Hope Never Dies Read online

  *

  Kingsly returned to the police station car park and through the corner of his eye he could see Hannah and Parker watching him. He knew he would have a little time before they came bounding out of the nick after him. He walked to his car quickly, but not too quickly and he wasted no time in getting in and driving off. As expected Parker and Hannah quickly followed but he was well away from the nick before they set off. Kingsly quickly manoeuvred around the streets and into a secluded car park that he had reconnoitred only a short while ago. The town was mainly a one-way and he would have expected Parker and Hannah too drive by soon. He picked a spot where he could see most of the road and did not have to wait for long. He waited a little while until he thought that he was safe and left the town by a minor road unseen by his colleagues.

  Some time later Hannah and Parker expressed frustration with each other, once they had realised that they had lost any track of the wily old git, Terry Kingsly. They went back to their hotel in silence, after informing the local police to keep a sharp lookout for Kingsly’s Mondeo. Parker, knowing that it was his mistake, that they had lost Kingsly, did not ask for a shag that evening.

  *

  Kim and Ned found the Black Bull to have a quite a few spare tables. They ordered the local beer-flavoured battered haddock. Once the orders had been placed, Kim turned round to Ned and said to him seriously

  “I think you have some explaining to do, Mr White”

  He looked sheepishly at her

  “You better come clean with me about the money. According to you, it is in a bank and yet you hid it in your backpack and we saw it blow off a mountain. I am hoping that it is in a bank because that’s what you told that thug when he stuck a knife in my neck. I would hate to think that you were lying at that crucial moment. So where is it?”

  “I didn’t tell you because, in your solicitor’s jargon, I didn’t want you compromised. The money is indeed, in a safe deposit box in a bank in Kendal. I nipped in there when you had gone into that knickers shop”

  Kim relaxed a little, reassured in the knowledge that he had not lied when a knife was at her throat.

  “And what about this so-called biometric identification?”

  “I lied about that. There’s a key at the bottom of the pack”

  “I thought so. You can’t even say it properly. And you risked my life for that!”

  “My little sweet angel, you know I would never risk your life over anything”

  She seemed not to be reassured. “So tell me the whole story”

  “Well, you see” he started out, “I have been worried about carrying this money about me and with some justification, as it turns out. As I said whilst you were buying knickers, I popped into the bank next door and deposited the money in a deposit box. And on our way home tomorrow, we’ll now be able to pick it up without fear of any retribution”

  During this conversation, the drinks had arrived. Kim, who was teetotal, had ordered a cranberry juice but Ned decided he wanted a pint and chose a local brew of real ale that was made on the premises. In Kim’s presence, he rarely drank beer but felt the circumstances warranted something a little stronger this evening. He took a large swig before carrying on.

  “I have never been very confident that we had been able to shake off all our opposition and so I prepared a decoy package made up of sheets of paper in the shape of bank notes and brought them along with us, I did this yesterday while you were sitting on the jetty getting your feet wet”

  “So the money is still intact and did not go over the mountainside”

  “Nothing gets past you. No wonder you are a solicitor”

  She ignored the sarcasm. “So everyone else thinks that the money is lost?”

  He nodded. She continued, “Now I see why we can pick the money up tomorrow without looking over our shoulders”

  “You may have missed one point”

  “Mr Thug is lying at the bottom of that mountain and will have by now, long been retrieved by the ambulance guys and the police. Don’t you think that they may have come across some of the blank sheets of paper? We’ll have to give this some more thought”

  The fish and chips soon arrived and Kim remarked that he was one of the biggest fishes she had seen. Ned remarked that he was compelled to order it to assuage her ferocious appetite and it would save him for scavenging for food for her later. Even after, she ordered a dessert. During her apple crumble and custard, she told Ned that she would prefer to come clean at the interview tomorrow. He agreed with her, something he nearly always did in her presence.

  On arrival at the cottage, they showered, cleaned up and packed for the journey home tomorrow. When they both finally sat down, Ned began to reach over to Kim and licked her ear, knowing how it she appreciated it as a prequel to some foreplay. She did not respond as expected and Ned put this down to Kim still being in some state of shock.

  “Tonight, my darling, I really want my own space and so its separate rooms, I’m afraid”

  He smiled at both her and John’s words, I should have known better with a girl like you. She could see the disappointment on his face. She was simply not used to having someone next to her when she slept and after all, sex between them these last couple of days was an exception in their relationship and she did not really want it to become regular, especially as she had felt it to be just as special as that first night between them. Ned made two hot chocolates and they chatted for awhile whilst drinking it before settling into their separate rooms.

  CHAPTER 33

  DAY 5

  Ned knew he would have difficulty sleeping particularly with the events of the last day going around in his head, but, surprisingly, this was not the case and it was the shattering of the glass that half-awoke him. He had been dreaming that he and Kim had been invited to a stately home for the weekend but everything had gone wrong there, and on that first evening, burglar alarms were setting off for no particular reason, furniture crashing and glass being broken. This would account for him not realising just what was happening in the cottage, until he heard a loud piercing scream. Ned shot up out of bed and ran towards Kim’s room, not caring that he was naked. Once in the bedroom, his nightmare had materialised again. Two strangers were in the bedroom, one, once again was holding a knife to Kim’s throat. She looked terrified. The second man pushed Ned roughly onto the bed as soon as he ran into the bedroom.

  “If you don’t want that knife to go any further, sit very still and tell me where Haslam’s money is.”

  Both Kim and Ned were shaking with fear and because of this, Ned seemed unable to speak. The man with the knife slowly pulled it away from Kim’s throat but backhanded a vicious slap to her face, forcing her to fall back on the bed. In the same movement, he straddled Kim, roughly fondling her breasts through her vest. Ned found his voice.

  Okay. Okay, please let her go and I’ll tell you where it is” The man straddling Kim made no attempt to move. He could see that the pressure he was putting on her, was making her very uncomfortable but he was enjoying the situation. He would enjoy her more, a little later, Ellwood thought.

  “As I told your colleague yesterday on the mountain, the money is in a safe deposit box in a bank in Kendal”

  “Yeah, we heard this and there is some special identification to get the money that only you can do. Am I right?”

  “Not exactly. It’s simpler than that. It opens with a key,” Ned was thinking faster now. If he just gave them the key, they would surely harm or even kill both Kim and himself, as they had nothing to lose. He continued. “But we both have to be there for identification purposes”

  “Where is this key?”

  “It’s in my wallet in the lounge”

  “You and I will go and get it. If you try anything then the tart will really suffer. You can see that Pauly over there can hardly keep his hands off her.�
��

  Both Reed and Ned walked into the lounge. Reed knew that the old guy would not do anything other than comply and so he just watched him go for his wallet. He returned with the key and handed it to Reed. They returned to the bedroom where Ellwood was touching up Kim in unwanted places. To Ned, she looked even more terrified. He stopped as the two men entered the room, saying,

  “You know, Jimmy, this is really some tasty bit of fuck-meat and I’m really going to shag the arse off her before my dick explodes”

  Reed ignored him for the moment but he knew that they would not leave this house before Ellwood had fucked her. He was like that with all women, just couldn’t keep his hands and dick away from them, whether they consented or not. He also knew that he enjoyed it just as much if not more when they refused him and struggled because that gave him the excuse for him to rough them up a bit, or even a lot more depending on his mood.

  “Sit over there in that chair” Reed said to Ned. He did as he was told, looking at Kim and trying to tell her with his eyes not to worry. He knew he had failed and her eyes seemed to be telling him that it was his fault that they had got into this situation. Would their relationship be strong enough to survive? He could but hope. Reed was the first one to speak.

  “By my calculations we have about six hours to go before the bank opens and I think that if we are spending it in each other’s company then we should make an effort to be friendly. Tell us your names”

  “Mine is Edward and if you release the young lady she will be able to get her breath back and tell you hers.” He used his full name which he disliked intensely so that he could easily hate them every time they said it. Reed gestured that Ellwood should release Kim. He slowly released her and pushed her roughly towards Ned, who rushed to save Kim from falling. He sat her down in the one chair in the room and he stood beside her as though he was trying to protect her.

  “Well, come on then!” shouted Reed

  “Come on where?” answered Ned

  “The tart’s going to tell us her name”

  Kim spoke for the first time, in a very controlled and deliberate voice

  “My name is Mei-Zing” She took her cue from Ned by not revealing her adopted Western name

  “Haven’t you got a proper English name?”

  “My name translates in English to “Beautiful Star”

  Both Ellwood and Reed looked at each other as though they couldn’t care less

  “Is there any drink in this place?” asked Reed

  “Neither of us drinks” replied Ned. Out of consideration to Kim, he had declined to bring any beer or wine but he really could do with a large beer right now.

  “Then make some tea” he said to Kim. She looked at Ned and got up to go to the kitchen, giving all three of them a deliberate hard look. Ned was about to leave the room with her until he was pulled back.

  “Not so fast, Edward” His name was emphasised. “Pauly, you watch Edward whilst I make sure that Miss Star here does nothing silly” As Kim left she reached for a pair of jeans that were lying near to her on the floor.

  “You won’t need those,” Reed said as he snatched them away from her.

  “I’m getting cold”

  “When we’ve drunk our tea, Pauly and I will keep you warm for the next few hours” He smirked as he pushed her into the kitchen by her bottom. Once in the kitchen she could feel the man’s eyes taking in all the details of her body, leering at her as though she was a page three pin-up. Her thoughts were of inflicting as much damage on this person as possible and options included throwing scalding water at him, taking a knife from the drawer and stabbing him or simply by using some of her self-defence tactics and going for him directly. However, she feared for Ned, as he was no match for that other thug in the bedroom with him. She had seen the look of sheer horror on Ned’s face when he saw the other thug holding a knife to her and groping her. She could have cried for what he was now feeling. However, as it turned out, she did nothing more that make the tea.

  “Very nice” said Ellwood as she handed in a cup. “None for you?” he asked. She said that she did not want one even though she had handed a cup to Ned.

  “I’d have thought that you would have wanted to lubricate your mouth with some liquid, after all its going to be full very soon” said Ellwood. They both smirked. Ned cringed. Kim showed no facial emotion. Ellwood continued

  “And it’s not only her mouth that’s going to be full.” He looked down her body, another obscene leer.

  “Keep an eye on them, Pauly” said Reed as he left the room. There was no conversation whilst he was out of the room, just further leering from Ellwood. He returned shortly with some rope and handcuffs.

  “As it is such a beautiful night and as Miss Star here thinks she is a beautiful star, I think that we can take her out on that jetty there. She’ll appreciate a real good fucking out there under the stars and I’m sure, Pauly, that she will show her gratitude. And Edward can watch so he can see real men giving her, a proper seeing to. Now you two, into the living room!”

  Kim and Ned were pushed roughly through the bedroom door. Reed moved a chair to the front of the French windows facing the lake. Ellwood produced the knife and stuck it near to Kim’s breastbone. Ned was instructed to go and sit on the chair. His hesitation brought the knife into contact with Kim’s body, the blade pushing through her vest. He had no option. His hands were handcuffed behind his back and the rest of his body was tied very securely into the chair. Once finished Ellwood said to Kim

  “Come on, Miss Beautiful Star, fuckee-fuckee time. You’re going to enjoy being dp-ied”

  No answer from Kim of course

  “That’s going to be your grand finale but first we take it in turns”

  “You can have the mouth first” said Reed “and I’ll take her cunt. I bet she really enjoys being licked there particularly if it’s done roughly”

  They forced her out and pushed her towards the jetty. Both men were so full of anticipation that they had let their guard down a little. They were both startled at the loud bang of the gunshot.

  CHAPTER 34

  It was Ellwood who screamed as he fell to the ground. Light from a full moon shone onto the jetty and he could now see blood pouring from his right calf through his jeans. Reed’s reactions were as quick as ever. He pushed Kim down on the jetty and ran inside the house. There were no more gunshots. Kim picked herself up very quickly and also ran towards the house.

  “What the fuck was that?” shouted Reed at no one in particular. For the first time since these intruders arrived, they looked flustered and Ned felt that he might have the upper hand.

  “It looks like someone has taken a dislike to you. I can’t say I really blame them” That comment brought a back-handed swipe to Ned’s face with such force that he was almost knocked over. Everything suddenly went black to Ned as though he had been knocked out, but soon realised that Reed had switched the lights off. Kim moved quickly to Ned to comfort his head against her breasts. He knew now that she was not mad at him and did not blame him. And all I’ve got to say is thank you, girl. He now felt much better and a new determination welled within him to release them both from this nightmare. Whilst Reed was being distracted by the cries from Ellwood that were becoming more intense, she took the opportunity of untying the ropes around Ned, who, apparently being undeterred from his slap, said to Reed

  “If you let me loose, I’ll help you bring your friend back in”

  “Bollocks!”

  Reed’s intention had been to use Ellwood as a decoy as he was sure that the shot was aimed deliberately at them. He would wait to see who emerged, as surely the gunman would want to see just to see how badly Ellwood was hurt. He had to wait about twenty minutes until a figure appeared on the jetty. Despite only the moon giving any sort of light, Reed recognised the man

  *
r />   Terry Kingsly thought he knew the location to the cottage where Chen and White were staying. He recalled this morning that they had driven rather dangerously out of a dirt track immediately after Hannah and Parker had turned into it. He would retrace his steps. However, for Kingsly, his knowledge of the Lake District was not as good as he thought and it took him three attempts to find that track, the other two being quite some distance away. He could not make up his mind as to whether it was to his advantage or disadvantage that he finally arrived at the cottage considerably later than he intended . For he saw a Nissan Qashqai parked along the lane just out of sight of the house. He did not recognise the car. He parked similarly but nearer to the main road. So Mr White and Miss Chen have visitors, he thought. His views on the innocence or otherwise of these two had varied so much, he really did not know what to think. One first interviewing them in their apartment, he believed that they were guilty of stealing the money and it should not have been difficult in proving it. But Hannah believed differently and had persuaded him that they were innocent bystanders caught up in something beyond them. His mind this evening had changed again once he had learned about the money, to that of guilt, particularly now he knew he had been lied to. So these visitors could very well be their accomplices.

  He approached the house with caution, ensuring that he could not be seen or heard. He took a discreet look into the lounge with bushes shielding his presence but saw nothing although there was a light on in another room. He made his way round to there and was able to discreetly look through the window. He saw Mei-Zing Chen being pinned to the bed and being molested by the man on top of her and Edward White being roughly handled in another part of the bedroom. Their visitors were not friendly and almost certainly not accomplices. They looked more like intruders than accomplices and perhaps it was as well, because Kingsly recognised both as being associates of Vic Davies. God help them if Chen and White crossed them.