Angels Bleed (Fallen Angels Book 1) (21 page)

6:30 pm

Sarah dived out of the car, stumbled and grazed her knees and palms on the harsh gravel driveway before she scrambled back to her feet and started to sprint towards the taped off area around the entrance to Featherstone Hall.  Saul got out of the car just as fast but was a few seconds behind her as he came around from the far side of his SLK.  Buglass was standing at the tape and started to raise a hand to stop Sarah from passing, but she simply sidestepped him and ran straight through the tape. 

‘Stop Sarah.’  Saul shouted.

‘You can’t go through there!’  Buglass shouted at the same time, turning and heading after Sarah too as Saul sped past him.  She reached the entrance of the house and barged through the half open door into the corridor, the exertion of the sprint mingling with her blind panic to cause her to pause a moment against the door to get her bearings and decide on her next direction.

Her next direction was to head down the corridor towards a wheeled contraption with many metal protuberances sitting outside an open door with a light shining from the room beyond.  She left the front door in another sprint a split second before Saul hit it in a similar fashion.  He didn’t stop, but headed off directly after her, only a few feet behind.  She kicked the wheeled contraption out of the way as she ran into the doorframe at an angle, turning into the room, Saul mere centimetres behind her now.  Once in the room, her arms started to reach out towards the crate that was in front of her, opening up to embrace it as she cried out, ‘Jacob!’

Saul leapt the last small gap between them, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her to the left of the crate as he fell with her.  Her right hand brushed against the wood, causing it to shudder slightly.  They both landed on the floor with a heavy thud, Sarah immediately trying to escape Saul’s tight embrace.

‘Let go of me you fucking bastard.’ she screamed, her legs and arms animatedly trying to dislodge Saul.  ‘We need to get him out!’

‘You can’t Sarah, there’s a bomb in there.  If you try and tamper with that crate it will go off and he will be dead.  We will be dead.  Just calm down.’  Saul shouted above her screaming as she kicked animatedly.  Buglass blundered into the room, a startled expression on his face as he took in the two of them struggling on the floor.

‘Do you need any help Sir?’ was all he could manage to say, weakly.

‘We’ve got to get him out John, we’ve got to get him the hell out!’  Sarah shouted, still fighting.

‘We can’t Sarah, not at the moment.  Look at the screen.’ he said, trying to lift her head in its direction.  ‘You can see him on the screen and if you stop your bloody squirming and screaming, you will hear his heartbeat.’ 

Sarah looked up to where he was directing her head and saw her son’s face filling the right hand side of the screen.  He looked serene: peacefully prone with no sign of any discomfort or injury.  She heaved a heavy sigh, a harrowing sob escaping her lips.  ‘Oh Jacob, my baby, baby boy, Mummy is so, so sorry.’ she cried, the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor invading the decreasing resonance of her screams.

Saul lifted her body slowly up from the floor as she stopped squirming, still holding her waist tight as he managed to get both of them onto their knees.  Sarah’s concentration was intent on Jacob’s image as Saul raised her from her knees and walked them back a step, sitting down on the Chesterfield Sofa.

There was a clatter of footfall in the corridor outside followed a second later by Corporal Garry and then DCI Strange coming into view in the doorway.  ‘John, Sarah, are you OK?’  Strange asked, concern in his voice as he strode across the room and sat down next to them, resting a hand on Sarah’s arm as he did. 

‘We will be Sir.  It’s just the shock.’  Saul answered, looking towards Strange, his face beaded with sweat and dirt, his expression pained and haunted.  Sarah was still staring at the TV, her body quivering with emotion, her voice still frantic as she asked.  ‘Get him out.  Can we get him out please?  How can we get him out?’

Strange reached down and cocooned her shaking hands, edging himself closer as he addressed her softly.  ‘Sarah, we are doing everything in our power to get Jacob out of there as quickly as we can.  I can see that you are distressed and I fully understand that you want to be close to him while he is in there.  But it is not safe in this room.  Being in this room is putting his and your life in danger.  We have other monitors set up in our vehicles that will show you the same image of him.  May we go there and talk?’

She didn’t answer, just looked longingly up at the screen.  Saul started to stand, raising Sarah as he did.  ‘Come on Sarah.  DCI Strange will need to ask us some questions to help him get Jacob out of there.  The quicker we answer them, the quicker they can get him out.’

Sarah didn’t protest as Saul led her slowly out of the room.  Her eyes stayed transfixed on Jacob’s image until she was out of the door. The rhythmic beating of his heart monitor diminishing as they left the room and walked silently down the corridor, back into the dusk of early evening, the last strobing talons of a setting sun enlivening the flattened peaks of the Cheviot Hills behind Featherstone Hall.

‘Is he here?’  Saul asked pointedly as they walked across the gravel towards the MIU.

‘Not yet John.  We’ll talk about that soon.  We need to understand a little more about Rob Adams first.’ Strange answered firmly.

As they approached the MIU, Jessica was standing at its far end, away from the entrance.  Saul flashed her a pained smile, which she returned with an understanding nod.  Sarah didn’t notice her.  She was still in shock as Saul led her up the steps to the MIU and then into the interview room.  Strange followed them in.

‘Could you get some coffees for us please?’  Strange asked Buglass, as he softly shut the door to the room. 

Saul led Sarah around the table and sat her down, pulling a chair out of the corner to sit next to her.  Strange sat down opposite. 

‘I promise Sarah, I won’t keep you long and you can go and sit in front of one of the monitors and see Jacob.  There are just a few questions I need to ask you.  Is that alright.’

Sarah looked towards Strange, her features heavy and drawn, eyes still confused and startled.  ‘I just want you to get him out Jerry.  I don’t care how, I just want you to get him out.’

‘And we are doing everything we can to make that happen.  Could you tell me the last time you were in contact with Rob Adams?’ 

‘I talked to him this morning, I don’t know what time exactly.  About nine-ish.  He sounded normal.  He had been in hospital most of the night and was going into the office today.’

‘You haven’t had any texts or e-mails off him since then?’

‘No, I haven’t heard from him at all since then.’

‘What time did he leave with Jacob last night?’

‘It was about half five.  He sent me a text when he dropped him off.  Why would he do that?  Why would he take Jacob?  I don’t understand.’  Sarah said while chewing on the scraggy nail of an index finger, her voice raising in volume with the last question.

‘That’s what we are trying to find out Sarah.’  Strange answered, his tone gentle.  ‘Did you ever visit his offices?’

‘No.  He always came to the house or we would meet at the Children’s Hospital.’

‘Sir.’  Saul interrupted.  ‘He seemed to be a genuine person.  He was recommended to us by Jacob’s paediatrician about six months ago.  We had no reason to suspect that he had any plans to abduct Jacob.  I think we need to understand if there is any link between him and Dr Ennis.  I think we need to find that out pretty fast.  We only have about five hours until midnight.’ he finished firmly.

‘Sarah.  Could you please wait here a moment while I have a word with John.’  Strange asked, rebuking Saul with a glare as he did.  Sarah nodded.  Strange motioned for Saul to follow him.  They both left the room and Strange pulled the door closed behind him.  Strange ushered Saul to the seats at the table where they both sat down.

‘John, we need to find out as much as we can about this man.  Sarah had a very close relationship with him and it’s important that we explore that to see if there are any clues as to why he may have done this?  I can’t have you rushing the questioning John.  Do I have to remind you that you are no longer on the case?’

‘Do I have to remind you, Sir, that it is my son in that bloody crate?’  Saul answered in a whispered snarl. 

‘No John, you don’t, but your impatience is not going to help him.’  Strange answered sharply, before his face softened and he continued.  ‘Look, I can’t imagine how you are feeling and I am not going to even ask you to try and think professionally about this.  We are doing everything we can.  We have already found out that Rob Adams has not been seen at his offices for over a week.  He definitely was not on locum duty last night.  Checking back through his recent work history, we know that he and Dr Ennis’s paths have crossed.  So we know there is a link between them.  We just need to discover what and why.  Sarah may be able to help us with that.  You were hardly ever there with him John.  Sarah was, five days a week.  There must be something he let slip during that time.’

‘So they knew each other.  Why isn’t that bastard here yet Sir?’  Saul said, his voice still resonating with a simmering fury as he stared at his superior.

‘We are just trying to find him at the moment.  Munro has been to the Institute.  Ennis has left for the day.  He is currently on his way to Ennis’s house.’

‘I doubt very much that he is going to be there, Sir.  I think he has Rebecca Angus somewhere.  That’s where he’ll be.’

‘That’s all well and good John, but we have no idea where that is and we have no evidence whatsoever to confirm that he even has her.  So we will be going to his house as that is a location we know about.’    

Saul banged a fist off the table, the sound reverberating around the contained space inside the MIU.  ‘We don’t have time to wait on evidence for everything.’ he shouted. 

Strange grabbed Saul’s fist, holding it fast on the table, stopping him banging it again.  ‘What would you suggest we do John?’  Strange reprimanded.  ‘We have no idea where he is, but he may not be far away, he may be at home.  We have no idea, even if he does have Rebecca, where he might be keeping her, but that might be at home too.  So, apart from his home, where on earth would you like us to start?’  Strange demanded.

Saul’s features slowly morphed from livid to thoughtful as he absorbed Strange’s rebuke.  ‘He may not be far away.’  Saul repeated, deliberately, pondering upon each word.  ‘He may not be far away?  Saul repeated again, this time faster, more a question.  He pulled his hand free of Strange and stood up suddenly, his chair toppling over backwards.

‘He’s not far away at all, the bastards had her right under our noses all the time.’  Saul scoffed, heading quickly for the door of the MIU.

‘John, what do you mean?’  Strange asked, following him as quickly as he could. 

Saul was jogging now, over the open space between the MIU and his car, which he jumped into and slammed the door shut, revved the engine hard and spun away with a squeal of tyres and a plume of smoke in an instant. 

‘John!’  Strange shouted ineffectually after him as he came to a halt in the billowing smoke.  ‘Shit.’ he blasphemed, kicking his foot into the gravel. ‘Where the hell is he going?’

7:05 pm

‘What you need to understand about what happened next is that I had absolutely no idea it was Michael.  You might think that is a cop out.  After all, it was still somebody’s son, even if I didn’t think he was mine.’  Rebecca said, looking at Dr Hanlon anxiously, circling the fingers of one hand around the bandages on the wrist of the other.

‘I’m not here to judge you Rebecca.  Regardless if it was Michael, or someone else, they were there that night because they wanted to be.  It was a sex party.  He was dressed in a Gimp suit with a bit in his mouth.  Nothing screams, I want to be submissive, I want to be controlled any more than that get up.’  Dr Hanlon answered reassuringly.

‘It’s just, this is going to be difficult.  I know what I made him do.  I know what I
forced
him to do.’  Rebecca said, still concerned about what Dr Hanlon would think. 

Dr Hanlon stood up, lifted his chair and limped toward her, placing his chair next to her and sitting down.  He held her hands, stopping them from squeezing her wrists, and stroked the tops of them gently.  ‘Don’t worry.  If it gets difficult, we just slow down, or stop.  We do something different.  You get dressed, we grab a drink, whatever you want.  This has to be in your own time.  It has to be your story, your way.  That is the important thing here, you trying to make some sense of what you call this nonsense.’

A nervous smile danced onto her face, then quickly pirouetted away as she took a deep breath and softly nodded.  ‘I got another text.  It said, ‘You are the Master.  There are a couple by the Bar, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.  Introduce them to your slave and have them abuse him.’  I quickly looked around the room, not for the couple, but to see where Madame Evangeline was.  She had to be there.  How would she know about the couple otherwise?  I saw a glimpse of someone who looked like her, so headed in that direction, pulling my Gimps reins forcefully.  I lost sight of whoever it was.  I felt an anxious, exhilarating excitement at that point.  I knew she was teasing me, playing with me and I just adored that, being the submissive myself.  But I also knew what she was trying to do.  She was trying to teach me to switch, to become the Dom.  She had given me a Gimp to play with and she wanted to see what I would do.’

‘What I did was take him over to the couple.  I pulled the zip on the front of my cat suit down, all the way to my navel, exposing the swell of my breasts and my tight stomach.  I strode up to them purposefully, my Gimps reigns over my shoulder.  I tugged them hard as I approached.  They smiled towards me as he let out a groan of pain.  I was feeling a little euphoric with the power I felt, but my stomach was also churning with nervous, terrifying anticipation.  ‘Hello, I’m Madame Rebecca.’ I started, my voice low and full of sultry timbre, my expression smouldering, or at least, I hoped it was smouldering.  ‘This is my Slave.  I would love to watch you,’ I directed to Anne, ‘Tea bagging him, while you,’ I looked at Henry, ‘give him head.’  I finished.  They turned their heads to each other, a tacit glance exchanged before they both looked back at me, smiling.  ‘Certainly Madame, it would be our Royal pleasure.’  And they did.’

‘We walked over to one of the booths that was unoccupied and I watched as Anne lay down on her back and my Gimp sat astride her, dropping his bollocks into her mouth, which she then started to suck and chew voraciously.  Henry thrust Anne’s skirts up to her waist.  She was naked underneath.  He loosened his codpiece and threw it to one side, positioning himself between Anne’s open thighs, his large erection entering her.  As he started to rhythmically move in and out, Henry lowered his head to where my Gimp’s semi erect penis was and started sucking.  I watched the three of them, one of my hands sneaking inside my open cat suit to caress a hard and throbbing nipple.  I started to pull it harder and harder as the tempo of the threesome in front of me increased in rampant ferocity.  My Gimp screamed as Anne started to convulse through the beginning of an orgasm, squeezing his balls tightly between her teeth.  Henry was nearing that point too and his teeth were doing likewise around my Gimps shaft.  The moaning got louder, the groaning got louder, the screams from my Gimp got louder as they all came within a few seconds of each other, both Henry and Anne biting down hard on my Gimp’s privates.’

Rebecca fell silent and her body began to shake.  She closed her eyes tightly and screwed up her face.  Dr Hanlon squeezed her quivering hands.  ‘It’s alright.’ he said, comforting her.  ‘Whatever it is, just let it out.  Just scream if you feel the need.’

She screamed, her eyes opening wide, her body almost convulsing.  ‘It was my son Doc, it was my bloody son and I enjoyed it.  I watched two complete strangers have sex with him, inflicting excruciating pain on him, and I enjoyed it.  That is not right, Doc.  That is so many kinds of wrong.’ she started to sob as her chest wracked, tears streaming down her newly applied makeup.  Dr Hanlon leant over and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly into his chest.  ‘You didn’t know who he was.  Just keep that thought in your head.  Just keep reminding yourself of that.  You didn’t know who he was.’ he said, consoling her.

She sobbed into his chest, the words muffled by his cardigan.  ‘But I do now, and I don’t want to live with that knowledge in my head.’ She cried for a while longer, Dr Hanlon comforting her with tender strokes up and down her back, letting the emotion flow, then slowly ebb from her.

When her sobs had all but subsided and only the most imperceptible of shaking could be felt, he slowly released his embrace and sat back slightly, allowing her to sit up and look at him.  Makeup was now smeared over her face, exposing the scarring below the surface.

‘Rebecca.  There is something important that you need to appreciate.  You can keep on blaming yourself.  You can carry the guilt of knowing it was your son, to your grave if you must, but what you have to appreciate is that he was there, that night, because he wanted to be.  You may not have known it was him, but you can be damn well sure he knew it was you.  What you need to try and get into your head, to help you understand, is why.’

‘Will that really make any difference?  It will never change what happened.  I will still have killed him, I will still have fucked him and I will still have allowed him to be a sexual plaything.’ 

‘That’s why we are here.’ he smiled affectionately, raising a hand and rubbing some mascara away from her eye.  ‘To see if it does make a difference.  I think it will.  Once you know everything.’  He paused, winking at her.  ‘Now, stop changing the subject and tell me what happened next?’

She let out a little stuttering anxious giggle and pushed a hand playfully into his chest.  ‘Point taken.’ she said, taking a tissue from the top of the dresser and rubbing the tearstained makeup from her face.  She turned back to the mirror and, grabbing some cotton wool balls, started to take all the makeup off.

‘What happened next was much the same for the next few hours.  Me putting my Gimp into more and more sexually provocative predicaments.  For a while I enjoyed watching, enjoyed drinking, enjoyed the odd pill, but as time passed, I started to become anxious.  Madame Evangeline always called me between ten and half past.  She didn’t that night.  I had a text at ten fifteen telling me to enjoy the power and that she would call later.  I kept looking around the room to see if I could see her.  All I felt was disappointment when I didn’t.  I was starting to get a little disconsolate as the minutes passed.  I thought I would be spending New Year’s Eve with my lover.  It was eleven thirty and I still hadn’t heard from her.  I hadn’t had a text for over an hour.’

‘I was thinking of leaving, letting my Gimp loose to his own devices when eventually my little white phone did ring.  I answered it.  ‘What you need to learn, as a Master, is never to show any weakness.’ she said to me, before I could speak.  ‘You might be a gibbering wreck inside, but never let it manifest itself in your actions.  Never let your impatience bubble over.  It’s time to leave now.’ she instructed.  I told my gimp to put his trunks on and we headed for the exit.  Out in the street I hailed a taxi, and we climbed in as Madame Evangeline gave me instructions of where to go next.  ‘Be patient lover.  You will have me soon.’ she finished.  I laughed.  My emotions had gone from disconsolate to jubilant in a moment, my smile beguiled and beaming, having heard from her, knowing she knew me so well.  ‘Hopefully very soon.’  I answered as she hung up.’

‘We took the taxi to Settle Avenue, not far from my flat, and got out on the main street as instructed.  We were both a little tipsy at that point as we staggered down the street toward my flat.  At the end of the row of shops, we turned left and there, as she said, was a black limousine.  A tall, very handsome chauffeur got out and opened the door for us, doffing his cap politely as we entered.  Once in, the driver headed off out of Leith, towards Portobello and the A1.  I was watching out of the window, waiting to see her along the way, waiting anxiously to pick her up and enjoy her.  There were a lot of cars on the road, it being New Year, and it seemed every traffic light was red, so it took a while to get out onto the main road.  I spent midnight in the limousine, trying to call Michael to wish him a Happy New Year.  It just went to voicemail.  So I had a one way conversation with my Gimp instead.  He just sat staunchly, in silence, hopefully listening to my ramblings.’

‘As we departed the suburbs, the driver pulled into a layby just off the main road.  Madame Evangeline jumped into the limousine and in a second we sped off again, the driver blackening the windows so we couldn’t see out.  She sat on the floor between my legs and kissed me with a fierce passion, biting my lip as she broke the kiss.  ‘Your patience will be rewarded.  Perhaps not in heaven, but it will be rewarded.’ she said, smiling lewdly at me then looking toward my gimp.  ‘Have you enjoyed him?’ she asked, stroking an arm down his firm thigh, devouring the toned body beneath his skin tight outfit with her eyes.  ‘I have enjoyed watching him.’  I answered.  She laughed at that and turned her attention back toward me.  ‘Before the night is out, you will have enjoyed more than watching him.  Seven sins.’ she said.  ‘Seven for you, seven for me.  He is ours and we will abuse him as we please.  One rule only.  On your sin, I do exactly what you want, on my sin, you do exactly what I please.  No compromise.  If you don’t agree, we just leave it now.’ she teased, tantalisingly, stroking a hand down my thigh as she stroked the thigh of my Gimp.’

‘’Oh, I agree.’  I answered without hesitation, my heart beating with the thrill of the game, of the unknown.  ‘Then you begin.  What is your desire, how can I appease your mortal sin?’ she asked theatrically, throwing an arm into the air for effect.  ‘For the next thirty minutes, I just want you both to kiss me, everywhere.  Every last centimetre of my body.’  I ordered, unzipping my cat suit all the way and slinking onto the floor of the limousine to join her, my Gimp following as Madame Evangeline smiled and ran a sultry tongue over her cherry red lips, removing my cat suit as she started to kiss.’

‘It was exquisite, it was delicate and it was delectable, every last part of my skin tingling under the tender caress of their kisses impressed upon my willing, eager flesh.  I didn’t open my eyes at all in that time, the anticipation of not knowing the destination of their next kiss, utter bliss.  Waves of elation lapped over me as they explored my most intimate places, my body rising to their touch, yearning for fulfilment, never quite reaching that point of total ecstasy as they gently touched and teased.  The kissing stopped and before I could open my eyes, I felt something being placed over them.  ‘Now it’s my sin.’ said Madame Evangeline, tightening and tying the blindfold behind my head.  ‘Stretch your arms out and reach for the door handles.’ she ordered, which I did.  She tied my hands to them.  ‘Now spread your legs.’  I obliged and she then tied my feet to the bottom seat, wide apart.  I couldn’t see a thing and had no way of protecting myself.  I was completely vulnerable.’

‘I heard something click open and a rustling of
things
. 
Something started to buzz.  A second later I felt a jolt of exquisite pain as something clamped onto my nipples simultaneously, biting into the flesh.  There was a pronounced swish and I let out a small yelp as a whip ripped across my stomach.  The buzzing got louder, its source getting closer to my head, suddenly a firm vibration resonated on my lips, forcing them apart, making me take the vibrator in my mouth.  The whipping continued.  Someone started tugging at the strap that tied the nipple clamps together, causing them to dig in deeper, to increase the pain.  Then it all stopped.  The clamps were removed, the vibrator taken away and the whipping abated.  There was silence.  Nothing moved.  Then what felt like a feather circled over my red raw nipples and along the weals left by the whip, enticing the aggravated skin, before I screamed again as the sudden introduction of ice on my stomach tensed my whole body in an instant.  Then that stopped, and the pain started again.  That cycle went on for another half hour, pain, then titillation, then pain, the vibrator exploring every orifice in my body.  The car came to a halt as the last vestige of ice melted and dripped from my simmering skin.  I felt the bindings on my hands and feet loosen and stretched my body to get the circulation in my limbs moving again.  I reached up to take the blindfold off but a hand stopped me.  ‘Not yet.’  Madame Evangeline said as she led me from the car, still naked, into the chilly night air.  The cold clung to my warm body, raising goose bumps, stimulating my already erect nipples.  I was led into a building, down what felt like a corridor, the darkness perceptible, even behind my blindfold, then into a room where I could feel warmth, the subtle flickering of light and the unmistakable odour of vanilla.  I heard a door shut behind me and then my blindfold was removed.  We were in a room with a spectacularly gothic fire place, a roaring fire in the grate, candles dancing suggestively in each corner, the whole ambiance warm and inviting.’