New Encounters (24 page)

‘Why did you look through the peephole first? Are you frightened?’

‘They just think I need to be careful. Just precaution more than anything.’ I look at Sarah and she is studying me intently. I decide that I am not going to mention the amount that the Detective questioned me about Robert. Sarah doesn’t like Robert as it is, if she thinks the coppers don’t like him then its going to make the whole situation worse.

‘I called the Detective this morning. He said that they have a potential sighting in Dover, but it needs to be confirmed first.’ Emma gasps and puts her hand to her mouth, Sarah puts her head down and shakes her head slowly from side to side.

‘Why Dover? Where is she going? Is she with someone?’

‘I don’t know anymore than that, but they need to go and confirm it first and hopefully we will know if she is with someone. If she is ok. Hopefully, they will then know if she is going somewhere. They could have taken her to France. I hope she is okay, I hope... I really hope.’

‘My god, Bella... if they are taking her abroad then this is going to be even more complicated trying to find her.’ Emma sobs a small sob. She takes deep breaths and apologises.

‘Oh Emma, don’t say sorry. The 3 of us have sobbed since yesterday. If you want to cry, then cry. No point in holding it in.’ I grab her hand and give it a squeeze. Then I hand out the coffees to each of the girls before loading mine with sugar and milk.

‘The Detective asked me if there was anyone that we can think of, that she has fallen out with. Anything that springs to mind.’
‘I have thought about it all night since he came to see me yesterday. But you know Ash, everyone loved her. No one disliked Ash. Even her ex boyfriends love her.’ We all let out a little laugh, as we know how true a statement that is. Ash wasn’t able to insult anyone if she tried.

‘I know Em, I know... I was thinking and racking my brains but I came up with nothing. I have asked if we can help with the search, but he said no and that they had it in hand. But girls... I have been thinking. If this sighting in Dover is right then I might go down there and go to wherever she was headed.’  Sarah looks at me and nods.

‘That’s a good idea Bells, let us know as soon as you know anything.’

‘Of course. Vice versa.’

The girls asked what the house looked like when I got there yesterday, so I explained in more detail than I did on the phone last night. The three of us broke down together.

‘Bella, that must of been horrific.’

‘To be honest, it didn’t feel real. It felt like an outer body experience. Like I had stepped into a nightmare. A nightmare that I never want to experience... ever again’

We finish our coffees and the girls head off, we all promise to text and call throughout the day. As I close the door I realise how shattered I feel. I could just sleep and sleep.  Why do I keep getting the same nagging feeling about Robert. How can I doubt him? He has been so wonderful to me. I lie down on the bed and close my eyes, the last thing I hear is a couple laughing in the corridor.

CHAPTER 29

Chris Robson laid on the soft green undergrowth with a tree canopy over his head.  Bob Mitchell was on stag for the next two hours, and it was Chris’s turn to get his head down and try and get some kip. Which is easier said than done when you lying in the middle of the jungle. Chris replayed in his head how he had managed to get into this line of work. He joined the Para’s at an early age, and showed exemplary skills. The only thing that was a draw back was leaving his girlfriend. He loved her, so much. But he was young and it was what he had always wanted to do. It was not just a dream, this was his obsession. When he confessed one night that he had joined up, it took all of his courage to tell her.

She told him that she understood, but it was pointless in carrying on the relationship. He was gutted, and felt heartbroken. He never even so much as looked at another girl for the first few years in the Para. To the point where his mates in the Para’s started ripping him that he better not be a gay boy. So one night when they had come back from doing a stint in Northern Ireland they all went out on the lash. He broke his abstinence and took a girl back to her house and did the dirty deed. She wasn’t even all that, but it shut the lads up and he was never called a ‘gay boy’ again. His gaffa had hinted to him that if he played his cards right and kept himself knuckled down he could make it into the SAS. That was a dream for Chris, something he used to fantasise about. So he spent 2 years learning his trade and being the best in every area.

He went on to do the selection trial for the SAS. Phase 1 was the Endurance test, and boy was that an endurance test. It takes place on the Brecon Beacons and Black Hills in South Wales and it takes weeks. Carrying 55lb bergen, trekking and navigating your way through the hills from hell. The weather is never friendly, if anything it turns as hostile as hell. It’s as if the hills know that you are being tested. Most people surrender, pass out, puke up. But I had trained long and hard for this, and it wasn’t easy, but I survived it. Phase 2 moves you into the Jungle, where you have to learn patrolling and survival techniques.

The Jungle, a mixture of humid surroundings, that are so humid its moist. Chris reminisced how he was constantly covered in moisture and had the blisters to prove it. Blistering heat can be bad enough, but when it is wet as well it can make life even more uncomfortable. The lads always knew that even taking their boots off to dry their soaking socks was a mare. It was getting the boot back onto a swollen foot that proved to be a task in itself.

If you manage to survive that stage then the next phase is escape & evasion followed by interrogation. You get talks from ex SAS on their experiences of escape and evasion. You then get let loose into the countryside with a pack of guys chasing you. If you get caught you are interrogated and a mock capture takes place. If you do manage to evade the guys that are chasing you and survive 3 days, when you finally do get in they capture you anyway. There is no escaping the interrogation. They need to know that if you are in a hostile environment and you are captured, that you will keep your gob shut no matter what they do. In that mock up scenario they strip you naked and put you in stress positions. Making you kneel on the floor holding your hands outstretched either side of you. If you move, they will roughly put you back in the same position.

They will send female officers in to laugh at the size of your cock, they will have male officers dressed as a terrorist would, screaming in your face. Many hours later, no one ever knows how long you’re in there for, they drag you into a chair for questioning. You must only ever answer with the so called ‘big 4’. Name, rank, serial number and date of birth. They will ask you other questions, and you can only answer ‘I’m sorry but I cannot answer that question’. If you say anything other than this, then you have failed the course. It’s over. In reality, if you get caught they are more likely to do more than put you in a stress position. More likely to yank your teeth out using rusty pliers, then your toenails. Then they would be likely to hook your balls up to a battery pack. Everyone knew that getting captured would be no walk in the park. Anyone would take their hats off to the poor bastards that ever had to endure that shit. So, they made sure they were the best they could be to avoid this scenario.

He spent years in the SAS, and toured around the world on different missions. Lost many friends in the process, nearly got captured in Afghanistan, and skipped across women. Some he managed to have a few months relationship with, some lasted a night. He couldn’t be arsed and they didn’t understand he would have to disappear all the time. Of course it wasn’t something he could admit to being, a Regiment bloke. It wasn’t something you shout about.

There were always women in Hereford near the Reg base, and he could have as many one night stands to relieve the tension. But none of them ever came close to her, his one true love. For many years he had replayed their goodbye, and hoped that one day they would get back together again. But now, she was probably settled down in a lovely house with kids and hopefully a husband that deserves her. I hope he treats her right, if he doesn’t..... well he would go missing. Chris would see to that.

‘Eddie, you lazy dickhead... time to swap’ The words came through on his earpiece. He replied with ‘Alright Nob, let me get my gear and have a piss.’ It was quite typical for all of the lads to insult each other and not use their proper names.

Chris relieved himself a few trees down, before going back to collect his bergen. He had packed it before he had a snooze, as it was good practice. Always be ready to leg it. His food had no wrappers, it was all packed in sealable bags. You don’t want to leave signs that you were ever here. Christ, they even shit in a sealable bag, Chris amused himself remembering his horror when he learned of this. But again, if they were ever tracked, it makes it easier for you to disappear. He had tracked people himself and it made his life a lot easier when they were sloppy. Leaving rubbish nearby, or human faeces made it all the more quicker to find them.

He slipped the bergen onto his back grabbed his rifle and army crawled from the safe point where he and Nob head were using to get their heads down, up the slope. Through the thick overgrowth, the heat was stifling and he had managed to attract a few insect bites. He got to the vantage point, and whispered to Bob. ‘Here mate’. Bob shuffled backwards out of the little watch point which they had covered with pieces of overgrowth. If anyone looked in this direction, they would never see them. They were too well camouflaged, to ever be seen. They had done this too many times, and were experts at using their surroundings to blend in. They were in Colombia, deep in the jungle. Each had the same equipment in case the worst happened, they could carry on with the mission. The mission always came first no matter what.

Chris shuffled his way forward into the camouflaged den, which was no bigger than the size of a coffin. He would stay there for 4 hours, watching and waiting. It was always easier to do this in a tag team. Chris had been on operations before where it was just him, for 2 weeks. Hard slog. You end up stiff, wet, miserable and not to mention the cramps. The cramps were shite, you couldn’t exactly stand up and yelp when you were spying on someone.

Once Chris was in his place, Bob went back to the snooze point. He would have crawled his way there so as not to be seen. Bob then updated Chris.

‘Right mate, I have seen two of the drug lords going in, that is on our target list, and the 6 guys we have never seen before have not returned back on my watch. Think they have fucked off, maybe they have a sixth sense that they will be a part of a light show. But the meeting has definitely not taken place yet. The 10 targets have not yet entered the house. I don’t think it will be far away though. Fuckin hope not anyway. Right... time for me to catch some sleep.’

‘Cheers Nob head. I will let you know. Hopefully the rest of the clan will join soon and we can light the fuckers up and get out of here.’

CHAPTER 30

I am woken up by knocking on my hotel door and it makes me jump. The daylight is not as bright as it was when I went to sleep, I wonder what time it is. I look at the clock and its 18:42. I am sweating from the nightmares. Oh... the terrible nightmares. Bang bang bang... the door. I get up and look through the peep hole. I must be seeing things...it looks like Robert. I put the chain on the door and open it, it is him and he smiles at me. Not a normal smile though, its a weary smile. I open the door and he embraces me, and pulls me into my chest. Kissing my head.

‘Oh Bella. I have been so worried about you. Worried about Ash.’

I look at him and realise I have to trust him. I do trust him. Why am I even doubting him?

I love this man and he loves me. He leans down and kisses me softly on the lips. This is definitely no time for passion. He pulls me into his chest.

‘Bella, are you ok, your heart is racing.’

‘I was asleep and having nightmares’

‘Tell me Bella.’

‘No. I can’t. It is bad enough going through them once before re living them to you’

I really can’t repeat them. They were too awful. Me being chased by a man but I can’t see his face. Then everyone around me was going missing the scene melting away, and there were smears of blood everywhere. I kept seeing flashes of Ash, her face was beaten and lifeless. It makes me shiver in horror... and with dread.I walk back into the room and Robert follows. He walks over to the bed and picks up the phone and orders room service for us both.