Release

[Ludub]

2 minutes ago, pembie said:

Haha I never thought I would ever read a line like that especally on a H&A fourm Very funny Oh Ludub thanks for your stories they do make me laugh

It would be a VERY different show if I wrote for them! 

[pembie]

You would make the best executive producer. You would spot the change in tone right away when your stories started to play out haha

[Red Ranger 1]

Well, I wasn't expecting this! Welcome back to this story.And an embarrassing conversation for the two women at the start but I'm guessing they got a note from "Dawei".(How much could have happened in two weeks though..?)Everyone struggling to accept Cameron but he seems to be a helpful guy and Josh could be grateful for his help.Looking forward to more!

[Marls]

Enjoying the story so far.

 

Update soon 

[Ludub]

Thanks so much everyone for the kind comments. I'm really glad you enjoyed the last chapter! I do think it would be very hard for the boys to come to terms with Brax being gone and Ricky moving on. Like Kyle said, in the last chapter, it's the not knowing that would do your head in. As for Cameron, you'll have to wait and see... Thank you for reading! 

So.... I hope you like this one! 

 

Chapter 5

 

Present Day…

“Aren’t you coming to bed?” asked Bianca, as she leaned over the back of the couch and put her arms around Heath’s neck. He was sitting on the couch with a glass of scotch, exactly where she’d left him over an hour ago. It was nearly 3 in the morning and she was getting worried.

“Yeah, babe” he said, turning his head slightly to look at her, “I’m coming… I just need a few minutes.”

“You’ve been out here an hour” she complained, “It’s cold and I could do with a cuddle”. She hated how he always did this when he was upset. How he retreated into himself and stopped talking. How he always turned to the bottle. He’d barely spoken two words to her in the car on the way home and he’d bitten Bowie’s head off about something stupid when they’d got back. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that something was bothering him.

He nodded his head and shrugged a little. “I know…” he said, “I just… I have some things on my mind.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

He turned and gave her a little half-smile. “No… you go back to bed… I‘ll be in in a minute”

Heath, come on?” she purred, planting seductive little kisses on the side of his neck, “Come to bed?”

“I will” he said, taking her hands from around his neck, “I promise.”

She gave a sigh of frustration and shook her head at him. He obviously wasn’t going to move! “Fine!” she said, picking a blanket up off the armchair and making her way around the couch to come sit beside him, “I guess, if you’re not coming to bed, then we’ll just have to sleep here.” She climbed onto the couch with her feet under her and pulled his arm around her in a slightly aggressive way. She knew that he didn’t want her there but she wasn’t going to let him away with that. They’d either sit there on the couch for the next few hours or he’d have to come to bed like he was told.

“Bianca, I said I was coming!” he complained.

“Not anytime soon” she sighed, as she eyed the excessively generous serving of scotch in his glass. She leaned forward and picked it up to take a sip herself. “The good stuff, huh?” she asked, as she took a mouthful.

He gave a little snort. Things had certainly changed a lot since he and Bianca had gotten together all those years ago. He was every inch the respected business man now and able to afford expensive scotch. Not only that, but he’d developed a taste for the finer things in life. He’d gradually become more like the man that Bianca had originally wanted. No more crime. No more running around with unsavoury characters. No more River Boys. Without Brax in his life, he’d gone completely straight. It was the main reason that he didn’t like Darcy’s boyfriend and desperately wanted rid of him. He saw so much of his old self in him. The tattoos, the bike, the smart-mouth attitude. He’d wanted someone better than that for her. Better than himself.

She gave him a sad little smile as she handed him the glass. “Are we gonna talk about this or not?” she asked.

“There’s nothing to talk about” he said, as he took a mouthful and then placed the glass back on the table.

“Heath… come on?” said Bianca, as she snuggled in with her head on his chest, “You don’t think I know when you’re upset?”

“It’s stupid” he said, rolling his eyes in frustration, “I’m just being stupid”.

“No change there then” she said, sticking her tongue between her teeth and grinning in a cheeky sort of way.

“Haha” he said sarcastically, “Very funny.”

“You’re upset about Ricky and Cameron, aren’t you?” she said, more as a statement than a question. She’d seen his face when Ricky had made the announcement. He’d tried his best to cover, but a gifted actor, he was not! He was obviously hurting.

“Yeah… I guess” he admitted, “It just… It… It just doesn’t feel right…”

“It’s been ten years” she said, with a sad little sigh, “Ric can’t wait forever, Heath… You know that… It’s not fair, and Brax wouldn’t expect it of her either.”

“I know” he said, hugging her a little closer, “I know that…”

“I mean, when he went to prison, he told her to move on …He didn’t want her waiting around for him forever and wasting her life… and he wouldn’t want that now.”

“Yeah… I know… You’re right” he said, “But I still feel like I’m letting him down somehow… Like he’ll turn up some day and Ricky’ll be married to some cop! Not even just a cop, a ****ing Fed! I mean, Christ, Bianca?!  How am I gonna explain that to him?! That I just let that happen?!”

“That you let it happen?!” said Bianca, sitting up to look at him with a frown on her face, “You know that Ricky’s her own person, right?! I mean, you don’t get to decide what she does! Brax didn’t own her!”

“I know that!” he huffed, “I know he didn’t own her!”

“You’re talking like he did!” she said, “You don’t have to safeguard her for him… She’s not his property!”

“I didn’t say she was!” he snapped back at her.

“As good as!” she said with a look of indignation.

“Bi, please?!” he sighed, “Can we save the feminism for another night?! …I just… I hate to think that he’ll come back and find some other man in his bed… some other guy being a dad to Casey…”

“And you think he’s gonna blame you?” she asked.

“I think he’ll wanna know why I let it happen” he said, “Why I let her get with this guy… this…”

“This good guy?” she said, finishing the sentence for him, “This man that takes good care of her, and helps out with Case? You don’t think he’d be grateful that someone’s looking out for them?”

He snorted in derision. As though Brax would be okay with another man taking his place! Especially considering the circumstances in which they’d gotten together.

“Heath… You know Cameron is a good man” she said, “You know that”

“Yeah… I guess…” he said, with a worried sort of frown.

“But?” she asked, sensing that there was something he wasn’t saying.

He shook his head in a frustrated sort of way. He wasn’t sure whether to say it or not. He’d been holding it in for months and months because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to take it back once he’d said it. He also didn’t want it getting back to Ricky, and Bianca could be a bit loose-lipped when she’d had a few to drink.

“Come on, Heath? What is it?” she coaxed.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit suss?” he asked, “…I mean, he works for Missing Persons… He’s the caseworker assigned to Brax’s case… You don’t think he kind of… took advantage of her?”

“In what way?” she asked. She knew how big a support Cameron had been to Ricky over the last few years. It wasn’t like this had been a whirlwind romance, or a sudden flight of fancy on either of their parts. They’d been friends first, and lovers a long time later. If he’d taken advantage of her, he’d certainly put in the spadework!

“He only knows her because her partner’s missing” he continued, “I mean, she’s a good looking woman, and she’s vulnerable, and he knows there’s no man in the picture… You don’t think it’s like… a ‘conflict of interest’ or whatever they call it? I mean, how does it look?! He’s working Brax’s case, and he ends up in his bed, sleeping with his woman?!”

“It’s not his bed!” said Bianca.

“You know what I mean” he replied, with a roll of the eyes.

“Heath, it’s been ten years” she sighed, “Ric and Cam, they know each other nearly a decade… They’ve built a relationship… It’s not like she hopped into bed with him when Brax first went missing… She didn’t even start to date anyone till last year…”

“Yeah, but why him?” he said.

“Maybe because he’s a kind man?” she replied, “Because he cares about her, because she cares about him… because they’ve been through this thing together in a way… He’s been there for her all these years… I mean, is there anyone else who can really understand what she’s been dealing with?”

“But maybe that just means he knows how to manipulate her?” he answered, “He knows which buttons to push?”

“You really think he’s that kind of guy?” she asked, “Because from what I’ve seen, he’s a really decent man… He looks out for her and for Casey… and he’s been pretty good to all of you too… despite everything.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked a little defensively.

“Heath, come on!” she laughed, “This isn’t exactly the picture perfect family that a cop wants to marry into! As far as he’s concerned, Kyle’s an armed robber, Josh killed someone, and you aren’t exactly squeaky clean… and then there’s Brax!”

“We aren’t exactly the mafia either!” he said.

“Yeah, but I mean, how does that look to his mates on the force?” she said, with a raised eyebrow, “He must really love her if he’s willing to take all of that on? …And has he ever made you, or Kyle, or even Josh feel like he’s judging you? Any of you?!”

“No” he admitted, “He’s been a mate right from the start”

“Yeah… he has” she said with a little tilt of the head. Surely, he could see how unreasonable he was being? Cameron had been nothing but kind to them. There was no reason to think badly of him.

 “I like the guy…” he said, “I don’t want to admit it, but I do…”

“So, you feel bad because you like him?” she asked. She was just trying to understand.

“I guess” he said.

“You realise how ridiculous that is?” she said, “I mean, it’s not like Ricky is cheating on Brax… You get that, right?”

“Yeah” he said, “I get that… I guess, I just don’t know if I trust him.”

“Where is this coming from?” she asked, eyeing the bottle of scotch with concern and wondering how much he’d had to drink. It wasn’t like him to be quite this paranoid.

“I don’t know…” said Heath, “I just… I feel like there’s something not right… Like he’s not the guy we think he is…”

“Don’t you think you’re just trying to find a reason not to like him?” she asked, “Because he’s not Brax… and if you admit that you like Cam, it’s like you’ve given up on him?

“Yeah… maybe…” he said, starting to blink in an attempt to stifle his tears. “I guess I just miss him.” he said, as the tears began to roll down his cheeks, “I just miss my brother.”

“We all do” said Bianca, as she pulled in close to him and put her head on his chest again, “But he’s gone, baby… and we have to move on.”

 

*****

 

6 weeks ago…

 

“Bà?!” gasped Bo, when the door opened and Déwei staggered inside. The little boy waited for the guard to pull the door shut before running over to his father and throwing his little arms around his thigh. “Babà?!” he called again, as he beamed up at him excitedly.

Déwei hissed with pain but let him do it and just razzled the hair on the top of his head in an affectionate way. He was relieved to see that everyone else was still here and that they looked relatively unscathed. He glanced across at his wife but she wasn’t looking at him. She was crouched, as best she could, beside their little makeshift stove and stirring the contents of their wok with a pair of chopsticks. “Jiao?” he asked, limping his way across the room towards her. “Are you okay?” he asked in Chinese, “They didn’t hurt you, did they?!” She didn’t answer.

Lin was sitting on the lower bunk of the bed and glaring at him with narrowed eyes. She might have only been 6 years old but she could give a death glare when she wanted to. It was clear that he was not in her good books.

He untangled Bo’s arms from around his leg and then carefully lowered himself onto the bunk beside his daughter. Bo immediately climbed into his lap and put his arms around his neck. He was being incredibly clingy. “I’m here now” he whispered to him as he rocked him a little, “It’s okay… Daddy’s back”. He looked across at Cheng and his family on the other side of the room. He could see them glancing at him rather accusingly too. He gave a little shrug. What business was it of theirs?!

“Are you hungry?” asked Jiao, without looking up at him. She’d already begun to ladle out bowls of thin noodle soup. It was clear that there wasn’t much in there. With him gone for the last few weeks, and the fines imposed on them, they would have had no income coming in. They must have been down to their last few packets of noodles.

“I’m okay” he lied. He didn’t want to take food out of his starving children’s mouths.

She looked up at him for the first time and gave a heavy sigh. “You need to work tomorrow… You won’t be any use if you don’t eat.” With that, she shoved a bowl into his hand.

He winced because his broken fingers hadn’t fully healed and she hadn’t exactly been gentle in handing it to him. “Thanks” he said, giving her a sad little smile. He knew that she was angry with him but he’d hoped that she might have calmed down by now. He set it on the floor and then tried to pull Bo’s arms away from his neck. He immediately began to whinge and held on even tighter. “Bo?!” he said, pulling a bit more forcefully, “Let go! You’re hurting daddy!” That was true. He still had badly bruised ribs and a multitude of cuts and scrapes that were still healing.

“Nooo!” cried the child, as he held on tight. He was surprisingly strong for a three-year-old!

“Bo?! Please?!”, he pleaded with him, “Come on, little man?! Let go and we’ll have something to eat. You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

Lin leaned over and pulled at her brother’s arms. He reluctantly let go and clambered across to sit on the bed between the two of them. He was still crying a little but he’d learnt to be quiet. This wasn’t a place where children could throw loud tantrums. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and began rocking himself. Déwei ruffled his hair again in an effort to comfort him.

Jiao handed Lin a bowl for herself and one for Bo with a little nod, before ladling out a small bowl for herself.

Déwei watched as they began to eat. Jiao was staring straight ahead of her in a vacant sort of way as she slurped her noodle soup. She wasn’t being her usual dainty self. Normally, he got a telling off for eating like that. He’d never seen her do it! It was like she’d given up caring. It was then that he realised she had a fading bruise on her cheekbone. He hadn’t been able to see it before because she’d been bent over the pot, but now it was clear as day. He got off the bed with some difficulty and kneeled down in front of her. “What happened?” he asked, as he put his hand out to gently touch the side of her face.

“Get off!” she said, pulling her face away from him, “This is your fault! All of it!”

“What… what did they do?” he stammered, with newfound fear in his eyes. He wasn’t sure that he wanted the answer.

She flicked her eyes up to meet his and stared at him fixedly in anger. He could see her nostrils flaring as she breathed more rapidly.

“Did… did they?” he asked, “Please tell me they didn’t…?!” His eyes were starting to fill with tears. The thought that that might have happened again just tore his heart out. Surely, they wouldn’t do that?! Not to a pregnant woman?! He glanced at Lin. Had she seen it happen?! Was that why she was looking at him like that?! His heart was thumping now.

“No” said Jiao, continuing to fix him with an angry stare. “But they’re going to take our babies” she whispered, “They’re going to take our babies when they’re born and they’re going to sell them!”

He stared at her in shock. He’d wondered why his punishment had been so lenient. Two weeks in the hole had seemed very light indeed. They’d tossed the cells and found his little stash of drugs. He’d insisted that they were for his own use, that he needed them to deal with chronic back pain, but in truth, he’d used them to poison an inmate called ‘Fatso’. They seemed to have believed him, but they’d punished him nonetheless. They’d beaten him within an inch of his life and broken all the fingers on his left hand. Still it had been a relatively light punishment. Men had been killed for much less! But now he saw the reason why. They actually thought they were going to take his children from him?! His blood began to boil. They would have to kill him before he let that happen!

“They said they can get a really good price for twin boys” she said, “That there are Americans who’ll buy them.”

His stomach gave a terrible lurch. That was why they’d been so keen to offer a baby scan! “Who told you that?!” he asked, in a hushed whisper. He was very conscious of Cheng and his wife overhearing. They were terrible snitches and he didn’t want this getting back to the guards.

“The nurse!” she answered, as she began to cry, “The nurse in the infirmary told me! She hissed it in my ear… She thought it was funny!” Her whole body was shaking now as she held her pregnant belly protectively. He put his arms around her a little tentatively but she leaned into him and let him hold her.

He stared at the wall as he tried to take it in. He’d heard of this kind of thing happening from time to time. It was unusual for any family to be allowed more than two children. Cheng and his wife had been allowed three because they were the model employees. They never stepped out of line. Never complained. And even ratted on others when it suited them. Cheng’s wife Dao had given birth to their third son on the floor of the packaging room and then gone back to work the following day. They’d never given the bosses any reason to punish them. He, on the other hand, kept getting caught. This was his third stint in solitary confinement since Bo had been born. They obviously thought that this was a way to bring him into line. They were wrong! They just didn’t know how wrong they were yet!

“They’re not taking my babies!” she whispered in his ear, “They’ll have to kill me first!”

“I’m not going to let that happen” he whispered back, as he squeezed her a little tighter, “No-one is taking our children if I have to kill every last bastard in this place.”

She pulled back and glanced over her shoulder at Cheng and his family. They didn’t seem to be listening or they were doing a very good job of pretending they weren’t. “What are we gonna do?!” she asked, in a hushed whisper.

“I don’t know” he said, leaning in to kiss her forehead, “But we’ll figure something out.” He hadn’t told her about the notes and he wasn’t going to. The less she knew about it, the better. He didn’t want to get her hopes up in case nothing ever came of it. But surely, it had to work?! Someone would find one of the notes and then they’d be saved! It had been nearly three weeks now, and with a bit of luck, the boxes would already be at sea, and on their way to Australia or New Zealand. He had six chances. He just had to hope that some horny sicko found one of the notes and did the decent thing. Would the sort of person who bought a strap-on dildo be willing to report it to the police? Would they take it seriously? And if they did, would the authorities take action? He really hoped so! In the end, all he had left was hope…

[pembie]

To be honest I didn't realise how dangerous this whole china prison slave camp thing was Sounds very nasty if they plan to sell the children Hopefully Déwei puts a plan into action to keep that from happening or maybe his message in a......I should say bottle here but message in a a strap-on dildo gets to someone in time.. Getting a worrying message inside one of those would kill the sexy time wouldn't it?   exciting stuff.

I liked Bianca here very sassy and harsh at times in her chat with Heath. Very  Bianca hopefully Cam will turn out to be a good guy for his own sake wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Heath.

Very good story can't wait until your next release

[Red Ranger 1]

Nice chat between Bianca and Heath.It's interesting the direction Heath has gone in and his reasons for disliking Darcy's boyfriend were amusing and insightful.Bianca did a good job with him, hopefully his feelings about Cameron are just paranoia.Meanwhile, "Dewei" is/was/will have been still in a lot of trouble.Wonder what the police will/did/will have done about his note...

[Guest]

Great chapter

Liked the chat between Bianca and Heath.

I hope Dewei does something and they won't have to sell the babies.

Update again soon

 

[Inactive User]

Great chapter

Liked Heath and Bianca's chat

Update soon please xx

[Suzza101]

Great Chapter, Great chat between Heath and Bianca. I found it quite nice the reason why Heath doesn't like Darcy's boyfriend. He knew that he was a better person now and the fact that he doesn't want Darcy to date, someone, likr the old him is quite a mature thing to admit. He has stepped up a lot as a  Dad. I still have a bad feeling about Cameron. Getting on the wrong side of Heath and Kyle is not a good idea. But maybe Biancas right he doesn't judge any of them. Not him, Not Kyle and not Josh. I'm loving this and can't wait for the next update, Please update soon.