American Crow (26 page)

I took a right and walked down to a large
staircase where I scaled no more than two treads when the ear-piercing wail of
a security alarm burst into life suddenly.

‘Shiiit...’

Someone had clocked me, or Lutz had woken
up and managed to free himself…I turned and ran back down the hall, then tried
a random door as the heavy thump of footsteps raced up the stairs to
investigate. Hurriedly, I stepped into the pitch-black room and reached for the
switch. The light flickered slowly on. Thankfully, the bedroom was empty...

I locked the door and listened to the
commotion outside, then to doors opening and closing frantically, and the
creaking of the old floorboards with the heavy foot traffic.

‘What’s happening?’ a disgruntled voice
enquired, half-asleep.

I pressed my ear against the door.

‘There seems to have been intruder on the
premises, sir, but we’ve got it all under control now, so please go back to
bed,’ a security guard replied calmly.

Footsteps came and went again. The alarm
fell silent. When it was deathly quiet again, I cracked open the door and eased
myself back out into the corridor, gun raised.

‘Hey you!’ a guard yelled, appearing from
nowhere.

I sprinted back to the original door as a
hail of bullets splintered the frame, then ran hard down the spiral staircase
as fast as I could, through the dining area, across the kitchen and back
outside onto the lawn, which now was chequered with squares of light as the
house burst suddenly into life.

After the servant’s quarters, I weaved my
way through the woods as fast as I could, as frantic barking came at me from
all directions

‘God damn it...’

A few minutes later I’d broken free of
the trees and was zigzagging my way back across the fields towards the same
ridge I’d come in by, a good few hundred metres over from my original place of
entry.

The sound of dogs echoed out again. Then
more gunshots...I glanced behind and saw two sets of headlights thundering
through the darkness towards my position. I pushed myself harder, eventually
reaching the road, just up from where Nancy had dropped me off at the
beginning.

Hands on knees, I drew in some desperate
breaths then clambered over the ranch rails wearily, and eyed the faint outline
of the pick-up in the distance, its lights switched off. Nancy had kept her
side of the bargain. Thank god...

I righted myself and jogged towards the
truck, feeling exhausted. Then, as I neared to within thirty metres or so, the
lights came on, the engine started up, and it began to pull out onto the road
as if she was tired of waiting.    

‘No...’

I sprinted hard with everything I had,
then leapt at the tailgate as the pick-up accelerated, slapping the tailgate
hard as it was just pulling out of reach. I hit the asphalt hard with my
momentum, raking the skin off my hands and chin, knocking the wind out of my
lungs then rolled onto the grassy verge in a daze, temporarily stunned...

I lay there grimacing for a second then
looked up despondently to see Nancy continuing to drive away.

‘Fuck it...’

I lowered my head in defeat, then glanced
up again and saw the brake lights flicker on suddenly, a hundred metres further
down the road. Quickly, I hauled myself up and ran haphazardly towards them
like some desperate drunk, then arriving, flung the driver’s door open
euphorically.

‘Nancy, am I glad to see you,’ I said,
gasping for breath.    

She didn’t respond. I stared into the gloomy
cab. There was a gun pointing at my mid-rift. Someone else was sitting by her
side.

‘Get in,’ a menacing voice commanded,
‘it’s all over...’

Chapter Twenty-Seven

    
‘the basement’

T
he cops weren’t going to be called, of that I was certain.
Several hours later after being dragged down into the windowless basement I was
surer than I could ever be. Corrigan was going to deal with us his own way.
Kentucky style...

A couple of security guards had brought
us in through the rear entrance upon our arrival, then taken us down the main
hallway, through another door to a staircase, which then headed down steeply to
a well-stocked wine cellar.

At its end, in the shadows, were a
cluster of old Bourbon barrels laid on their bellies, which could be swung open
as one, revealing a secret door behind them, that hid a flight of narrower
stairs that went down to a second and deeper basement.

When the light was finally switched on,
we found ourselves in a large, rectangular room, constructed of painted black
brickwork, a red tiled floor with a drainage channel cut into it, underneath a
low oppressive ceiling, also painted black. Facing us, ominously, were a series
of solid-looking metal doors with a viewing grill set into each upper portion.

I stared at the seedy chamber bewildered,
wondering what had played out within its walls then was manhandled over to one
of them. Inside the cell I stood there in silence in the coal-black darkness
processing what had just happened, then pressed my face against the grill to
speak when I was sure we were alone.

‘Hey, you okay?’

‘Yeah, bit shook up, but intact.’

‘Well, you said that you wanted to spend
some more time together?’ I said, trying to lighten the mood.

‘Yeah, I just wanted to be able to see you
while we were doing it though...’

We both laughed nervously.

‘Do you think he’s going to let us go,
call the police?’ Nancy said, sounding calm enough. 

‘No. I don’t,’ I said honestly. ‘We’re
going to have to find another way out of here...’

‘Oh my god, what have we got ourselves
into, Blake?’

‘What have I got you into,’ I countered.

I paced around like an animal and felt
the dimensions of the two by three metre space, trying to get my head together.
The walls were of solid brick, just like outside. They felt cold and damp. The
floor was of the same construction. There was no obvious way out. I turned my
attentions to the door. It was made of thick sheet metal and looked impervious
to brute force.

I sat down on the old bed in the corner
and tried to focus. There had to be a way out. There was always a way out...

‘I think they’re coming back for us,
Blake,’ Nancy whispered loudly as a faint light came on in the distance.

‘We’re going to get out of this mess. I
promise you,’ I replied, feeling my skin tighten.

‘If we don’t, I just want you to know…’
she said, as if reading my mind, ‘that I’m so glad to have met you, Blake...’

‘Hey cut that crap out. We’re getting out
of this, okay?’ I said unconvincingly.

‘You’re sure?’ she replied, her voice
shaking like her body probably now was.

I exhaled heavily.

‘After all the commotion with the
break-in, they can’t just make us disappear, Nance. Someone would have notified
the police. The cops are probably up there right now, looking for us…’

‘You promise?’

‘I’m sure of it,’ I said, knowing my
words sounded as hollow as I now felt.

Hard-soled shoes descending the stairwell
cut the conversation dead. I peered into the obsidian gloom, anxious to
pre-empt what Corrigan had in store for us. It wasn’t looking good from where I
was standing, that was for sure.

I’d had the misfortune to have uncovered
some pretty dark places over the years, places, where people had been held
captive for months on end, sometimes years; hell holes, where people ended up
being brainwashed and brutalized to within an inch of their lives. And this
sinister basement had that same ugly feel. There was a tangible oppressiveness
lurking in the damp, squalid air… 

Another light came on, this time closer,
breaking my thoughts. My eyelids fluttered for a few seconds as my sight
adjusted to the brightness.

Now, I could see two men standing in the
doorway at the other end of the room. One was an enormous black guy, around six
foot five, with wiry hair and wild eyes. The other, the polar opposite, was a
pasty-looking Caucasian wearing a long face and a pinched nose. The sort whom
you wouldn’t trust your pet with, let alone your children I thought...

I watched them disappear into the back
room for a moment, then return with an old gurney, which they then pushed into
the space before us and locked in position.

I eyed the thick leather straps hanging
down ominously at each of the trolley’s corners and felt my mouth go dry. The
black guy left again and came back with a camera on a tripod, which he then set
up next to it.

‘What the...’

The door scraped open at the top of the
stairs again. A third set of footsteps sounded out, descending the wooden
flight one tread at a time. I readied myself for Corrigan to appear, then was
disappointed when he didn’t. The new guy was of similar age, but had a
manicured goatee and grey slicked-back hair. He looked like some sort of doctor
judging by the case he carried.

I watched bewildered as he took his
glasses off, wiped them carefully with a handkerchief pulled from his waistcoat
pocket, then put them back on and nod succinctly to the two security guys
opposite.

‘Get her out...’

His voice was weary, but self-assured.
The men turned and walked solemnly over to Nancy’s door. I heard the rattle of keys,
then the metal hinges squeak as they opened it.

‘Get off of me, you bastards!’ she yelled
as they stepped in to grab her.

‘Let go of her, you animals!’ I cried
out, hearing her obvious distress.

I listened helplessly as she put up a
fight inside the cell, then watched in numb horror as they dragged her out by
her arms and flung her at the feet of the expressionless doctor.

‘Take off her clothes. Down to the
underwear...’ he ordered calmly, unmoved by her distress.

Nancy kicked out violently as the men
yanked off her blue top, revealing a lilac bra underneath, then was held
tightly again as they pulled off her shoes, socks and jeans, displaying the
matching lacework panties, which the creep took time to enjoy.

‘Leave her alone, you fuckers!’ I boomed,
slamming the flat of my hand against the cell door.

They hauled Nancy roughly up then
manhandled her onto the gurney face down, where they strapped her tightly, limb
by limb, until she couldn’t move.

‘You lay a finger on her and I will fuck
you up,’ I threatened, my rage tipping into the red.

The doctor turned for a second, then
looked over unfazed and offered a cruel smile. Then he walked to the end of the
gurney and lifted Nancy’s head up gently by cupping her chin.

‘Shame,’ he said with a fake tenderness.
‘Shame...’

Nancy spat at him. The saliva spattered
over his crutch. He stepped back and wiped if off as diligently as he’d cleaned
his glasses, then returned to his bag, which was now open, on a small table
next to the gurney.

‘Thank you,’ he said to the creep for his
thoughtfulness, before rummaging around for a good few minutes in silence.

I watched Nancy’s body shudder
uncontrollably feeling wretched. Her shoulders were kicking forwards and
backwards now as her breath shortened with mounting panic. She wasn’t in a good
way...

‘What are they going to do to me, Blake?’
she croaked tearfully.

‘Look at me…Look at me,’ I said, getting
her to look in my direction, so that she could see my mouth pressed against the
grill in the door.

‘Everything’s going to be alright, okay.
I’m going to get us out of this...’

The doctor turned, seemingly oblivious to
our conversation, then walked slowly towards her, a large menacing syringe held
vertically aloft. 

‘What the fuck…’ I uttered under my
breath.

I looked on in increasing disbelief as
the doctor rolled up his white cotton sleeves, then ran a hand carefully over
her back, making her shudder again.

‘My god, what are they going to do to me,
Blake, what are they going to do with me?’ she gasped, beginning to struggle
against the binding again.

‘Sshh. Be still and you won’t get hurt,’
the doctor cautioned as if he actually cared, as if they were in some bone-fide
hospital and she was about to be cured of some illness.

Nancy became still for a moment, as his
hand located the spot he’d obviously been looking for, then twitched violently
as he pricked her skin with the tip of the syringe.

‘What are you doing!?’ she yelled in
horror.

‘You hurt her and I’m going to break you
in two,’ I warned, knowing my threats were futile.

Ignoring my protestations, the doctor
smiled then eased the needle firmly into her back, millimetre by millimetre,
until she was screaming like a child. Then he pulled the plunger out slowly,
filling it with a clear-looking fluid extracted from her spine.

Nancy shook violently as the doctor
withdrew the needle, then wept loudly as he returned calmly to his bag and
transferred the extraction into a small glass tube.

I stood there transfixed, appalled and
confused, not believing what I had just seen, then watched numbly as the doctor
rolled his sleeves back down, adjusted his waistcoat and walked slowly away as
if nothing had happened.

‘Get her ready for Mr Corrigan. He’ll be
down presently,’ he announced out of view.

I listened to him scale the stairs then
heard the basement door open and close behind him.

‘What does he mean, get me ready?’ Nancy
sobbed, ‘What does he mean, Blake?’ she shouted again, becoming
hysterical.   

The creep offered an unsettling smile.

‘I…I don’t know, Nancy, but I’m here with
you all the way,’ I said lamely, trying to reassure her.

I stared out of the grill powerless as
they unfastened the straps and turned her over so that she was lying on her
back. This time she didn’t kick out. She was too petrified. Too broken.

The creep ran a hand over her breast,
circling her nipple for a second making her shudder, then licked his fingers
and dragged them down her torso to her hips, before thinking better of it when
he saw his partner’s thousand-volt stare.

‘He will kill you if he finds out you’ve
touched the goods beforehand...’ the big guy advised, like he was about to
break his colleague in two. ‘You know what he’s like...’

‘Yeah, you’re right. The hill-billy-bitch
is not worth the trouble anyways…’  

The big guy fiddled with the camera
checking it was in good order, while the creep circled the gurney like some
hungry jackal.

‘Make sure you switch it on this time,’
the creep said sarcastically, leering at Nancy.

‘Not going to make that mistake again,
okay,’ the other guy replied, double-checking the battery.

Nancy’s frail voice cut in suddenly.

‘Look, I’ve got money…a lot of it. You
can have it all, if you just let us go?’

Her head lifted off the table as much as it
could, as she waited for an answer.

‘Of course you will, girl,’ the creep
replied casually, stooping down and running his dry tongue over her stomach.

‘Please, I’ll do anything…anything,’ she
said calmly.

‘You think we want a rough bit of
mountain flesh, lady?’ the big guy rebuked, staring down at the creep in
disbelief, whose tongue had now reached Nancy’s neck.

‘Please just untie me and let me go.
Please I…’

I watched the creep for a response,
hoping that he would take the bait and untie her, hoping beyond hope, that
Nancy had it in her to work some sort of move that could help me break out. He
eyed her up and down as if thinking about the offer, then edged away as the
muscle-man stepped forward to take pole position.

‘I’ll do anything...please, just untie me
first...’ Nancy said again.

The black guy stared into her eyes,
licked his lips, then ran a hand up the inside of her leg to her crutch and
shoved her roughly.

‘If-I-want-some of youz, I-will-just-take
it, bitch. It-is-not-yours-to-offer,’ he said jolting her violently with each
syllable.

Nancy shrieked and twisted in the
strapping trying to escape the violation, then sobbed harder as her tormentor
just stood there, laughing.

‘Right, let’s get the boss,’ he
announced, glancing in my direction as I booted the cell door over and over.

‘Save your energy, boy,’ the creep said
with a sickening smile. ‘You’re next. And don’t bother screaming because the
whole darn place is sound-proofed down here. You could let a bomb go off and
you’d think a mouse had passed some gas up there...’