Running Scarred (18 page)

Patrick marched across the hall, poked his head around the door of the lounge and scanned quickly. Then he was moving along the hall towards the kitchen. He wasn’t sure if he believed Joe or not. He felt it was best to check. He pushed the door open and looked around the room. It was empty. The kitchen table was set up to deal with the pig. A long metal prong and the block of knives
that were waiting to be used, sat at one end. The middle knife was missing from the block.

It wasn’t on the table.

He scanned round the rest of the units, then the sink and finally the huge dishwasher. It wasn’t there either. Patrick felt the blood drain from his face, he spun back round and was about to go back to the hall, when his boot kicked something across the floor.

A million sparkles leapt around the room, Patrick bent down to pick the object up, just as David, and Joe entered the room together.

“That’s her clip! The replacement of the paste one you gave her years ago Dave!” Joe yelled.

Patrick felt as though he were about to pass out. Never in a million lifetimes would she leave this on the floor. Never in another million lifetimes would she drop it and not notice. All three of them stared at it hopelessly.

The telephone rang and Geraldine answered it. She gabbled away in French for a few moments then she put the phone down. She turned to the men, her expression frightened.

“That was Monsieur
Lefevre. Ellen ‘asn’t been for the pig. ‘e wondered if we still wanted it. ‘e says Ellen told ‘im that she would be there early as ‘e ‘as to go out. I told ‘im that she must have been delayed, but ‘e can’t wait in any longer. ‘e is going to drop it off on his way to the market.”

There was a shocked silence. Then Patrick spoke quietly as he looked over at David. His expression showed nothing of how he was feeling. His voice was like solid stone.

“This Justin bloke, is that the blond guy she came here with originally?” David nodded. Patrick held the clip up to the light. It glittered at them. “It’s beautiful.” He said to no one in particular. He was silent for a heartbeat, thinking hard, then he cleared his throat. “I saw him arguing with her the night we first met and I showed Justin up here a few weeks later. I didn’t really take any notice of him at the time, but then he told me that they were engaged. I was so jealous I didn’t listen to Ellen when she tried to explain about him…Actually I wanted to kill him, the thought of him touching her, sleeping with…” His teeth ground together and he didn’t finish, but looked at David and Joe darkly. They stared back at him silently. “Well anyway.” He carried on. “She said he had threatened her over some money problems.” His voice was hollow. “I wish she’d told me how bad it was. I’m not completely broke, I might have been able to help her if she had asked.” He lifted his chin at David. “Does she owe him much?”

David gawped at him, unable to believe what he was hearing.

“Ellen doesn’t owe anyone a penny. In fact she gave him a small fortune in Spanish property just after they split up. The idiot sold it all without finding out about the tax laws first. He lost the lot and expected Ellen to pay him off again.” David glanced over at Joe and then back to Patrick. “She said that she never got round to telling you. Patrick, Ellen is a millionairess. Our Aunt left us both a fortune. Ellen has put nearly everything she owns into this place. Oh God! That must be it. Justin’s property mad, he’s kidnapped her to get the Chateau.” David looked as though he was about to collapse.

Patrick was looking at Joe again.

“Half an hour ago they left here in her car? Anything else you remember?” Patrick was horribly calm.

Joe thought for a moment racking his
brains, knowing that every detail was significant.

“Justin said he was helping her with the pig. They walked out arm in arm. Ellen didn’t say a thing, so I assumed she was okay with it. I bet he had that missing knife aimed at her. God! I wish I’d thought it through. He’s a complete jerk. There’s no way she would have asked him to help her. He wouldn’t know a pig from a pineapple.” His tone was bitter.

Patrick was thinking hard.

“I didn’t hear any car on the road past the cottage, and I’d been awake for a short while before you arrived. Did you see or hear anything before you got to my cottage David?”

David shook his head emphatically.

“No, they must have gone down the avenue or they would have come past me as I went to fetch her things.”

Geraldine interrupted quickly.

“They didn’t go past me. I was cutting ivy for the table decorations down by the gates. I only arrived back ‘ere ten minutes ago to put the finishing touches to my display and ‘
er car was gone by then. They must ‘ave gone via the river crossing, that’s the only other route out, but that won’t work either. It’s in full flood this time of year. They can’t cross it in Ellen’s tiny car. They must be ‘ere somewhere on the estate still.”

Patrick started for the door. His face was set, his manner strangely calm. His self-control was
frightening.

“I’m going after them. David, can I take your car?” His tone was neutral, but David
recognized the order in the question.

David marched after Patrick, all hatred of the man forgotten as he worried about his sister. If Patrick was going to help get her back then that was fine with him. He’d deal with the rest later.

“No, I’ve got a better idea. Joe, you take the car and cut off the track back from the river. Do whatever it takes, but don’t let them come back past you. If he gets off the estate with her, we’ll never find him. Patrick, you come with me. I know a quicker way down to the river. It takes us right to the crossing.” David threw his keys to Joe, grabbed Patrick’s arm and pulled him through the doorway.

They heard Joe speeding off in the car as they jogged along the path to the ravine. David was finding the going hard but Patrick pulled him along.

David was looking at the tall, powerful man, striding along just in front of him.

“You’ve had something done to your leg? Ellen said you limped with the one you had before.” He was breathing heavily.

Patrick didn’t slow down at all. He pounded on up the path.

“Got the new model.
It’s fantastic, at least as good as the real thing, well you can see. It was one of the things I was sorting out while I was away; it was a bastard to get used to after over two years in the old one. It works in a completely new way and you have to compensate with your body. I had to have loads of physio on my back, but it’s worth it in the end. I told Ellen all about it in my letters.” Patrick had reached a fork in the path and waited for David to point out the direction.

David panted up, drawing in deep breaths.

“Ellen hasn’t had any letters from you. I told you that.” They started down the next path and it soon widened into a long plateau. Patrick stopped dead and gasped as he saw the top of the zip wire. He ran over to it.

“Well, I’ve been posting them every week. They can’t all have been lost. Damn, when did you get this thing put in? It looks fantastic.” His voice was lost in admiration for the zip wire. He reached up and pulled on the bars, testing the tension.

David tried to look displeased, but his anger was no longer focused on the man in front of him.

“Ages ago.
Ellen said the stone steps down to the river were just too steep and she thought the kids would like this more. Kids be blowed, it’s fantastic fun, but more to the point, it’s also very fast. Takes less than ten seconds to get to the bottom if you don’t bother with the brake. Don’t tell Ellen, but I’ve been tweaking it a bit. You know…The tension and all that. We’ll have to loosen it off a bit when the guests arrive. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt. It’s strung out as tight as it can be right now. Makes it phenomenally quick. Bit of a thwack at the bottom is its only disadvantage. Kills your back, and you’re definitely going to get wet.” David peered over the edge of the ravine. “Look, down there.” His voice was quiet now.

Patrick looked down and forgot absolutely everything else as he saw Ellen standing at the edge of the surging river. Her face was the colour of chalk, her huge dark eyes obvious in her pale skin.  Her long hair was floating about her in the breeze. If she hadn’t looked so petrified, she would have looked simply perfect. A deep groan of longing rose up in his throat.

And then a man stepped in front of her, obscuring his view. For a second Patrick wanted to shout to the man to get out of the way and then he suddenly remembered why they were all here. He could see that the man’s hair was blonde. Justin was holding Ellen’s arm tightly. He was staring at the river. He raised his free arm as though about to strike Ellen with the back of his hand. Patrick let out a growl of pure fury and grabbed hold of the metal bar above his head. 

Justin was glaring into the surging, swirling water. It was making waves as it raced down the river. It was obviously way too deep for Ellen’s car. They would have been lucky to get across in David’s Land Rover. He wanted to slap her. He held her in tight to his side, the kitchen knife pressed against her ribs, somehow resisting the urge to stab it deeply into her flesh.

“You little bitch! You knew we wouldn’t be able to get across. Well, don’t think this is going to help you at all. I was going to ask you for more cash, but seeing you all alone like that and with those knives all so handy, well, you can’t blame me
for taking a chance. I was thinking of holding you to ransom, but why bother now. I can just slice you up a bit and shove you in here. It’s rough enough, nobody will ever be able to tell if you’ve been stabbed or not. I can forge your signature easily. I’ll just write out a will in my favour. It will be believed, after all, you gave me all that other property. Everyone will think that it was your dying wish that I inherited everything.” Justin was speaking in low menacing tones.

Ellen was shaking with fear, staring up at him, watching his contorted face. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. He had appeared in the kitchen from nowhere and she had felt more than uncomfortable as soon as he had mentioned more money, but she hadn’t expected him to grab a kitchen knife and kidnap her. He looked positively deranged.

She tried to buy some time. If it didn’t take David too long to pack her things, then he would be up here straight away to play on the zip wire. He couldn’t resist the thing. He’d see them from the launch point instantly.

“Please Justin. Can’t we talk about this?
Perhaps we can come to some arrangement. I can give you more money, I don’t need to make out a new will.” She knew she sounded desperate.

“Well you won’t be the one making it, will you?” He pushed her forwards a little more and she twisted away from the river. She didn’t stand a chance in the rampaging water. She turned right around, feeling the knife slice against her jumper.

The heel of her boot dangled over nothing. She staggered forwards and tried to move to the side, but Justin moved with her, stepping back as he held the heavy knife out in front of him now, its evil point jutting into her stomach.

“You just don’t get it do you Ellen. I’ve had enough of being poor. I want
your money and I don’t just want a bit. I want it all, David’s too if I can get it, and I want this Chateau. It’s wasted on you and your mangled friends. I won’t be satisfied until I have everything.” He was sneering at her.

Ellen was determined not to cry. She lifted her chin defiantly, trying with everything she had, not to succumb to tears.

“I don’t understand why you’re doing this. I gave you so much. It wasn’t my fault that you threw it away, but I’m willing to overlook that and help you again. You can have the money, but you’re not getting the Chateau.” She looked up at him and noticed the coldness in his eyes.

And then she noticed something else. A huge dark shape was moving swiftly through the air,
just above and to the left of Justin’s hairline. She glanced down at the ground again, praying that he hadn’t seen her surprised expression, praying that he wouldn’t turn around for another few seconds. She took another step to the left, hoping he would follow, just as she saw the wire above their heads begin to tremble. Then she stepped smartly back to the right as a whizzing sound could suddenly be heard.

Justin looked confused at her for a second more, and then he spun round towards the sound, just in time to catch Patrick’s huge feet right in the middle of his chest as he hurtled down the zip wire.

All the breath was punched out of Justin’s lungs and he was catapulted into the air. Patrick’s momentum carried them on, tumbling them both into the boiling water. Patrick instantly planted his feet on the bottom of the river, standing firm in the swirling waves. He didn’t lose a second. He grabbed the back of Justin’s jacket, before he could be swept away, then he shoved his head deep under the water. He held him there, breathing hard, his blue eyes like glaciers of ice, his expression frightening, until Justin stopped thrashing about.

Ellen suddenly
came to her senses and shouted.

“Patrick
don’t. Please don’t drown him. He’s not worth it. Let him up.” Her voice was strained, trembling.

Patrick stared up at her. He caught his breath as he saw her tiny figure, trembling on the
riverbank. She was shivering with fright, nearly fainting with the surprise of seeing him. And then all the anger left him. She was right. He would spend the rest of his life in prison if the man died. He’d only just escaped from one sort of prison, one of his own making, he couldn’t be shut up in another.  He lugged Justin up again and flopped him to the bank. The man’s head bobbed around for a second and then he started spluttering as he tried to sit up.