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Charlie stared off into the distance. His face was hard and calculating; his mind was racing. He suddenly frowned, and speared Simon with a dark look.
“You said that Meldrew had demanded you pay him protection money,” he drawled.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Meldrew demanded protection money from Blagmire, and killed him so he could take over the business himself,” Charlie said as he shared a look with Hugo.
He watched a frown darken his boss’ face, and knew that Hugo understood.
“Why would Meldrew want the mill?” Hugo asked with a frown.
“He asked for a lot of money. We just couldn’t afford to pay,” Simon replied darkly. “We could have made the first payment, but to pay the man on a regular basis would have rendered us bankrupt.”
“So he was trying to drive you out of business too? Why?”
“So he could take over it himself most probably,” Wally said dourly. “That’s what he did with Blagmire’s tavern. He killed Blagmire as a warning to businessmen in the area that he could bankrupt them if he chose to.”
Hugo cursed. “He frightened Mrs Blagmire into leaving the tavern so that he could put his own people in there to run the place.”
“He could be profiting from the business himself,” Charlie reasoned.
“He was building himself a little empire that he couldn’t afford on his magistrate’s earnings,” Hugo mused.
“The mill is a profitable business. We have been there for generations,” Wally declared proudly. “Everyone knows us.”
“How many more mills are there like yours in the area?”
“One more in Derby, but that is on the Nottinghamshire border and doesn’t affect our business,” Simon replied. “Why?”
“He would own the only profitable mill for miles around,” Hugo replied.
“He could charge people what he wanted, and they would have to pay if they wanted their grain turning,” Charlie shook his head in disgust at not having thought about it before.
Suddenly he knew, deep in his gut, where she was. He felt as though she was calling out to him.
His suspicious began to flourish into unshakeable certainty. He didn’t know how he knew, but he was positive that he was right.
“I know where she is,” he whispered. “I know where Hetty is.” He said once more as he ran for his horse.
Wally and Simon stared at him, but he didn’t bother to wait around to explain.
“Where are you going?” Hugo asked as he raced to follow.
“The mill,” Charlie shouted as he spun his horse around.
He galloped into the darkness without a backward look.
He didn’t look back to see if they were going to follow. Nothing was going to stop him from getting to Hetty. He had no doubt that Meldrew had done something that had put her precious life at risk.
If only Charlie could get to her before her life was stolen from her – from them both, then he had some chance of a happy future.
Hetty swallowed, and struggled to keep her panic at bay. Her breaths came in short pants. She struggled not to scream in terror. The last time she had taken a deep breath, she had sunk three inches at least, and the rope around her neck had bitten cruelly into the soft skin just under her chin. She didn’t know how long she had left; how long the rope was; but knew that if she moved, at all, even breathed too deeply, her life would be over.
It was as simple, and as terrifying, as that.
She hoped that she was some time away from actually being hung, but that didn’t help her given that nobody knew where she was. Nobody even knew that she had been dragged from the safe house rose garden without being given the chance to even murmur a token protest.
Her thoughts immediately turned to Charlie. Tears gathered on her lashes. There was so much she wanted to say to him that she felt robbed of the opportunity to tell him how much she loved him.
