Taken

Chapter 1







It was dark and she could feel the damp underneath her feet. Where was she? This was definitely not a nightmare. It was reality. She felt the panic creep up on her and overwhelm her entire body. It was almost like someone had clamped down on her stomach and squeezed with a vice like strength making her whole body ache and throb. The silence only made the tightening worse. She screamed loudly into the abyss and pulled hard against the thick, coarse rope that bound her arms and feet to the chair. Blinking twice in the darkened tomb she desperately hoped her eyes might adjust to the darkness. They didn’t. Trying and failing to slow her now racing heart she breathed in and out very slowly and deeply, then for the first time realized that there was heavy tape covering her mouth. She could smell the rancid scent of her own fear sweating off her skin and realized she was alone.

                   In her head she desperately tried to grapple at her last blurred memory “I love you Anna.” Her boyfriend’s words. But where had they been? More importantly where was she now? Why? She listened hopelessly in the dark trying to listen for the slightest creak in the darkness but could only hear the thudding of her own heartbeat in her ears. She let out another stifled scream and got nothing back except the echo of her own desperation. For the first time in her short 17 years of life Anna was alone and petrified.

         Calm down Anna, she said to herself as she threw her head back to sweep her long golden hair from her eyes. She recalled being with Danny. The two young lovers had been together for two years now. Danny had been taken back and incredibly attracted to this clearly stunning girl with long blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes, she looked better to him than most so called ‘top’ models. He had been intrigued as to why such a beautiful girl would have such little confidence in herself and her appearance always wearing long shirts and trousers. Anna on the other hand was not remotely interested in having a boyfriend, she was so wrapped up in her own life, when Danny showed an interest in her she couldn’t help but fall for his charm and amazing good looks but she was still cautious all the same.

He was a bad boy from the local Herald Estate and part of a local gang and she was the barrister’s daughter from the ‘posh’ side of town. It was like a modern day Romeo and Juliet. God how her heart ached for him to be there now, if nothing else but to sooth her.

         For all her A grades at school Anna could still not see Danny through anything but rose tinted glasses. He was bad news even as young kid. Danny had been in trouble with the police from The Kennel since the young age of seven. Where other kids his age where at school learning to read and write and doing their times tables Danny was out stealing cars and vandalizing peoples homes with the older lads from the estate. Danny only learned to read and write when he was sent to a juvenile detention centre at the age of fourteen. It was by sheer luck he hadn’t met Anna’s father in the court or anywhere else. Anna’s father was completely oblivious to that fact his daughter was having a relationship with anyone, let alone a delinquent from the local estate. However for all his faults Danny loved Anna as much, if not more than she loved him. He would do anything to protect her.

         A sudden deafening burst of noise made Anna jump out of her skin. Was it the sound of a car’s engine?  No maybe a lorry. The noise reverberated off the sides of the room in which she was caged and made the floor vibrate. She arched her head painfully back in the direction of the defening noise and saw a small hole near the roof where the tiniest amount of sunlight was starting to creep through. Then the noise, an unbelievably loud Bang! And the horrible noise of metal scraping against metal. Her mind suddenly went to her father and she dropped into a daze. As the sunlight slowly but surely illuminated the once darkened tomb in which she sat her mind came into focus and she forced herself to wake up and take in her surroundings.



Anna carefully analysed every inch of the now partially lit room, from the rust on the walls to the darkened shadows where the light hadn’t yet reached. This couldn’t be real, things like this only happened on the TV or in books and films. She was in what appeared to her to be a storage container.

         Her head began to spin wildly out of control she knew these containers more than she cared to. She recognized instantly the smell of oil, rust and sea. Danny and Anna used to meet at the shipping yard when they had first got together, it was the only place they could be alone together without fear of being seen. No it couldn’t have been him could it? She began to twist her arms against the ropes partly in an effort to loosen them but mainly to force them against the old cuts on her arms. She began to feel the familiar sense of relief wash over her as the blood started to drip on the rusty metal floor beneath her bare feet.

         



On the other side of town Detective Inspector James Bowlenn was just waking up in his one bedroom flat. Having had an exceptionally bad night’s sleep partly due to his neighbours upstairs playing really bad and incredibly loud music for most of the night and the immense heat wave the papers were now referring to as the scorching summer of 08’ he looked hopelessly at the thread bare curtains in the hope of anything but more the forty degree heat that the radio had promised.           The curtains hung still and lifeless as he rose out of his bed and pulled on his freshly pressed black suit trousers and shirt his head gave way to a very painful headache induced by the bottle of Bell’s he’d drunk last night trying to bring about an alcohol fuelled sleep which he now bitterly regretted. Shuffling through to the kitchen in somewhat of a daze he turned the radio on and flicked the switch on the kettle. Whilst shovelling 4 large spoonfuls of coffee into his cup he vaguely listened to the female presenter bang on about how the police could be doing more to make the public feel safe against knife crime. He stifled a vague and drowsy laugh were these people mad what did the public think he did all day sit around contemplating the meaning of life? He sat down at the table and carefully put 6 sugars into his freshly made coffee. His ex partner Kelly had always moaned about the amount of sugar he got through “It’ll rot your teeth” she used to say in the exact tone his mother had since he was a child.



Kelly had left James after a long 10-year relationship shortly before his 39th birthday a few months ago. As much as he tried to deny it to himself he knew it was no ones fault but his own. Maybe if he’d been around more? Not put the job first. All normal questions any person would ask himself or herself. James knew however that if he had not drunk as much and controlled his temper he would never have hit, no, beat his girlfriend wasn’t he the person in charge of banging people like that up? Why had he done it? Idiot. As much as he hated it James was turning into the man he hated, his father. Over the years Bowlenn had dealt with rapists, murders, paedophiles, and serial killers. People who after interview had made his skin crawl and left a vile taste in his mouth. Despite this he despised none of them more than his father.



Growing up James’ mother had owned a pub in the estate they lived in. The Golden Duke. It was run well and always kept spotless by his mother who ran a tight ship. The worn wooden stool located at the end of the solid oak bar was nearly always occupied by his father, a lean stocky man with long greying hair and tattoos up both of his arms to many he looked like an aging biker. However, to James and his mother he resembled a monster that was to be kept happy at all costs.

         Not many people will ever know or comprehend what its like to hear their mother scream in pain or more often than not fear for her own life. James did. For him it was the soundtrack of his childhood scratched and on repeat almost 24/7.

Right up until his 12th birthday James lived in fear of the man who ruled his life. As much as he had always tried to defend his mother he had learnt from a very young age that it was better to press the pillow that little bit harder over his ears and quite literally mop up the damage of the aftermath. His mother used to joke that at just 11 years of age he was just as qualified if not more so than any doctor in England.

That was his mother after all always trying to keep a smile on her face no matter how tragic things got. When he sat at the table with his one friends and blew out the twelve candles on his Victoria sponge cake which his mother dutifully made every year, he wished as he did every birthday that daddy would stop drinking and be nice to mummy and there would be no more shouting. Little did this small child know that his wish would come partially true in only a few short hours.

         At another pub a short walk from the estate James Bowlenn Senior was avoiding the birthday celebrations of his only child like the plague saying that the kid was a queer that he would never grow to be a real man so why should he care. He had already drunk enough whisky to comatose the average man and was showing no signs of slowing up. As the final bell rang and he rose unsteadily to his feet some 5 hours later, he shuffled towards the pub door shouted his thanks to the bar maid whom much to his disappointment he’d been chatting up all night but with no luck.

He stood on the pavement, a brisk breeze whipping around his face sobered him up slightly but not enough to make any real difference to the anger he was now beginning to feel in the pit of his stomach. Slowly pumping its way round his system first into his feet making him walk slightly faster, then to his arms making him clench his fists and finally to his brain making his already fuzzy mind even more cloudy and disorientated.

As he stumbled his way towards home he started to blame his wife for the state he was in it was her fault he had to drink, her fault he was the way he was, the boys too if he hadn’t have been born he and his wife would be happy and she’d still have the gorgeous figure god had blessed her with.

While these thoughts polluted his hazy mind he failed to notice the group of skinheads following him in the shadows. Just as the man promised himself with a sneer that he was going to teach his disrespectful family a lesson they would remember, a huge heavy thump to the back of his head sent him sprawling on to the concrete floor. The rest was a blur.

         The police turned up at shortly after three in the morning to inform James’ mother of her loss and how it had happened. No matter how hard they both tried neither mother or son could bring themselves to shed a tear over the tyrant that had made their life hell for as long as they could both remember. He was gone and this was a new start for the pair.

         That was the last memory James had of The Golden Duke they had sold up and moved on shortly after his fathers death. Predictably the new estate was worse than the last with no pub for an income the family were struggling to keep their heads above water, his mother was working three jobs now surviving on only a few hours sleep a night. The taxman had taken advantage of his widowed mother as had the estate agent and left her almost penniless.

They now lived in a pokey 2 bed roomed flat on a huge estate. It was full of crime, drugs and anger. You could taste it in the air. It was there at the impressionable age of 13 James had known he wanted to be a police officer.           He saw crime all around him everywhere he looked and instead of buying into it he kept his head down at school, got good grades and when he turned 18 he applied for London’s finest The Metropolitan Police Force or as its now known service.

The job had changed a lot since 1987. Women police officers were given the respect they deserved, technology was now a huge part of the job and forensic science had developed into a reliable source of information and was almost never wrong. However, the job description was still very much the same, good guys catch the bad guys.

         Twenty-one years later in 2008 having lost the love of his life Bowlenn hated looking at himself in the mirror as he saw the same twinkle in his own eyes as he vividly remembered his father having in his. The same twinkle and smirk that came before the first blow to his mother.



































Chapter 2







Pc Adrian Chester had just started working at The Kennel and was fresh out of training school at Hendon.

The local police station got its more affectionate name in the early 90’s after it had changed from a dog shelter into a fully functioning nick. However, due to budgeting and the sheer laziness of the builders certain parts of the lower floor, particularly the cells and muster room had an uncanny habit of wafting up the smell of wet dog and animal faeces especially in the summer where the heat and the smell were almost unbearable, the heat they were currently experiencing was proving that point down to a tee, making officers and prisoners alike gag on the rancid scent. It was something that the board had promised to be sorted just like many other things in the past and just never was.

As Adrian did the last part of his patrol in Bravo Two he was looking forward to getting home after a long night shift. He thought about his new posting at The Kennel. He had endured the normal right of passage here for the last 6 months and deduced that he either had to do something extremely brave or pull-off a really good prank to finally get accepted into the team.



“Bravo Two from Hotel Alpha” The radio crackled into life making Chester jump. It was his call sign surely not another prank from the boys he had already been called to an arson which turned out to be nothing more than a wastepaper bin on fire and a suspected serious assault which had been a pensioner with a grazed knee and a touch of shock after being pushed over by a group of local youngsters on skateboards. Surely they wouldn’t try it again right at the end of the shift.

“Bravo Two to hotel alpha go ahead Jane” Jane was the ancient but lovely lady who helped and pretty much single handedly ran the control room at The Kennel. She reminded Adrian of his mother. As strict and brisk as she was she always cared and  looked out for ‘her’ officers. Although she held no superiority over any of the PC’s in the station or anyone for that fact. Every officer at every rank found that talking to Jane for help and advice on professional and personal matters was often a lot easier than going to a senior officer or a friend.

As an only child and living so far away from his parents Adrian always found talking to Jane was a way of relieving stress, the pair had got on almost instantly when he had moved to The Kennel. Jane looked upon him as the son that she always wanted but never had. She had always put her job first and when she met Adrian he was exactly the way she had wanted her own child to be. He was smart, respectable and very handsome.

The pair had spent Christmas together eating a great home cooked dinner and it had brought them closer together as friends. Adrian would do anything for Jane and vice versa. “Adrian, I’ve had a missing persons report come through would you mind picking up PC Brians from the Herald Estate and proceeding to 3 Harcourt Drive to take a statement from a Mr Mark Criter?” Great he thought so much for knocking off early.

“All received Hotel Alpha on my way”

         As Chester spun the car round in the direction of the Herald Estate he started to wonder why anyone would ever run away from Harcourt drive? The place was full of new houses that were built like palaces. Unlike the Herald estate that he was now headed to with its six sky high concrete giants each with close to two hundred flats and housing some of south London’s finest scum which the local council had gratefully placed there in an attempt to save the main town of Headly Hill which for the most part resembled an upper middle class town, with its Victorian houses and sedate feel to it.

Nearly every resident in the Herald Estate had a relative who was either in jail or in a gang. The local gang was ‘originally’ named the Herald Road Crew. It was a large gang with any number of members of which only half were known to the police the other half were either high up the chain or new. The wannabe American gangsters had pretty much taken over the place in the last twenty years since the estate was built. There wasn’t a day that went by where there wasn’t a shooting, stabbing or sexual assault. The lead man was none other than a Mr Alan Green with no shortage of followers willing to go to jail for him he had the respect of nearly everyone young and old, part of the HEC or not, he portrayed himself as a truly caring man, despite this he would kill a person without so much as blinking and the correct term for that is a total fucking psychopath. However he ran the gang with military precision and it was for those reasons alone he had not been sent down sooner. It was not uncommon for anyone who didn’t follow Mr Green’s exact orders to be found floating down the Thames or left in a burning car. There were many rumours surrounding the illusive man which included the fact that he had men and women from the police force in his pocket and not just impressionable young PC’s either.

         Men like Alan Green were the whole reason Chester joined the police force not him himself but people like him, people who made a profit off other peoples suffering, who didn’t have any boundaries. Users who think they can buy anything or anyone around them. People like that were evil on every level possibly imaginable people who would shoot their own mothers if they could get the right price. 

The only human being Mr Green had ever loved was his son who was brutally stabbed to death by a rival gang last autumn. His son was the innocent, nothing to do with the empire his dad had created and owned, he had been a simple school kid who wanted to get good grades and join the army. The case had gone to court only a few months ago after all three suspects were arrested and held in custody. The verdict had come in last week all but one of them had got off on circumstantial evidence.

The one man that was jailed was none other than Derek Harper an equally violent tyrant but with no brains to counter act the violence. This had all but tipped Mr Green over the edge and he vowed to seek revenge on those who not only killed his boy but helped those responsible for the murder evade any justice.

         After picking up PC Emma Brians he headed back out of the ever-looming estate when local hoodies started throwing stones and hurling abuse at the two officers. Adrian turned to his colleague “Shall we stop?”

“Nah we are on a shout fuck ‘em” PC Brians had been on foot patrol in the estate for the last week and consequently had had quite enough of the grief the locals gave her. “Honestly Adrian they shout abuse at us one minute but as soon as their mate gets stabbed or killed the little bastards want our help funny how the world works isn’t it?” The conversation carried on for the entire journey to Harcourt Drive. In the back of his mind Adrian wondered what damage his six month old German Shepard puppy was doing to his flat.

As they pulled up at the house with number three on and started to walk up the gravel driveway both officers gazed at it with respect and envy. “Think you’d ever be able to afford a house like this on our wage?” Emma said not looking at Adrian.

“Fat chance be lucky if I can afford a bungalow on my pension!”

They knocked on the large heavy oak door and waited. A very tall dark headed man with red puffy eyes and the smell of whisky on his breath answered the door. “Mr Criter? You rang us earlier to report your daughter missing? Can we come in sir?”

“I guess so” the man spluttered in reply.



“Cheers guv, yeah, poxy bloody trains will be there as quick as I can” DI Bowlenn had been stood on the train platform now for nearly an hour. Seeing it was yet another warm day and he had used the time to top up his tan.  When the DCI had rung him less than fifteen minutes ago he had to do a double take of his watch to make sure he wasn’t later than he thought he was, the guv’nor usually only rang when he was proper in the proverbial poo. Now standing waiting for the only train that went anywhere near the nick he tried to digest the information he had just been given.



After radioing all the details of the statement he had just taken back to the control room Adrian promised Mr Criter that they would do all they could to find his daughter, and that a family liaison officer would be round shortly and would be his way of finding out what was going on in the case.

Of course none of these facts needed to be explained to the forty six year old barrister who had been doing the job for twenty years and knew perfectly well that the next three days were crucial. It had only been eleven hours since he had noticed his daughter wasn’t at home but like any parent had assumed that she had gone to a friends. However nerves started to set in during the night when she hadn’t rung and had finally broken that morning when he checked the machine and found no message from her on either the house phone or his mobile. It was now nine a.m. and escorting the two officers out he resolved to have a stiff drink.

         Sat in his office he was now bitterly regretting not phoning the police sooner. His daughter was the only thing he had left on the planet the only reason he managed to get out of bed some mornings after the tragic suicide of his wife a few years ago. Mr Criter was well aware that his drinking had steadily increased he had always been partial to a drink however now he needed to drink. He poured himself yet another generous helping of whisky, sat down and felt the warm tears running down his face. It was then he realized it was the first time he had cried since his wife’s death.

         

A hot, sticky hour and a half late DI Bowlenn emerged into the briefing room. His eyes scanned round the room first to the mounted white board on the wall where there was a picture of a girl in her school uniform underneath were the words MISSING Anna Criter age 17. Next to it was her home address and an empty time line drawn out.

He turned to the table where DC Parks and DS Walker were sat they were nicknamed the twins or the brothers. The DC and the DS had absolutely nothing in common with each other, which is perhaps why they got on so well both lived with their respective girlfriends in the same house, which became the brunt of many a CID joke about swingers and student houses. But however much they were jibed about it all four of them were happy together and that was that.

Bowlenn took a seat next to a young PC whom he had never seen before and assumed he was here because he took the statement but before he even got to ask the young lads name a massive crashing at the doors made everyone turn. DCI Shields forcefully opened the door and strolled into the room followed closely by the superintendent. Both came to an abrupt halt and surveyed the team in front of them looking each in the eye for a brief second or two. “Right men, and lady” bellowed the DCI as if his team were sat at the other side of the nick. “This is Anna Criter daughter of the well known barrister Mark Criter” he glanced round the room to check everyone knew the man he was referring to. “She was reported missing at eight thirty this morning but hasn’t been home since around six o’clock yesterday evening. I want this one solved quickly before information is released to the press, we all know they’ll have a field day with this and we don’t want to put the victim in more danger by giving the bastards a bit of publicity. PC Chester here took the statement.” The DCI invited Adrian to stand and give the room details of what Mr Criter had told them. As he stood Chester took out his police issue notebook and began to tell the room what he had been told. “… And then he decided he would ring us.”

“What does he seem like as a person?” asked Bowlenn

“I think he really loves his daughter sir, he seemed genuinely distressed and worried. There was also a very strong smell of whisky on his breath I would say he’s probably been drinking all morning.” Adrian finished and sat down. The DCI allowed a few minutes to let the information sink into the troops minds. “So… DC Parks Ds Walker I want you to check at the college friends, teachers anyone who knows Anna. Does she have a boy friend?”

“Her father doesn’t seem to think so sir.” Adrian replied.

“Fathers don’t know everything double check boys” with that the DC and DS left. “James I want you to check with your informants some one must know something, anything about the scum who have done this”

“Um sir?” Adrian piped up as Bowlenn left the room.

“Yes constable” Shields replied politely but briskly. Looking at Adrian straight in the eye, which made him feel decidedly awkward.

“With your permission sir I’d like to stay with this case.” Adrian’s eyes instinctively dropped to the floor as he asked the question.

“Of course you can PC err…”

“Chester sir, Adrian Chester”

“Right, well, can you run a PNC check on Anna her father and any cars they might own I doubt it will turn up much but we may as well cover all our bases. Oh and can you speak to your inspector sort out a family liaison officer.”

“Yes sir “ Adrian replied getting to his feet. As he walked down the polished lino stairs to find his inspector Adrian was beaming and couldn’t wait to get stuck into the case.



         

Chapter 3





She was starting to feel sick. All concept of time had escaped her. How long has she been here? Ten hours? Twelve? Or maybe somewhere as short as two. In her mind she was still desperately trying to remember her last memory in the hope she might be able to figure out who had done this and why? It had to be something to do with her father. She was, after all only a child she had no enemy’s that she could think of, well none who were capable of doing this at least. Her mind flashed back to her own life she thought of her mother. She had been the most caring and affectionate mother in the world. Anna had blamed her dad for her mother’s suicide but for fear of losing both her parents, and of suffering the same treatment she had not said anything. Her father had always been a drinker, which had sometimes led to the violent beatings her mother had taken. Recently however Anna had noticed the lingering smell of whisky was even stronger in the house and her father was becoming more and more angry and sometimes violent. Even though he had never hit Anna he had come close this had broken down their already strained relationship into nothing more that polite hello’s and extremely limited conversation, yes the two loved each other but could no longer put it into words. However sat in the partially lit cage as she was now all she wanted was to see a familiar face whether that be her fathers, Danny’s or the man who worked at the local shop she didn’t care.  As the banging in the background continued still loudly echoing in the rusty old metal container Anna contemplated that this would probably make a good questioning technique for the army to use she had to stay focused on something, anything. Why had no one come to check the container? Did anyone ever check them? If so when? Was she going to die in here? Any minute she was expecting to wake up and realize that this whole thing was just a terrible nightmare invented by her delusional brain. She was starting to get desperate if she could just get her legs out maybe she could make some noise to alert someone. As she wriggled her feet pulling at the rope her upper body and arms caught and made her already gaping wounds sore and bleed again. Why was no one coming? For the first time she slumped forward in the chair and cried. Something inside her had given up and broken she knew no one was looking no one was coming. She was going to die here alone, cold and lonely.

         Back at the Kennel however some forty miles away someone was looking and looking hard. DI Bowlenn had just found out that Anna indeed did have a boyfriend. After a lot of persuading Anna’s one and only friend Lewis had opened up to James and told him Anna’s deepest secret. Now in the car on the way to the Herald Estate James contemplated just how similar his own life compared to that of the child he was investigating. That drove him more than any other case had to help her and find her.          

Number 46 Park Road was in the heart of the Herald Estate full of scum who would rob you for 10p if they could. James reluctantly parked his car on the main road just outside the Estate and decided to walk the half a mile to the boys’ house. James did not understand the female of the species at the best of times but why on earth would a girl like Anna with all her good grades and luxury house ever want to do with someone who lived in the looming concrete giant that was the Herald Estate? Of course he knew without thinking what Danny wanted a nice little rich girl on his arm as a trophy who could ask daddy for money when he needed it.

         He knocked on the faded black painted door with its chipped paint and waited for a response. Are you Danny Miller?

“What’s it to you, you a cop?” The boy spat with such hatred James had never seen in a child.

“I need to speak with you about Anna Criter.” As soon as the girls name was mentioned the boys face changed instantly it froze with panic and fear.

“What’s happened is she ok?” He stammered. For the first time James inspected the boy he was very good looking and well dressed, the waft of perfumed air emanating from his flat suggested he kept himself looking good and smelling good. Maybe he did care about the girl. 

         After being given coffee by Danny the pair sat down in the spotless living room not a spec of dust or dirt to be seen.

“Do you live here with your parents?” James asked.

“No council put me here when I turned sixteen, it was a dump when I got it no furniture or anything but I have tried to sort it out.” James was impressed here was a seventeen year old boy living in a spotless house upon reading his PNC sheet James expected to walk into a grubby flat with fag butts and beer cans everywhere. In fact what he walked into was a spotless and well decorated flat. The living room had two brand new top of the range leather sofa’s in and a huge Television with x-box and Nintendo Wii games neatly stacked on either side. There were pictures of what appeared to be the boy’s family hanging on the beige and brown walls and a classy chandelier hung above their heads. On the window sill James spotted a single photograph that took his interest immediately. Anna and Danny both sat in a park somewhere the pair both smiling and happy.

“Have you been together long?”

“ A little under two years, what has happened to her is she ok? Can I see her? Is it her father? What has he done now? I knew I should have pushed harder for her too live with me.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa her father? What has he got to do with this?” James replied a little confused.

“What you don’t know?” Danny spat in reply looking a little shocked. For the next hour Danny regaled James with every detail Anna had ever told him about her so called caring father.

“And she told you all this?”

“Every detail she wouldn’t lie to me, you know she self harms? I’ve been trying to help her to stop but things in her life are so bad I don’t know what to do” with that this ‘hard man’ broke down in tears. It was clear to James that this man, no boy loved Anna and would do anything to get her back into his arms. How ever James’ gut instinct often proved to be wrong so he trod carefully.

         Back at the Kennel the team were feeling tired and demoralized. They all knew that the first three days were the critical ones in finding any kidnap victim. They were now nearly twenty hours in and no new leads had been thrown up after interviewing friends, family and the girl’s boyfriend. A long list of cases were being drawn up some stretching back nearly twenty years that Mr Criter had been involved in and being cross checked against another equally long list of those who had been released from prison recently and could hold a grudge against the family.

         DI Bowlenn entered the office and called for quiet. He then explained in detail what Danny had told him no less that twenty minutes previously

           “Could the girl not have just run away from home then sir?” asked one of the brothers.

“It’s a possibility however I don’t think it’s a likely one she is obviously close to her boyfriend and I don’t think she would have left without telling him, and before you say it no I don’t think he is covering for her.” James noticed a phone ringing in his office and quickly drew his speech to an end.

“DI Bowlenn, I will be right there don’t touch it, call the SOCO boys in.” James quickly grabbed his coat and prepared to leave. As he left his office he turned to the team and announced, “ The kidnappers have made contact.” With that he was gone.

         Back at the Criter household a young FLO was struggling to control a grief stricken Mr Criter from leaving the house and punching several SOCO officers on the way as they took away the only scrap of evidence that let him know his daughter was alive. As James strode in he was grabbed by the collar by the borderline deranged man just before he collapsed on the floor in a heap of tears.

         













Chapter 4





It was getting late and the few remaining members of the team who had decided to stay late and work on the case, either through dedication or for the over time James couldn’t decide were getting tired. Motivation was needed either that or news from the lab. The letter that the kidnappers had sent had asked for one Derek Harper to be released with immediate effect or else the Anna’s body parts would be sent back piece-by-piece.

Had they asked for anyone else to be released then maybe the threat wouldn’t have been taken quite so seriously, however Derek Harper and his cronies were one of the most feared people who occupied the Herald Estate.

         Harper had been imprisoned only a few months ago after the brutal and gruesome stabbing of Alan Green’s son out of the three who were sent to trial he was the only one who got sent down. Word was he was still running things from the inside. Derek Harper was the worst of the worst an aging man with eyes that shot through you and made everyone he looked at shudder. Like Mr Green he ran a firm on the other side of town in an equally large and trashy estate. However he wasn’t as clever as Green and this had led him to being imprisoned. Although he had only half a brain cell occupying his head Harper was not a man you messed with. The wrong thing said in the street or pub could lead to glasses being smashed over heads stabbings and murders.

         The tragic stabbing of Green’s boy last autumn had not been planned by Harper it was nothing more than an unlucky coincidence that the two men had been drinking in the same bar. Harper had overheard the boy talking about his father to a close college friend and as soon as he had heard the name flipped out. Not stopping to ask any questions Harper hurled himself over the bar stabbing the boy in the side of the head. From there he kicked, stamped and punched the boy until he was barely conscious. The two men who stood trial with Harper had tried to pull him off knowing that his victim had nothing to do with the HEC but knowing full well what would happen when Mr Green found out his only son had been assaulted. The thing with Green was he wouldn’t have just gone for Harper he would seek justice on anyone who didn’t help who was in full possession of the facts. It was no good Harper had lost it that red mist had descended and there was no going back. He stabbed the boy 37 times in the head and chest leading inevitably to the young man’s death.

         Who on earth would want that man out of jail? His gang? Family? Nothing made sense in James’ already shattered brain.

He resolved to go home and take a look at it first thing tomorrow after a good nights sleep. As he left the nick the Air outside was hot and stuffy and for the first time in his life James prayed for wind or rain anything just less heat.

Reluctantly he boarded a train home not quite being able to leave the case behind, it struck so many similarities to his own experiences in his childhood and life in general. He had to save this one no matter what he couldn’t lose. In his head he started making a mental list of leads and things he had to follow up on the next day. Number one on his list was taking a visit to HMP Grenthust to see Harper. Something he was not looking forward to he had been the SIO on the Green case and consequently had been the one who secured the conviction on Harper and also exposed several corrupt officers who had been working to protect him.

Although respected officers had been dismissed out of the public eye James hadn’t had to endure the usual whistle blower treatment maybe because these officers had done wrong and tried to protect a murderer or maybe because the murder that had taken place was more horrific than any other that had been worked in the last 30 years.

The image of the boys blooded and mangled face and body would be something that would stay with not only James but also most of the people who worked the case who had the unfortunate experience of either having to see the body itself or the photographs that were taken at the crime scene. Some of which were too gruesome to be used as evidence at court.

Safely at home James poured himself a large glass of whisky put on some music and wondered how Mr Criter was doing. Then a sudden thought came into his head. Something that Danny had said about Mr Green. After his son’s murder Green had taken Danny under his wing. That explained all the nice new furniture in the boys flat. Not only that it gave James two direct links to Green. However that made no sense after the trauma of losing his son and going through the inevitable months building up to the court date why would he want his son’s killer released from Jail? Not only that but if he had taken Danny on as some kind of surrogate son why would he want to hurt him? Had they had a disagreement? No they couldn’t have James was more that sure that if they had James would have found a corpse today rather than a fully working human with all his limbs and digits in tact.

Sometimes just sometimes James wondered why he did this job. Trying to get inside peoples heads think and assume a killers, rapists criminals mind for just a brief moment in the vague hope that he could know why people do the sick and twisted things they do. He often felt apart from the ‘real’ world that maybe had he chosen a different career he would be immune to the horrible things that men and women inflict on the innocent. Maybe he could have a good nights sleep without the nightmares that seemed to follow him along with the memory’s of past cases dismembered body’s, crying victims. The evil.  Every world needs good and bad in it and he was just the fighter for the good.

On the other hand he had, once again, drunk nearly a whole bottle of whisky and needed desperately to stumble to bed. His head felt fuzzy and all his emotions where swirling round his head. Things would seem clearer in the morning when he was sober and it was back into job mode thinking like a detective. As he put his fresh clothes out on the chair next to his be and tried to force his window open that extra inch in the immense hope that if there was even the slightest breeze it would come into his sweltering tropical room. Then without thinking James dropped to his knees and did something he hadn’t done in a long time in fact since he’d been a child. He prayed. “If there is a god and your up there and listening” he slurred “please give me the strength to carry on in this life to carry on coping with the evil in this world you created and give me the strength to carry on doing my job to the best of my ability. If you can see Anna Criter please give her the courage to keep fighting and make her realize there are people out there who care a lot about her and will find her and bring her home soon. If you could do one thing you would keep her strong and keep her safe.” With that he rose from his knee’s put his dirty clothes in the wash bin and climbed into bed. Within seconds he was asleep. Having the gruesome slideshow he had to battle with every night. 



 











Chapter 5





A sudden burst of noise brought her round from the daze she had slipped into once again. It had been light before, now once again she was surrounded by darkness. A freezing burst of cold air brought her immediately to her senses the door to the container was being opened. She heard that ear shattering high pitched creak of rusted hinges as it swung sharply open then closed again. That’s when she heard them two men talking. She tried to push some noise out through the tape that was on her mouth and managed only a pathetic muffled sound.

         Out of the darkness two stocky figures appeared. Anna blinked furiously to make her eyes adjust so she could make out their faces. A voice spoke to her. “Hello sweetheart” The voice was deep and husky like a man who smoked far too may cigarettes and was getting on in life she didn’t recognize the voice and was now very sure that this was not going to be her saviour she was now meeting the man who put her in her tomb. The hate in her body filled up and she burst into tears.

         “Hey don’t cry, now if I take that tape off your mouth so you can have some food your not going to make a noise are you?” Anna shook her head so violently it made her dizzy. She knew in her heart of hearts that she should scream the minute the tape came off her face, however the mention of food had shaken off that option as she was so hungry she would do anything this man told her to do if it was for food. Her eyes were slowly getting used to the darkness and she was starting to make some of this mans features out. He was small probably around 5ft 6 and was old he had greying hair and the tell tale signs of age were creeping on to his face Anna braced herself to look into the mans eyes and as she did bitterly regretted it. They were dead eyes like in the old war documentary’s she had seen. This man had seen death close up there was no emotion portrayed through those eyes nothing but blackness and it scared her. What scared her even more was knowing that there was another man lingering in the darkness whom she had not yet seen was there a reason he was staying out of sight? Or was he merely there in case something went wrong.

         As he removed the tape from her mouth, his face came uncomfortably close to her own and she smelt a mixture of old spice and mints. As the tape ripped across her face it stung and she once again welled up but refused to cry this time.

         As the hot soup was lifted to her mouth she gratefully took it, it warmed her mouth and soothed her sore throat. She couldn’t hold it anymore she started to cry again.

         The warm tears rolled down her face and the soup became sticky in her mouth but she kept eating. “Shhh it’s going to be ok sweetheart.” The man did his best to calm and sooth her but the fear of him did nothing more than make her cry more.

         Anna gratefully finished the soup and accepted the tea and water that was offered to her. The shuffle that she heard behind the old man made her stop crying immediately. It was if some primal instinct had kicked in and told her that she had to stay silent where this illusive figure was concerned. The shuffling seemed to move around her in a large circle like a wild animal circling around its prey waiting for that final moment before it pounced.

         “Move” a simple command but said with so much authority it made Anna flinch. The small man who had given her the food scuttled away into the blackness. Her instinct had proved right she knew instantly not to mess with this guy. She could hear his footsteps getting closer to her and she forced herself to keep her eyes open and face him. As he approached her heart started pounding in her ears as blood raced around her body. He stopped behind her not wanting Anna to see his face.

“What have you done to yours arms?” he asked quite calmly slowly bending down and pulling her sleeves up. She said nothing.

“You, go to the car and get some bandages and the gun.” The door screamed open and shut once again and she was alone with this man in the darkness. That single word gun made Anna freeze why did he need a gun? Was she going to be shot? And why provide bandages for her sore arms if he was going to kill her. Her mind buzzed back the man was un-tying her feet and arms removing the coarse heavy rope from around her body. As he did so she flinched at every touch. She had to say something beg this man not to kill her, hope that he had a reasonable side. Judging from what she had seen so far she knew he must care a little but was probably as dead as the old mans eyes looked.

“P, p, please don’t kill me” Anna stammered as much through the cold as with fear.

“Don’t worry your far too valuable for us to kill you yet. I merely thought you might want to stretch your legs maybe go to the toilet? Don’t want you ruining those nice designer clothes that daddy bought you getting spoilt do we?” She didn’t know what it was but there was a brutal honesty about the man’s voice that made her relax and accept that what he was saying was the truth. He wasn’t going to kill her and now she thought of it all that liquid had made her need the loo. Or was that fear.

         He grabbed her carefully by her upper arms and stood her up this made her feel dizzy and ache all over he held her in place for a moment to make sure she was steady the rose his hand and wiped the tears from her face. His touch was gentle and almost caring then he felt the hand run down her face and down her neck and body. Her heart pumped faster. “Please don’t.” 

“Your forgetting who’s in charge your mine and I can do what I want with you.” Again that brutal sense of calm and truth came through in his voice and Anna was starting to wish she was going to be shot.

         The opened again and the old man emerged holding two packages. He handed the gun over. “Come on then lets go for a walk.” All three of them made to move towards the door when the lead man shouted back over his shoulder the single word that petrified Anna “Alone.”

         Now outside in the darkness of the docks the freezing cold air whipped round her face making her shudder. It stabbed into her cheeks like shards of glass instinctively making her raise her hands to her face. “You must be cold” uttered the man taking of his coat and wrapping it round her the warmth of his coat relaxed Anna slightly as she pulled it close and tight round her upper body.

         “Here you go.” The man was pointing towards a clearing in the trees to which she was supposed to go and do what she had to do. “Just remember,” he said coldly raising the gun and pushing the barrel against her head. The coldness of the metal made her flinch it was a subtle reminder to forget any ideas of escaping if she tried she would be killed.

         When she returned the man looked at her it could have been seen as an almost sympathetic look. For the first time Anna looked at his face. He was a young man tall stocky but very good looking. They began to walk back to the prison in which she was kept, in complete silence.

Upon returning Anna was pushed back into the chair and re-tied. The old man wrapped the bandages carefully around her sore-blooded wrists making her flinch and cringe. A blanket was produced and wrapped around her shivering body. Then without any words being spoken they left. The dull thud on the outside of the container told Anna that she had been sealed in. Alone again.