best to keep the shovel out of sight by standing against the wall.

“Well, you didn’t die, did ya?” shrugged Calvin, as he took another big sip from his cup of soft drink “No harm done, eh?”

Heath watched as droplets of condensation rolled down the outside of the cup in Calvin’s hand. He couldn’t take his eyes off them. He wanted water more than he’d wanted anything in his life before. “Can I have some water?” he asked, “Or a drink… I don’t care… anything?”

Calvin continued to drink out of his straw in a slow and lazy way and just stood there looking at him. “You’re pretty ripped aren’t you?” he said finally, “I mean, you must spend hours in the gym, right? I do a couple of hours two or three time a week but I just can’t get that kind of definition… y’know?”

Heath shook his head and let out a huff of frustration. “Please?” he said, nodding at the other takeaway cup sitting on the counter, “I haven’t had anything to drink since I don’t know when!”

“Yesterday morning, I’m guessing” said Calvin in a disinterested kind of way, "Course, the heat probably hasn't helped". He stooped over for a moment to pick up the kitchen table and set it back onto its legs. Then he pulled out a chair and sat down. “People keep telling me to do those protein supplements…” he said, putting his hand around his own flexed bicep and frowning a little, “I already do the shakes, but they’re talking about those heavy duty kind of protein supplements… and I don’t know… I’m just not sure… I mean, I know there are guys in the gym doing human growth hormone and that kind of ****… but that just seems a bit… nuts…”

“I’m really thirsty” said Heath, "Can I get some water... please?!"

"You’re probably not feeling too good” said Calvin, leaning back in the chair far enough to reach the kitchen counter. He trailed the bag of food over to where he was sitting and then the tray of drinks. “I’m guessing you have a bursting headache right about now…” he said, pulling a burger and a bag of fries out of the bag, “Your heart’s probably beating just that little too fast for comfort too… Feels like it’s fluttering… yeah?”

“This is your thing, is it?!” snapped Heath, “Keeping people prisoner and watching them die of thirst?!” This kid was clearly a psychopath. He wondered if he’d ever get a moment when he was distracted. He just needed to get him with one good hit with the shovel. All it would take would be one moment when he least expected it.

“You might even feel a bit shivery…” said Calvin, as he began to unwrap the burger and poured the fries out onto the wrapper. “Has the blurry vision set in yet?” he asked, giving him a quizzical sort of glance, “You feeling dizzy?”

He was all of those things! He felt like he could collapse at any moment! The smell of burger filled the room. Beef, and fried onions, and grease. As hungry as he was, the smell of it was actually making him feel a little nauseous. He watched Calvin as he stuffed the burger in his mouth and took an enormous bite. Ketchup and mustard spurted out all over his t-shirt and he started wiping it up with his hands and licking it off his fingers. He was obviously enjoying his burger very much, and the fries that came with it, but he didn’t take his eyes off Heath for even one moment. It was a very big burger and it was taking a while to eat. He’d take a mouthful, chew in a very undignified way, and about half way through the chewing process, he’d cram a fistful of fries in as well. His table manners left something to be desired! With a smug little grin, made all the worse for the fact that he had half the sauce from his burger smeared around his mouth, he picked up the drink again and began to drink very noisily. The ice inside the cup rattled a little every now and then. Heath stared at the cup longingly. He’d never been so thirsty in his life! This was pure torture!

“Aaaaaah!” gasped Calvin, when he finished draining his cup. He’d spent a couple of minutes getting the last drop out, sucking on the straw, and making that loud slurping noise. “Damn it’s hot today!” he said, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms above his head.

Heath shuffled a little where he stood. It was taking everything he had to say on his feet.  He felt like he had a fever. Hot one minute and freezing cold the next! He really didn’t think he could take this for much longer! He was dizzy, and his vision was blurry. He needed some water pretty sharpish or he really was going to die!

Calvin picked up the other cup out of the tray and began to slosh the contents round and round inside. “I don’t know about you!” he teased, “But I’m sweating like a pig here!” He pulled the plastic sleeve off the straw and pushed it though the lid on the cup. “Weather like this always makes me so thirsty!”

Please?” begged Heath, staring at the cup in desperation, “Can I please have some water?!” He was so scared that this guy was going to drink it all and he really wouldn’t give him any of it. If he did that, he was definitely going to die. He was already swaying a little from weakness.

“You want some of this?!” asked Calvin, in mock surprise, "It's not water, it's Coke... Are you sure you want it?!"

“Yes, I want it!” said Heath, hanging his head, “I need it!… Please can I have some?!” He felt ashamed of himself. He didn’t want to have to beg anyone for anything! Especially not the sicko that had kidnapped him!

“Okay” said Calvin, “I’ll give you a drink… and something to eat… On one condition…”

Heath looked up in surprise. “You will?” he asked, with hope in his voice, “What’s the condition?”

“I will” said Calvin, giving a little chuckle, “But you have to put that shovel down and stop trying to figure out a way to bash my head in!”

 

*****

 

“Well, isn’t this cosy?” laughed Ducky. It was very clear that Kyle and Josh were incredibly uncomfortable with the whole situation, but Josh especially so. He could feel his leg quiver and jump a little every time he moved his thumb. Like a little jolt of electricity. It was so much fun making him squirm. “Me and my two favourite boys!” he chuckled.

Kyle made eye contact with Josh and willed him to stay calm. He could see that he was about ready to snap, and he couldn’t blame him! He could see him watching that hand on his leg, as though it was some kind of poisonous spider that was about to pounce. He looked more and more tense the closer Ducky’s thumb got to his groin.

“How long does it take?” asked Kyle, nodding towards the cell next door. They needed Kwon to hurry up and come back. Testing the drugs seemed to be taking a really long time and the longer this went on the more he began to worry. What if the drugs weren’t up to scratch?! What would they do then?!

“It takes as long as it takes” said Ducky, continuing to stroke Josh’s leg with his thumb. “I have to say… you boys seem a little nervous to me… Anything I should know?”

“We just want to get the deal done” said Kyle. He was doing his best to hide his nerves but he felt like he was living on pure adrenalin. His whole body was trembling!

Suddenly there was a noise next door and they all turned to stare at the wall. One of the men had begun to cough and splutter, and wheeze quite violently like he was choking. Josh glanced up at Kyle in a ‘what the **** do we do if they gave us dud drugs?!’ sort of way. They were both worried about that possibility. What if the Feds had screwed them over?! What if it was a trap?! The coughing died down after a moment, and the two men behind the wall started to laugh and talk again. There was a sort of collective sigh of relief.

Ducky looked up at Kyle and gave a little snort. “Yesterday was an eye-opener!” he teased, “I mean… I have never seen Jae taking a kicking like that before! … and I sure as hell never thought he’d get his ass handed to him by someone like you! That’s for sure!”

“Someone like me?!” snapped Kyle. He didn’t like what he was insinuating.

“You know what I mean” he said, making a ‘limp-wristed’ sort of gesture and laughing loudly, “One of you sensitive fellas…” The fact that he had his hand on Josh’s leg and was slowly sliding his thumb up and down his thigh didn’t seem to register with him as ‘gay’. In his mind, he wasn’t gay. He was an Alpha male. He just took what he wanted, when he wanted, and if it was by force, then that was all the better. There were no romantic feelings involved, or even any sexual attraction. He just liked the rush that it gave him to overpower someone. In that, lay all the difference! Someone like Kyle was a different category altogether, and he saw it as a weakness.

“**** you!” growled Kyle. There was that surge of anger again! That rage! Just like yesterday! He would have happily killed Ducky in this moment. Smashed his head in! It was taking everything he had not to do it!

“That’s it!” he laughed, “That’s the guy I saw yesterday! The one with Jae’s blood all over his face! A bit of passion! A bit fire in your belly! …Now, that I can use!”

“Use?!” frowned Kyle, “I’m not doing anything for you! We deliver the stuff… That’s where it ends!”

“Nah, I don’t think so” said Ducky, giving a little snort and shaking his head, “Cos I have just the job for you…”

“I’m not doing it!” snapped Kyle, “Whatever it is, we’re not doing it!”

Ducky just laughed at him, as though his protests meant nothing. “We’re gonna take a little walk…” he continued, “When Kwon gets back, we’re gonna go see a friend of mine… He doesn’t seem to understand the importance of paying his debts… So we’re gonna go and have a little chat with him…” He looked at Kyle’s badly bruised fists and smiled from ear to ear. “I think a man with your particular skillset could come in very useful!” He looked at Josh and gave him a little wink. “Maybe you’ll surprise me too?” he teased, “…I doubt it! But hey, who knows?!”

“We’re not going anywhere with you!” said Kyle, “You’ll have to find someone else to do your dirty work.” It was pretty clear that he was being asked to beat someone up! To dole out a punishment beating just like he and Josh had taken yesterday. “I’m not doing it!” he insisted.

“Sweetheart” he laughed, “You’re gonna do whatever I tell you to do…”

Kyle stared at him for a moment. He didn’t know what to do. He was in no shape to take any more of a beating than he’d already got and he was surrounded by men who’d happily kick him to death if Ducky gave them even half a nod. He wasn’t in a position to say ‘no’. The only thing that he did have in his favour was the fact that Ducky thought that he worked for Nikolai. Maybe he could use that? It was his only possibility of a way out, but it was a hell of a gamble! He folded his arms across his chest and tried his best to give off an air of confidence. At least a little more than he had up until now. “I could still call Nikolai” he threatened, “We could still tell him what you did.”

“Yeah! You could do that” said Ducky, with a nod and a smirk, “You could definitely do that! Off you go!” He gestured for him to leave, despite the fact that the door was still blocked by a couple of his biggest guys. “By all means, you go and have a chat with Nikolai…” he said, “I won’t stand in your way.”

Kyle’s heart was hammering now. He knew already that he’d made a mistake. He knew it by the way that he was smiling at him. There was something so smug about his grin! Josh was staring up at him in a wide-eyed pleading sort of way too. What if he’d just made things even worse?!

“Go on!” laughed Ducky, “Go make that call!”

“I will if you try to make us do something… something we don’t want to do.” said Kyle. He was sure that Ducky could see through his empty threats. Even as he was saying the words, he could see that.

“You might find it hard to make that call though…” said Ducky, “When you’re sitting for weeks int he hole… All I’d have to do is walk out that door and whistle for one of the guards” He clicked his fingers. “Like that!” he said.

Kyle frowned at him in a confused sort of way. “wha… what?” he stammered, “What do you mean?”

“What, I mean?” replied Ducky, “Is disciplinary action …The prison takes violent behaviour pretty seriously …And… well… beating someone half to death?! In a crowded mess hall?! …With literally hundreds of witnesses?! …I don’t think they’d like that at all! Not one bit! …You know, if they got wind of who was responsible, that guy might even end up with some extra time on his bit… He’s almost certainly do some time in the hole…”

Kyle glanced at Josh in a panicked way. He could see now that he’d given him the perfect leverage yesterday! Beating Jae half to death?! He’d played right into his hands! Ducky was going to blackmail them into working for him!

“…Right now” continued Ducky, “No-one saw a thing …Our friend Jae just tripped and found himself with some pretty nasty injuries…Terrible thing to happen really! …Terrible!” He shook his head in a sad sort of way. “But then again…” he said, in an exaggerated tone, “Maybe he didn’t?!”

Kyle stared at the floor. He knew when he was beaten.

Ducky covered his mouth and gasped in mock surprise. “Maybe someone did that to him?! Maybe he didn’t trip after all?! Maybe some monster did that to poor old Jae?!” He gave Kyle a little wink. “What kind of person would do that sort of thing?!” he asked, "You have to wonder, don't you?"

The guy standing beside Kyle leaned his arm over his shoulder and gripped his chin in his hand to make him look up at Ducky.

“I mean…” he continued, “You just never really know anyone, do you?!”  

Josh gave a little jump and took a sudden intake of breath when Ducky’s hand moved further up his inner thigh and squeezed. Ducky turned to smile at him. “For all we know, the mongrel that nearly killed Jae could be standing right in front of us!” he said, “Couldn’t he?!”

Josh looked up at Kyle in a desperate sort of way. How were they going to get out of this?!

 

*****

 

Bianca stormed into the spare room in Brax and Ricky’s apartment and slammed the door. Tears were streaming down her face and her heart felt like it might burst it was beating so hard. Heath was missing! He’d been kidnapped by some sort of drug dealer and no-one knew where the hell he was! He could even be dead!

She looked at her phone. A message had come through about five minutes ago from Darcy. The neighbour who’d stayed with them last night had had to go, so Darcy was at home alone with Harley now. She was fine, but she was obviously wondering what had happened, and when someone would be back. What was she going to tell her?! ‘Dad got himself mixed up in some sort of undercover sting with the Federal Police. Everything possible went wrong, and now he’s missing! For all we know, he could be fish food!’ She gently stroked her tummy and thought about the little baby growing in there. How could Heath have been so reckless?! How could he have done this without even telling her?! What if he’d left her to do all of this on her own?! What if she’d lost him?! The one man that she truly loved?! The father of her children?! What was she going to do?!

She thought about Ricky and those other idiots out there in the livingroom. How had they kept her in the dark about this all this time? Ricky, especially! What kind of friend would lie to you like that?! And how could she have let Heath get involved in something so risky when she knew just how much was at risk?! A true friend wouldn’t do that! She was angry! So very angry! Had Kat been kept in the dark too?! Did she know what Ash was involved in and the risks that he was taking?! Why was Ricky the only one with special status? Why had she been included in this little boys’ club of make believe drug dealers? Why did she get to know what they were up to?!

She looked at her phone again and an idea began to take shape. Kat deserved to know what Ash was doing! Not only that, but she might be able to pull some strings with the police, and maybe find out what was really going on. Brax and Ricky didn’t seem to know… or they weren’t telling her… Maybe Kat would have the inside track? A contact in the Feds that could do some digging? Anything she could find out would be a bonus.

She typed ‘Kat’ into her contacts and was surprised to find that she had her number. She didn’t remember putting it in, but there it was! She glanced at the door in a guilty sort of way. Part of her knew that she shouldn’t be doing this, but right now, she didn’t care! She wanted someone else to be as pissed off as she was! She blew out a long slow breath and pressed call. It only gave two rings before Kat answered.

“Katarina Chapman” said a familiar voice at the other end.

“Oh… uhhh… Hi” said a hesitant sounding Bianca, “This is Bianca Scott… Uh… Heath Braxton’s wife…”

 

*****

 

“I can’t do this!” whispered Josh, as he stood beside Kyle in the shower room and fought a building wave of panic, “I can’t!”

All eyes were on them! Ducky’s men had them surrounded and they were waiting with baited breath.

‘Oh God!’ thought Kyle, as he looked down at the man in front of him, ‘How do we get out of this?! Where the **** is Dimitri?! What am I supposed to do?!’

Kwon had returned, happy that the drugs were up to scratch, and given his seal of approval. Ducky had made the call. He’d kept his word and made the phone call just as he’d promised. His guy on the outside was making the drop as agreed. Smithy would soon be quids in! The ball had been set rolling, and things were happening now that would bring them one step closer to getting away from all of this… They were so close! Only a couple more days! That was all!

…But right, now, they were here in this shower room. They were here, in a place that neither of them ever wanted to be again, and they were staring at an older Greek-looking man. He was kneeling in front of them with his hands tied behind his back. He had gaffer tape across his mouth so he couldn’t speak, and he was looking up at them in that same terror-filled way that they had done yesterday. He was crying and silently pleading with them. Begging them not to do it…

“Right!” said Ducky, giving Kyle a violent shove in the middle of the back, “Let’s see what you’ve got!”

[Ludub]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment  Much appreciated!

Sorry for the delay with this chapter. I've just been up to my eyes with work this week! Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

 

WARNING: VERY ADULT THEMES!

 

Chapter 42

 

Josh hobbled as fast as he could through the door of their cell and fell to his knees in front of the toilet. He began to heave quite violently over the bowl and vomited what little he’d eaten today. ‘Oh God!’ he thought to himself, ‘What if he dies?!’ The sickening sound of bone smashing off bone, knuckles tearing into flesh, and that awful crunch of his nose breaking… It kept reverberating through his head. That and his pained cries, muffled only by the tape across his mouth. He couldn’t shut it out. Oh God, how he hated himself in this moment! He looked at the sleeve of his sweatshirt, and his own bony hands, and retched again. It felt like his stomach was heaving up through his diaphragm! He could hardly breathe! After a moment or two when nothing came up, he laid his head on top of his arm and tried to take a deep breath. That’s when he saw it. His clothes were sprayed with another man’s blood, caked in it, and his fists were broken and bloody too. How much of it was his own blood, and how much belonged to that poor Greek man, he didn’t know. What he did know was what they’d done today was the most dreadful thing! He felt sick to his very core!

Kyle limped into the cell and pulled the door closed behind him. He glanced at Josh for a moment, wide-eyed in shock, before climbing into the lower bunk of the bed and turning his back on him. He pulled his arms around his chest and his knees up so that he was in a foetal position. “I’m sorry” he whispered under his breath, as he failed to meet the big blue eyes of the man lying on the bed facing him, “I know how ashamed you must be of me.” Aaron had been there with him the whole time in that shower room, like a silent spectator, just standing there watching him, judging him… He couldn’t get the look of disappointment and disgust on his face out of his mind. How could Aaron love him now? After what he’d done?! “I’m sorry!” he sobbed, as he gave in and began to cry.

“What?!” gasped Josh, with his arms stretched across the toilet bowl and his forehead resting on the seat. He was sure that he’d heard Kyle say something but he couldn’t concentrate. The waves of nausea were coming thick and fast when he thought about the bloodied heap that they’d left on the floor of that shower room. He gave another terrible retch but he had nothing in his stomach to bring up. He spat a mouthful of bile and wiped at his mouth in pure misery. Every inch of his body was shaking! Why couldn’t he make his heart slow down?!

“You did what you had to do” said Aaron, reaching for Kyle’s badly bloodied fist and pulling it towards him. He looked at it in a kindly sort of way and then gently pressed a little kiss to it. Kyle hissed a little. There was hardly any flesh left on his knuckles and it was bleeding badly. “I don’t like it” admitted Aaron, with his head tilted slightly in a sympathetic way, “But I understand… and I don’t blame you.”

Kyle shook his head and clamped his eyes shut in an attempt to stem the flow of tears. He’d never been so ashamed of himself in his life. He couldn’t get that man’s face out of his head. The pure fear and terror at the start, as he’d begged them with teary eyes not to do it, and then the unbridled hatred in his eyes by the end. How could he have done something like that, he asked himself?! What kind of person had he become?!

“Hey?” said Aaron, leaning over and putting his hand under Kyle’s chin to make him look at him. Their eyes met only for a second but Aaron gave him a soft little half-smile. “What else were you meant to do?!” he asked rhetorically.

“I could have fought” said Kyle, as he looked away and began to blink quite frantically. He could feel the warm tears flowing down his injured face. They sort of stung. This was all just becoming too much! First Jae, and now this poor Greek man! As far as he knew, the guy had done very little to deserve it. Just another poor soul who’d crossed Ducky in some way. How had he become one of Ducky’s enforcers?! How had that happened?! In the course of a day, he’d gone from being raped and brutalised to meting out a similar sort of punishment to someone else! He was disgusted at his own weakness. How easily he’d been manipulated. The voices of Ducky’s men rang in his ears. They’d roared with delight when he’d landed the first punch. They’d jeered and screamed at him to do it again, and when he’d tried to refuse, Ducky had made it clear that it was either him or them. He’d been too frightened to say no.

“And got yourself killed?” reasoned Aaron, “Got Josh killed? …Or worse?”

“I could… I could have s-said ‘no’” he stammered, as his chin began to tremble, “I could have… I could have fought for him… Tried…”

“What?!” asked Josh again, raising his head this time and looking at Kyle in confusion. Kyle had his back to him and all he could hear was a low mumble. They hadn’t spoken a word to each other since they’d left the shower room. They’d sat in silence the whole way through dinner with their eyes fixed on the table in front of them. Then they’d walked in total silence the whole way back here, each in their own private torment. He didn’t really want to talk to him now either. He didn’t think he could even look Kyle in the eye. He’d never felt so ashamed.

“You didn’t have a choice” insisted Aaron, shaking his head and emphasising each word, “You didn’t!”

“Tell that to that poor man!” said Kyle, as the dam broke and he began to really sob “…We just beat him half to death!”

Josh shook his head in an exasperated way. Kyle kept saying something but he didn’t know what it was. He shuffled over on his knees towards the bed and reached out to him. “Hey?” he said, giving his shoulder a little shake.

Suddenly he was flat on his back! Kyle had hit him, catching him under the chin, and knocking him backwards onto the floor. He put his hand to his injured chin and held his other arm in front of him to protect himself. He looked scared.

“What were you doing?!” demanded Kyle. He was breathing really heavily and looking down at him with mad staring eyes. “Why were you sneaking up on me like that?!” he asked.

“I… I wasn’t… I wasn’t sneaking up on you!” stammered Josh, “I just… I didn’t… You were talking!”

“Yeah, well…” said Kyle, turning over again and hugging his arms around himself, “I wasn’t talking to you!” Kyle went back to mumbling, as though he was engaged in a full-blown conversation with someone who wasn’t there. His shoulders were shuddering up and down as he continued to cry.

Josh slowly got himself back up and crawled back to his usual spot beside the toilet. He put his hand to the newest injury to his face and stared across at Kyle in a wounded sort of way. His eyes slowly filled with tears, even the one that he couldn’t open, and he started to give shuddery little sobs. He’d never felt more lost and alone. In a way, he’d begun to think of Kyle as his big brother. A sort of Andy replacement. He looked to him to take charge, and to lead the way, but today he’d taken him to a place that he never wanted to go again. He’d found himself surrounded by rabid animals, shouting his name, and cheering him on, as he beat the living daylights out of some poor man that he didn’t even know. He’d done what he was told, in the most pathetic and mindless way. Like a soldier following orders. He hadn’t made that decision for himself. He’d been driven by pure fear and animal instinct. He’d simply followed Kyle’s lead.  

Suddenly the door slid open and Josh looked up to see a fuzzy green form standing in the doorway. From his size and shape he could see that it was Dimitri. Kyle rolled over and sat up in a startled sort of way. “What do you want?!” he asked.

Dimitri looked back and forth at their battered faces and shook his head a little sadly before stepping inside and pulling the door closed. “I just came to say well done” he said, hunkering down in front of them. “I know today can’t have been easy” he continued, “But you did what you had to do… You kept your heads.”

“You know… you know about that guy?!” stammered Josh, still finding it hard to get the words out with his swollen mouth.

“Yeah… I know” said Dimitri, giving them a sympathetic little head tilt, “He’ll be okay… Mostly facial injuries… a broken bone here or there… He’ll live.”

“What kind of cop are you?!” asked Kyle, “You think this kind of **** is okay?! What we did today was assault… maybe even attempted murder!”

Dimitri smiled and gave a little snort. “Out in the real world maybe” he said, “But in here there are different rules… You eat, or you get eaten... You know that!” He looked back and forth between the two boys. They both looked so shame-faced. “Look! I know you don’t like it… and that’s a good thing! Believe me! It means you’re still human! …But you didn’t have a choice, and now you’re on the right side of Ducky… You can rest easy tonight.”

“And then what?!” asked Kyle, “Because I am never doing that again… not ever!”

“You won’t have to” promised Dimitri with an excited looking smile, “It’s all gonna be over tomorrow… You just have to hang in there!”

“What’s happening tomorrow?” asked Josh, with a decidedly nervous look on his face.

“D day” he said, with a little raise of his eyebrows, “You boys have played a blinder in the end… It’s all going ahead tomorrow.”

“The shake down?” asked Josh, looking at Kyle with a worried expression.

Dimitri nodded and lightly ruffled Josh’s hair. “So, just… Sit tight boys… By this time tomorrow night, this’ll all be a distant memory.”

Kyle looked at Josh in a way that said ‘This will never be a distant memory… not for us!’

Dimitri got up and walked towards the door. “Oh!” he said, turning with that childlike expression that ‘Dimitri’ had always worn. He produced two lollipops from his pocket and threw them in a gentle way onto the bed beside Kyle. “Soon we all get out of here” he said, in ‘Dimitri’s’ accent, “Then we all happy!” He gave a little laugh and stepped outside.

They watched as the door slid shut and then turned to look at each other.

“Do you believe him?” asked Josh.

“I guess we have to” sighed Kyle, as he glanced sideways at a very hopeful looking Aaron, “What other choice do we have?”

“Th-sit tight” repeated Josh. He sounded exhausted. “We th-still have tomorrow to get thhhrough!” He didn’t know how they were going to sit down at that table again for breakfast… or set foot in that shower room ever again! The thought of it was making him feel panicky.

“Yeah, we do…” said Kyle, as he slipped his hand under the frame of the bed and began to fish around a little, “But… I can’t… I can’t be here for that.” After a moment of fumbling he produced a little packet of something and looked up at Josh in a guilty sort of way. “One of the Russians” he said, with a little shrug, “He said it’ll chill you out… help with the pain… I didn’t want to take it… I mean, I didn’t think I was going to… It’s not something I’ve ever really done…” He didn’t see another way for him to get through things with Ducky and his men. And his whole body was aching so badly now that he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep. Not with the howls of that poor man still bouncing around his head. He was tortured with them! He needed something to take the edge off... Something to get him through it… He didn’t want to, but he didn’t think that he had another choice. “I’m only gonna take one” he said, glancing at Aaron apologetically, “I just… Everything hurts.”

“What is it?” asked Josh, raising his brows at him. He was very surprised. Kyle had always seemed quite anti-drugs. He also wondered why he’d been holding out on him when they’d both obviously been in so much pain. Last night he’d even considered stealing some of the crystal meth because he’d been so desperate for pain relief. He just hadn’t been too sure how to use it, and all those photos of meth heads had flashed through his mind as a pretty powerful deterrent. He had no qualms about taking this pill though. He was just surprised that Kyle was the one offering.

“I don’t know” shrugged Kyle, “Some kind of benzo, I think.” He slowly began to unwrap the little packet. There were only four pills. “You want one?” he asked, as he popped one in his own mouth and swallowed.

Josh nodded and stuck his hand out. The pain in his bruised and broken body was getting too much to handle, and he hoped that this might make him feel good, just for a little while. Or at least numb things. He popped the pill in his mouth and struggled for a moment to swallow. “Now what?” he said, looking up at Kyle for guidance.

Kyle gave a little sigh and glanced sideways at Aaron. He could see him looking at him disapprovingly but right now, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He’d never be able to understand what he’d been through, and besides, he knew that he wasn’t real. The flesh and blood version of Aaron would have been just as disapproving, he knew that, but he was dead and rotting in the ground somewhere. Dead men didn’t get to have opinions! He looked back at Josh and gave a little shrug. “I guess we sit tight, just like he said.”

 

*****

 

Kat slammed the phone down and let out a frustrated sort of half-scream. Ash could be the most infuriating man sometimes! How could he have done this thing without telling her?! And how could he expect her to just sit here now and do nothing?! Surely, he knew that that wasn’t how her mind worked?! Surely, he knew her better than that by now?!

‘Oh, don’t worry, Kat!’ she mimicked in her head, as she silently fumed at her desk, ‘The Feds have everything under control… They just didn’t want me telling you in case you got worried!’

She got up and went to the coffee machine and began angrily pressing buttons. “Treating me like I’m just some little wifey, waiting at home…” she muttered to herself as she watched the machine pouring out frothy white coffee. She grabbed the cup and started angrily tearing at sugar packets. “Like I’m just some 1950s house-wife, at home with the baby, ironing his socks or something!” She couldn’t get over the attitude or the fact that he’d told her to keep her nose out of it. He’d actually shouted at her, and told her to mind her own business! How dare he?! Oooh! She was gonna make him regret that!

She picked up the coffee and stomped back to her desk. “Mind my own business?!” she muttered to herself, “Mind my own business?! …I’m a cop! This IS my business!” She opened her laptop and began to search the database for the name of the Federal Agent ‘Lee’ to see if she could find out some information on him or a contact number. She wanted to speak to him directly and see exactly what her dumbass of a boyfriend had gotten himself involved in. Why did he have to keep hanging around these Braxtons anyway?! She’d hoped that when they’d left the Bay that that would be the end of it! ‘But noooo!’ she said to herself, ‘He has to go running… Every time Brax or Heath clicks his fingers… there’s Ash, like an obedient puppy or something! What is wrong with him?!’

‘Agent Angus Lee’ turned up very little information. There was a photo of quite an attractive Asian man in his police uniform from when he’d first joined the force, and another of him a good few years later being handed a medal. Other than that, she couldn’t find anything much. She gave a little huff of frustration. There was just the name of his office and a general contact number. She picked up the phone and dialled. After being passed from pillar to post, she finally got put through to his office, but all she got was the answer machine. She left a polite message asking that he call Constable Chapman back at Yabbie Creek Police Station.

She took a sip of her coffee and frowned at the photo on her phone’s homescreen. It was a picture of her and Ash on the beach and she had her arms thrown around him while he took the selfie. She was smiling from ear to ear as she pressed her cheek against his. What would she do if something bad happened to him?! She loved him and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing him. Unbearably stupid, though he might be! Heath was supposedly missing, according to Bianca, and Ash and the Braxtons were involved in some sort of undercover drug sting. It sounded dangerous! And ill thought out… and not only that, but it all seemed to be falling apart already. What were these Feds even doing?! Did they have it under control?! What if they got him killed?!

She unlocked her phone and went to her contacts. There was one person that might be able to help her out here. “W-E-S-T” she typed in, and nodded to herself, when the name ‘Westlake’ came up. Carson Westlake had gone through police training with her way back in the day. They hadn’t kept in touch that much, especially since she’d had that bit of trouble back in the city and lost a lot of credibility, but she was sure that he’d help out an old mate, if she asked him to. Maybe he could do a bit of digging?

She pressed call and tried to smile as she listened to it ring. “Hey! Westie!” she exclaimed, in an overly friendly tone of voice, “It’s your old mate Chappie here! …Long time no speak! How’s life treating you in the Big Smoke?!”

 

*****

 

Heath stopped what he was doing and stared at Calvin for a moment. He thought that he’d heard him say something but it became clear that he was just murmuring in his sleep. His heart was thumping and it was making it hard for him to concentrate. He kept jumping at any little noise.

“Protein” mumbled Calvin, as he shifted a little in the chair and scratched at his belly, “Protein shake and a bacon sambo…”

Heath just sat there, frozen stock still, as he watched him dozing in the kitchen chair. He had his head thrown back, with his mouth hanging open, and his feet propped up on the table. It seemed like he was out for the count!

‘Just stay that way’ he pleaded with him silently, ‘Please don’t wake up!’

The house was deathly quiet, apart from the occasional creak of wooden floorboards. He knew that it was pretty normal for old houses, but every little noise was making him jump. It was the middle of the night and Calvin had finally fallen asleep after finishing most of a bottle of tequila and at least half a dozen joints. He’d wittered on and on all evening about weight training and how to get defined muscle tone while putting in the least amount of effort. It was clear that he wanted quick results but he didn’t want to have to put the work in to get them. He'd been true to his word though. He’d given him the cup of Coke and the cold burger and fries. He’d sat there and watched him as he’d frantically wolfed them down. He’d even given him a bag of potato chips and a bottle of water. Heath had begun to think that he seemed like a reasonable enough fella until he’d poured him a tequila and then threatened to shoot him if he didn’t drink it! Before he knew it, he’d drunk five shots, and he really wasn’t feeling too good. He’d made him smoke a couple of joints too, even though he didn’t want to, and laughed when he’d nearly ‘whiteyed’. The dehydration, coupled with the alcohol and the cannabis had turned his stomach. He’d actually retched a couple of times and had to grip the edge of the table because his head was spinning so much! That had amused his captor no end! “Lightweight!” he’d teased, “Didn’t realise this was your first rodeo!” As the evening wore on, he’d become progressively erratic in his behaviour, acting as though they were the best of friends one moment, and like he might just kick his head in for fun the next. He’d scared him half to death when he’d suggested they play Russian roulette and started removing all but one bullet. He’d even pulled the trigger with the gun pressed against Heath’s temple and left him a trembling mess. It was the closest that he’d ever come to wetting himself! Hours had gone by, with Heath nearly sure that he was going to wind up with a bullet between the eyes, but eventually Calvin had grown tired and decided that he wanted to sleep. Besides, they’d drained the bottle at that stage and he had no more weed. It was time for bed! He’d produced a roll of very heavy-duty electrical tape and secured Heath’s wrists behind his back again. Then he’d dragged him over to the stove and left him huddled on the floor. He’d even shortened the chain so he couldn’t really move more than about a foot away from it. He was stuck there!

“Come on!” Heath grunt-whispered under his breath, as he turned his attention back to the task at hand, “Come on, you little bastard!”

Despite the haze of alcohol, and the pain in his throbbing head, his thoughts were surprisingly clear. Maybe it was the adrenalin coursing through his veins, or sheer survival instinct, but all he could think of was trying to escape.  He knew that he needed to get out of here, and he needed to do it now! Calvin was clearly an unknown quantity and could easily kill him for no reason. He didn’t want to be around when he woke up! He gave an exasperated huff and tried to steady his shaking hands. He was trying to work a nail out of the wall behind the stove. It wasn’t easy because his wrists were taped together behind him and he couldn’t see what he was doing. It was a long thin nail, but whoever had tried to drive it into the wall had lost interest halfway through. They’d left it half in, and half out. He’d spotted it an hour or two ago but he’d had to wait for Calvin to fall asleep before he could get his hands on it. He was cutting his fingertips trying to get it out, but sheer desperation was driving him on. He hissed a little with the pain but clawed at it as best he could. It was starting to move a little. He rocked it back and forth.

“Okay, mum” mumbled Calvin, in a whining sort of tone, “I’ll do it later.”

He glanced up at him to make sure that he was still sleeping and eyed the gun that was sitting pride of place on the table in front of him. If he could just get this nail out of the wall, then he might be able to free his hands, and maybe even pick the lock on his ankle. It was a longshot but he had to do something! He couldn’t just sit here and wait for this psycho to kill him!

Suddenly the nail came loose and slid out of the wall behind him. He would have shouted with joy if he hadn’t been so scared of waking Calvin. ‘Okay, you can do this!’ he told himself, as he began to saw at the tape around his wrist with the sharp end of the nail. This was going to take a while! If only he knew what time it was, or how long Calvin would be asleep… ‘Come on!’ he said to himself, ‘You don’t have much time!’

[Ludub]

Okay, so huge apologies for the long wait on this one! I have been up to my eyes in work the last while and also very busy with other more fun stuff (so don't feel too bad for me ). This is probably the longest I've gone without posting and I've been feeling very guilty about neglecting my stories. Is that weird? lol! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this one...

WARNING: VERY ADULT THEMES!

 

Chapter 43

 

"I can't feel anything" slurred Josh, "Everything... it's like it's aneeez, like it's aneezthet... like it's completely numb" He was sitting cross-legged on the floor and pulling at his injured face with both hands as though it was made of play dough. It was the first time in months that he wasn't in pain and he couldn’t quite take it in. "Even my ribs don't hurt!" he said with an excited giggle as he poked at them with one hand, "They don't even feel like they're mine..."

Kyle lay on his back on the lower bunk and stared at the springs above him. He felt like he couldn't move. Like every part of him was glued down. It should have been scary, being paralyzed like this, but it wasn't. He just felt a deep sense of calm. Even the disapproving looks that Aaron was giving him weren’t enough to rattle him. He hadn’t felt this at peace with things in a very long time. Nothing seemed to matter anymore....

"Kyle?" said Josh, leaning forward and nudging him on the leg to get his attention, "What is this stuff?! It's... It's amazing!"

"I dunno" mumbled Kyle, "Just some… some stuff Boris gave me" His voice sounded spaced out and distant.

Josh slumped back against the wall and began to giggle a little. He was looking at his hands and wiggling his fingers. He couldn't feel them but he could see them moving. They were very badly swollen from earlier, with broken knuckles and raw meaty looking flesh. He knew that they should hurt. But they didn't. He struggled for a while with uncoordinated movements to pull his T-shirt off over his head, getting it stuck there for a moment. Once it was off, he looked down at his blackened torso and started to poke at the darkest of the bruises with his index finger. Nothing! He could feel a distant sort of sensation that told him something was touching him there, but there was no pain. It was the strangest thing, like being inside someone else's body. He could move the parts but he was cut off from its nervous system. Like a puppeteer pulling his puppet's strings. He began to laugh as he punched himself hard in the thigh. There was nothing! Nothing at all! "I can't feel a thing!" he giggled again, as he slapped himself across the cheek, "Nothing!" He watched with interest as fresh drops of blood began to drip from his lip onto the floor. He’d reopened the wound.

“I can’t feel anything either” muttered Kyle, “Not a thing…”

“How long do you think it’ll last?” he asked.

“I dunno…” said Kyle.

“I don’t think I can walk” he laughed, “Can you?!”

“I can’t move” chuckled Kyle, “Like… at all…”

“What if we’re like this in the morning?” he asked, “What if the guards find us like this? Or find the pills?”

“It can’t last that long…” mumbled Kyle, “But I guess… if they do… they do…”

“I guess it won’t matter… if things work out tomorrow” he sighed. He looked down at his hands again and thought about what they’d done today. He couldn’t really believe that it might be over tomorrow. That they might be leaving this hellhole behind. “What do you think… what do you think the new place will be like?” he slurred, “I mean, do you think it’ll be better than this?”

“Anywhere would be better than this…” answered Kyle, “It has to be, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know” said Josh, suddenly bursting out laughing, “Things can always get worse.” It wasn’t a happy sort of laughter. It was more like hysteria, his diaphragm bouncing up and down, and his whole body shaking. He had no idea why he was laughing when a large part of him wanted to cry. It just suddenly struck him as very funny. “Things can always always always get worse…” he said again, in a breathless and giggly sort of way, “So much worse! …and just when you think you’ve hit rock bottom, the floor drops out from under you again… and you start thinking ‘You know? Back when I thought I was having a hard time? …I actually had it pretty good… because this has to be the lowest you can go… It can’t get worse than this!” He sat shaking his head as he watched droplets of blood drip onto the floor. “But you know what?” he said, talking more to himself than to Kyle, “It always does… Something happens… and you find a whole new sort of hell waiting for you… It can always get worse… Always… I mean… Who knows what’s gonna happen next?!” He wiped at his lip and looked at the bright red blood on his fingers. It just made him laugh even more. “I don’t know if I even care…” he said, hugging his arms around his stomach to try to stop laughing. It wasn’t working very well…

After what felt like a very long time, Kyle turned to look at Josh. He looked to him like someone demented, just sitting there giggling with his eyes closed. “Oh God!” giggled Kyle, trying to sit up, but flopping onto his back again with his head spinning, “What the **** is this ****?!” He felt strange and distant, like he was watching everything from a mile away. Or watching himself through Aaron’s eyes. “I can’t even… I can’t…”

“I don’t know…” said Josh, still giggling like a madman, “…but whatever it is… it feels good …In fact… it doesn’t feel like anything… It’s like I’m not even here anymore… Like I don’t exist…”

“Yeah...Exactly! …You can feel it” mumbled Kyle, “You can feel it all around you...”

“Huh?!” asked Josh.

“The nothingness...” he replied, “It’s stretching out and eating everything in its path... and pretty soon everything will be nothing... but that’s okay... It’s okay... because nothing doesn’t hurt... nothing is nothing...”

“What?!”

“I’ll be nothing…” continued Kyle, “Just like Aaron is nothing... so that’ll be okay...” He gave a sad little laugh and looked up at Aaron who was standing at the end of the bed with his arms folded in disapproval. He knew that he wasn’t happy with him for taking drugs, and that he really wasn’t happy with him for what he’d done today. He knew that he’d let him down and he felt ashamed of himself. But none of that would matter tomorrow. They were going to die tomorrow… “When I’m nothing” he said, as his eyes filled with tears, “It won’t matter what I’ve done... because I won’t matter.”

“Kyle... what the **** are you talking about?!” asked Josh. He really couldn’t follow this at all. What did he mean, ‘when he was nothing’?!

“People can’t take nothing away from you... because nothing is nothing... They can’t take what you don’t have... And they can’t hurt you if you’re not even there...”

“Kyle?” moaned Josh, in a frustrated sort of way, “What are you even saying?!”

“Shhhh!” laughed Kyle, putting his finger to his lips in an exaggerated way, “Don’t tell anyone…”

“I don’t understand” muttered Josh, as he tried to bring Kyle into focus through even hazier vision than normal. He couldn’t concentrate at all on what he was saying. It didn’t seem to make any sense! “What are you talking about?!” he asked again.

“Nothing!” laughed Kyle, “That’s the point!”

 

*****

“Brax?!” said Jenny, speaking into the intercom, “I need you to come down here… We have a delivery guy who’s refusing to leave until he speaks to you.”

“Can’t you deal with it?” he asked, “We’re kind of in the middle of something… family stuff…” Ricky was sitting at the breakfast table with Bianca. They were both throwing him ‘get rid of her!’ glares from across the room, but it was easier said than done! Bianca was still furious with them, and no matter how much they tried to get her to see it from their perspective, she was having none of it! Being interrupted mid-argument, because of problems with the restaurant, was just exacerbating things! “Jen, I made you manager…” he began to say but the young waitress cut him off mid-sentence.

“He’s being a total dick!” she said, “He won’t leave…  He won’t let us sign for the delivery… He says you and only you can sign for it… Come on, please, Brax?! …Some of the girls are getting a little freaked out…”

“I don’t know… Can you not just tell him you’ll call the cops?” he said, shaking his head at Ricky in an exasperated way, “I don’t have time for this!”

“Smithy” she said, “He said to tell you his name is ‘Smithy’ and that that would mean something to you…”

All the colour drained from his face and he looked across at Ricky and Bianca. “Smithy” he mouthed to them, and pointed at the handset in his hand. They both turned to face him with eyes wide with worry.

“Brax?!” said Jenny, wondering why he’d suddenly fallen silent, “Are you still there?!”

“Yeah… uh…” he stammered, “Tell him… tell him I’ll be down in five… Give him a beer or something.”

“Oh-kay?” said Jenny, in a questioning sort of tone, “I’ll tell him.” With that, she let go of the button and ran back across the road to the restaurant. She wasn’t looking forward to dealing with this creep again, but at least if Brax was on his way, she could cope for 5 minutes. She couldn’t help wondering what this was all about. What kind of hold did this guy ‘Smithy’ have over her boss?!

Brax slid the handset back into the holder and pulled his mobile from his pocket. “I’d better call Lee” he said, glancing over at Ricky, “Looks like Smithy wants the second instalment…”

 

*****

 

“Okay, just a bit more” whispered Heath, as he did his best to pick the lock on his ankle. It really wasn’t as easy as they made it look in the movies. The biggest problem was that he didn’t really know what he was doing. He’d never picked a lock before. Wiggling a thin piece of metal around inside didn’t seem to be doing much and he was getting more and more frustrated. “Come on!” he grunted under his breath, “You little bastard… Just… Open!” He glanced up at Calvin to make sure that he was still asleep. Much to his relief, he seemed to be dead to the world! Mouth still hanging open, head thrown back, and even the occasional snore. “****!” exclaimed Heath, as he heard a small click inside the padlock, but whatever it was just popped back into place again. Maybe he’d gotten close?! Maybe he’d almost got it?! He was sweating heavily now, having spent hours sawing at the tape around his wrists, and god knows how long trying to reach Calvin’s gym bag without waking him! Calvin had left it lying on the floor, just slightly out of his reach, but with his hands now free he’d just about been able to get to it. The bag was full of dirty laundry, but he’d spotted a small badge on the side, a black one with a cannabis leaf. He was using the pin on the back to try to pick the lock.

Some of what had happened yesterday had started to come back to him, and he’d filled in the blanks from what Calvin had said during their drinking session last night. He didn’t remember being hit in the head in the carpark of the prison, or being dragged into Calvin’s truck, and he definitely didn’t remember being kept in a boiler room for six hours! He did have a vague memory of being driven around in the boot of a car and vomiting because of the extreme heat and motion sickness… but everything else was a hazy blur. No wonder his head hurt so much! He wondered if Brax and the Feds knew what had happened to him, and whether they were doing anything about it? Did they know where he was? Did they know that he was still alive?

And what about Bianca?! Did she know that he’d been kidnapped?! Did she know about the mess that he’d gotten himself involved in?! What if something happened to the baby now because of this?! What if she lost the baby because of him?! How would he ever forgive himself?!

He began to work with greater urgency at the lock in his hands, but he was shaking now. “Please?” he pleaded with it, “I need to get out of here… please?!” Suddenly there was a gentle little click and he felt the lock release. He held the pin in place, and slowly slid the lock open. “Oh, my God!” he squealed quietly, “**** yes!” He removed the padlock and gently opened the tight iron shackle on his ankle and then quietly set it aside. There were cuts from where the metal edges had dug into his flesh. He massaged his ankle for a moment while he looked up at Calvin, and the gun sitting on the table in front of him. He hadn’t really thought past the point of getting the shackle off his ankle, but now that he was here, his mind was whirring. ‘Get the gun, chain him up, get the car keys, drive to safety.’ He knew what he needed to do!

He slowly got to his feet, feeling shaky and nervous, and began to tiptoe towards the table. ‘Come on’ he thought to himself, ‘You can do this, Heath… Just swipe the gun off the table… You’ve got this!’ When he got close enough to the table he began to reach forward, moving as quietly as he could, and keeping an eye on Calvin. Time seemed to pass in slow motion. He was scared to make too sudden a movement in case he woke him.

Suddenly, just as his hand made contact, he realised that Calvin’s eyes were open. He was looking right at him! He swiped the gun off the table as fast as he could and pointed it at his head. His hands were clearly shaking. He wished that they weren’t, but they were!

“Let me see your hands” he ordered, as he took a step back, “…Slowly.”

Calvin smiled up at him but didn’t make a move. He had one hand resting on his thigh and he seemed to be sitting on the other.

“Hands!” shouted Heath again, “Where I can see ‘em!”

“Well…” laughed Calvin, “You’ve been busy, haven’t you?! …I thought I’d tied you pretty tight this time…”

“Shut up!” roared Heath, “I have the gun now… so I’m calling the shots!”

“You think so?” asked Calvin, as he reached calmly for a half-smoked cigarette off the table and popped it in his mouth.

“I said ‘put your hands up!’” he growled at him.

“Ah come on Heath!” laughed Calvin, “There’s no need for you to get yourself so wound up! I thought the two of us were mates!”

“We’re not mates” said Heath, “Now do what I say or I’ll put a bullet in your head… No second thoughts!” He hoped that he wouldn’t call his bluff. He really didn’t want to kill anyone!

Calvin raised an eyebrow at him and began to smirk. “I think we both know you’re not gonna kill me” he said, “You don’t have it in you… That killer instinct… That drive.”

“You don’t know what I’m capable of!” snarled Heath, “You don’t know anything about me!”

“I know that you’re pointing a gun at me… but you haven’t shot me yet” he said, with a little smile, “…And that it only has one bullet”.

Heath’s stomach gave a little jolt. He hadn’t remembered that! Calvin had taken all but one bullet out of the chamber last night to play Russian roulette! How could he have forgotten that?! “It’s one more bullet than you have” he said.

“That’s true” laughed Calvin, “But I suppose you have to ask yourself the question… Do you have the guts to do it? To look into the eyes of another man and pull that trigger?” He made a show of reaching for the lighter on the table in a way that said ‘don’t shoot, it’s only a lighter!’  and then lit his cigarette. “Cos I don’t think you do” he said, holding the cigarette between his teeth, “I think you’d have done it by now…” He took his feet down off the table, set the cigarette down in the ashtray again, and began to stand up.

“Stop!” warned Heath, “Sit down!”

“No, I don’t think I will” said Calvin, stretching his arms out in an exaggerated way and yawning dramatically.

“I said ‘sit down!’” repeated Heath, as he continued to point the gun. He could see that Calvin wasn’t taking him seriously. ‘I’m actually gonna have to shoot him!’ he thought to himself, ‘I can’t see any other way!’ He was clearly a cocky little bastard. He was leaving him no other choice!

Calvin began to move towards him. “Come on, mate?” he coaxed, as he inched towards him slowly, “Just give me the gun and we’ll forget all about this? eh?”

“I said ‘stop!’” warned Heath, as he backed away a little. He could feel his finger just itching to pull the trigger. Part of him wanted to, just to wipe that smug smile off his face. “One step closer and I’ll do it!” he said.

“Now, now, sweetheart” said Calvin, continuing to move towards him, “No need for this… I told you we were just gonna hang out… have a few beers…” Suddenly he made a lunge for the gun…

BANG!

“Oh ****!” exclaimed Calvin, now lying on the floor, “You shot me! You ****ing shot me! You ****ing idiot!” He was cradling his injured leg. The bullet had ripped through his tattooed left calf muscle, taking a large portion of tattoo with it. Blood was seeping across the floor.

Heath just stood there with the gun in his hand and a shocked look on his face. He hadn’t meant to pull the trigger. It had just gone off in the struggle.

“I’m gonna bleed to death!” whined Calvin, “You asshole! …You ****ing shot me!”

Heath shook his head as though to wake himself from his stupor. He turned and ran to the door, throwing it open and charging outside, but what he saw took his breath away. They were in the middle of the bush. There was nothing around for miles and miles, not as far as he could see. He’d expected to see farmland, and maybe some neighbouring houses, but the land surrounding this house had long since been returned to scrub. Everything was scorched and brown. It hadn’t been farmed in decades! He turned in a full circle. They were miles from civilisation and he had no idea where he was! He turned to look at Calvin’s truck and pulled at the doors but they were locked. He stood for a moment, squinting up at the sun. It was only early morning but it was already getting hot. He wouldn’t be able to walk out. With a heavy sigh, he turned and looked back through the door at the young blonde man in the middle of the floor. Even from here, he could see that he was bleeding badly. Much as he hated him, he didn’t want him to die. He didn’t want that on his conscience! Not after Gunno! He was going to have to go back in there!

“You asshole!” grunted Calvin, as he saw him come back through the door, “I can’t believe you shot me!”

“Give me your keys!” said Heath, walking back over to him and holding his hand out for them, “You need help! …You can come with me… or I’ll go and get someone and bring them back… It’s up to you.”

“**** you!” growled Calvin, “I’m not that ****ing stupid!”

“Look at your leg” said Heath, as he crouched down in front of him, “You’re gonna bleed out if we don’t get you some help… Come on… Give me your keys and I’ll even drive you to hospital… I’m not a murderer… Like you said, I don’t have it in me…”

Calvin looked at the blood that was running thick and syrupy between his fingers and then up at Heath with angry narrowed eyes. “Okay” he said, slipping his hand behind him to pull something from his back pocket, “Here they are!”

Heath froze to the spot when he saw that he’d pulled a second gun. His heart was thumping in his chest as he stared down the barrel of an old fashioned looking six-shooter. “Don’t” was all that he managed to say, “Please, don’t!”

“Maybe you don’t have it in you” said Calvin, as he pulled the trigger, “But I do!”

BANG!

[Ludub]

Okay, so BIG RED WARNING time - This chapter's pretty dark  Hope you like it though! Thanks again to everyone for the very kind comments (and Christine King and Bijou: apologies that I haven't had time to reply - thanks as always for the feedback. Much appreciated!)

WARNING: VERY ADULT THEMES & VIOLENCE!!!

 

Chapter 44

 

“He’s over there” said Jenny, pointing towards one of the booth tables over by the window and grimacing a little. “He’s weird, Brax… He gives me the creeps.”

“You wouldn’t be the only one” said Brax, as he peered across the room. Smithy was sitting at their best table, with a full cooked breakfast in front of him, a newspaper spread out on the table, and a mug of coffee in his hand. He was dressed casually but he had a clipboard and a pen tucked behind his ear to complete his ‘delivery guy’ look.  He seemed to be thoroughly engrossed in the making of a sandwich, piling up bacon and fried egg, and lovingly constructing it with great care. After admiring it for a moment from all angles, he picked it up, and took a huge ketchupy buttery bite.

“Who is he?” asked Jenny, “I mean… what does he want with you?”

Brax gave her the sort of look that he always did when he wasn’t going to answer her questions. It said ‘my business is my business, and you’d better keep your nose out of it’.

“Okay” she mouthed, with a disapproving raise of her eyebrows, “I guess I’ll just go clean the bar then, shall I?”  She walked a short distance along the bar and made a show of lifting a cloth to start wiping at it. It was clear that she wasn’t going to take her eyes off them.

He gave her an uneasy little nod and then headed towards the booth table. “Okay… you got me here” he said, standing opposite with his arms folded, “What do you want?”

“Darryl!” exclaimed Smithy, with a mouth half-full of bacon and toast, and a mug of coffee in his hand, “Good to see you mate!” He waved his half-eaten sandwich in his hand to indicate the young waitresses watching from across the room. “I told these pretty young things that you’d want to come down and deal with me in person!”

“We weren’t meant to be meeting till later” said Brax, “You said lunchtime.” He was uneasy about the fact that he wasn’t wearing a wire. There hadn’t been time, so the Feds were completely in the dark here. What if he missed something important?! What if he did something that got Heath killed? He’d never been so nervous. He just hoped that it didn’t show.

“Sit” said Smithy, nodding to the seat opposite him, “Sit down with your old mate Smithy, and we’ll have a nice little chat.”

“Will you just cut the ****?!” said Brax, as he sat down, “We’re not mates and we never will be…”

“Now that’s not nice!” chuckled Smithy, “I am truly offended!” He made a show of setting down his sandwich and wiping at his mouth with a napkin. “It’s almost enough to put me off my food!”

Brax rolled his eyes at him and let out an exasperated huff. “What?! What is it you want?! I don’t have the stuff for you here! We agreed that we’d meet at lunchtime…” He lowered his voice and glanced around him as though to make sure that other customers weren’t listening. “I don’t keep it…” he said, “I don’t keep it on the premises… I told you that!”

“Calm!” he said, leaning over and patting him on the arm, “Don’t get your knickers in a twist!” He laughed a little when Brax pulled his arm away and glared at him like he’d like to strangle him with his bare hands. “You are a firey one, aren’t you?!” he laughed, “A guy calls over, takes a passing interest in this ‘respectable’ little life of yours… and you look like you’re just about ready to explode! Breathe, mate… You’ll feel better for it.”

“What do you want?” repeated Brax, emphasising every word in a frustrated sort of way.

Smithy picked his sandwich up again and took a big bite. He chewed it slowly, holding his index finger up to tell Brax to wait, while a big smile slowly crept across his face. “Like those… those pretty young waitresses of yours said, I’m making a delivery.”

“A delivery?” he asked, furrowing his brows.

“Yeah… This” said Smithy, reaching beside him and producing a brown cardboard box, “Don’t say I’m not a man of my word.”

Brax looked at the box now sitting on the table with a certain trepidation. It looked about the size that would fit a kettle or a toaster… but could easily fit something much more sinister.

“Go on” said Smithy, nodding for him to lift it and holding out his clipboard for Brax to sign. “You just pop your signature right here” he said, glancing out of the side of his eye at the curious looking faces dotted around the room. Everyone was watching.

Brax picked up the pen and signed his name before sliding the box towards him. It felt heavy. As he moved it towards him he noticed that there was something printed in large black print on the side of the box. He could see it in the reflection in the window. He turned it round so that he could read it. “The Stallion Tamer” it said on the side in huge black print, and underneath that it said, “Breaking a horse is never easy… Show him who’s boss!” There was a silhouette of a very obviously female figure with a horse’s head, mounting a male horse-headed figure with a very large strap-on. At the bottom of the box, on the white delivery label, it said “Contains deluxe real-feel dildo, harness, and horse’s bridle. Everything a ‘filly’ needs to bring her ‘stallion’ into line!”

“Very funny” scowled Brax as he turned the box on its side to try to hide the content from the waitresses who were now looking on in interest.

“Thought I’d sweeten the deal” laughed Smithy, “I thought your missus would get a kick out of it… I saw the way her eyes lit up when I suggested it!”

“**** you!” he growled, reaching across the table and grabbing Smithy by the front of the shirt. He stopped short of actually hitting him in the face, breathing heavily, with his fist poised in the air. He wanted to do it so badly! To wipe that grin off his face! But what if it meant that they didn’t get Heath back?! What if it put Kyle and Josh in even more danger?! He needed to get his temper under control!

“Go on!” Smithy dared him, “You know you want to! …But do you have the guts?”

“**** you!” he snapped again, letting go of his shirt and shoving him backwards.

“No, I think we’ve established that that’s your lady’s job…” he smirked, “Isn’t it?!” He nodded at the fact that the side of the box now facing him, and on plain view for the waitresses behind him, showed a very clear image of the dildo in question, complete with thick ropey veins and a life-like looking pair of testicles!

Brax looked over at one of the youngest waitresses in his employ, and saw that she’d stopped what she was doing, and was staring with her mouth hanging open in shock. He swiped the box off the table and set it on the seat beside him.

“So, what?!” huffed Brax, “You’ve just come here to fool around?!”

“Nah… Once you’ve stopped blushing like some little schoolgirl” he said, picking up his cup of coffee again, “You might want to take a look in the box… This wasn’t really a social call.”

“What is it?!” asked Brax, suddenly looking again at the box with fear, “What’s in there?!” He had visions of opening the box and discovering Heath’s severed head. What if Smithy was that unhinged?!

“What do you think it is?” asked Smithy, clearly amused at the look of fear on his face, “A bomb?!”

Brax’s eyes widened as he glanced at Smithy and then back at the box beside him. “Wuh… what…” he stammered. He’d never even thought of that possibility!

“Calm down!” laughed Smithy, “You are a funny fella, you know that?!”

“What is it?” he asked again.

“Money” he said, rolling his eyes at him and knocking him on the head in an ‘anyone home?’ kind of way. “Du-uh!” he laughed.

“Money?!” exclaimed Brax, a little too loudly. All the waitresses were definitely looking in his direction now!

“Well… yeah” said Smithy, looking at him like he had to be the dumbest drug dealer he’d ever dealt with, “That’s usually how it works, isn’t it?”

Brax nodded a little vacantly and looked back down at the box.

“You know?” continued Smithy, like he was explaining something to a small child who happened to be particularly slow, “You give me the thing to sell, I sell it, and then I give you some of the money… That’s how businesses usually work.” He looked around the restaurant and shook his head in wonder. “I’m amazed you’re able to keep this place running!”

“So, everything went to plan then?” asked Brax, looking back up at him hopefully. It looked like they might get out of this alive after all!

“Why wouldn’t it?” asked Smithy, narrowing his eyes at him a little.

“No… I just…” stammered Brax.

“Is there something I should know?” he asked.

“No… what… no… I…?” stuttered Brax, “I just…”

“**** sake!” said Smithy, shaking his head at him in a pitying sort of way, “How green are you fellas?!”

Brax flushed a little red. It was pretty obvious that he was out of his depth here! “Where’s Heath?” he asked, “You said we’d get him back if the deal went through okay… It went through… So, where is he?”

“Shhh!” laughed Smithy, holding his finger to Brax’s lips to stop his mouth, “The way I see it… me, you, and that gorgeous brother of yours, are all in bed together… a ménage a trois if you will… I think we’ll keep arrangements the way they are until this new little relationship of ours is a little more solid…”

“But… no…” pleaded Brax, “You can’t…”

“I just think we should all be clear on where we stand… Who’s doing what in this little threesome of ours…”

“How do I know he’s even alive?!” he demanded, glancing at the box a little warily again. He still wasn’t convinced that he wouldn’t find Heath’s head in there when he opened it!

Smithy smirked a little and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it and opened his Whatsapp to show him a video message. He handed it over with a little wink and nodded for him to press play.

There on the screen was a video of Heath. He was sitting at a wooden table, with no shirt on and a sticky looking head wound and trickles of congealed blood dried on his face. He looked frightened. Brax glanced up at Smithy before looking back at the phone and pressing ‘play’.

“Brax” said Heath, looking up at the camera with eyes wide with fear, “I’m okay… I’m alive and Smithy’s nephew is taking really good care of me… We’ve been having a few drinks and just hanging out… So, there’s nothing to worry about… Tell Bianca that I love her and the kids and… and that I’ll be home soon…” He stopped for a moment, grimacing a little, in a way that looked like he might start to cry. He just looked down at the ground. There was some rustling off screen and he looked up again in a startled sort of way. It was clear that he’d been told off or threatened. He looked at the camera again and forced a very fake smile. “Anyway, this is just so you know I’m okay… It’s the 2^nd November, about 11.30pm… I’m alive and kicking, and being treated well… Just… Just do what they say… don’t mess this up, Brax! …I … Don’t worry! …I’ll be home soon.”  The video ended and Brax played it again from the start. His heart was thumping. Heath was alive! Or at least he was last night, but he definitely didn’t seem too relaxed or happy, or like he was being treated ‘well’. He looked terrified!

“So…” said Smithy, taking another bite of his sandwich, “Heath’s fine… you can see that.”

Brax glared across the table at him. Every inch of his body was telling him to climb over there and kill this man with his bare hands! He would have done it in a heartbeat if it wouldn’t have meant a death sentence for Heath. He clenched his fists and tried to slow his breathing.

“So…” chuckled Smithy, as he stood up to leave, “You have fun counting your money…” He picked up his clipboard and put it under his arm before pulling on a UPS baseball cap, and throwing down the last of his coffee. “I’ll expect your delivery guy at 1.30… Remember, I like a lot of meat on my pizza!”

With that, he walked across the floor of the restaurant, whistling as he went. Brax gave a heavy sigh and put his face in his hands. He didn’t know what he was going to do!

Suddenly there was a loud squeal and he turned just in time to see young Alex give Smithy a hard smack across the face. “Don’t you ever touch me!” she yelled at him, “You creep!” He’d pinched her on the bum as he was walking past. All the other girls began to gather round, red faced in indignation, and Smithy backed away with his hands held up in mock defence.

“What can I say, girls?” he laughed as he back away through the door, “When I like what I see…”

“Get out!” roared Jenny, giving him a shove in the middle of the chest and then pointing for him to go.

Brax got to his feet and made his way to the door. “Can you just go?!” he asked, as Smithy stood in the doorway grinning from ear to ear, “You’ve had your fun!”

“Whatever you like” laughed Smithy, as he threw him a little wink, “Stud!”

As he walked away, his phone began to ring, playing ‘I Gotcha’ by Joe Tex.

Brax rolled his eyes, thinking how appropriate it was for him to have a song about rape as his ringtone. “Hey! Westie!” he heard him say as he answered his phone, “What’s up?!” Once he was out of range, he began to shepherd the crowd of angry waitresses back inside the restaurant, with small murmurs of apology.

“Brax?” shouted Stef, from the booth where they’d been sitting, “Do you want… do you want your… em… ‘delivery’?” She’d gone to clear the table, choosing to keep her nose out of the commotion by the door, and found the box sitting there. She had a bemused look on her face, a mix of shock and amusement.

Brax charged back over to her, red faced and embarrassed looking, and took the box from her hands. “Thanks” he said, glancing at the gaggle of girls now standing around him, “It’s uh… It’s just a… a joke.”

They all began to giggle a little as he raced off to the office in the back. The more he tried to hide what was in the box, the funnier it seemed. There was something suggestive printed on practically every side of it. No-one could be in any doubt as to what it contained!

“Well!” laughed Jenny, as she watched the office door slam shut, “You learn something new every day, don’t you?!” She nodded for everyone to get back to work and put her arm around Alex for a moment in a supportive sort of way. She gave her a little smile and motioned with her head towards the office door. “Did you see that box?” she whispered to her, “Never would have had them down as that sort of couple!” They both burst out laughing.

Down the street, Smithy stood beside his truck, and turned to look back at the restaurant with narrowed eyes. “That’s certainly interesting” he said, as he threw his cigarette down on the ground and stubbed it out with the heel of his shoe, “Very interesting indeed.” He climbed back in his truck and put his sunglasses on. “I appreciate you letting me know” he said, as he put the keys in the ignition, “Forget about that money you owe me… I’d say this makes us even!”

He hung up the phone and took out another one of his rollie cigarettes. He took a moment to have a think about things as he popped it in his mouth and lit it. Thanks to a well-placed contact with a sizable debt to pay, he’d just become privy to some new information. Some very valuable information! Sometimes being a loan shark paid off in more ways than one! He looked back up the street to the restaurant and nodded to himself a little. “Time to go to work” he said to himself, as he turned the key in the ignition, “Things just got very interesting!”

 

*****

 

“Here goes” grimaced Kyle, as he and Josh wandered towards Ducky’s table in the mess hall, “Another day in Paradise!”

Josh smirked a little sadly. They were both still a little high. Not like they’d been last night but the effects were surprisingly long lasting. The numbness hadn’t completely worn off yet, but his movements were a lot more coordinated, and at least he could walk again. He had no idea what that pill was, but he did know that he wanted a lot more of them. He wanted to be on them forever. Kyle had the other two in his pocket and they’d agreed to take them later as a sort of celebration if everything went well! He could only hope that things would go well…

As they got a little closer they were surprised to see Smithy standing with Ducky at the table. The two of them seemed to be having a rather heated conversation, albeit in whispered tones, but they stopped and looked at them when they drew nearer.

“Well, here’s the boys!” exclaimed Ducky, with a cruel looking smile on his face. He gave Smithy a pat on the back and nodded towards Kyle and Josh. “These are my new little mates!”

Smithy gave them a curt little nod and then winked at Ducky. “Right… I’d better be getting back” he said, heading back over to stand guard on the door. They saw him chat to one of the other guards and then take position where he could still watch them.

“What was that about?” asked Kyle, nodding his head in Smithy’s direction. He could see him smiling that smug smile of his, even from this distance.

“Ah, nothing!” smiled Ducky, as he took his seat at the table again, “Just telling me to keep my crew in line… Throwing his weight around… The usual…” He looked back and forth between the two boys and began to laugh. “You two!” he giggled, “You two look so ****ed up!”

Kyle glanced at Josh in a worried sort of way. Did he mean their injuries, or could he somehow tell that they were still tripping?!

“Come on?!” coaxed Ducky, patting the bench beside him and motioning with his head for Josh to come sit beside him, “Come sit with Ducky?! Bring that pretty little butt of yours over here.”

Josh couldn’t help flinching a little at the choice of words but reluctantly moved forward. He didn’t want to sit beside him, but he knew that he had no choice. Hopefully it would all be over by tonight. He just had to try to get through today as best he could… He wondered at the strange sense of calm that was still washing over him. Ordinarily, his heart would have been racing by now, but today it wasn’t. It was like everything was numb and distant. Like this misery was happening to someone else and he was merely watching it from the sidelines. He was just a spectator. He set his tray down on the table and slid onto the seat beside Ducky. He stared down at his food, and tried to ignore the sickening sensation of someone sliding their hand up his inner thigh.  ‘This isn’t happening’ he told himself, ‘This isn’t happening to me.’ The hand only stopped when it was mere inches from his groin.

“See?!” laughed Ducky, when Josh didn’t pull away, “That’s what I like to see…!” He turned and gently tucked Josh’s hair behind his ear, “And we didn’t even have to pull a single one of those pretty white teeth of yours!”

Josh winced a little at the thought of it and glanced at the pitiful young man at the end of the table. He was just staring at his tray in the most broken sort of way.

Kyle set his tray down on the opposite side of the table and sat down beside Kwon. He could feel that the drugs were starting to wear off because he was starting to get a little jumpy. He really wasn’t looking forward to the come down! He glared across the table at Ducky, watching in disgust as he manhandled Josh in the ‘rapiest’ of ways. It made his stomach churn.

“So…” said Ducky, throwing an arm over Josh’s shoulder and turning to look at Kyle, “How did you boys enjoy yesterday?”

Kyle made a sort of grimace and looked down at his tray of food in shame. He didn’t want to have to think about yesterday.

“Kostas learnt a valuable lesson yesterday” said Ducky, with a big smile stretched across his face. “Do you know what that was?” he asked Kyle.

Kyle looked up at Ducky and then glanced at the other men at the table. They were all waiting for his response, smirking, and throwing knowing little looks at each other.

“Well, do you?” asked Ducky, swiping a slice of toast off Kyle’s tray.

“I uh… uh…” stammered Kyle, “I guess… To repay his debts on time?”

“No” said Ducky with a little shake of his head, “He did owe me money… That’s true… but that wasn’t why he got that ass kicking…” He shook his head and sucked his teeth for dramatic effect. “He got that ass kicking” he continued, “because he crossed me… and that is something that a person should just never do… It’s something I don’t take lightly.”

Kyle held eye contact with him, and tried his best to appear calm, but inside he was panicking. Did he know?! Did he know that they were working for the Feds?! Was this his not so subtle way of saying that?!

“I mean… you can understand that… right?!” he asked, “Because trust… trust is so important… it’s everything really…” He raised one eyebrow and stressed the word again. “Everything!”

“Yeah… I get that” mumbled Kyle, hoping that his guilt wouldn’t shine through. He could see Josh starting to look increasingly worried and nervous. He reckoned that his pill must be wearing off now too. The jitters were clearly starting to set in!

“Yeah, I reckon you do” laughed Ducky, as he started to stand up and pulled Josh to his feet beside him. “I reckon you might just want an opportunity to prove your loyalty” he said, as all his men got up too, “…and I have just the thing in mind!”

Kwon yanked Kyle to his feet and started to push him towards the door. Within moments, much to their dismay, they were on their way back to the shower room. He saw Dimitri in the hallway as they were pushed past and tried to get his attention but he wasn’t sure whether he’d seen him or not. ‘Please?!’ he pleaded with him silently, ‘I can’t do this again!’

As they approached the door to the shower room they saw a guard standing on the door and a small queue of men still waiting to get in. Ducky and his men just pushed past them, and he saw him give the guard a pat on the arm, as they passed through the doorway. As soon as they walked in, a silence fell over the room as all the men inside turned to look at Ducky. Everyone had just stopped talking!

“Everybody out” he said, nodding with his head towards the door. Within moments, the room had been vacated, with men making their way back to their cells in nothing but a towel. Only Kyle, Josh, and Ducky’s gang remained inside. The guard gave them a little nod and closed the door.

“So?” said Ducky, still with his arm around Josh’s shoulder, “I think it’s time you boys showed us what you’re made of!”

Kyle looked around the shower room, wondering what it was that he wanted them to do. He’d expected there to be another victim, ready and waiting, but this time the room was empty. “Wuh… what?” he began to ask.

“Oh… Ma-arrk?” called Ducky in a sing songy way, “Why don’t you do the honours?”

Mark was dragged forward by a couple of Ducky’s men and pushed into the middle of the circle. He just stood there shaking with his eyes firmly fixed on the floor. He looked terrified.

“Come on, then!” laughed Ducky, “Don’t be shy!”

Josh shot a very worried glance at Kyle. He was beginning to put two and two together… ‘Oh God!’ he thought to himself, as he watched Mark being manhandled by a number of Ducky’s men. They were undoing the strings on his tracksuit bottoms! Then they yanked them down. ‘Not this!’ he thought, with a rising wave of panic, ‘Please, not this?!’

To their horror, they watched as Mark was turned around with his back to them and forced into position on his hands and knees. It wasn’t that he was completely passive but he wasn’t fighting back either. They could see him shaking with fear.

“Good boy!” laughed Ducky, stepping forward and ruffling Mark’s hair as though he was a pet dog.

Kyle tried to back away. His heart was thumping now! He didn’t want to do this! He wasn’t going to do this, even if it meant getting killed!

“I don’t think so” warned Kwon, whispering in his ear and pressing a knife against his lower back. He was standing right behind him!

Ducky smirked as he walked towards him. He could see the pure horror on his face. “Come on Kyle?!” he coaxed, putting his arm around his neck and pulling him over towards him in an overly friendly sort of way, “This isn’t anything new for you! Thought you'd be pleased to get a bit of action!”

“**** you!” growled Kyle, “I’m not doing this!”

“No” scolded Ducky, as he pointed at the young boy still cowering on the tiled floor, “**** him!”

Kyle bucked and wriggled his body as he tried to free himself. “I’m not doing this!” he shouted, “You can’t make me!”

“Tut tut tut” said Ducky, nodding for him to look across the room. One of Ducky’s men had a tight hold of Josh and a knife held hard against his neck. He was already bleeding. “You do a runner, and your little mate here pays the price.”

Kyle’s heart sank. He looked down at the young boy on the floor and knew in his heart that he couldn’t do this. Some things were worth dying for! He glanced across at Josh. He was frozen stock still but he could see by the look on his face that he was pleading with him not to do what Ducky asked. So, this was it! They were going to die now!

“Come on, then!” said Ducky, giving him a shove towards Mark, “Show the boys how it’s done!”

[Ludub]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment! Much appreciated!  

Sooooo.... Here we go! As promised! ...I'm a bit nervous about this one!  Big red warning time again... Really hope you like it! 

WARNING: VERY ADULT THEMES & VIOLENCE!!!! - Don't say you weren't warned! 

 

Chapter 45

 

“Mrrrrrhhhhhm!” groaned Calvin, as he limped back through the door of the farmhouse kitchen, and threw himself down on one of the chairs. He’d done his best to bandage up his leg and even tied a sort of tourniquet just below his knee. He was covered in dust and mud, and soaked from head to toe in sweat! “**** you, Heath!” he grunted, as he lifted his injured leg onto the seat of one of the other chairs and opened the almost empty tequila bottle. There was only a dribble left in the bottom but he drained it out onto his tongue. He opened the empty plastic bag that he’d had his weed in and found a small quantity of crumbs in the corner. He pinched them between his thumb and forefinger and then popped them in his mouth. It wasn’t going to do much but he thought that something was better than nothing! He was in a lot of pain…

He slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled his phone out. He was tempted to call his brother. He knew that he’d promised his uncle not to contact them unless absolutely necessary. He was only to turn his phone off ‘airplane mode’ at the pre-agreed contact times, and this wasn’t one of them. The only other reason he would be allowed to call was in a real emergency. Surely, killing your hostage by accident, and having half your calf muscle blown off had to be an emergency… Didn’t it?! And what were the chances that the Feds would trace his phone in the few seconds that he turned it on anyway?! How likely was that?! He thought it was probably worth the risk. He reasoned that his uncle had made him send that video last night, so the damage was probably already done! Surely, if the cops were going to trace anything, they’d be tracing that! He pressed the little ‘settings’ icon and sat with his thumb hovering over ‘flight mode’, wondering whether to turn it off or not. He wanted to call Joel so badly! Just to have someone come out here and sort everything out for him. To take him to the hospital. To do the grown-up stuff! He hated being responsible! But what was he going to say to him?! And what if he told Uncle Danny?! He was always such a goody two shoes. He’d probably go running to him straight away and tell him what a mess he’d made of things… and then what would happen?!

He grimaced when he looked at the blood soaked ‘bandages’ around his leg and winced when he tried to move it a little. It was a very nasty wound! He figured that he’d live though! He was pretty sure now that it wasn’t bad enough for him to bleed to death, but sitting here for the next few days on his own, without any pain relief, didn’t seem very appealing. He was going to have to do something! He was going to have to bite the bullet, so to speak, and either call his brother, or take himself to the hospital. After all, he didn’t want to have a mangled leg for the rest of his life!

He looked at the drying puddles of blood on the floor and shook his head a little angrily. “Why did you have to do that?” he asked, speaking to Heath as though he was there, “Why did you have to go and **** me off?! All you had to do was sit here for a day or two… but ‘oh no!’ you just had to try to escape! I mean… What was I supposed to do?!” He began to sort through the ashtray, pulling any joints from the ashes that might still have a little bit of unsmoked weed at the end. He started to tear them open and tipped the contents out into a little pile on the table. “I wasn’t really gonna shoot you” he muttered, as he gathered them together with his fingertips, “I just wanted to scare you… Y’know? Make you jump?” As he took a packet of papers out of his pocket, he glanced over at the corner of the table and grimaced a little. Heath had certainly jumped! He’d done that alright! He’d jumped halfway out of his skin and smacked the back of his head off the corner of the kitchen table. He wondered why head wounds had to bleed so much.

He looked at the trail of blood that led towards the kitchen door and shook his head a little sadly. Who knew that a bump to the head could prove fatal?! It was ridiculous really! All their mucking about with guns, and even playing Russian roulette, and it was a piece of furniture that had killed him?! You couldn’t make this stuff up!

He shifted a little in his chair, hissing with the pain, and brushed at his t-shirt and shorts to get some of the mud off them. He hated being dirty. He was tired too! Digging a hole in ground, when it was hard and dry after weeks of drought, hadn’t been without its challenges. He’d only managed to dig a few feet deep, especially because of his injured leg, and he’d just given up in the end. Panting, and soaked in sweat, he’d dragged the body and thrown it in the small hole that he’d dug, all curled up in a ball. Then he’d covered it with as much mud and foliage as he could manage, and left it at that. He figured that wild animals would do the rest. Why he hadn’t just dragged him into one of the sheds outside, he didn’t know. For some reason, he’d felt a little guilty though, and wanted to give him a proper burial. Maybe because he’d actually kind of liked the guy?

“How am I gonna explain this to Uncle Danny?” he said, out loud with a nervous little laugh, “He’s gonna kill me, isn’t he?!” He popped the newly rolled joint, made out of scraps from last night, in his mouth and lit it. He needed something to take the edge off the pain. He needed something to steady his nerves!

He began to flick through the messages from his uncle, full of warnings and instructions, and felt his stomach start to churn a little more. Maybe he genuinely would kill him?! He wouldn’t put it past him! It wasn’t like he hadn’t killed people before… and for a lot less… He’d given him very clear instructions! All he had to do was bring Heath here and keep him safe for the next few days. Easy peasy! What could possibly go wrong?! His uncle wasn’t going to be too pleased with him at all… and when Danny Smith wasn’t happy, it usually meant a bullet between the eyes!

“He’s gonna kill me!” he said, wiping at the sweat on his forehead, and patting his shorts in search of his car keys, “I am so dead!” 

Ten minutes later, he was in his car, and headed for the state border. “**** it!” he said to himself, as he tossed his phone out the car window, “…And **** you, Uncle Danny!”

 

*****

 

“Come on?!” coaxed Ducky, with a grin stretched from ear to ear, “We’re waiting!”

Kyle was just standing in the middle of the circle, gazing around at the jeering crowd of men now surrounding him. He looked down at the trembling mess of a boy still cowering on the floor. He was being held in place by two of Ducky’s men, just in case he might try to make a run for it, but he’d obviously long since given up the fight.

“I’m not doing it” said Kyle, backing away again.

“You’ll do what I tell you to do” said Ducky, “You’ll do it… or we can find other ways that you can be of use…” He gave him a little wink and puckered his lips in a sort of air kiss. “Maybe you’d rather get down there beside Marky Mark? …Maybe that’s exactly what you’d like?! …Maybe you’d rather we made use of you that way?”

Kyle tried to back away again but he found himself being shoved forward, a hand roughly gripping the back of his neck, and a knife nicking him slightly in his lower back. He couldn’t go anywhere.

“I reckon the boys wouldn’t mind another pop!” he said, grinning at his men in a sadistic sort of way, “Wouldn’t you boys?! …Pick up where we left off?!”

“What… what about Nikolai?” stammered Kyle, feeling an ice cold chill run down his back. The thought of them having ‘another go’ had his heart hammering in his chest! “He… he won’t like this…” he said. He knew that he was clutching at straws. He’d already played this particular card, and it hadn’t worked that time either!

“That’s the interesting thing” said Ducky, walking over to Kyle and leaning his head in close beside his head. “I know” he whispered, right inside his ear, so close that he could feel the sickly heat of his breath tickling him, “I know everything”

Kyle looked startled. “Wuh… what?!” he asked, staring at Ducky in shock as he pulled away, “You know what?!” He wondered if he could hear how hard his heart was beating. He could hardly breathe!

“Shhh!” said Ducky, holding a finger to his mouth, “There’ll be plenty of time for that.” He smiled and turned around to look at the other men. They were obviously enjoying this pantomime as much as he was.

“I don’t know what you think you know!” Kyle began to say...

“I said ‘be quiet’!” Ducky snapped at him, giving a little nod to the men standing behind him.

Suddenly Kwon grabbed him, bending one of his arms up behind his back, and pulling him in close against him. He could feel a knife biting into the flesh of his neck. ‘Not again!’ he thought to himself, as his heart kicked up a gear.

Ducky raised an eyebrow at him, in an ‘I told you to be quiet’ sort of way, and then turned to look at Mark. “Get him up” he said to the two men holding him.

Suddenly Mark was back on his feet, with his tracksuit bottoms still around his ankles. Pitifully naked below the waist, and shaking so badly that he could hardly stand. He was staring at the floor, like he always did, the utter humiliation so apparent on his face.

“Maybe we should turn the tables?” laughed Ducky, as he walked over and threw his arm over Mark’s shoulder. He ignored the very noticeable flinch that he gave and gripped his face in his other hand. “What do you say Mark?” he asked, forcing him to look up at him, “Wanna try to be a man?” He pointed at the men now gathered round in a circle, all laughing and grinning at him. “See, these fellas here…” he said, squeezing his shoulder, “They all think you’re just a little bitch… that you’ll take what you’re given… and you’ll ask for more… Hell, you’ll even thank the guy for giving it to you!” He shook his face in his hand, squeezing his cheeks, like you would a dog. “That’s right! Isn’t it, Mark?!” he laughed. “Sometimes you even beg for more… like a good little doggy… don’t you?!”

Mark was still refusing to make eye contact. Ducky had forced his face into an upward position but he was still looking down at the ground. It gave him a catatonic sort of look.

“That’s because I’ve trained you well” he said, letting go of his face to ruffle his hair a little. He winked across at Josh who looked absolutely terrified. “I reckon you’d even bark if I told you to” he said, looking back at Mark, “Wouldn’t you?”

Mark just stood there with his head hanging low. He looked so utterly broken.

“Well?!” asked Ducky, giving him a smack in the back of the head, “Let’s hear it?!”

Mark gave a tired sigh and shook his head, before making a little bark, in the smallest most pathetic voice. “Arf! Arf! Arf!” he said, “Arf!” He sounded like a Jack Russell, or some other yappy type breed of small dog. His face was burning red with shame. “Arf!” he said again.

Everyone burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. Ducky grinned from ear to ear and gripped him by the back of the neck to give him a bit of a shake. “See?!” he said, looking back and forth between Kyle and Josh, “This is someone who knows his place! Loyal… Obedient! …Like a good dog should be!” He walked over to Kyle and pulled in too close to his face for comfort. “Do you know why Mark got to be my little doggy? ...How he earned that particular privilege?”

Kyle shook his head a little, being careful not to move too much and cut his neck. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to know the answer to that question.

“I’ll tell you, shall I?” he asked, before thinking better of it, and turning back towards Mark. “Or maybe you should tell him?” he said, gripping Mark by the neck again and pushing him towards Kyle. “Maybe you should tell Kyle what made you the little bitch that you are today?!”

Kyle could do nothing but watch as Mark was shunted forward across the floor. The poor boy had to shuffle because of the tracksuit bottoms still bunched around his ankles. He didn’t lift his gaze even for a moment.

“Go on then?!” laughed Ducky, as he held him there in front of Kyle, pitifully exposed and vulnerable, and shaking, “Tell him what you did!”

“I… I…” stammered Mark, “I…”

“You what?!” demanded Ducky, smacking him hard again on the back of the head, “Speak up! I didn’t get you those lovely new teeth for nothing! …Talk!”

“I told the guards something I shouldn’t have” he blurted out, “I told them where we were hiding the deliveries.”

“That’s right!” smirked Ducky, “And that is how my little mate Mark became a ‘dog’!”

Mark glanced up at Kyle for only a split second, but that one look told him so much. He could see now where this whole thing was headed.

“Thing is!” announced Ducky, in a rather exaggerated way, “A little birdy came to see me this morning and told me something very interesting… Very interesting indeed!” He looked around the circle of men and paused for dramatic effect. Ever the showman! “I don’t know about you fellas” he continued, sticking his nose in the air and sniffing, “But I get a terrible whiff of dog off this room… I mean, it’s like there’s more than one little doggy in this room right now… Maybe even three of them?!” He took another big sniff and whipped round to face Josh. “Yeah, I think I can definitely smell one of them over here” he said, pretending to follow his nose like a sniffer dog, and stopping right in front of Josh. “Yep!” he said, leaning in and giving Josh’s neck a deep sort of sniff, “This one reeks…”

Kwon laughed and made a show of sniffing Kyle’s neck as he held him against him. “I think I’ve found the other one!” he shouted out, “There’s a definite smell of dog off this one too!”

“Funny that, isn’t it?!” said Ducky, his face suddenly clouding over in anger, “Because that’s exactly what my little birdy friend told me!”

Josh was staring across the room at Kyle. He was trying to tell him with his one working eye to try to get the pills out of his pocket and take them. At least one of them could die a pain free death! He saw Kyle give a subtle little nod of recognition, but before he could do anything, he saw Ducky give the man behind him a nod.

“So!” said Ducky, turning to nod at Kwon, “How about we see if Marky Mark is really just the little bitch we all think he is… or if there’s any man left in him…” He smirked and added, “Other than the man he had in him last night, of course!” All his men laughed.

Suddenly Kyle and Josh were being dragged, kicking and growling, towards the low wall separating the showers from the changing area. They both fought, but before long they’d been flattened to the floor with their hands tied behind them with cable ties, just like before! Lying there on their stomachs, with men kneeling on top of them to keep them still. They were completely helpless! Again! …Josh began to sob. Kyle looked as though he’d gone somewhere else in his head.

“No, please?!” pleaded Josh, as he saw Ducky approach him, “Please, don’t?!”

Ducky knelt down beside him and tilted his head to one side. “I’m gonna enjoy this!” he said, giving him a little wink, “I’m not usually one for taking sloppy seconds… but I can’t say I’m not interested to see if little Marky Mark has it in him…” He looked up as Mark was dragged towards them and then gently stroked Josh’s hair behind his ear. “I think Mark might need a little ‘assistance’” he said, softly caressing the side of Josh’s face and running his thumb over his bruised and injured lips, “…if you get my meaning?”

“No!” snarled Josh, clenching his jaw and talking through gritted teeth, “I won’t do it!”

Ducky made a sort of gentle tutting sound, like you would with a small child, and continued to smooth his hair for him in a motherly sort of way. “Now you wouldn’t go biting him…” he said, in a questioning sort of voice, “Would you?!” He tilted his head at him in a sympathetic sort of way. “…Not on his first time, surely?! …That hardly seems kind?!”

Josh glanced up and grimaced at the sight of the figure now standing above him. He could see that he was trembling with fear and that he certainly didn’t look like he was in any way ‘into’ this. The boy’s eyes looked completely vacant, like he was looking right through him.

“I can’t!” sobbed Josh, as the reality of what was about to happen hit him like a ton of bricks, “I can’t… please?!”

“Come on now” coaxed Ducky, as men began to pull Josh up onto his knees, “No need for that!” Someone stood close behind him with their hands clamped on either side of his face to hold him still. Ducky crouched beside him and grinned from ear to ear. “Mark’s never done this before…” he whispered in his ear, “So, be gentle!” Someone pushed Mark towards him, and he looked up to see him staring off into the distance, resolutely not looking at him. It was like he’d divorced himself from what was going on, and all that was left here was an unwilling body.

Suddenly, the door to the shower room opened, and Dimitri came bursting in!

‘Oh, thank God!’ thought Josh, as he watched him make his way across the floor, with Boris and Vlad following behind. He looked quite red in the face and flustered. He’d come to their rescue a second time!

It was a strange scene to burst in on! Josh was kneeling beside a boy with his pants down, and Kyle was still face down on the floor with a large Korean man sitting on his back! Things had clearly gotten more than a little out of hand.

“What you do?!” asked Dimitri, grabbing Ducky by the front of his shirt, “We have deal! This not how we do business!”

Ducky just smiled at him.

“What you say to Nikolai?!” demanded Dimitri, “What you say, when I tell him you hurt his men?!”

“I could ask you the same thing” said Ducky, “What will you tell Nikolai when you next speak to him?”

“What you mean?” asked Dimitri, giving him a little shake.

“I think you know exactly what I mean” replied Ducky, with a little laugh.

“I talk to Nikolai” said Dimitri, suddenly looking a little nervous. Something wasn’t right here and he could sense it.

“And?” asked Ducky.

“And he be angry” said Dimitri, “These boys are his men… He doesn’t like that you hurt them…” He nodded for Boris and Vlad to go and help Josh and Kyle, but neither of them moved a muscle. They just stood there with their arms crossed and stared at him in stony silence. “Boys?!” he said, in a questioning tone, “Help them?”

“Oh dear!” smirked Ducky, when he saw the look of confusion on his face, “Looks like Dimitri Ivanovich might be flying solo now!”

“Boys?!” he said again, letting go of Ducky’s shirt and turning to look at them in a worried sort of way. He’d never seen them look at him this way before. They were glaring at him, tight lipped, and angry looking. As he turned back to look at Ducky, he gave a short gasp, and looked down at his stomach. There was blood starting to appear on his sweatshirt, dark and red, and growing fast! “What?!” he asked in confusion as his knees buckled under him and he came crashing down.

“What’s Dimitri gonna do without his crew?!” teased Ducky, as he smoothed down his own shirt and stood towering over him, “Not so tough now without his boys to back him up… Where’s Vasily when you need him, eh?!”

“**** you!” grunted Dimitri, “I have Nikolai… I call him!” Someone had shoved a knife right through his back and the tip of the knife had come out through his belly. They’d yanked it back out again and blood was spilling out now at an alarming rate, both front and back. He lifted his shirt to see… but he couldn’t quite make sense of it. His head was spinning and his heart was pounding in his chest!

 “You do that!” laughed Ducky, as though he had any chance of making it out of here alive, “But something tells me that Nikolai might not be too helpful when he finds out who you really are!”

Dimitri’s face drained of colour as he began to put two and two together. Ducky knew! He knew who he was! And so did the boys now standing behind him! One of them had stabbed him! He gasped as the knife was plunged into his back a second time. It hurt, but it was more like someone punching him really hard and knocking the wind out of him. The real pain didn’t hit for a moment or two! He could see both Josh and Kyle staring up at him in pure terror, and looking at him pleadingly, but there was nothing that he could do for them now. He was going to die!

“Or what you are!” continued Ducky, with a little flash of excitement in his eyes. “Fed!” he said, enunciating the word loudly, “Federal Agent Dimitri Alexanderov!”

Dimitri’s mouth fell open in shock but he had nothing to say. He’d been found out. Pure and simple… and now he was going to die. Blood began to gurgle up into his mouth and down his chin. When he wiped at it with his hand, he looked down at the blood on his fingers, and gave a little gasp of surprise. “****!” was all he managed to say.

The boys watched in horror, as Boris stepped forward, and produced something from his pocket. Josh let out an audible gasp when he saw that it was a piece of thin wire with a sort of wooden handle at either end. They saw him loop it around Dimitri’s throat and start twisting the two wooden handles round and round to pull it tight. It was being used to garrotte him! Dimitri let out little squeals, and grappled desperately with his fingers, trying to release himself. With the two stab wounds, and the amount that he was already bleeding, he didn’t have enough strength to put up a proper fight. They watched as his eyes grew bloodshot and his face turned from deep red, to purple, to a sort of deep blackened blue. He grunted, and he squealed, and he bucked his body as best he could. He even tried clawing at Boris’s hands and arms. It was all useless. This wasn’t the first man that Boris had killed in this way and he set about it with steely determination. No mercy. No sympathy. Just a silent executioner! Every set of eyes in the room was on him! Ducky had hopped up on the little wall to watch, and was swinging his legs back and forth like a child on a swing. His face was rapt with concentration! Every one of Ducky’s men had stopped what they were doing to watch. Even Josh and Kyle were mesmerised in a stomach-churning kind of way, like looking at a car crash… They couldn’t look away! It took a surprisingly long time, but eventually he stopped struggling, the light left his eyes, and his enormous frame just slumped against Boris’ legs.

“**** you!” said Boris, before spitting on the dead man’s face, “Filthy pig!”

Josh glanced down at Kyle and saw that he’d clamped his eyes shut and was quietly crying. He felt any hope that he’d ever had drain out of him.

“Well!” laughed Ducky, with a little clap of his hands, “That… that was entertaining!” He glanced back at Josh and Mark, and gave a little chuckle. “Better get this show on the road, then yeah?!” he said. He hopped down off the wall and walked back around to where they were.

Josh stared up at him, with eyes wide with fear. No-one was going to save him now!

“Well, Marky Mark?!” said Ducky, reaching down and taking him in his hand, “How is this floppy little thing of yours ever gonna…?”

Suddenly in a blur of movement, Mark had Ducky on the floor, and was kneeling on top of him. He was driving a metal object of some kind, repeatedly into his face and chest, and screaming something unintelligible. It wasn’t English or Korean! “Rrrrrhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” he roared, as he stabbed him again and again and again, “Gggggnnnnnnnhhhhrrrrrrrrrr!” The noises he was making were more of an anguished howl, than any kind of real words. Ducky was speechless for once, only making short choking gurgling sounds, as spurts of blood shot up into the air.

Kwon stood frozen stock-still as he watched his boss’ face disappear into a pile of mush. No-one had moved a muscle to help. They were just watching on in shock. Mark was soaked in blood and bone fragments, and Ducky was long gone, but he continued to stab him anyway. He stabbed, and stabbed, and stabbed, until he eventually ran out of steam…

“What the hell is going on in here?!” shouted a guard’s voice, as the door was flung open. “Oh, Jesus!” exclaimed the young guard, as he took in the bloody scene.  Ducky’s men were just standing round in shock. “What the… What?!” stammered the guard, as he stared at the mound of blood and guts that had once been ‘Ducky’ Deok Su that was lying on the ground, and the blood-soaked half-naked young man still sitting on top of him. He was just sitting there panting, with a bloody dessert spoon in his trembling hands. The guard glanced at the second body slumped on the floor, and then at the two young men still bound and restrained there, and reached for his radio. “I need… We have…” he began to say… He wasn’t sure what this was!

Suddenly, all of Ducky’s men were running towards the door and they shoved him out of the way. They pushed and they shoved and there was nothing that he could do to stop them.  “Hey!” he shouted, as he got knocked to the floor, “Hey, stop!” Within moments they were gone, and he was left sitting on the floor just gazing at the sorry scene left behind. Now only five men remained. Three alive, and two dead. He lifted his radio to his mouth. “Uh… We have a situation…”

[Ludub]

On 6/7/2017 at 2:09 PM, christine king said:

 You make an exciting story and I'm very impressed with your writing skill and talent, keep up the mystery!

16 hours ago, KIMIF1 said:

You really are a great storyteller

Gnnnnawww! Thank you!  You're making me blush! lol! I do really appreciate all the feedback and I'm glad you're enjoying it! Can't believe I'm on chapter 46 of what was supposed to be a short story! lol! 

 

So, here's the new chapter! hope you all enjoy it! 

 

WARNING: ADULT THEMES & VIOLENCE!!!

 

Chapter 46

 

“Where the hell were you?!” shouted Brax, as he grabbed Agent Lee by the front of his shirt and slammed him up against the wall. He’d arrived, looking flustered, nearly two hours after Smithy had left.

“Let me go” he answered, in a calm tone of voice. Ordinarily he would have made him release him in a much more violent way, but he didn’t really want to make the situation any worse. He was going to try to reason with him.

“Let him go!” said Ricky, pulling at Brax’s arm in an attempt to drag him back. She was angry too, but she didn’t want Brax getting in trouble. This was a federal agent, after all!

“You’re supposed to be watching him!” growled Brax, “You’re supposed to have people watching him every minute of every day! …How else are you meant to find Heath?!”

“I know …we are watching him!” said Lee, “He just… He got away from us… I’m sorry, okay?!”

“Not okay!” yelled Brax, “He just turned up here!” With a huff of disgust, he let go of his shirt and went to his desk to retrieve the box of cash with ‘The Stallion Tamer’ printed on the side. He’d been surprised to find that it did indeed contain a gruesome looking dildo and a harness to allow it to be worn as a strap on. There was also $20,000 in cash. He shoved the box under the agent’s nose. “How did he just waltz into my restaurant with this?! …I mean, where were you?! It could have been anything! It could have been…”

“I know” said Agent Lee, taking the box from him, “I know we let you down…”

“You said you were gonna have people on him” he said, crossing his arms and scowling at him, “You said we’d find Heath that way… that you’d follow him to where they’re holding him…”

“Yes, and we have been” said Lee, “Until this morning, he hasn’t left our sight

“How can you know that?!” he demanded, “If he got away this time, what’s to say he hasn’t before?!”

“He hasn’t made a move…” said Lee, “He or his nephew… Wherever they’re keeping him, it’s not here in the city… They have to have someone else holding him.”

“His other nephew… I think it’s some kind of farmhouse” said Brax, nodding and sitting down on the edge of the desk, “But haven’t they been phoning or messaging? He showed me a video on Whatsapp… Can’t you trace that?!”

“We can try” he said.

“How do you know they haven’t been out there?” asked Ricky, “Out to wherever that farmhouse is?”

“They haven’t” he assured them, “We’ve been watching them. Smith has done nothing but go to work and come home, and his nephew sat around playing Xbox for hours on end, and only left the house to walk his dog…” He gave a little sigh. “This morning was… It was different.”

“What do you mean?” asked Brax, “Different?”

“Something happened” he said, “But we’re investigating… It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Nothing for us to worry about?!” exclaimed Ricky, “That man came to our restaurant! Our home is just across the street!”

“What happened?!” demanded Brax.

“I can’t tell you that” he replied, “You’re just gonna have to trust me on this…”

“That’s the thing” said Brax, “I don’t trust you… How can I when you let my brother get kidnapped? I don’t think you have this thing under control at all!”

“Look” said Agent Lee, “All you need to know is…”

“No!” shouted Brax, “Either you tell us what happened this morning, or we’re out!” He looked at Ricky for her support and saw her give a little nod. “You tell us, or I’m not doing this deal… You can meet him yourself!”

Agent Lee looked back and forth between the angry looking couple and shook his head. He couldn’t afford for this deal to go south. They’d put too much time and effort into putting this together, and too many people had been killed or hurt. It was now or never. He needed Brax, whether he wanted to admit it or not. He’d have to tell him the truth. “We have an insider” he said, looking a little shame-faced, “The agents got a call from someone in our office… They said there was an emergency and to come back to headquarters… The guy knew the authorisation codes and everything.”

“You have a mole?!” exclaimed Ricky.

“It seems so…” he admitted, “But we’re tracing the call… We’ll find out who it was…”

“Is it even safe to go ahead with this deal then?” asked Brax, “I mean… what if Smithy knows?! What if he knows what’s happening?!”

“There’s no reason to believe that at the moment” said Agent Lee, “We’re not sure what the purpose of that call was… and Smith hasn’t changed tack, so I think… I think we have to go ahead as planned…”

“Are you serious?!” asked Brax, “Just hope for the best?! That’s all you’ve got?!”

“Do you have any better ideas?” asked Lee.

 

*****

 

“You mean to tell me…” said the doctor, shaking her head at him, “…that you’ve had most of these injuries for two whole days?! 48 hours?! …And no-one, not one of the guards thought it prudent to bring you in here?!”

“I guess” mumbled Josh, “I guess… they didn’t notice?” He glanced across at Kyle on the other side of the room. He could see him staring fixedly out the window while the doctors and nurses fussed around him. He hadn’t said a word since they’d brought him in! They had him hooked up to a drip and a heart monitor, and two of the infirmary doctors were arguing back and forth about what course of treatment to take. They were talking about having him transferred to the nephrology department at the hospital in the city because there seemed to be some concerns over his kidney function. He had very severe bruising to his lower back that they were concerned about.

“They didn’t notice?!” repeated the doctor, as she gently lifted Josh’s swollen eyelid to see his eye. ‘How could anyone not notice facial injuries like these?’ she thought to herself, ‘I will be having serious words with the warden!’ He winced, with a sharp intake of breath, as she pulled at his eyelid, but he did his best to hold still. She shook her head at him in a pitying sort of way, and made a kind of ‘tut’ sound. There was a large pool of blood all around, and covering, the iris of his eye. She suspected a fractured eye socket and resultant injuries to the eye itself. Possibly a ruptured globe. “This is a very nasty injury” she said, trying to lift his eyelid a little further to get a better view.

He gave a sharp hiss and pulled away involuntarily. It hurt even more now that the drugs had worn off. Like his nerve endings were super-charged and hypersensitive to even the smallest touch. His heartbeat felt strange too. Almost ‘fluttery’.

“Sorry” he mumbled, nervously moving his head forward to let her do it again.

She gave a little nod and tentatively reached forward to try a second time, but he flinched away again.

“Sorry” he said, laughing a little nervously and giving her an embarrassed sort of half-smile. “Okay, do it” he said, taking a deep breath and gripping the sides of the bed to steady himself.

She tilted her head as way of apology and lifted his eyelid again. It wasn’t a pretty sight! “I want you to close your other eye” she said, still holding his eyelid open and then holding up her other hand. “Can you tell me how many fingers I’m holding up?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“You don’t know how many?” she asked, furrowing her brows at him.

“I can’t see anything” he said, in a panicked sounding voice “It’s all black!”

“Okay, let me have another look” she said, picking up her little flashlight and shining it in his injured eye. She moved it back and forth, to try to see his pupil reaction. There was none. It seemed that he was blind in that eye, at least for now. She’d flicked through his notes, so she did know a little of his previous brain injury and the temporary blindness that he’d suffered. She gave a little sigh as she moved to check the other eye. It seemed very sad if he’d damaged his sight once more.

“So… so I’m… I’m blind in that eye?!” he stammered.

“It seems that way” she said, turning the flashlight off again for a moment, “But it might just be temporary… There’s been quite a bit of bleeding… so it could just be a blood clot, an occlusion of the pupil…” She saw him looking confused, so she clarified. “It could just be a blood clot getting in the way …and stopping the light from entering.”

“And if it isn’t?!” he asked.

“Then, yes…” she admitted, “You may have lost your sight permanently in that eye.”

“Brilliant” he said, in a sarcastic tone, “Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better!”

She went back to examining his other eye. “Have you been experiencing any headaches or nausea?” she asked, looking at him with concern, “Any dizziness?”

He gave a little snort. He hadn’t really meant to, but for some reason, it just struck him as tragically funny. With all that had happened to him in the last few months, it seemed ridiculous for someone to be asking him about headaches. Every inch of his body felt broken and bruised. He couldn’t identify one source of pain from another. “Yeah” he said, glancing in a fearful sort of way as he saw guards milling around outside the door. The last thing he needed was Smithy showing up, and he was worried about the questions that he was going to be asked. So far, the doctors had kept the guards outside, which wasn’t easy. It was like holding back the tide.

“Which?” she asked, “Dizziness?”

“All of it” he sighed, “Headaches, puking… I can’t see straight…”

She gave him a worried sort of look and scribbled on her notes. ‘Query intracranial bleed?’ she wrote.  After a moment, she looked up at him again and quietly started cataloguing his visible injuries on a black and white outline of a human body. He watched as she drew lines around the wrists. In the scheme of things, the thin purple bruises around his wrists hardly seemed important. ‘Ligature bruises’ he saw her write, and ‘cable ties had to be removed’ in brackets beside it. He couldn’t help laughing to himself a little. The bruises that she could see were pretty minor, in comparison to the ones that she couldn’t. If she was intent on writing everything down, he was pretty sure that she was going to run out of room on that form of hers!

“May I?” she asked, getting to her feet and motioning for him to take his shirt off. “I need to see the rest of your injuries…”

He gave a sad little nod and slowly pulled at the bottom of his shirt. Part of him didn’t want anyone to see, because he didn’t want to have to answer questions. He didn’t want to have to explain what had happened. He was too tired for that. But another part of him wanted someone to look at him and say ‘You know what? You’ve been through hell… and you deserve some sympathy!’ He wanted someone to hug him, and tell him that things were going to get better, even if it was just a lie. He needed some human comfort right now. Someone to be kind to him! He winced as he began to pull the t-shirt up, and then laughed at himself a little when he realised that his eyes had filled up with tears. His emotions were all over the place!

“Wait” she said, turning to her treatment table and producing a pair of scissors, “I think we’ll just cut it off… If that’s okay with you?”

He nodded and stared down at the floor. His head was whirring with all sorts of thoughts. He had no idea what was going to happen now that Dimitri was dead. They’d asked if they could speak to Keith but it seemed that he was unavailable. What if no-one knew about that deal that they’d had with the Feds?! What if it had all been for nothing?!

“Hey?” said the doctor, noticing his faraway look, “You still with me?!”

His mind had drifted back to the scene in that shower room. He couldn’t get Dimitri’s face out of his mind! His bloodshot eyes, staring at him lifelessly, as he lay dead on the floor. The haunted look on Mark’s face as he sat there with Ducky’s blood all over him! The roars of the guards as they charged in and found them all there. The pure horror! It was going to stay with him forever.

“Hey?!” she said again.

He gave a little nod and wiped at his good eye with the heel of his hand. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. “What about Mark?” he asked, picturing him as they’d led him away in handcuffs, “Is he okay?” In truth, he knew that he was far from ‘okay’, and it was a pretty stupid question. They’d had to prise the dessert spoon, with its sharpened handle, out of his bloodied hands, and then wrestle him to the floor. Mark wasn’t being passive anymore. Something had simply broken. He’d heard the doctors talking about psych assessments and sedatives, and wondering at what had happened to his teeth. It seemed he’d only been sentenced to 4 years, and he would have been out in 3 with good behaviour, but now he’d have a murder charge added to his bit. They couldn’t help wondering how he’d gone from petty thief to murderer in only one year.

“Don’t worry about him… He’s being looked after” she said, as she began to cut the t-shirt away from his body. “There” she said, “Now I can get a proper look…” Her voice died away as she saw the full extent of his injuries. It was a wonder that he was still walking around.

He looked up at her and then down at his own blackened abdomen. This had become somewhat normal for him over the last few months, so it didn’t really faze him that much anymore, but he’d seen from the expression on her face that she was shocked. “It… uh… it looks worse than it is” he mumbled.

“I think we might let the hospital decide that” she said, turning to her desk and picking up the digital camera. “I just… It’ll take me a while to get all of this down” she said, tilting her head at him in pity. “Is it okay?” she asked, motioning for him to stand up, “I’ll just take a few… and then we’ll arrange for a hospital transfer…”

He gave a little sigh and stood up with his arms held out like she’d indicated. He closed his eyes as she circled around him taking photos of each and every bruise and cut. To his own surprise, he felt tears flooding down his face, and his whole body shaking violently. This had all become a bit too much. Having someone take photos of him like this just brought it home to him how much of a victim he’d become. He felt pathetic. “I can’t!” he said, suddenly staggering backwards and slumping onto the bed. “Please?! Stop?!” he sobbed, as he hugged his arms around himself, “Stop?!”

“It’s okay” she said, setting the camera down and reaching for a tissue for him. “It’s okay” she said again, glancing at her notes to double check his name. “Ja… Joshua… It’s okay to cry…” she said, placing her hand gently on his knee in what was meant to be a reassuring way, “Just let it all out.”

He glanced up at her and gave an exasperated little laugh. He’d seen her check his name on the chart. After more than half an hour of physical checks and questions, she still didn’t know it! This was the nicest that anyone had been to him in months but he meant nothing to her… or to anyone really. He didn’t matter. The deal was probably off now that Dimitri was gone. He was just another nameless prisoner. A number in a file. A nothing! …He was going to be locked up here in this miserable place for the next 28 years. A lifetime of dealing with people like Smithy, and fending off rapists like Alexei and Ducky! Sometimes not even managing to fend them off at all… Years of pain and sadness lay ahead. It wasn’t worth it!

“I feel… I feel sick…” he mumbled, putting his hand to his mouth, “I think I’m gonna…” She grabbed a cardboard kidney tray, and handed it to him, shoving it under his nose just in time.

“I think we need to get you a CT” she said, grimacing a little as he began to vomit, “…and make sure you don’t have any internal bleeding…”

He nodded, before retching again. The thought that this thing had gone completely wrong and that he was going to have to go back to his cell, in this same prison, for the next 28 years came crashing down on him. The hope of getting out of here had been the only thing keeping him going. The only thing that had gotten him through the last few days… and now it was gone. He had nothing to hope for… Nothing to fight for… It was over!

He felt the room start to spin.

“Better safe than sorry!” said the doctor, turning to her desk phone and beginning to dial, “We don’t want…”

There was a fleshy thud as Josh slipped off the bed and hit the floor.

“Joshua!” she shouted, dropping to her knees beside him, “Mr Barrett?! …Joshua! Open your eyes for me!”

 

*****

 

“Woah woah woah” exclaimed Agent Ricci, “Looks like he’s coming out!” He glanced down at his watch for a moment, thinking that it seemed a bit early for the deal, and then looked back through the binoculars. “I can see him talking to that security guard at the door… that short little guy.”

“I think that’s a woman?” said Agent Lewis, with her knees pressed up against the dashboard as she munched her way through her bacon sandwich.

“Nah… that little guy…” he said, a little dismissively as he took a drink from his cup of cold coffee. “The one with the glasses… always eating…”

“Yeah, seriously…” she said, “That’s a woman… I have her down as…” She picked up her notepad and flicked to the name that she’d scribbled down at the briefing yesterday. “Doris MacKenzie!” she announced, “Definitely a woman!” She gave a little laugh when she saw the look of surprise on her partner’s face. “I **** you not!” she assured him.

“****!” he giggled, taking in her noticeable moustache and man’s work uniform, “She’s a looker!”

“Hey, that’s not nice!” she replied, pretending to scold him, “Uggos have feelings too!”

He started to laugh, but kept his eyes fixed on Smithy’s grinning face. They seemed to be deep in conversation. “I wonder what that’s all about?” he said, glancing at his partner and offering to give her the binoculars for a moment. “Do you ever wish you could read lips?” he laughed.

She took them off him and looked over at the scene unfolding just through the security doors. It seemed a fairly amicable conversation with Smithy sitting on the edge of the desk with one foot swinging back and forth. Doris was making her way through a large breakfast sandwich in a less than dignified way, and kept wiping at her face with the back of her hand as they chatted.

“**** knows!” she said, handing the binoculars back to him and reaching for her half-eaten sandwich again, “The deal isn’t till 1, so I reckon he’s just there for a chinwag.”

“Yeah, maybe” he said, reaching blindly for a paper bag on the dashboard. He’d bought himself a selection of pastries on the way here this morning. He pulled a large Danish from the bag and proceeded to take far too big a bite before setting it down and reaching for his coffee. As he went to take a sip, the cup slipped from his hand and the coffee spilled all over the crotch of his trousers! “****!” he exclaimed, as he set the binoculars on the dashboard and went about cleaning himself up.

Lewis gave a snort and shook her head. “You’re always so clumsy!” she teased, as she took her phone out and started to take photos. “I’m sending this to your wife!” she laughed, “She’ll get a kick out of this! She’s always saying…”

“Stop it!” he laughed, grabbing for the phone but she lifted it out of his reach. “Gimme that!” he pleaded.

“Nuh – uh!” she teased, shoving it down her top and sticking her tongue out.

“Very funny” he complained, turning his attention back to his coffee-soaked trousers, “Gina’s gonna kill me… I was supposed to go to dinner in these later.”

“Looks like you’ll have to get changed…” she said, with a little smirk, “Your poor wife must be neck deep in laundry!”

“Hey!” he said, pretending to be offended, “I am a modern man, I’ll have you know… I do my own laundry!”

“Really?!” she said, looking surprised, “I had you down as more the cave man type… Me man, you woman…”

He gave a little snort and turned to look out the window again. “****!” he shouted, jumping nearly a mile high. There was a body lying on the ground just outside the security entrance to the prison. It looked as though they’d fallen down the steps and they appeared to be having a seizure.

“What?!” she asked, leaning over to see what he was looking at. “Oh ****!” she exclaimed, “****, ****, ****!”

“What… what do we do?!” he asked, as they both watched the body still convulsing in the distance.

“Where’s Smith?!” she gasped, grabbing for the binoculars. She couldn’t see him inside the building anymore and he didn’t seem to be outside either. The body on the ground appeared to be Doris.

“Do I go?!” he asked, dithering with the door-handle. Neither of them seemed sure what to do. They weren’t supposed to leave the car. They were supposed to follow Smithy if he left the scene.

They sat there, grimacing at each other. They couldn’t just leave that poor woman lying on the ground like that! Surely, they had to do something?!

“You go!” she said, looking nervous but lifting the radio, “And I’ll call it in!”

He opened the car door and ran towards the woman lying on the ground. “Doris?!” he shouted, as he reached her and knelt down at her side, “Doris?! Can you hear me?!” She was still shaking, with her head twisted to one side and her eyes rolled back. He tried desperately to remember his first aid training but his mind had gone blank. “****!” he mumbled to himself, feeling very unsure of what to do. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a car engine, and turned to look back at his own car. To his horror, he saw that Lewis was lying on the ground with a bullet wound to the head. She was unmistakably dead!

“****!” he exclaimed, reaching for his gun.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you” said Doris, now sitting up with a gun pointed at his head.

“What the…?” he said, holding his hands up as he glanced at her out of the side of his eye, “Why?”

“Just freeze!” she said, reaching over and taking his gun out of his holster, “Stay very still and you won’t get hurt!”

Smithy brought the car to a stop beside them and before anyone could say anything he put a bullet in the agent’s head. He had a silencer on his gun so all it made was a sort of ‘ziiiip’ sound.

Doris squealed a little as the agent’s body slumped sideways onto her legs. She desperately shoved him off of her. “You said… you said no-one would get killed!” she stammered, as she looked up at Smithy through the car window, “You promised… you promised me!” She stared open mouthed at the dead body of the young woman in the distance. She hadn’t seen her until now!

“Get in!” he said to her, grinning as he threw the passenger door open, “Come on Sweet cheeks?! We don’t have all day!”

[Ludub]

Hey everyone! Sorry for the massive delay on this chapter. Just been a bit busy this weather. Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to comment - much much appreciated! (Suzza - apologies I didn't get round to replying. Glad you're enjoying it!) Really hope you all like this one!

 

WARNING: ADULT THEMES!

 

Chapter 47

 

“What?!” gasped Josh, as he began to try to sit up, “What... what happened?!” Someone had been shining a bright white light into his one functioning eye and he’d woken suddenly with a start. He couldn’t think where he was.

“It’s okay, Joshua” said the doctor, clicking the little light off and putting her hand on his shoulder to push him back down onto the mattress. “Don’t try to get up!” she told him. It didn’t take much force to make him lie down again. He didn’t have the strength to fight against her. “You just fainted…” she explained, “You just went down like a sack of spuds!”

“I fainted?” he asked, sounding quite drowsy. He looked down at his hand and saw that they’d put a cannula in and that there was a drip attached. He could feel the coldness of the liquid as it travelled up his arm.

“Your blood sugar was dangerously low” she said, looking at him with concern, “…and you’re extremely dehydrated.”

He gave a little nod. That made sense.

“When was the last time you ate anything?” she asked.

“I… I don’t know” he said, closing his eyes again. He felt weak and tired, and decidedly nauseous. “Maybe a few days ago…” he sighed.

“A few days ago?!” she exclaimed, sitting down on the side of his bed, “Joshua?! …Why haven’t you been eating?!”

‘Why hadn’t he been eating?!’ He rolled the question around in his mind for a moment and glanced up at her. The look on her face was so serious and sincere that it struck him as funny. How could she not realise how stupid that question was?! He gave a little snort and started to laugh. A sad sort of hysterical laughter that overtook his whole body with big shudders. He couldn’t stop! Why hadn’t he been eating?! Well, let’s see?! Maybe because it’s hard to have a healthy appetite when there’s the constant threat of violence, both sexual and physical. Maybe because he had problems swallowing after his throat was nearly crushed by a gang of Neanderthals?! Or maybe it was because his body dealt with stress by chucking up whatever he’d eaten?! Having to see his food in reverse all the time was something that he wasn’t too keen on! And maybe because what he ate was the only thing that he had any control of anymore? Maybe for all those reasons?! Why hadn’t he been eating?! He didn’t remember the last time that he’d actually enjoyed food.

“Joshua?!” asked the doctor, giving his shoulder a little shake. He was lying there laughing like a maniac with his eyes closed. Laughter like this could be a very worrying sign, she thought. There were a number of things that it could be… Perhaps even Pseudobulbar Affect from damage to the frontal lobe? She began to wonder if he really might have a brain bleed. “Joshua?! What are you laughing at?!” she asked again, shaking his shoulder a little harder, “Look at me, Joshua! Open your eyes and look at me!”

“Josh!” he replied, still keeping his eyes closed but giggling like an idiot, “My name is Josh!”

“Okay, Josh…” she said, taking hold of his wrist to check his pulse. It was very fast! “But… what’s so funny?” she asked, eyeing him with concern, “I… I don’t understand?!”

“No” he said, pulling his wrist away from her and turning onto his side with a little groan, “You don’t understand… None of you do!” This was a painful position to lie in but he didn’t want anyone touching him anymore. He hugged his arms around his chest as he lay there, half laughing, half crying, with his back to her. He just wanted to be left alone for a while.

“Josh?” she tried again, tentatively putting her hand on his shoulder. She really didn’t know what was going on with him but he had her pretty worried now.

“Leave me alone!” he pleaded, as he flinched his shoulder away from her hand. He felt like his whole nervous system was on overload. On the one hand, he wanted to curl up in a ball and cry his eyes out, but for some reason, he couldn’t stop laughing. It felt really strange. The giggles just kept coming in waves. It hurt to laugh, but he couldn’t make it stop!

She watched with concern as he continued to giggle. His shoulders were shuddering up and down, as he laughed and laughed. What on earth was wrong with this patient, she wondered?! And where were the ambulances that they’d requested?! It was time that they got him to hospital! She turned to one of the nurses as she saw her approaching. “Well…” she asked, “Have they given us an ETA?”

The young nurse grimaced and beckoned for her to follow her to one of the other treatment areas. She didn’t want the patients to overhear. “There’s been a…” she said, faltering a little as she tried to find the right words. “…Something’s happened… outside…” she whispered, “Two people were killed!”

“What?!” exclaimed the doctor, forgetting that they were supposed to whisper, “Who… who’s been killed?!”

The nurse rolled her eyes at her in a way that said ‘What was the point in me whispering if you’re just going to blurt it out?!’

“Sorry” whispered the doctor, “Who’s been killed?!”

“Some visitors I think…” whispered the young nurse. “The police are all outside…” she said, “They have the place cordoned off… The ambulances can’t get in… They’ve said we might have to go to lock down!”

“Oh God!” groaned the doctor, turning to look at Josh who was still giggling like a mad thing, and then at a very pale Kyle across the way. They were both in bad shape and she knew that they didn’t have the facilities to care for them here. If Josh became a surgical emergency, which she suspected he might, then they’d all be in a lot of trouble! And as for Kyle, they had a dialysis machine, but they wouldn’t be able to deal with him if he needed any further intervention.  They just weren’t equipped for that! She turned back to the nurse and shook her head. “We need to get them to hospital…” she said, “We can’t wait!”

 

*****

 

“Stupid little bastard!” growled Smithy, as he stood in the middle of the farmhouse kitchen and looked at the trail of blood that led towards the door. It was clear that someone had been dragged across the tiles, and he was pretty sure that he knew who that was! “I’m gonna kill him!” he snarled, “I’m gonna hunt the stupid little bugger down and strangle him with my bare hands!”

“Who?!” asked Doris, gazing with concern at the blood on the floor and the shell casings scattered around the place. She was looking a little bit nervous now that she was here. Running away with Smithy hadn’t exactly been the fairytale that she’d been expecting! For one thing, he wasn’t even being that nice to her. He hadn’t called her ‘Sweetcheeks’ or ‘Gorgeous’ since they’d left the prison. Now, he’d brought her to some dusty old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, instead of the hotel that he’d promised her, and everything was covered in blood! He’d even refused to stop to buy her fried chicken when she’d asked him to! She was starving! Where was the ‘Danny’ that she knew and loved?! Where was that lovely man?! “Who are you talking about?!” she asked.

“My nephew” he grunted, as he followed the blood trail to the door, “I asked him to do one thing for me! One thing!”

“Your nephew?” she asked, following him across the floor. He’d never mentioned his nephew. She wondered what he’d been meant to be doing for him.

“Yeah…” he said, turning and holding his hand up to tell her to stay put. “My nephew…” he repeated, with a flash of anger in his eyes, “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him… Good for nothing stoner! …All he had to do was keep him here… Sit here for a couple of days and babysit… but he couldn’t even do that!” He glanced at the empty bottle of tequila on the table and shook his head in anger.

“Babysit?!” she gasped, looking around the room in horror. Who would bring a baby to a place like this?! And was that the blood of a child on the floor?! Had he allowed someone to kill a baby?! Danny had never mentioned children! What on earth was going on?!

“Yeah” he said, “All he had to do was…”

“Did you let him hurt a baby?!” she asked, interrupting him mid-sentence, “A little baby?!”

“What?!” he snorted, “No!” He walked back over to her and put his arms around her waist. “Come on, Beautiful?!” he said, tilting his head at her in that way that always made her go weak at the knees, “You know me! Would I do something like that?!” He always knew how to play her.

“But you said…” she stammered, “You said he was ‘babysitting’?!” As much as she wanted to get her leg over, and much as she loved Danny, she wouldn’t be able to forgive him if he was a baby-killer. It was bad enough that he’d killed those cops, but killing a child would be one step too far!

“Hey!” he said, lightly touching his index finger off her nose and giving her a gentle little wink, “I wouldn’t let anyone hurt a baby… Not ever!”

“Then… Then who?!” she asked, melting a little in his arms. She didn’t know how he did it to her but her heart was all aflutter!

“Don’t worry about it” he said, leaning in and kissing her on the forehead, “You just wait for me here while I take a look outside.” He lifted her hand in his and kissed her knuckles in a seductive sort of way. “Be a good girl now, and do as I say…”

“But!” she started to say, taking a step towards him as he stepped away.

“No!” he warned her, scowling at her with a flash of the real ‘Smithy’, “You stay here!”

She stopped in her tracks. She could see that he meant it, and it was the first time she’d seen something truly threatening about him. In the car, he’d just seemed bad tempered, but in that one look she’d seen something cruel. Like a glimpse of something wolf-like and predatory. She knew when to do as she was told. Her father had been like that. Truth be told, she was a little frightened!

With that, he walked outside and closed the door behind him. There was a trail of blood that led out the door, and stopped and started, across the dusty ground. It was clear that he’d struggled to move him and it must have taken him some time. The trail led across the yard and behind the outhouse.

“Stupid little ****!” he growled to himself, as soon as he saw the pile of disturbed soil and twigs and leaves. It was a very half-arsed burial. It wasn’t even a proper grave! He kicked some of the soil aside to expose the crumpled-up body underneath. He just wanted to doublecheck. A shoulder and a tattooed arm slowly became visible as he moved the soil away. He recognised the tattoos from the video that his nephew had sent. There was no doubt now that it was Heath Braxton!

“What was I thinking?!” he asked himself out loud, “What the **** was I thinking?! I should have known he couldn’t be trusted!” He shook his head and looked around him. This guy had been his insurance policy. A bargaining chip to get that idiot Darryl to do his bidding. He’d been piecing together a plan on the drive out here but that had been well and truly scuppered now! Here was that pretty boy Braxton brother buried in a shallow grave! Murdered by his idiot of a nephew! What was he going to do now?!

“Danny!” he heard Doris shout from the kitchen door, “Come quick! Something’s happened!”

He ran back over to the door of the farmhouse to see what it was. He gasped when he saw that she was holding up her mobile phone. “I told you to turn that off!” he growled at her, as he grabbed it out of her hand and smacked her hard across the face with his other hand. “You stupid bitch!” he yelled at her.

“But Danny!” she gasped, putting her hand up to her swollen cheekbone, “I got an email… It’s about those two prisoners who were threatening you!” She was staring at him in fear now and cowering a little.

“What?” he said, as he looked at the screen and started reading.

“I just… I… I thought you’d want to know” she stammered.

“Joshua Barrett and Kyle Braxton” he said as he read down through the email with a little smirk on his face.

“They need… They need security staff to cover this afternoon…” she said, still nursing her cheek and beginning to tear up a little. This is not what she’s signed on for! “…Offering overtime…” she continued, “Those two… They’re being taken to hospital…”

“Doris!” he said, looking up at her with a Cheshire cat grin, “You little beauty!” He pulled her in, ignoring the little flinch that she gave, and gave her a big kiss right on the lips. “I knew it was a good idea to bring you with me!”

 

*****

 

“Great!” exclaimed Brax, before hanging up the phone. He threw it onto the dashboard and sat breathing heavily with both hands on the steering wheel. What was he supposed to do now?! Here he was, by the side of the road, with $50,000 worth of crystal meth in a bag beside him. He was only about five minutes’ drive away from the ‘meet’ but he’d been told to pull in and stay where he was. It was a quiet residential street and he could see some kids playing on their bikes in the distance. He shook his head and gave a frustrated little snort. Here he was, feet away from normal suburban life, with a bag full of one of the worst drugs known to man. Enough to destroy a hundred lives! And it had been given to him by the authorities! This whole thing was surreal! He just hoped that he didn’t look like some weirdo pervert parked up here to spy on the kids. What if some nervous parent started calling the cops to come find out what he was doing?! They wouldn’t know about this deal. Explaining that he wasn’t really a drug dealer and that he was working with the Feds might take some time!

Lee had given him a call to say that there’d been a development and that they needed him to hold fire. To pull the car over and stop where he was. ‘Just pull over and wait for me to call you back’ he’d said, ‘Sit tight until we know what’s going on!’ He wouldn’t tell him anything more than that, but he’d sounded panicky. It was the first time that he’d ever shown a nervy side to him. A worried, tetchy side. He was normally so calm and collected, and difficult to get a rise out of, but this time he’d actually shouted down the phone. He’d told him to shut up and do what he was told and then hung up on him! Something had obviously rattled him!

“They’re a ****ing joke!” huffed Brax, as he turned and looked at the bag beside him on the passenger seat. This whole thing had been one big mess from start to finish. It was like they’d been one step behind at every stage. Even the simple fact that they’d had to get him and boys involved was an indicator of how much of a mess they’d made of things! What if everything had gone badly wrong now?! What if Heath was dead and that was the reason that they were so panicked?! Or what if something bad had happened to Kyle and Josh?! Would they even tell him if something like that had happened?! Would they just leave him sitting here like an idiot?!

He reached for his phone again and started typing out a message. ‘Everything ok?’ he wrote, feeling a nervous little flutter in his stomach. The fact that Smithy now knew where he and Ricky lived had freaked him out more than a little. What if that nutcase came after them now too?! What the hell had they gotten themselves into?! They’d gathered up Casey’s things, and gone over to stay at Heath and Bianca’s place, with Darcy and Harley. He figured it was better that they all stay together and it was easier for the police to watch one house, rather than two. Ash had reluctantly agreed to stay behind with the ‘women-folk’, as Ricky had so sneeringly put it, and make sure that everyone was safe. He sat there waiting and staring at the message that he’d just sent. This whole thing had him jumpy as hell! He didn’t know what he’d do if anything had happened to them!

After what felt like an eternity, a message came through. “We’re all fine” it said, “Just get it done, and come home!” He gave a sigh of relief and set the phone down on the dashboard again. They’d agreed a couple of code-words to let him know if anything was wrong, and she hadn’t used any of them. At least that was one weight off his mind.

 

*****

 

“Okay, Josh” said the doctor, as his wheelchair was loaded onto the transport van alongside Kyle, “You’re in good hands now… It’s not far to the hospital.” She’d pulled some strings and got the warden and the police to agree to them being moved. It was outside protocol but she’d pointed out that they’d already allowed two prisoners to die in horrific circumstances, that there was more than enough evidence to suggest wilful neglect on the part of the guards, and that having two more prisoners die because of a failure to provide appropriate medical treatment would reflect very badly on the prison. Unfortunately, the ambulances had been re-routed to a major road accident in the meantime, so they’d had to improvise. Two off-duty prison guards had been brought in to drive one of the transport vans.

“Thanks” said Josh, raising his hand as best he could to give her a little wave. He’d been put in transport shackles, so his wrists were cuffed to a belt around his waist. He still couldn’t stop laughing, although he’d certainly calmed a little.

As his wheelchair was secured inside the van, the young blonde guard that had pushed him here, gave him a little wink. “Don’t you worry boys!” he said, “We’ll have you there in a jiffy!” With that, he jumped down out of the van, gave the doctor a smile, and then slammed the door shut. He could hear the guard talking to a woman up front in the cab when he climbed in the driving seat. Then he heard the engine start.

He gave a little sigh, as he shifted uncomfortably in the chair. Everything hurt and being shackled like this really wasn’t helping. He glanced across at Kyle, feeling a little worried that he still hadn’t spoken. “You okay?” he asked, as he felt the van being put in motion. As relieved as he was to be leaving this awful place, it was always strange not being able to see where you were being taken. Not being able to see out. He didn’t like it!

Kyle turned to look at him for a moment but didn’t say anything. He just looked so utterly broken.

“Kyle?!” he tried again, “Are you okay?” He heard him give a little snort before looking away again. It was like he was transfixed by something to his right.

“Okay” he said, with a sad little nod. If Kyle didn’t want to talk to him, or if he couldn’t, he wasn’t going to push him. What was important was that they were getting out of here! He didn’t know for how long, but for now they were out. A hospital bed, and a little bit of ‘normality’! He started to giggle again. ‘What the hell is wrong with me?!’ he asked himself, ‘This isn’t funny!’

The van trundled along, and stopped and started, as it made its way through traffic. He wondered how long it was going to take. He desperately wanted to lie down and go to sleep.

“I love you” mumbled Kyle, in a very quiet voice, “I miss you so much!”

“What?!” asked Josh, wondering if he’d heard him right. He cared about Kyle a lot but he wasn’t sure that he was comfortable with him saying that he ‘loved’ him, and how on earth could he ‘miss’ him when they’d been stuck together in that tiny cell for so long?! Intimate wasn’t the word! They’d had to go to the toilet in front of each other for weeks now! When it was a number two, it was hard to know where to look! And then there was the vomiting. Kyle had had to listen to him night after night! He didn’t envy him that! Sometimes just the sound of the other one breathing was enough to drive you crazy! He was really hoping that he might get a private room at the hospital. It was probably too much to hope for… Privacy was such a luxury!

“Sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe” continued Kyle, “Sometimes I think I want to… to die… so we can be together again…”

“Huh?!” asked Josh, feeling a little uncomfortable with where this was going. ‘So, we can be together’?!’ What was he talking about?!

“Aaron!” he said, hanging his head and letting out soft little sobs.

Josh looked at him in shock. He wasn’t sure that he understood but it seemed like he was talking to his dead boyfriend?! Was he hallucinating, he wondered?!  Was this a symptom of his kidney trouble or was there something worse going on?!

Suddenly the van came to a screeching halt, jolting them forwards in their chairs. “What the…?!” exclaimed Josh, locking eyes with a frightened looking Kyle. He seemed to have suddenly come to his senses. The door to the driver’s side opened and then there were voices shouting loudly! They couldn’t hear what they were saying but it was clear that they were arguing. A man outside the van yelled something, someone yelled back, and then there was a loud bang!

“Oh ****!” muttered Josh under his breath. His heart had just kicked up a gear. That sound was unmistakable! It was a gunshot!

“What’s happening?!” gasped Kyle. He looked terrified!

“I don’t know” whispered Josh, as the van started moving again. “But I did tell you…” he said, starting to laugh again involuntarily, “Things can always get worse!”

 

*****

 

Brax sat tapping his thumbs off the steering wheel in an impatient sort of way. Why hadn’t Lee called back?! It had been at well over an hour now! He was more than late for the meeting with Smithy! What the hell was going on?!

With an exasperated sort of huff, he decided to turn on the radio. He figured a bit of music might help to calm him down, but as he flicked it on, there was a news report already underway...

“…dramatic scenes, a prison transport vehicle was hijacked at gunpoint when it stopped at an intersection. One of the officers, transporting two reportedly injured prisoners to a nearby hospital, has been fatally wounded. The other is thought to have been taken hostage. Both prisoners are currently unaccounted for. One of the prisoners has been identified as Joshua Barrett, a known flight risk. The other, his associate, is Kyle Braxton. Both prisoners are to be considered violent and dangerous. This incident follows grisly scenes at the prison, where two inmates are known to have been killed, and a separate but possibly linked incident outside the prison where another two individuals have died. Full details will be released as and when they become available…”

He gasped and reached for his phone to give Lee a call. What the hell had happened?! It looked like Josh and Kyle been kidnapped and no-one had thought it pressing to tell him. How could they keep him in the dark like this?! Who did they think they were?! He dialled Lee’s number but it went straight to voicemail. “****!” he grunted, punching the steering wheel out of pure frustration, “****! ****! ****!”

Suddenly the phone rang, and he figured it was Lee calling back, but when he picked it up he saw the name ‘Smithy’ flash up on the screen.

“****!” he said, staring at it and wondering whether to answer or not. It continued to ring, and he continued to stare at it. He had no idea what to say to him! This whole thing had gone terribly wrong but he had no idea if Smithy was involved in the kidnapping or not. Maybe it was unrelated? Maybe he should answer? At the end of the day, this man still had Heath. What was he supposed to do?! He dithered, with his thumb above the screen. Should he press green? Should he take the chance? He couldn’t decide… Then it rang off. “****!” he said again, grimacing at the thought that he might have just got his brother killed. What if Smithy followed through on his threats? What if?!

 To his relief, it began to ring again. It was Smithy calling for a second time!

‘Okay’ he said to himself, ‘Just answer… see what he wants!’

“Yeah?” he said, answering in as relaxed a tone as he could manage, “I know I’m really late but… I’m on my way…”

“Cut the **** will you, Brax?!” laughed Smithy, “We both know you aren’t coming to our meet… and we both know why.”

“Uhhh…” said Brax, furrowing his brow. “I don’t…” he started to say, but then he thought about the hijacking. Had he just phoned up to gloat?!  “Was it you?” he asked.

“The one and only!” chuckled Smithy.

“So… why are you calling me?” he asked.

Well, now!” said Smithy, “I think I might have something that you want…” In the background, he could hear the muffled cries of two men talking with gags in their mouths. Even without being able to hear them properly, or understand what they were saying, he knew that it was Kyle and Josh. Smithy had taken them hostage! He’d known it as soon as he’d heard the news on the radio. Known it in his heart. He’d just been hoping that there was some other explanation. Anything but this!

“That’s right!” laughed Smithy, “So, it looks like I hold rather a lot of cards right now… Don’t I?! …A Heath one… a Kyle one… and even a pretty little one called Joshua!”

“What do you want?!” growled Brax, as he glanced at the bag beside him. He had a sick feeling in his stomach. He was pretty sure that he knew what he wanted.

“Well now” said Smithy, “I’m glad you asked that… because I think you might just have something that I want… So, I reckon that things could work out pretty ****ing perfectly… That’s if you use your brain for once!”

[Ludub]

Again, very sorry for the massive delays between chapters! But here' the new one! Really hope you like it!

WARNING: ADULT THEMES & VIOLENCE!

Chapter 48

 

“Where are they?!” said Brax, talking to himself as he stood beside his car. He was looking around him anxiously for any sign of movement. It was an industrial car park down by the docks but it looked like there couldn’t be too many businesses still using it. It looked more like waste ground. There was grass coming up in patches through the tarmac and a couple of old bangers that had been parked there for so long that the tyres had partially disintegrated. The only other vehicle was a big white van parked in the distance. He’d been told to meet them here, and that Heath and the other two boys would be handed over in exchange for the bag of meth. ‘What are you doing?!’ he asked himself, ‘What if he just kills you and takes the drugs?! …Why didn’t you call Lee?!’

He looked at his watch. They were nearly half an hour late at this stage. What if they weren’t coming?! He took his phone out and unlocked the screen to see if there were any messages. A missed call from Lee! ‘****!” he said to himself, wondering whether he should call him back now and come clean. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all?!

Just then he heard the revs of a motorbike engine and turned to look. A man on a 1950s-style motorbike drove into the car park at high speed and skidded to a halt right beside him. He was wearing full black leathers and a black visor helmet.

Brax took a step forward looking a little confused. Where were Heath and the boys?! They obviously weren’t with him!

“Hey!” said Joel, as he took his helmet off, “How you doing, mate?! Good to see you again!”

“Where are my brothers?” demanded Brax, “Smithy said you’d give them back!”

“Don’t worry…” said Joel, setting his helmet down on the back of his bike and climbing off, “You will… They’re here.”

“What?!” he asked, looking confused, “Where… Where are they?!” He looked around at the derelict looking buildings on one side of the car park and wondered if they might be in one of those.

“Oh” laughed Joel, “Don’t worry… they’re here… They’re close by.”

“I’m not giving you the bag until I know my brothers are safe” said Brax. He’d hidden it under one of the old cars just in case they tried to pull something.

“Well, I’m not taking you to your brothers” he said, crossing his arms across his chest and raising his eyebrows at him, “…until you give me the bag.” He gave a little shrug. “So, we can stand here staring at each other for the rest of the day… or you can just trust me.”

Brax stared at him for a moment, trying to gauge whether he was just as big a creep as his uncle or not. Was he lying? He couldn’t tell.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong!” laughed Joel, “You’re not a bad guy to look at, and neither am I… but I have things to be doing today…”

“Very funny” huffed Brax, “I just need to know that they’re safe.”

“They won’t be if you keep dillydallying” he said, squinting up at the sun. It was a very hot day and the sun was beating down on both their heads. “I reckon those brothers of yours are getting a bit uncomfortable right now…” he said, fanning himself a little theatrically, “Bit hot today, isn’t it?”

Brax stepped forward, intending to grab hold of him, but Joel pulled a gun.

“I don’t think so” said Joel, with a little shake of the head.

“So, what?” huffed Brax, “I just hand it over… and you just…”

“I’ll take you to them” said Joel, with a little nod, “It’s not rocket science, Brax… You’re making this much more complicated than it needs to be…”

He looked down at the ground for a moment and shook his head in frustration. It was either hand the drugs over, and hope for the best, or walk away now and allow his brothers to die. There was certainly no guarantee that he’d keep his word, but he couldn’t see what other option he had. He gave a heavy sigh and began to nod. “It’s over here” he said, leading him to where he’d stashed the bag and then reaching under the car to get it.

“Good boy!” said Joel, reaching for the bag in his hand with a little smile. He carried the bag, motioning for Brax to walk ahead of him back to his own car, and then set it down on the bonnet. He unzipped it and took a quick look inside. It certainly looked like what he’d been expecting. Individual packages of slightly cloudy white crystals, like very large pieces of rock salt. The bags were wrapped up neatly with brown packaging tape around the outside edges. He fished around a little inside the bag until his fingers found what he was looking for. There was a very small square device inside, in the far corner of the bag. It was a tracking device. He looked up at Brax and gave a little smile.

“It’s all there?” asked Brax.

“Yep!” he said, picking the bag up again, and nodding for him to walk ahead of him again, “Better take you to your brothers then, yeah?”

Brax gave him a quizzical look. “This way?” he asked, pointing across the car park. They seemed to be heading away from the buildings and towards the white van. He got a sick feeling in his stomach. If they’d been in that van all this time, there was a good chance that they could be dead. It was nearly 40 degrees today!

“Yep” he said again, as he chivvied him on.

“They’re in that van?!” he gasped, now that he had confirmation. He broke into a run, completely forgetting that the guy behind him had a gun. When he got to the back of the van, he began tugging at the door handle but it was locked. “Open it!” he shouted, as Joel sauntered towards him, “Open it now! …Heath?! Kyle?!” He banged on the door hoping for an answer. “Heath?!” he shouted again, “Kyle?! Are you okay?!” Terrible images were flashing through his mind. What if they were already dead?!

Joel gave him a little smirk when he pulled the keys out of his pocket. “It’s okay” he said, putting the key in the lock. With that, he swung the door open.

“But?” asked Brax, “I don’t…” He couldn’t see them. The van contained a large number of brown boxes on pallets, but he couldn’t see any of the boys inside. “Where are they?” he asked, craning his neck to see into the back of the van.

“Sorry, mate” said Joel, as he hit him in the back of his head with a crowbar. Brax just collapsed forward like a sack of spuds, landing on the floor of the van, half in, half out. He looked down at him and shook his head in pity. How dumb was this guy?! Seriously?! Like a lamb to the slaughter! He lifted his legs and folded them up inside the van. “Okay!” he shouted to the driver, as he banged the door shut, “Good to go!”

 

*****

 

“Yeah, mate!” laughed Smithy, holding his phone between his shoulder and his ear, “All trussed up like a couple of turkeys!” He glanced across at the two boys, sitting there in their shackles, and gave them a little wink. “Nah, mate… They’ll be no trouble… like a couple of little lambs…”

“Mrrrhhhm” moaned Kyle. The ropes that Smithy had tied around his chest were digging in and making it hard to breathe. He was in a lot of pain.

“Couple of lookers too!” laughed Smithy, throwing him a little wink, “At least, they will be when the bruises fade…”

Josh glanced at Kyle. He didn’t know who Smithy was talking to but it didn’t sound good. He could see that Kyle was scared too!

“Yeah… no worries, mate!” said Smithy, “I’ll have them for you tomorrow morning… I just have some things that I need to sort out first…” He was still waiting for Joel to get back from meeting Brax, but he’d had a call to say that everything had gone to plan, so he was in pretty high spirits. “Cool… so… 100 G’s should do it…” he said, “I’ll call you in the morning to arrange the handover”.

Josh was staring at him in horror! The cogs had started to turn, and he was beginning to understand Smithy’s plan for them! He was going to sell them! For $100,000?! Just hand them over to some mate of his who wanted ‘lookers’ for one reason or another. Some guy called Mick. He didn’t think that it took a genius to figure what that reason was! ‘Oh Jesus!’ he thought to himself as a cold chill ran down his spine, ‘How are we gonna get out of this?!’

“Well!” laughed Smithy, picking up Josh’s medical file again, “I guess it’s all fun and games… till someone loses an eye!” He’d been slowly flicking through their medical files before that call and making little wisecracks as he went. He’d just got to the part about Josh’s eye injuries and loss of vision.

Josh glared at him. It was pretty clear from the bastard’s grin that he thought himself highly amusing. “thhhuck oo!” he grunted through his gag, unable to form the ‘F’ sound or the ‘Y’.

“Thanks for the offer!” chuckled Smithy, “That’s kind of you!” He grinned at the two boys sitting in their wheelchairs in the middle of the old kitchen and snapped Josh’s file shut. “So!” he said, tilting his head at them, “Seems you two fellas aren’t the healthiest of specimens…” With that, he took his feet down off the kitchen table and stood up. “So, I guess I’d better take a look for myself!” he said, as he made his way towards them, “Have a look at the goods, so to speak!”

Josh watched as Smithy knelt down in front of him and flinched away instinctively as he reached for him. Not that he could go far.

“Let’s have a look at you then?!” said Smithy, grabbing a handful of his hair to hold his head still. He lifted his eyelid by force, with no regard for how much it obviously hurt. He wanted to see his injured eye, but couldn’t help smirking when he screamed. “Now, now!” scolded Smithy, as he held the eyelid up and wrinkled his nose. It was a horrible bloody mess! “Keep still or you really will lose this eye!” he warned him.

“Gnnnnnrrrrrrr!” cried Josh, squirming and trying to wriggle away. The pain was unbearable! “Stop!” he tried to say, but it came out more like ‘Hhhop!”

“Man, that Ducky really did a job on you!” teased Smithy, “It’s a pity too… A pretty little boy like you, with a nice little ass like yours, could have made me top dollar… but I guess we’ll just have to sell your other ‘attributes’!”

He released the blackened eyelid, and then slipped his hand between Josh’s legs so he was cupping him.

Josh let out a gasp, arching his back, in an attempt to get away from him. He actually felt physically sick!

“I mean…” continued Smithy, “You’re not too pretty to look at anymore… but you know what they say?”

“Screw you!” Josh tried to say, but it was badly muffled by his gag. Tears had started rolling down his cheeks. When was this nightmare going to end?!

Smithy gave a little snort and smiled at him in a cruel sort of way. He could feel him shaking in his hand, his whole body tensed and trembling. “They say…” said Smithy, giving him a little wink, “‘You don't look at the mantelpiece when you’re stoking the fire!” He burst out laughing when he saw the look of disgust on Josh’s face and turned to wink at Kyle. “Ah come on!” he giggled, “You can tell him, Braxton… It’s not so bad! …Taking it, night after night! …I mean, you got used to it, didn’t you?!”

“hhhuck ooo!” snarled Kyle, bucking at the chair despite the futility of it. His wrists and ankles were still shackled to the belt around his waist, and he was tied to the chair. He couldn’t move!

Smithy let go of Josh’s face and turned to look at him with interest. “Now you?” he said, looking him up and down, “You’re a bit older than they usually like… but you are pretty easy on the eye… and you’re well broken in too, so they might be willing to make an exception… Some of the guys like a more experienced hand…”

“Grrrrhhhhh!” roared Kyle, pulling at his restraints. If he could have spit in his face, he would have!

“That’s the spirit!” laughed Smithy, as he pulled Kyle’s shirt up a little to see his bruised abdomen, “If you survive this spot of kidney trouble, you’ll bring a good price, I reckon!”

“Bleeeeez” pleaded Josh, staring at him in fear and trying to make himself understood through the gag in his mouth, “Bleeez, ust let us go?! He couldn’t cope with much more of this. The threat of what was to come was almost as bad as the reality of it! Like when he’d known that he had to go back to that cell with Cuddles. He was terrified!

“Sweetie!” teased Smithy, “Save your energy! …You’re gonna need it!”

 

*****

“Is he here?!” asked Agent Lee, as he pushed his way into Heath and Bianca’s house and looked around the livingroom at all the anxious faces. Ricky was sitting on the couch and Bianca was curled up in one of the armchairs with a blanket around her. It was clear that she’d been crying. The kids were in another room.

“Is who here?!” asked Ash, as he followed him into the livingroom.

“Brax!” he snapped at him. He looked red-faced and flustered, and like he might be suffering from high blood pressure! Long gone was the cool and collected Federal Agent that they’d met only a few weeks ago. “Brax?!” he repeated impatiently, “Is he here?!”

“Brax?!” exclaimed Ricky, with a look of surprise, “Why would he be here?! Why isn’t he with you?!”

He gave a loud huff and ran his fingers through his hair. “He’s disappeared!” he said, giving an ‘I don’t know what to tell you shrug’. This whole thing had fallen apart faster than he ever could have imagined. Two of their agents had been shot, their undercover agent inside the prison had been murdered in the most gruesome way, their two informants had either been kidnapped, or had decided to go on the run, Brax was missing with a bag full of ‘crystal meth’, and they’d just been on a wild goose chase following a tracker device to a truck stop about an hour up the coast. It was a total disaster! Added to that was the fact that they’d had an informant in their midst. They’d identified Agent Westlake as the one that had tipped Smithy off… He’d run up some gambling debts or something! What they couldn’t figure was out how he’d found out about this operation in the first place! They couldn’t find an internal link, so it looked like it had to have come from someone on the outside?!

“What do you mean, ‘he’s disappeared’?!” demanded Ricky. She was on her feet now and looking more than worried. He’d messaged her only a few hours ago to check that they were all okay. How could he have gone missing between then and now?!

“Exactly that!” said Lee, “He was told to stay put! That I’d call him back and tell him what to do… but it looks like Smith called him and asked him to come do the exchange anyway.” He gave an exasperated sort of sigh and shook his head. “We’ve been trying to track him… to find where he went, but it looks like someone took the tracker out of the bag and tossed it in the back of some guy’s van. It was on its way to Brisbane.”

“Brax wouldn’t have done that!” said Ricky, feeling the need to defend him, but wondering deep down if he might have. She wouldn’t have been that surprised.

“I don’t think he did” agreed Lee, “I think it’s likely that Smith has him…”

“What?!” she exclaimed, “He’s got Brax now too?!”

“So, we’re not getting Heath back” said Bianca, in a distant sort of voice, “Are we?” She’d gone through all the other stages of grief at this stage and was entering one of acceptance. They’d hardly had a word out of her all morning but now she just seemed vacant and numb.

“Let’s not overreact just yet” said Lee, “We don’t know for sure what’s happened… and…”

“You don’t know much, do you?!” snapped Ricky as she took her phone out and tried to call Brax. It went straight to voice mail!

“You don’t think we’ve tried that?!” he asked, in an exasperated way.

“This is on you!” snarled Ricky, jabbing her index finger into his chest so that he had to back away, “You’ve let that man take half our family! Heath, Kyle, Brax… even Josh!”

“We’re doing our best!” he replied. He could see her point though. They’d all been given assurances of safety that weren’t worth anything! It was his fault! He had put them all in danger!

“Yeah, well your best isn’t good enough!” she shouted, “You’ve let him get the better of you… and us! At every single turn! What kind of people are you?!”

“We’re human” he said, with a little shrug, “We make mistakes!”

She breathed out heavily and turned away from him. One more stupid comment like that and she might have decked him!

“And he has the drugs now too?!” asked Ash, “You just let him get his hands on $50,000 dollars’ worth of crystal meth?!” He was horrified. He’d seen first-hand what crystal meth did to you. Some of the guys in prison with him had taken it, and it was as though they’d become completely different people! He hated the thought of that stuff getting out there and ruining people’s lives! “So, he’s just gonna flood the streets with it, isn’t he?!”

“Yeah… I know…” grimaced Agent Lee, “That’s something else I’m worried about!”

 

*****

 

“Yo! Unc!” shouted Joel, as he walked in the door of the kitchen. He had a gym bag in one hand and a slab of beer hoisted on his shoulder. “It’s done” he said, with a proud little smile, “Dip**** didn’t even put up a fight!”

“And you made sure you weren’t followed?” asked Smithy, as he walked over and took the bag from him.

“Course!” he said, grinning from ear to ear, “What d’ya think I am?! …I drove around for ages… There was no-one tailing me…”

“And you dumped the tracker?” he asked, pulling up a chair and opening the bag on the table in front of him.

“Yeah…” said Joel, with a smug little smile, “It’s on the back of the truck on the way to Brisbane! Just like you said…” He glanced at Kyle and threw him a little wink. He was probably wondering where that idiot brother of his was. That guy was gonna get a surprise when he woke up, that was for sure!

“Good!” said Smithy, “Not as big a numbskull as that brother of yours then, eh?!” He nodded for him to take a beer and sit down at the table with him. “The boy done good!” he said, reaching up and giving him a pat on the back.

Joel smirked a little and sat down on the chair at the end of the table. His dad hadn’t been around for as long as he could remember, so Smithy had been the closest thing that he’d ever had to a father. He’d always wanted to be his favourite and spent his whole childhood competing with his brother to try to impress him. He wondered at how pathetic that was. “It uh… It looks like it’s all there?” he said, nodding at the bag as Smithy pulled out individual 1kg packages, one by one.

“Yeah… Looks like it’s all here…” he said, pulling a knife out to cut one of them open. He cut carefully along the seam of the tape to unfold it and then scooped one of the crystals out on the edge of his knife.

Joel turned his attention to an old TV set sitting on the kitchen counter. “Wanna see if this thing works? See if we made the news?” asked Joel, getting up to turn it on. He flicked the switch and the screen filled with black and white fizzle. “Do these things even work anymore?!” he asked, fiddling with the dial to see if he could tune in any channels. He didn’t know if they’d get anything in such a remote location.

“**** knows!” said Smithy, as he ground up one of the crystals on the side of the table. He needed to check the quality, so he was a little too preoccupied to care whether they’d become celebrities or not.

“Oh!” exclaimed Joel, as he managed to find a channel, “Here we go!” The picture and sound weren’t all that clear but the news was on, so he decided to settle for that. Maybe there’d be some sport on after? The newsreader was talking about an immigrant vessel that had capsized off the coast somewhere, with large numbers of people having to be rescued from the water. Not the most riveting stuff, but it would do! He walked back over to the table, grabbed a bottle of beer, and popped his feet up on one of the other chairs. He took a big slug of his beer and watched with interest as his uncle ground the crystal with the blade of his knife. He’d done plenty of drugs in his time, but he was yet to try ice. He was intrigued.

His attention was suddenly taken by the voice of the newsreader, and the images of the prison transport van that were flashing up on the screen. It clearly showed a masked man approaching a prison van at an intersection. There was what looked like a heated exchange, and then a large masculine looking body in a beige uniform was pushed out the passenger side into traffic. With that, the van sped off!

“Tributes are being paid to Officer Doris MacKenzie, a female corrections officer killed earlier today, when prisoners Josh Barrett and Kyle Braxton effected an escape from Highfields Prison. It is believed that she may have fallen victim to a kidnapping plot, in which another officer, Daniel Smith may or may not have been complicit.”

“Poor old Doris, eh?!” laughed Smithy, as a photo of her in a floral blouse flashed up on the screen. Someone had obviously hunted long and hard for one that made her look a little less like Danny DeVito than she normally did, but she still wasn’t a pretty sight to look at! Somehow the floral ditzy blouse made her look even stranger. As though they really had taken Danny DeVito and put him in women’s clothes. The little pink clip by the side of her head just looked comical! “She was never really a looker” he chuckled, “Was she?!”

“You didn’t have to shoot her in the face!” said Joel. He’d actually kind of liked her. She’d been kind of funny in a self-deprecating way.

“Oh, come on!” said Smithy, with a cruel little smirk, “I did her a favour… Call it a face lift!”

Joel gave a little smirk. He couldn’t help marvelling at his uncle’s callousness. That woman had clearly been in love with him! ‘No dead weight’ he’d said to him as they’d sped away, ‘I’d shoot you too if I thought you were gonna slow me down!’ He didn’t doubt it for a moment!

“An unidentified man is known to have posed as a prison officer and facilitated in the escape. Police are still trying to identify him.” said the newsreader.

“Police are still trying to identify him’!” laughed Smithy, “Don’t think it’ll take them too long to put two and two together!” Joel and Calvin had rap sheets as long as your arm!

Joel laughed a little anxiously. He just hoped that things would go to plan tomorrow so he could get away. He really didn’t want to do another stint in prison! He glanced at the slab of beer and then turned to look at the two sorry souls sitting behind him. He’d been about to offer them a bottle or two, but he couldn’t help giving a little snort when he saw the puddle of urine under Josh’s chair. “My uncle Danny been scaring you again, has he?!” he asked, grinning at them over his shoulder, “Pissed yourselves and everything!”

Josh just stared at the floor. He wasn’t even crying anymore. He’d given up.

“Is he alright?” asked Joel, noticing how grey and sweaty Kyle looked.

“Huh?” asked Smithy, glancing up at him for a moment, before looking across at their hostages. Kyle’s head was lolling to one side and his eyes looked quite vacant. “Yeah… he’ll be right” he said, turning his attention back to the little glass pipe in his hand. It had a long glass tube and a spherical bulb at the end, and he’d put some of the crystal meth in there.  “Besides” he said, before throwing his feet up on the table and leaning back in his chair, “If he makes it through tonight, he’ll be Mick’s problem tomorrow!”

Joel gave a little nod, and glanced at them again with newfound pity. ‘Poor bastards!’ he thought to himself. No-one wanted to end up in one of Mick Harris’ places! It was usually a basement somewhere, with a couple of cage-like cells, and thick heavy chains to keep you in check. He’d keep you high as a kite on crystal meth and you’d spend a couple of years on your knees doing whatever sick thing his clients demanded of you. When he couldn’t sell you anymore, and you’d served your purpose, he’d simply toss you out on the streets. Most of the men died of STDs or organ failure. Those places were like hell on earth! He reached for a couple of beers and opened them, before getting to his feet, and walking over to them. “Beer?” he asked, holding one out to Josh’s mouth.

Josh simply turned his face away. He was already sitting in his own urine. He didn’t want to have to go again!

“You?” he asked, offering it to Kyle.

Kyle looked up at him and gave a tearful nod. He was so thirsty! He knew that having alcohol really wasn’t going to help, especially since it looked like his kidney had shut down, but he couldn’t say no. He just needed liquid of some form.

“That’s more like it!” laughed Joel, as he removed Kyle’s gag and poured some of the beer into his mouth slowly. He laughed when he saw how desperate he was for it, and poured a bit more quickly. Kyle just gulped and gulped.

“You always were a soft touch!” said Smithy, gazing across at him with a look of mild disapproval. He just saw it as a waste of beer.

“Ah… Y’know?” said Joel, smirking again as he saw his uncle open another bottle and take a drink himself, “…A beer for the condemned man …and all that!”

Josh glanced up at him and then at the gun tucked into the waistband of his trousers. ‘The condemned man?’, he thought to himself. ‘I wish he would just put a bullet in my head and be done with it… But I guess, I’m not worth much if I’m dead!’

“Stop wasting beer on them!” scolded Smithy, as he flicked the little wheel on his lighter to check it worked.

“Can I have some?” asked Joel, walking back over to the table to watch as his uncle held the lighter under the little glass globe of his pipe. Smoke started billowing around inside the little bulb. It looked enticing.

“In a minute” said Smithy, putting his mouth back to the pipe.

Joel gave a little nod and sat down opposite him. He wanted to watch this!

Smithy had his eyes closed and was inhaling deeply. He looked lost in a moment of bliss… but suddenly he started spluttering and threw his feet down off the table so he could cough properly. He began holding his chest, as though he had chest pains, and was really struggling to breathe. “What… the…” he wheezed, hardly able to get a breath out between splutters, “****! …What the **** is this…. stuff?!”

“You okay?!” asked Joel, getting up and standing in front of him, “What’s wrong?!”

Kyle and Josh glanced at each other before looking back at Smithy. He’d gone a strange shade of purple and the veins were standing out in his neck. He tried to get to his feet, but as soon as he stood up, his legs buckled under him and he collapsed onto his knees on the floor. He wheezed and wheezed, and retched, and coughed, and suddenly there was a splatter of blood all over the tiles. He took one hand off the floor and put it around his own throat. “Those… bas…tards!” he managed to splutter, as he retched on all fours and blood poured out of his mouth, “Those Fed ****ers… They’ve… they’ve poisoned me!”

[Ludub]

Thank you everyone for the lovely lovely comments! Glad you all enjoyed the previous chapter... Here's the next one. Hope you all like it!

WARNING: ADULT THEMES & VIOLENCE!

Chapter 49

 

“Urrrrhhhhhh!” groaned Brax, as he began to come round. His head was thumping with a headache so fierce that he was actually frightened to move! It was as though someone had stuck an ice-pick in the side of his head and the tiniest movement sent a piercing pain through his right temple and straight through his eye. “****!” he moaned, as he rolled himself onto his back, and lay there panting. He was waiting and hoping for the pain to subside. It was stiflingly hot in here and he felt like his clothes were soaked in sweat and stuck to him. He felt physically sick! It was like there was no air! He opened his eyes and looked around him. It was dark in here. Very very dark! He couldn’t see a thing! ‘It must still be the middle of the night’ he thought to himself, as a wave of nausea overtook him and he began to retch. “Ricky?!” he said out loud, hoping that she could go and get him a basin to throw up in, “I think I’m gonna be si…!” He began to vomit before he even got to finish the sentence and was horrified to realise that he’d thrown up on himself. He’d been lucky not to choke.  “Ric!” he coughed, wiping at his mouth in disgust, “I’m sorry, babe… but I think I just got sick in the bed!” He’d never felt so miserable! ‘I must be really sick!’ he thought to himself. “Ric!” he called again, sounding a little impatient, “Are you there?! I’m sick!” When he didn’t get a reply, he reached his hands out on either side of him to see if he could feel her in the bed. Surely, she couldn’t be that deep a sleeper?! His heart began to beat faster when he realised that she wasn’t there! Not only was she not there, but the bed wasn’t there! He was lying on an uneven surface of metal with big ridges across it. He could feel them digging into his back now. He could also feel the ground vibrating and hear the low hum of an engine! He was inside a moving vehicle! ‘****!’ he said to himself, beginning to panic because he couldn’t remember how he’d gotten there. With great effort, and having to fight through the pain and the nausea, he pulled himself into a sitting position. ‘****!’ he said again, ‘Where am I?!” He blinked a couple of times but all he could see was darkness, except for a very small sliver of light down by the ground. He crawled over to it and put his face down low to try to see out. It was a very thin gap just under the van door. They were on the highway and travelling at speed! “Oh ****!” he said out loud, as today’s events suddenly came rushing back, “Where the **** are they taking me?!”

 

*****

 

“Oh dear!” laughed Joel, as he crouched down beside his ailing uncle, “What’s this?! Did someone finally get one over on Danny Smith?!”

“Hhhhhheeeeelp” he wheezed. Blood was trickling out of his mouth, as he lay on his side, and breathed in a laboured way. Every time he tried to take in a deeper breath, he began to cough, and that only made the bleeding worse! “Unnnnnnngggh!” he moaned, hugging his arms around his chest.

“Feeling a bit short of breath, Unc?” he asked, “Feeling scared?”

Smithy looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and furrowed his brows at him. He didn’t understand what was going on. Why wasn’t Joel trying to help him?!

“Your heart’s thumping, isn’t it?!”, he asked, “…Just going like a jackhammer?! Like it’s ready to burst right out through your ribcage?!” He sat down cross-legged on the floor beside him and leant his head in his hand.  “Do you think that’s how my dad felt?” he asked, with a little shrug, “Do you think his heart was racing like yours is now? Do you think he was frightened?”

Smithy looked up at him with a growing look of fear. He was slowly putting two and two together. It wasn’t the Feds that had poisoned him, it was his nephew!

Joel was looking down at him, his nostrils flaring a little, as he clenched his jaw in anger.

“Bhleeez” coughed Smithy, with another little splutter of blood, “I need…hhhelp!”

“Did my dad say that?” he asked, tilting his head at him, “Did my dad beg you? Did he ask you to stop?” He leaned in close beside his ear and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Did he? Did he beg for his life?” he snarled in his ear, “When you killed him?! …When you and your mates kicked him to death?!”

“Wuh?!” he gasped, shaking his head at him and coughing quite violently, “I… I di’nt!”

“Come on, Uncle Danny!” he snorted, “The cat’s out of the bag… I know!”

Smithy closed his eyes tight and gave a little shudder. He didn’t have the energy to deny it, and besides, it probably wouldn’t make any difference now. The damage was already done. He was dying! In a way, he was almost proud of the boy. To get the better of him in such an underhanded way?! That was impressive! He’d taught him well! “How?!” he managed to cough. He wondered how he’d finally found out. After all these years?! “Who?!” he spluttered, “Who… t... told you?!”.

“Mummy dearest!” sneered Joel, “She finally came clean… told me all about your little deal…” He shook his head, giving a disgusted little snort, “Told me how she agreed to keep quiet about it, as long as you paid the rent…” He curled his lip up on one side as his face took on a look of pure disgust. “Course, we both know that that wasn’t your only ‘agreement’ with my mother” he continued, “She always was a whore!”

Smithy couldn’t help but laugh a little, even though it hurt to. He couldn’t really argue with him. Shirley had dropped her knickers for him at every available opportunity, and for just about every other man that had ever come a knockin’! As long as they were willing to pay for it in some way. He wasn’t even sure that these boys really were his brother’s kids! They could have been his own, for all he knew! But then again, there were about a hundred other men that could have made that claim! They might never know. “Your mum…” he gasped, trying very hard to get the words out, “She… she… never could keep her legs crossed!”

“You’re a sick ****er, you know that?!” said Joel. He was refusing to rise to the bait. “You kill our dad, your brother, and then you come round ours?! Playing happy families with our mum?! Climbing into her bed before the sheets were even cold?! …Making us grateful for your help?!” His eyes filled with tears a little bit and he wiped at them in anger. “I thought you were the man!” he said, shaking his head in disgust, “I thought you were the coolest guy on earth! …Wanted to be just like you! …When all the time…!”

“Coward!” spat Smithy, looking up at him with a bloodied grin. “He… was…a coward!” he managed to wheeze out, “He begged! …Your dad! …He cried… like a little girl!” He wanted to make him angry. Danny Smith wasn’t going to go out like this, he told himself! He wasn’t going to go out snivelling like all the people he’d ever killed! Like his brother had! He was better than that! Better than all of them! If he could make him angry enough… just push him enough… then maybe he’d put a bullet in his head. That would be a decent death, at least! That would be a death that he’d choose. Everything was always about control with him. Even wanting to choose the manner in which he was murdered!

“I bet he did” said Joel, with a little nod, “Everyone does… and you’ll cry too… you’ll beg when your time comes! You have no idea what’s coming!”

“I’m not crying, am I?!” coughed Smithy, with a definite sense of pride. He was strong. He was defiant! He wasn’t going to beg or cry like his brother had!

Joel smirked a little and slowly got to his feet. “You think you’re dying?” he asked, grinning down at him, “Don’t you?! …You think this is how it ends?!”

Smithy stared up at him, the smile slowly disappearing from him face. He recognised this act. He’d taught this boy everything that he knew! This didn’t bode well!

“You think you’re gonna go out, snapping and snarling!” he laughed, “…Throwing about insults… like a total badass!” He shook his head in a pitying sort of way. “That’s not how this is gonna work, Dan!” He pulled back and kicked him hard in the stomach, as hard as he could! “You don’t get off that easy!” he said, kicking him again. He laughed a little as Smithy coughed and wheezed and spluttered on the floor. “I have plans for Danny Smith!” he said, with a raise of his eyebrow, “And they don’t involve you dying! Not just yet!”

He turned to look at Kyle and Josh. They were both just staring, wide-eyed in shock. “In fact!” he said, giving them a little wink, “I think I have a plan for all of you!”

“What… what are you gonna do?!” stammered Kyle. He’d been hoping that Joel might set them free but that was starting to look less and less likely. Smithy’s nephew seemed to be just as unhinged as the man himself. Surely, he couldn’t outdo his uncle, though?! Surely, he couldn’t be that sick?!

Joel gave a little snort and sauntered back over to Smithy’s side of the kitchen table. He used his foot to roll his uncle’s body a little further away from the chair, and then sat down with a self-satisfied little sigh. “I’ve always wanted to try this!” he said, reaching for the knife to scoop up some of the ground up crystal meth.

Smithy looked up at him in surprise when he saw him lift the little glass pipe off the floor, refill it, and then put it in his mouth.

“What?!” laughed Joel, looking down at him as he lit the lighter again. He closed his eyes, breathing the fumes in deeply, and holding them for a moment.  “Ohhhh!” he said, chuckling a little when he saw the shocked look on all of their faces. “You thought?!” he asked, in a mocking tone, “You thought?!” He smirked down at his uncle again, as he picked up one of the 1kg packages, and waggled it at him. “You thought it was in the meth?!” he asked, in a teasing tone, “You thought I’d switched it?! That I’d put some sort of poison in here?!”

Smithy furrowed his brows. That’s exactly what he’d thought! Maybe Joel was a good deal smarter than he’d given him credit for? Maybe he was a genius?!

“Nah, mate!” said Joel, picking up Smithy’s bottle of beer and showing it to him, “Just slipped something in your beer! These bottles are surprisingly easy to reseal!” He tilted the bottle to show him the little yellow mark on the label. “I marked your ones” he said, “Y’know? Just in case!”

Smithy gave a little nod and smiled to himself. He really had taught him well! In some ways, he wished that he actually was his son! He couldn’t have been prouder!

Joel continued smoking what was in the pipe and sat back for a little while just smiling. Smithy was still choking and spluttering, but not as badly as he had been before. The two boys were just sitting there, looking miserable, and awaiting their fate. The room was relatively quiet for a little while....

Suddenly a phone rang. “Perfect timing!” laughed Joel, as he fished his phone out of his pocket, and pressed answer. “Mick!” he said, grinning down at his uncle on the floor, “Good to hear from you! Yeah… Yeah… It went just like we planned it… Couldn’t have worked out better.” He glanced over at the two boys and gave them a little wink. “Yeah… on the road tonight!” he said, starting to put the packages back in the gym bag, “Yeah, yeah… All three! …Have to say, Mick, I’m surprised you want him… I mean, he isn’t exactly a spring chicken!”

Smithy was staring up at him in shock! Now, this?!  This he hadn’t been expecting! How did he even know Mick Harris?!

“Really?!” laughed Joel, genuinely enjoying the joke. Seemingly, there was a queue that was already a mile long!  There was no shortage of men with a score to settle. Ex-prisoners in their droves, and men on the outside that Smithy had screwed over in one way or another! There would be no shortage of clients for ‘Officer Danny Smith’! Everyone wanted a piece! Joel grinned down at his uncle and raised his eyebrows at him mockingly. “Well, Mick!” he chuckled into the phone, “… I guess it’s time that he found out what it feels like… I mean, what it really feels like to be one getting ****ed!”

 

*****

 

Kat gave an exasperated huff and threw her phone down on the coffee table. She was off duty this evening and normally she’d be out for a drink by now, or settling down to watch a movie, but tonight she just couldn’t take her mind off what Bianca had told her! She still hadn’t managed to have things out with Ash. ‘Why won’t he answer my calls?!’ she said to herself, as she slumped back on the sofa, ‘It’s not a lot to ask! I mean, he is supposed to be my boyfriend!’ She’d sent him multiple text messages and left him God knows how many voice mails but he obviously had his phone turned off. At least, that’s what the rational part of her brain was telling her. The less rational side was running around the room screaming ‘Oh my God! He’s been killed! I’m never going to get to see him again!’ The silence was getting to her! Even Bianca wasn’t answering, and she’d specifically asked for her help! That Agent Lee had never returned any of her phone calls either, and she’d phoned him now more times than she could count! She was really beginning to panic, but she was channelling that panic into anger. ‘Where does he get off doing this to me?!’ she seethed, ‘I mean… He knows I’m a cop! Why would he keep me in the dark like this?!’

She picked up her phone again and scrolled back through her call history. The list of calls that she’d made over the last few hours was probably longer than she’d made over the last few months! “Ash, Ash, Ash, Ash, Ricky, Agent Lee’s Office, Ash, Ash, Bianca, Ash, Ash, Ash, Agent Lee’s Office, Ash, Ash…” Then she came to the name ‘Westlake’ and she gave a little sigh. He’d been pretty friendly on the phone when she’d spoken to him, and he’d promised that he’d get back to her as soon as he heard anything… but he still hadn’t called back! Surely, he would have found something by now?! Maybe he’d just forgotten to call her? Maybe she should call him to check?!

“No!” she said to herself, “He probably already thinks you’re some hysterical girlfriend, just panicking about her dumbass of a boyfriend! …Let him call you!” She picked up the remote control off the coffee table and turned the TV on. “Okay… just find a nice movie or something” she said out loud.

Suddenly, a couple of very familiar faces flashed up on the screen. They were showing the mugshots of ‘Josh Barrett’ and ‘Kyle Braxton’ and talking about them being ‘wanted fugitives’!

“Oh, Josh!” she exclaimed, sitting forward and covering her mouth in shock, “Not again, Josh?! Please tell me you didn’t do this again?!”

The report went on to say that the two fugitives were suspects in multiple homicides and that there was a police alert out to all departments to consider them armed and dangerous. There was essentially a manhunt underway!

She shook her head. She’d really thought that Josh had learnt his lesson after the last time, and she never would have expected Kyle to do a thing like this! She didn’t even think he was guilty of what he’d gone down for! And what were they doing running away when they were supposed to be involved with this undercover drug sting and working with the Feds?! She just didn’t understand it!

“Okay!” she said to herself, as she muted the TV and scrolled to ‘Westlake’ in her phone. She was going to find out what was happening if it killed her! She paused for a moment, steadying her nerves, and then pressed call. It began to ring and she sat forward on the seat of the sofa staring in disappointment at Josh’s miserable looking mugshot. She really hoped that he hadn’t done this again! Not again!

“Hello?!” said a voice at the other end.

“Hey, Westie?!” she said, trying to sound upbeat.

“Who is this?” asked the voice.

“Uhhh…” she answered, realising that it wasn’t Carson Westlake, “It’s uhhh… It’s his friend, Kat… Is… Is Agent Westlake okay?”

“Chapman?” sighed the tired sounding voice, “Constable Katarina Chapman?”

“Yes?” she said, sounding a little nervous.

“I should have known!” he snorted, “This is Agent Angus Lee… I think you and I need a little chat!”

 

*****

 

“Upsadaisy!” exclaimed Joel, as he loaded Kyle’s wheelchair up the ramp and into the van. He parked him beside Josh, and gave his hair a little ruffle. “Don’t worry fellas!” he said to them, “We don’t have that far to go… Mick’s expecting you, so we’ll get you all settled in some time tonight…”

Josh hung his head. He was softly crying.

“Ah, come on!” he teased, as he knelt down beside him and cocked his head to one side, “Tomorrow’s a new day… and look on the bright side! You won’t have to share cells anymore! Your own little private room… sometimes.”

Josh looked up at him in a startled way. Was he saying that he and Kyle wouldn’t even get to stay together now?! That they’d be separated and have to go through this nightmare alone?! How much worse could this thing get?!

“You’ll get used to it” said Joel, with a little shrug, “They say you can get used to anything… if you have to.” He did actually feel a little bit bad about handing them over to Mick, but they were worth at least $100,000 and he couldn’t pass that up! With the $50K from the crystal meth, and another $30K for his uncle, he was going to have more than enough to get out of the country and go live like a king somewhere in Asia. By tomorrow night, he’d be sipping Mai Tai’s on a beach somewhere and getting laid! Letting them go just wasn’t an option!

He got back up and razzled the hair on the two boys’ heads in the way that you would a dog. “Better go get Uncle Danny then!” he said, jumping down out of the van and going back inside the house.

“I can’t do this!” sobbed Josh, as soon as he was gone. It wasn’t all that clear what he’d said, because of the gag, but Kyle could still understand him.

“Yes, you c-can” said Kyle, in a cold and distant way, “You d-don’t h-have a choice… n-neither of us do.” He was obviously very unwell. His whole body was shaking violently and his teeth were chattering!

“I can’t!” he cried again, but it came out more like “I hant!” He was shaking too, but for very different reasons. He was simply terrified.

“Okay” said Kyle, “W-what are you g-gonna do then? …B-because right now, you’re ch-chained in a chair…” He gave a heavy sigh and shook his head. “Th-there’s n-nothing you c-can do!”

Josh just started sobbing even more. Kyle was right. There was nothing that he could do. Nothing that either of them could do! By tomorrow night, they’d be sex slaves, and God only knew what that was going to entail. He didn’t think that he could cope with it. He knew that he couldn’t cope with it! Enough was enough! He’d made up his mind! The first chance that he got, he was going to kill himself! If he could have done it now, he would have! All he wanted was to die!

“Here we go!” shouted Joel, as he reappeared with Smithy thrown over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift. He dumped him down on the floor of the van as roughly as he could manage and smirked when he gave a heavy groan. “Oh, sorry, Unc!” he chuckled, as he jumped up into the van beside him, “Clumsy me!”

“Mrrrhhhhmmmm!” groaned Smithy, now gagged and bound. He was obviously in quite a bit of pain, but the danger of him dying seemed to have passed. He wasn’t coughing up blood anymore.

“Okay!” said Joel, standing there with his hands on his hips as he surveyed his cargo, “Looks like we’ll be good to go, in about 5 minutes…” He’d already loaded his motorbike into the van and put the gym bag of drugs and the remaining bottles of beer up in the cab at the front. They’d seen him gather up a couple of passports as well and put them in the front with his things. “Just need to take a slash!” he said, as he jumped back down off the van and walked a short distance away. “Then we’ll get this show on the road!” he said, speaking like a circus announcer.

Josh gave another little sob, glancing over his shoulder for a moment, when he heard him start to urinate. The sound of it was making him want to go too! He was going to have to go again soon and he was already reeking of stale urine, and incredibly uncomfortable. He couldn’t even cross his legs to help him hold it!

“Right!” said Joel, zipping himself up again as he walked back towards the van, “Better get going!” He tilted his head a little and gave his Uncle a rather sadistic smile. “Oh, how the tables have turned!” he said, laughing, “Eh, Uncle Danny!”  He nodded to the two boys in their wheelchairs. “Bet you’re glad I didn’t untie them… and let them have at it!” He pictured the two of them just kicking lumps out him and opening the door to find a pile of Danny Smith flavoured minced meat! He wouldn’t be worth much that way, he reflected!

Kyle turned his head and locked eyes with Smithy on the floor. He wasn’t sure what he would have done given the opportunity. Would he have killed him?! He really couldn’t say for certain!

With a cruel little chuckle, Joel swung the door closed.

CLUNK… THWUMP!

“What was that?!” whispered Kyle, staring over his shoulder at the closed van door. There’d been a sudden metallic clunk, and a heavy thud of something hitting the ground outside! Then they heard a repeated ‘wump wump wump wump wump’ noise of something metallic hitting something soft.

Josh had turned to look as well. He was frightened. What the hell was going on now?!

Everything seemed to have gone quiet…

They all jumped when the door swung open. There was a man standing there, panting heavily, and holding a steel bar in his hand. He was covered from head to toe in mud and blackened congealed blood. He looked like a zombie!

“Jesus!” exclaimed Kyle, squinting over his shoulder at him. It took him a moment to realise who it was. “What the f-**** happened to y-you?!” he asked. He looked like something half dead!

“I could ask you the same thing!” said Heath, with a pained little smile. He threw the metal bar down on the back of the van and climbed in. Joel was lying in a bloody heap on the ground outside. Heath had hit him a few more times than he’d intended to, but he certainly didn’t regret it. Not now that he’d seen the state the boys were in!

He looked down at the two boys in the wheelchairs and gave them a pitying little smile. They were both crying! “Come on, boys!” he said, starting to untie Kyle from his wheelchair, “Let’s get you out of here!”

[Ludub]

Thanks to all you lovely people for commenting, and apologies for not replying until now. I've been trying to get this chapter written and it's taken me quite a while...

So, I said I would finish the story on chapter 50... and I have... sort of   There was far too much to fit into one chapter,  so there's actually going to be an epilogue (with a bit of a time jump) which I will post in a day or two. Really hope you like this one! (It's long!  Serious value for money!)

 

WARNING: VERY ADULT THEMES & SEXUAL CONTENT (sure why not?!  haha!)

 

Chapter 50

 

Josh gave a weak little smile to the paramedic that was taking his blood pressure, more as way of apology than anything else. They had him wrapped in one of those space blankets that they used for patients who were in shock, or for cases of hypothermia. He couldn’t stop shaking but he wasn’t really cold. He couldn’t stop crying either. The tears were just streaming down his face. He kept flinching every time the man moved, no matter how much he tried not to. He just couldn’t help it. ‘Shock’ one of the cops had said, giving him a cup of tea with lots of sugar in it, but he hadn’t been able to drink it. He kept saying ‘sorry’ but he didn’t really know why.

“Don’t worry” said the paramedic, giving him a sympathetic look as he got a syringe with some morphine ready. He pushed the plunger and gave it a little flick to remove any air bubbles. “We’re gonna take good care of you.” he said.

Josh jumped when the needle pierced his skin, even though he’d already seen it coming. He was just so on edge that he couldn’t stop himself. “Sorry” he said again, but the paramedic just smiled at him.

“It’s okay mate” he said, putting a little ball of cotton wool over the injection site and getting him to hold it himself. “You’ll feel a bit better in a minute.”

Josh glanced outside and saw another ambulance parked up directly opposite. He could see Kyle inside on an identical gurney, but he had an oxygen mask on him, and he was hooked up to drips and heart monitors. He was obviously in much worse shape! Heath was being treated in a third ambulance parked beside Kyle’s, and there were another two dealing with Smithy and Joel. There were police and paramedics everywhere, a helicopter overhead, and in the distance, he could see bright lights. The press and TV journalists were obviously being kept back behind a police cordon, but they were there, and they were making their presence felt.

He could see Agent Lee milling around with a number of his subordinates. He and another man had come and tried to take a statement from him earlier, but it had become clear quite quickly that he was in no fit state for an interview. He could barely string a sentence together and hadn’t been able to stop crying for long enough to answer their questions! Kyle obviously wasn’t much better.

He saw Keith stop to talk to one of the officers that was going to be traveling with him to the hospital. He’d come to tell them that they would be honouring the deal. That they’d be getting their sentences reduced and that they’d be moved to a minimum-security prison within the next few weeks. Right now, the priority was damage control! There were a lot of questions being asked about the whole operation, and there was going to be an internal review. They needed to understand why things had gotten so out of control. Heads were definitely going to roll over this, but the last thing that the Federal Police needed was for word of it to get out to the media. They didn’t want anyone talking to the press! As long as he and Kyle agreed to testify against Smithy, and the other prisoners involved in the drugs operation, then the Feds would be willing to make the transfers as planned. They just had to sign a ‘non-disclosure’ clause that barred them from talking to the media.

So, it was happening! They were getting out of Highfields! He knew that he should be happy about that but right now he just felt numb.

“Okay, so” said the paramedic, “I’m just gonna go get your ride-along… so you sit tight and I’ll be back in a minute.” He hopped down out of the ambulance and gave him a little wink. “Don’t go anywhere!” he teased, before walking over to talk to the police officer.

Josh gave a sad little smirk. Where did he think he was going to go?! They had him handcuffed to the gurney and he was still wearing shackles around his ankles. He couldn’t go anywhere! Besides that, he’d learnt his lesson a long time ago about running from the law. He would have stayed sitting in that ambulance even if someone had arrived with a helicopter to whisk him away! They’d always find you… He knew that now… And life on the run was no kind of life anyway!.

Suddenly, he heard a shout and looked over to see a sort of scuffle going on. He saw Agent Lee take a step backwards as though he’d been shoved in the chest, but Heath was matching him step for step and snarling in his face.

 “How can you not have found him?!” roared Heath, “How can he still be missing?!” He was shouting angrily and lunging forward, but some of the other agents had hold of his arms and were trying to hold him back. “How can you have lost him?!” he shouted.

“Look, Heath!” said Lee, smoothing down his shirt in an attempt to look more in control of the situation, “We’re doing our best! I don’t know what else to tell you… It’s like he’s just disappeared off the face of the planet.” They’d found his truck at that old abandoned carpark, and his jacket with the tracker in it, but no sign of Brax. They had no idea how they were going to find him. That’s if he was still alive.

“That’s not good enough!” growled Heath, as he struggled to get at him, “What kind of idiots are you people?! You couldn’t find your ass with both hands!”

“We will find him” said Lee. He looked a little shamefaced though. “I promise you, Heath… We’ll find him… We won’t stop till we do!”

“What about this ‘Mick’ guy?!” he demanded, “Can’t you find him?! …What if… What if that sick bastard has him?!”

“Mick Harris?” said Lee, with a worried little nod, “That guy’s like a ghost… His name pops up every now and then, but he… Well, he might as well be Keyser Söze!”

“What?!” asked Heath, “Keyser, who?!” He didn’t get the reference.

“Every time we think we have him…” explained Lee, “He disappears… I’ve never met him… Never even seen a photo! …Not a single arrest…” He shook his head. “Some of the guys don’t think he really exists… They think it’s just a name that’s used…” He grimaced a little as he explained further. “They think it’s just code for a certain kind of trade… but there isn’t really a Mick Harris… Just a network of…”

“Of sick bastards?!” asked Heath, completing the sentence for him. The thought of it gave him a cold chill down his spine.

“Yeah…” said Lee, “…men you really don’t want to cross paths with!”

“So, how are you gonna find my brother?!” he asked, now staring at Lee in disgust, “How are you gonna find him, if he’s been kidnapped by some… by some ghost?! Some pervert ring that pimps guys out for money?!”

Lee flushed a little red. He really didn’t understand how things had gotten this out of hand. In all his years as a Federal Agent, he had never messed things up so badly. To let one of his informants disappear like this… to let him be kidnapped?! He was mortified! “We’ll find him” he said, with a rather unconvincing nod of the head, “We have to!”

Beep! Beep! Beep! An alarm sounded and everyone turned to look. It was the heart monitor in Kyle’s ambulance.

“We need to go!” shouted the paramedic inside with Kyle. He looked around and started waving frantically for the police officer to jump in the back. Even under these circumstances the patient had to be transported under guard. The engine started and the siren went on, and as soon as the officer jumped in, the doors were quickly swung shut. It was pretty clear that things with Kyle were not good. He seemed to be having some kind of seizure!

“Oh God, Kyle!” said Josh, as he watched the ambulance drive off at high speed, “Please don’t do this! Not now, Kyle?! …Please don’t die now!”

 

*****

 

Josh looked up when Dr Walker appeared at his door and gave him an uneasy little smile. He was scared.

“Today’s the day” said Sid, with a clipboard of paperwork under his arm, “I have to say Josh, I’m very impressed that you would volunteer for this… It’s a big undertaking.” He could see how nervous he looked, which was understandable, but there was something about him sitting there with handcuffs on one of his wrists, and a guard standing watch outside the door, that just made him seem so much more vulnerable. And that was before you even considered the bandaged head and eye. Agreeing to something like this, under these circumstances, seemed nothing short of amazing!

Josh shrugged and stared down at his bedsheets. He’d been having nightmares all night, with all kinds of worst case scenarios running through his head. He’d even woken in a cold sweat this morning and decided that he was backing out, but he’d talked himself round again over the last few hours, and now he was resolute in his decision to do this. It didn’t stop him being scared though.

“Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this?” asked Sid, “You’ve considered all of the implications? All the health problems that you could have as a result? What this means for the rest of your life?”

“I’m sure” he said, forcing an anxious smile. “I just want to get this show on the road.”

“Right” said Sid, “You understand why I have to ask…”

“Yeah, I get it” he said, playing a little with the cannula in the back of his hand, “…But I know what I’m doing… and it’s my decision… no-one else’s!” There’d been a lot of hoops to jump through just to get to this point, with a lot of questions being asked about his mental health, and his overall competency. Having two serious head injuries in less than 2 years, with notable damage to the frontal lobe, seemed to be a matter of some concern. He knew that Sid had been against his decision, and had voiced his concerns on more than one occasion. But he also knew that he’d been overruled. “Really, Dr Walker” he said, with a nervous little smile, “It’s just something… it’s something I feel I have to do!”

“Okay” said Sid, sitting down on the side of the bed, “Well, then… we have quite a lot of paperwork here… The anaesthetist with be in to talk you through it… and we’ll be administering the pre-med in about 20 minutes.”

“Okay… thanks” he said, blowing a breath out slowly. He wondered how much it was going to hurt. Would he be in a lot of pain when he woke up?! Would he wake up at all?

“Knock knock!” said Heath, suddenly appearing at the door with Bianca and Ricky. “How’s the patient?! …Is he ready, doc?”

“He’s ready” said Sid, giving Josh a pat on the knee and a little smile. He was impressed by the boy’s resilience and his willingness to put himself through even more trauma after everything that he’d been through, but he couldn’t help being a little concerned. Quite aside from the head injury aspect, he couldn’t help wondering if the boy might be punishing himself, and perhaps agreeing to this surgery as some sort of penance? He did seem excessively down on himself, and had said on a number of occasions that ‘he deserved what he’d got’. Considering the injuries that he’d sustained, that was quite some statement to make! He worried that this might be a very extreme form of self-harm… But what could he do?! The hospital psych team had signed off on it, even after he had raised his concerns, so who was he to say that it shouldn’t go ahead?!

“Can we see him?” asked Heath, as he held up a giftbag and a bunch of flowers, “Just want to wish him luck before they take him down.” Ricky and Bianca stood just behind him.

Josh snorted and shook his head a little. “He can hear you, y’know?! You can talk to him directly…”

“Sorry, mate” laughed Heath, “Just nervous”. He glanced at the guard on the door and wondered at the fact that the prison still thought that necessary. The kid had a handcuff on his wrist and was being prepped for surgery. His second major surgery in two weeks! Where did they think he was going to go?!

“You can’t stay for long” Sid warned them, but he nodded for them to come on in. “You can keep him company…” he said, “…but just until the anaesthetist gets here, okay?”

“Thanks, Doc!” said Heath, giving him a light punch in the arm as he walked out past him, “Appreciate it.”

“How are you feeling?” asked Bianca, as she came in and lowered herself carefully onto the side of his bed. She was heavily pregnant at this stage and her back was bothering her. “How are you feeling… about… everything…” It was clear that she was trying to find a way of saying it, without saying it. She couldn’t believe that he was doing this. She didn’t know where he’d found the courage!

“You can say it” said Josh, as he fidgeted a little with his surgical gown. They’d already attached all the heart monitor stickers and inserted the cannula so that they could give him his anaesthetic when the time came. “’Transplant’” he said, “’Kidney transplant’… You can say it… I won’t go to pieces.”

Bianca just smiled. She could see that he was frightened. This sarcastic attitude was pretty familiar to her with a stroppy teenage girl at home.

“Mate, I don’t know how to thank you for doing this” said Heath, “I mean… giving a piece of your body to someone else?! It’s… It’s intense! …Not many people would do it!”

Josh just nodded and shifted a little in the bed. It was a strange thought alright! Allowing someone to slice you open and take one of your organs out?! He was terrified! “How’s Kyle?” he asked. They hadn’t seen each other since the night that they’d been brought in, mainly because Kyle had been in the ICU for the last few weeks, and the guards had refused to take him up there. He wished that he could have spoken to him before all of this. Said ‘goodbye’, just in case something bad happened…

“He’s okay” said Heath, grimacing a little, “Weak… tired… They took him down about an 20 minutes ago.” He’d never seen Kyle look so ill and he was more than a little shocked by it. If he’d been a match himself, he would have offered one of his own kidneys without a second thought, but he’d been ruled out. And Brax was a match, but he was still missing, so he’d managed to miss a second opportunity to be a donor for their brother… How ridiculous was that?! In the end up, it hadn’t mattered though, because they had Josh. How on earth had he turned out to be a viable match, he wondered? The chances had to be about one in a million!

“Are you scared?” asked Bianca, as she reached out and took his hand. He looked lost and lonely, like a little boy.

He looked up at her and furrowed his brow. Of course, he was scared! Someone who wasn’t scared to be cut open, and carved up like a piece of meat, wouldn’t be right in the head! “Uhh… I’m okay” he muttered, “I just want to get it over with!”

“Ash said to tell you it’s not so bad” offered Ricky, “And he said you two can compare scars when he next sees you.”

Josh smirked a little. God only knew when that would be!

“Mate, I think you’re amazing!” said Ricky, just leaning against the wall and doing her best to smile. She looked pale and drawn, like she hadn’t slept in days, or maybe even weeks!

He looked at her and gave her a sympathetic head tilt. “Still no word?” he asked, “Nothing?!”

Ricky just shook her head and looked down at the ground. Brax had been missing for two weeks now, and the Feds had run out of leads. There seemed to be some suggestion that he might be dead. That Joel may have just killed him and buried the body somewhere. They’d even started dredging the water near where they’d found his truck.

“He came back the last time…” said Bianca, “I’m sure he’ll…” It was said in a way that was supposed to be comforting but her voice gradually died away when she saw Ricky staring daggers in her direction. She still hadn’t forgiven her for telling Kat. Things were strained between them, to say the least!

They all looked round when they heard a gentle ‘rat-a-tat’ of someone knocking on the doorframe.

“Hello?” said a man dressed in blue scrubs, “I’m Dr Wong… I’m your anaesthetist for today…” He walked in and stood at the end of the bed with that same clipboard that Sid had showed him earlier. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask your family to leave now” he said, with an apologetic little smile, “We need to go through some paperwork, and I need to give you your pre-med.”

“Okay” said Heath, smiling a little at the use of the word ‘family’. He supposed that they were the closest thing that the kid had to that these days. “We’ll be here when you wake up, mate…” he said, patting his foot through the bedsheets, “One of us will, anyway…”

Josh just nodded and Bianca gave his hand one last squeeze before she walked out the door.

As they walked away, he began to tear up a little, and then wiped at his eyes with his free hand. “Sorry” he said to the anaesthetist, “I’m just…”

“It’s normal to be a bit emotional” said Dr Wong, as he sat down on the chair beside him, “But you need to tell me if you’ve changed your mind…”

“No” said Josh, “I’m doing this… I want to.” Part of him was absolutely terrified that he might die on the operating table and that that would be it for him, but another part, buried deep in the back of his mind, was thinking that that might not be such a bad thing… ‘Maybe I’ll just die today? Maybe I’m ready to go?’

 

*****

 

“Hey!” teased Aaron, as he caught Kyle’s hands and pulled them away from round his waist, “I have work to do… It can’t all be fumbles in the plant shed! I have a business to run!”

Kyle looked a little hurt, and stuck his bottom lip out in an exaggerated way. “You’re choosing bark mulch… and compost over me?!”

“I am when I need to earn a living!” laughed Aaron, but it was clear that his resolve was already softening. He could never resist those puppy dog eyes of his, or that lower lip for that matter!

“So you’re saying…” said Kyle, hopping up to sit on the potting bench that Aaron was meant to be using right now. He grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him in so he was standing between his legs. He gave him a slow and tender kiss on the lips before pulling back and raising one eyebrow. “You’re saying that you’d rather spend your afternoon potting up plants…?” he teased, as he began to slowly pull his shirt up to show him his stomach, “…than spend some time with your boyfriend…” He was looking deep into his eyes in that way that drove him crazy.

Aaron was smirking a little. He knew already what his answer was going to be, but he was enjoying this tease. Kyle always knew how to turn him on.

“…Your hot… sweaty… boyfriend…?” he continued, emphasising every word. He’d been lifting and carrying big bags of compost for him all afternoon. He’d certainly worked up a sweat, and his shirt was soaked through… just the way that Aaron liked it!

Aaron shook his head and gave a little snort. “How am I supposed to say no to you?”

“You’re not!” laughed Kyle, as he pulled him in and then kissed him hard on the lips. He could feel his groin pressing in against him. It hadn’t taken long to get him excited.

Aaron reached up, tangling his fingers in his hair, and then pulled him down towards him a little roughly. They kissed again in a much more urgent way and Kyle ran his hands down his boyfriend’s back. When they finally broke apart, they stared at each other for a moment, both panting a little from excitement and anticipation, and then Kyle gave him a little smile.

Beep… beep… beep…

All of a sudden, he was on his back, lying on the potting table among the little plastic plant pots and loose compost. He gave a moan when Aaron climbed up on top of him and he felt the full weight of his hard body pressing down on his own. He wanted him so much right now!

“Did you lock the door?” whispered Aaron, as he began unfastening the belt on his own trousers and undoing his fly, “I don’t want anyone walking in.”

Kyle couldn’t help laughing. He had a mental image of one of Aaron’s corporate customers, all suited up for a business meeting, just barging in. What would they say when they found ‘oh-so-serious Aaron’ giving one of his staff ‘a good seeing to’?! It would certainly get people talking, if nothing else! “It’s locked” he assured him, “…but your dirty talk could do with some work!”

They both laughed.

Aaron lifted Kyle’s T-shirt up as though he was going to take it off for him but instead used it to blindfold him. He then grabbed his wrists and held them on the table above his head with one hand. “Uhhh” moaned Kyle, as Aaron began to trail his tongue down the middle of his chest, slowly and sensually, using only the tip in little flicking motions. When he got to Kyle’s abdomen, just above his waistband, he let go of his wrists, and began to undo his trousers for him. Kyle moaned again when he felt him yank them down…

 

Beep… beep… beep…

“There’s been quite a bit of bleeding…" said the surgeon, as he made the final incision, to remove the old donor kidney and then gently lifted it out. He placed it in a metal tray for medical waste and nodded at the nurse to take it away. Now came the implantation of the new kidney. He turned to the transplant nurse and said “Okay, let’s give this young fella a new lease of life…”

Beep… beep…beep…

 

Kyle and Aaron lay panting in each other’s arms. “I could stay here with you forever” said Kyle, as he leaned over to give him a little kiss on the lips, “We could just lock that door and forget that the rest of the world ever existed?!”

Aaron gave a little nod but his face took on a sad and pensive sort of expression. “I wish you could…” he said, as he pressed a soft little kiss to his lover’s naked shoulder, “…but you can’t!”

“What do you mean, I can’t?” asked Kyle, “I mean… obviously, I know you have to work and stuff… and so do I… but…”

“No, I mean you can’t stay…” said Aaron, “You can’t stay here.”

“I don’t… I don’t understand” he said, rolling over to face him. They were both covered in bits of bark and compost, and ordinarily he would have made a joke about it, but something about Aaron’s expression told him to be serious. Was he dumping him?! Was he dumping him immediately after having sex?! What was going on?!

“It’s not your time” said Aaron, as he took hold of his hand and began softly kissing the knuckles, “You aren’t ready yet.”

“What?!” he said, scrunching his nose up in confusion, “Aaron, you’re not making any sense!” He really didn’t understand what he was trying to tell him!

“You have to say goodbye now” said Aaron, “We have to say goodbye… You can’t stay here with me… and I can’t come back with you… and deep down you already know that.”

“What are you talking about?!” he asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position, “You’re freaking me out, Aaron! …I mean… seriously! Way to kill the mood!”

Aaron sat up too and began shaking his head at him. He looked a little teary eyed. “Can you hear that?” he asked, pointing up to the ceiling and cocking his head to one side to show that he was listening.

Beep… beep… beep…

Kyle frowned and tried to listen too. He had no idea what he was supposed to be hearing.

“That ‘beep, beep, beeping’?” said Aaron.

Kyle looked a little startled when he finally noticed it. That hadn’t been there before! Where was it coming from?!

“That’s the sound of your heart monitor” said Aaron, “If you listen really carefully, you can hear the surgeons that are saving your life… You’re not ready to leave yet, Kyle… You have a whole life to live, and it’s going to be amazing!”

“But… but…” he stammered, as a flood of memories came rushing back, and he realised that this was all just a fantasy. They weren’t really in a garden centre ten years in the future. It didn’t exist! Aaron didn’t exist! He was dead! He had died in that riot… and life wasn’t full of flowers, and sunshine, and sex with his boyfriend. It was full of pain and misery. “But… I don’t want that life…” he said, “I want this one!”

“This one isn’t real” said Aaron, “And you know that…”

“So… you’re what?!” he asked, suddenly feeling very foolish, “You’re a ghost… some ghost who comes to see me… so we can… so we can hook up?! You’re some horny ghost?!” He spat the word ‘horny’ with a look of pure disgust on his face.

Aaron gave a little snort. “I’m not a ghost” he said, “You know there’s no such thing as ghosts… I’m just a part of your brain…” He gave a little shrug. “Things just got too much for you” he said, “…so you created me… as a way to cope.”

“So, I’m crazy?” he asked, getting down off the potting table, and hastily getting dressed. He vaguely remembered ‘Aaron’ showing up for the first time when he was in solitary confinement. If he was suffering some sort of psychotic episode, then the timing made sense!

“Maybe a little?” laughed Aaron, holding his forefinger and thumb up to indicate a small amount.

“Great!” sighed Kyle, “My own ****ed up mind somehow finds that funny!”

“Baby, come here?” said Aaron, making a move towards him.

“Stay away from me!” he growled at him, taking a step back and holding his hands up in a defensive way, “I don’t know who… or what you are!”

Beep… beep… beep… beep…

“I’m you” sighed Aaron, “I’m part of you… I’m the part of you that loved Aaron and that can’t bear to let him go.”

“But I’m… I’m that pathetic that I’m basically having sex with myself?!” he exclaimed, “I just fantasised …about doing it with a boyfriend who doesn’t even exist?!”

“You obviously needed to feel close to him…” he said, “To feel safe with someone… after… after what happened…”

Kyle shook his head. “This is so ****ed up!” he said, “I’m having a full-blown conversation with myself… Talking to my dead boyfriend…” He laughed in a forced and angry sort of way. “Like some stupid scene from a movie...”

“It’s a dream” said Aaron, “and dreams are just rehashed bits of information… the things that we’ve seen… the things that have influenced us... even if that’s some romantic movie…”

Beep… beep… beep…

“Great!” laughed Kyle, “So, this is that soppy scene in the movies where the guy meets his dead girlfriend… and then they have this whole tearful goodbye, because he finally lets her go?! And she tells him to go on and live this amazing life without her?!… because he deserves to?!” He gave an angry sort of huff. “It’s that scene, is it?!”

“Yeah” said Aaron, with a sad little smirk, “I think it is.”

He gazed at him for a moment, taking in the bemused smile and the shining blue eyes, and wondered at how he could love him so much, but at the same time find him incredibly annoying! He gave an exasperated snort. “So, I can’t even be original in my own ****ing dream?!” he asked.

“I don’t know about that!” laughed Aaron, “I don’t know how many other people would fantasise about having sex in a garden centre! …I have compost in places that it really shouldn’t go!”

He opened his mouth to reply but suddenly found himself giggling. He had bark wedged in uncomfortable places too! He leaned back against the counter behind him and hung his head as he laughed. Even ‘imaginary Aaron’ could still surprise and amuse him!

“He loved you” said Aaron, as he took his place in front of him again and slipped his arms around his waist, “Aaron loved you so much… and he knew that you loved him.”

He nodded and gave a little sigh as tears began to pitter patter onto the soil covered floor. “I just miss him” he said, in a low whisper, “It hurts.”

“I know” said Aaron, leaning in and hugging him, “I know that… but you have to move on… You know he would want you to… You know that.”

Beep… beep… beep… beep…

“He would want you to be happy…” continued Aaron, “So, no more talking to him when you know he’s not really there…” He put his hand under his chin to raise his eyes to his. “You need to go out there…” he said, with a little smirk, “And find yourself a new guy to drive crazy!”

Kyle gave a sad little laugh. “He would say that” he sighed, “He’d probably start pointing them out for me too, going ‘Him! That one over there!’…”

“You know it’s true” laughed Aaron, “He’s not gonna get to do the things that he wanted to do… You have to do it for him…”

“Jesus!” groaned Kyle, as he rolled his eyes, “I think I just lifted that from Titanic!”

Beep… beep… beep… beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep….

 

*****

 

Josh followed the guard along the hallway, carrying a cardboard box in his hands, and limping a little. The incision site on his lower back was still quite tender and it made it difficult for him to lift his left leg completely normally. He was keeping his eyes fixed on the floor, for fear of accidentally making eye contact with the wrong person and getting off on the wrong foot. Dr Walker had told him that Creighton was different, that it was a much more progressive minimum-security prison, and that he would be much safer there… but he couldn’t help being jumpy and fearing the worst. Surely, a prison is a prison at the end of the day?! What would be so different here?! Better to keep a low profile, he thought, and hope that he didn’t draw too much attention as the new fish. Of course, this time, he didn’t look quite so fresh-faced as he had the last time. His facial injuries were still healing, and he had a bandage over his eye, and very visible staples in his scalp. He wasn’t exactly the pretty young thing that he’d been six months ago!

“This is you” said the guard, unlocking the red metal door to his new cell. He stepped aside and nodded his head for him to go in and take a look. It was a single cell, with a bed and a desk, and a little bathroom off to the side.

He walked in and set the box down on the bed. He had bedsheets, a towel, some toiletries, a plate, a bowl, a metal cup, and a notepad and pen. There was also a selection of clothing piled on top. He turned around in a circle and then looked back at the guard in a ‘what now?’ kind of way.

“I’m gonna tell Andrews that you’re here” said the guard, “You can unpack your things… and then have a look around.”

He looked down at the box and then sat down beside it. Already, this place seemed a little bit different. For one thing, there didn’t seem to be quite so much metal. The hallway corridor was floored with linoleum which wasn’t exactly homely, but it was a little less jarring than metal platforms linked by multiple metal stairways. It was still very institutional, but it felt more like a hospital than a prison. He began to take the things out of the box and piled them up on the bed. Putting them away seemed a little overwhelming right now. He just needed to get his bearings.

“Hey!” said a loud voice that made him jump a mile high.

He turned to look. There was a young guy who was maybe only a year or two older than him standing in the doorway. He had a big broad grin and a very unfashionable haircut that was more like an ugly brown mop. “Hey” he replied quietly. He couldn’t help feeling ambushed.

“You’re Barrett, yeah?” asked the other prisoner.

“Yeah?” he answered, looking increasingly nervous. He was trying to gauge whether he’d be able to take him in a fight if he needed to. The guy was blocking the door. Maybe he had more of his mates out there waiting for him?! Maybe they’d come to give the new guy a beating?! He was already sweating.

“I’m Andrews” replied the other inmate, “Jamie… but they insist on using surnames here…” He took a step forward into the room and then stalled when he saw the startled expression on his face. “Hey... it’s okay!” he said, holding his hands up in a sort of ‘surrender’. “I come in peace” he joked, “I’m just here to show you round… introduce you to your floor… get you settled…”

“Uhhh... okay?” said Josh, getting up off the bed very cautiously and taking a step away from him.

Andrews shook his head at him in pity. “Man, that other place really messed you up!” he said, taking in the scars on his face, and the surgical scar on his head. “This place isn’t like that…” he assured him.

Josh just nodded and looked down at the floor. “Sorry… it’s just…”

“Yeah, I know…” said Andrews, “We were told you’d had a really rough time at… Highfields, I think they said?”

Josh grimaced. He wondered what they’d been told. He didn’t want his fellow prisoners to know what had happened with Cuddles. It was humiliating enough that every prisoner at Highfields knew. He didn’t need to be the ‘rape victim’ here too!

“Mate?” said Andrews, holding his hand out to shake hands, “Nothing like that is gonna happen here… okay?”

“Nothing like what?!” snapped Josh, keeping his arms folded across his chest defensively.

Andrews dropped his hand again. “This isn’t a violent place” he said, “I mean… guys get into fights and stuff like that… but it’s more like the kind of stuff you get in high school… it’s not… serious…” He took a step forward and cautiously took a seat on the bed. “I’m your ‘buddy’” he explained, with a little nod for him to sit down on the chair at the desk. “Everyone gets a ‘buddy’ when they first arrive… someone to look out for you… help you settle in and figure stuff out.”

Josh sat down and gave an embarrassed little half-smile.

“So… I’m gonna take you around and show you the kitchen, the break room… where you go to get stuff if you need it…”

“Josh” he said, suddenly interrupting.

“Huh?” said Andrews.

“I’m Josh” he repeated.

“Oh… right, yeah” said Andrews, leaning forward again and putting his hand out, “Good to meet you Josh…”

“Thanks” he replied, as he shook hands with him. “No-one’s been this… Not since I’ve been in prison… I’m not used to it.”

“That’s okay” laughed Andrews, “Plenty of time to get used to it, hey?!”

Josh nodded. He wondered what Kyle would think of this place.

“Okay!” said Andrews, standing up and reaching his hand out to help him get up, “Let’s do this thing! …Welcome to Creighton!”

 

*****

 

Smithy sat on the lower bunk and stared at the iron door to his cell. How had it come to this, he wondered?! Danny Smith, sitting in some God forsaken cell, in the same prison that he used to work in?! What had the Judge been thinking?! I mean, wasn’t that just asking for trouble?! Or was that the point?! Did he want to get him killed?! Of course, they’d had to be seen to offer protection. He’d been asked if he wanted to be placed in protective custody, but he’d refused. Danny Smith wasn’t going to spend the rest of his life in isolation, crying into his pillow like some little bitch. He wasn’t going to live out his days, side by side with the dogs, the snitches, and the rape victims… He was better than that! He was worth more than that! Danny Smith always came out on top! Always! No matter what manure pile you threw him in, he’d always come up smelling of roses. That’s just who he was. He knew it was only a matter of time. ‘New Fish’ today, ‘Top Dog’ tomorrow… It wouldn’t take him long!

His cellmate was softly snoozing above him. An old man about 20 years his senior who didn’t speak much English. That was all the better! He could do whatever he wanted, run whatever deals he liked, and the old fool wouldn’t be able to tell anyone. He definitely wouldn’t, if he knew what was good for him!

He lay back on the bed and gave a little snort. This wasn’t so bad… not when you had a brain as active and as imaginative as his was. He was lucky that way. He could easily draw upon his years of daring do and adventure, and think about all the fun that he’d had at other people’s expense. In any case, it wouldn’t be long before he was running things in here, and then he’d have all the fun that he could handle. Life in prison wasn’t hard for a man like himself. Walls didn’t exist for someone like him. He’d be fine! At least, that’s what he told himself.

Suddenly, he heard the bolt being drawn back on the door to their cell. The door swung open and three very large men stood in the doorway, blocking out most of the light.

“Vasquez!” shouted a loud Russian voice, “Out!”

The little man above him sat bolt upright and then scrambled out of the bed and to the floor as fast as he could. In a flash, he was out the door and gone!

Smithy looked up at the three men now crowded into his cell with him and gave them a forced grin. For the first time in Smithy’s life he was genuinely frightened but he was trying desperately to front it out. “Gentlemen?” he said, in a beseeching sort of tone, “I’m sure we can work something out?”

“I’m sure we can” said Boris, as he moved towards him with an improvised ball gag, “I’m very sure we can!”

He tried to scream but they wrestled him to the floor and forced the gag in his mouth, tying it tightly behind his head. At the same time, his hands were fastened behind him using cable ties, and they yanked his tracksuit bottoms and underwear off despite his efforts to stop them.

Hoisted to his feet, he found himself naked below the waist, and slammed hard against the wall. Vladimir and another man were holding him so firmly that he couldn’t move at all. One of them had an arm pressing hard against the back of his neck, forcing his head against the wall sideways. He could hardly breathe!

Boris stepped up close behind him and made sure to let him hear him unzip the fly on his trousers. Leaning in close and whispering in his ear, he said “Let’s see how the screw likes to get screwed!”