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I focus all my strength into my arms and stopping Raul from restraining me. One hand slips free, and I quickly use the opportunity to slam the heel of my hand into his nose. Raul is no longer roaring but crying like a fucking baby as his nose pours with blood, and it drips down his throat causing a wet gurgling sound. He topples to the side, and I scramble away from him and get to my feet.
“Lottie. Lottie, it’s me—” my words are cut off by a sharp tug to my hair, and a scream of anguish tears out of me. I spin round, my hair tightening in Raul’s grip as my scalp mirrors my scream in protest of the harsh treatment, and my left arm swings in a low arc, landing keenly to Raul’s right kidney. Some of the force of my hit is lost from the awkward angle, and instead of him releasing me, he hooks my leg, taking my feet from beneath me.
My head hits the ground and spots dance in my vision as the room blurs in and out of focus. My eyes close, and when they reopen, a figure is standing over me.
Two
Rick
6 hours earlier.
As the chopper comes in to land, Tobias’ property and vast wealth is exposed. The fact he has his own helicopter shouldn’t really be a surprise when the guy is a media tycoon who has made his fortune building and selling websites with his company Lux Designs, whilst his daughter is a huge influencer in the beauty and fashion industry.
I have money, more than enough, but it doesn’t extend to a 10-seater helicopter with a damn toilet and a twenty-acre property in Scotland, plus several properties in London. I must be in the wrong fucking business.
I’m not going to complain too much about the chopper. Without it we would have still been at the airport waiting for a flight, and this one is big enough to accommodate the seven of us.
Laughter comes from behind me where Seb, Jamie, Scott, Dean and Drew are all sitting and currently taking the piss out of Jamie and her recently discovered fear of flying. Ryder is sitting in front of me still pouring over the floorplan of where we believe Lottie and her bodyguard, Jessica Fisher, are being held following an anonymous tipoff.
I was surprised to learn that Lottie’s Close Protection Officer was a woman, not because she’s a woman, but because Tobias is a typical old school male chauvinist. Even though Lottie works in the world of media, I get the impression he’s just humouring her until the day he can pass her off to a suitable husband and she can pop out a few heirs, male preferably, to his multimillion-pound enterprise.
The chopper bounces as we hit the ground, and the pilot switches the engine off, waiting for the rotors to wind down before jumping out and opening the door for us.
As we exit, I see two cars winding down the road to the helipad and stopping a few feet away in a layby. Thanking the pilot, we begin to walk towards them as Tobias steps out of one.
“You must be Rick,” he greets, holding out a hand for me to shake. “Welcome. Come on, let’s get back to the house. I’ve set up the war room for you.” Tobias turns and climbs back into the car. A soft snigger comes from behind me, and I turn to see Jamie covering her mouth with her hand. Seb stands beside her mouthing ‘war room’ to me with a raise of his brows.
“Knock it off you two. Did you leave your manners and professionalism back in Manchester? Seb, you’re with me and Blue in this car,” I tell him, driving my point home and pointing Jamie to the car Dean, Scott and Drew have climbed into. Seb looks like he has something to say, but Jamie’s hand on his arm stops him.
“It’s fine, Seb.” Turning to me. “Sorry, Rick,” she says before heading off to the other car.
I can see Seb is still desperate to say something but thinks better of it when he sees the look on my face and follows Blue into the car.
The drive to the house takes less than ten minutes, and as soon as we arrive, Tobias leads us to his war room.
Despite the fact I think he’s an arse, the room has everything we could need. It’s occupied by a huge oval table and along one wall is a bank of computers. As for the other walls, they are made up of a series of maps of the area and plans for the house we will be infiltrating. Lottie’s movements for the day she was kidnapped and a list of possible suspects are pinned to a board beside the table.
After a quick round of introductions, my suspicions about Tobias and his chauvinistic attitude are confirmed when he barely even looks at Jamie as I introduce her. We all take a seat at the table, while Tobias hands out individual copies of all the information on display.
Taking a seat, the agitation at the situation is clear on his face and in the bite of his next words. “Why have they not made contact? It’s been three days and nothing. Not a fucking word.”
I ignore his biting tone given his daughter is missing. “It’s a little unusual to leave it so many days without contact, but it doesn’t mean there won’t be a ransom demand. What can you tell me about the list of suspects? Why these people specifically?”
The list is short with only five names: a couple of disgruntled staff, an unhappy customer, and two fellow web design owners. I’m surprised there aren’t more to be honest, but somebody like Tobias Harris is blind, or ignorant, to the fact people might dislike him. After taking a closer look at them all, only the competitors seem the most likely with the means and capability. But I’ve learnt that when desperate, people are capable of anything.
Tobias goes over the list of names one by one, and other than the obvious reasons, there’s nothing solid for us to go on. Dean sets to work checking the backgrounds of them all, while we discuss how we’ll enter the building.
With only the seven of us, we have to hope luck is on our side when it comes to the number of targets inside the building. Situated in the middle of nowhere, the site is an abandoned mental hospital. A logistical nightmare for any rescue team due to the sheer size of the building and made even worse for us as we have no intelligence on what to expect once we get inside.
The only solid information we have is that they are positioned in the largest out-building as it’s the only one with any working electricity and water. Even the tip-off, which came from an anonymous caller to a friend of Tobias’, can’t be confirmed until we have eyes on the place or get inside. The plans show there are only two entrances, but there are a series of underground tunnels that lead to the main building. We haven’t been able to establish if they are accessible or not and means we risk losing them if they are.
We spend the next hour going over the plan. Dean came up empty-handed on the suspect list, and he and Drew have driven out to the site with the drone. While we wait for them to return, Tobias shows us to our wing of the house.
I’m admiring the view from my room when there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in.” I turn enough to see Ryder enter the room before joining me at the window.
“Some view, huh? Dean and Drew are back, and a military truck just pulled up outside. Something you know about or not?” I side-eye him. “I’ll take that as a no then.”
