Stone of Fire: An ARKANE Thriller (Book 1)

Chapter 7

Private airstrip, Surrey, England.
 May 19, 5.34am

      Faye woke as the early morning light filtered through a tiny window and seeped under the doorframe. She raised her head tentatively and explosive pain made her head swim. She breathed in and out slowly through her nose as the nausea passed, her mouth still covered by a rolled cloth tied behind her head. Her first lucid thought was for Gemma, her baby. Where was she? Was she OK? Then she saw the tiny bundle curled up near the foot of the chair she was bound to. Gemma wasn’t even tied up. They must have known she wouldn’t leave her mother once she revived from the drugs. The little girl’s face looked pale and creased but she was breathing normally and didn’t seem to be injured. Faye desperately wanted to take her in her arms, hold her close, but she couldn’t move.
     She took a mental inventory of her own body, checking for injury and pain. Her legs were tied to the chair, her arms behind her back, but the drugs were wearing off and it seemed she was bruised but more or less uninjured. She thought back to the night before. She had been listening to a talk show and didn’t hear them come in. A feeling of being watched had made her turn suddenly, but then she had been grabbed and pushed to the floor, a needle jabbed in her neck. She had only managed to briefly scream before she lost consciousness. Her thoughts flashed to David and she prayed that he was OK, that they hadn’t hurt him. They had said nothing about what they wanted before they attacked. What could she possibly have that they would kidnap for? She began to pray silently. God would protect them through whatever trials they would face, but they needed to escape from here somehow.
     Faye craned her neck to look around the small room. It was a large storage closet with high ceilings and a tiny window near the roof. The walls were metal, like a warehouse. Shelves stretched above them containing all sorts of tools. Maybe they could be used as weapons? If only she could get to them. Gemma whimpered and her eyes fluttered open. She looked around groggily, then faded back into sleep. Faye was grateful that she was sleeping, unaware of her surroundings. Perhaps this would just be a bad dream for her, one that would be over soon because it had to be a mistake.
    Outside she could hear the roar of planes taking off, so they must be at an airport. Faye realized that could mean they were being taken out of the country. This galvanized her resolve and she began pulling at the ties holding her hands and feet, wriggling in an attempt to get them loose. Raw skin began to bleed at her wrists. Tears pricked her eyes. Her frustration rose as she realized she was tied too tightly.
     The door slammed open.
     “Awake, are you?” a man said from the doorway, a cup of steaming coffee in his hand, the smell making her realize she was hungry and thirsty. He was stocky and unshaven, his eyes baggy from a night without sleep. Faye could see past him into a hangar where a number of small planes were parked. There were two other men standing there, looking with interest in her direction. They made no attempt to hide their identities. She looked away, refusing to acknowledge them. He stepped over to her, chuckling.
     “I don’t think you’ll be ignoring me for too long.”
     He was stroking her cheek now, his voice low. Putting his coffee down, he held her face towards him with one hand, and slowly ran a finger down her neck and onto her breast, watching her tears as he cupped it, then squeezed hard, making her wince.
     “I think you’ll be a good girl for me, otherwise your daughter might be next.”
     He let her go, laughing. He swung his leg right back as if to kick the little bundle of Gemma at her feet. Faye used all her effort to lunge forward in the chair towards her child, to protect her from this monster but she only managed to topple sideways onto the floor, smacking her head. The man laughed again and she heard the amusement of the other men outside the door, a camaraderie of humiliation.
     He bent down to pull her up but his attention was distracted by his mobile phone ringing. He left her on the floor, answering it as he pulled the door almost shut behind him. She could still hear his words through the crack.
     “Yeah, they’re OK, the plane is due to take off in two hours. We’ll be with you tomorrow, boss. No problems this end.”
     Faye realized then that there was no mistake; somehow they were the target of a kidnapping. She still didn’t know why, but her thoughts went to Morgan, the sister who kept so much hidden of her past. David would only know to call the police and leave it to them, but she knew Morgan would act. She was incapable of staying still, of leaving it to other people. Faye thought of her as a caged animal that Oxford was trying to groom into something they recognized as a domestic academic. But Morgan was indefinable and couldn’t be put into any box. Faye knew she would do anything for Gemma; the little girl represented hope that their family could start again, build another life around the future instead of the past.
     Faye tried to shift, her body arching into painful spasms by the position she had fallen in. Gemma stirred and looked at her, still on the edge of consciousness. Faye smiled with her eyes and made soft loving noises to calm her. The little girl crawled closer and cuddled into Faye. Knowing they were both alive for now was enough, so Faye prayed into the beginning of a new day. For the strength to protect her daughter, and for the sister who would come for them.

***

      Not long afterwards, one of the men came back, and although Faye struggled, he drugged them again. Their limp bodies were wrapped and loaded onto a cargo plane, hidden behind boxes of sports shoes and equipment. The plane took off over London heading for America, land of opportunity.

***

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