“They would have had to go back to the fire station first,” said Caleb. “Going around in the fire engine would make them stand out.”
“Where they might have had a car waiting to take Faith away,” said Matthew, eyes lighting up. “There are CCTV cameras on that street. I’ll get the footage and I might be able to track the car through the town.”
“Great idea,” smiled Caleb.
Matthew smiled back, glad that at least one of the Chambers brothers liked him. “I’ll be in touch the second I find anything.”
“Thanks, appreciate it,” said Caleb, rolling the shutter open for him.
“You’re too hard on him,” Abi told Vance when Matthew had gone.
“He’s an arsehole.”
“No he’s not, he’s nice. He’s always there when we need help and he’s a good friend to Faith. You should be nicer to him.”
“Right now we’ve more important things to consider than his feelings. So, are you willing to go through with what we discussed?”
She nodded. “For Faith.”
Vance smiled, pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head.
Jason and Kevin returned to the lock-up twenty minutes later.
“Tariq turned up,” said Jason. “So he’s keeping watch.”
“Good,” said Vance. “Now we need to decide what weapons to take with us.”
“The fucking lot,” snarled Kevin.
“They’ll search us when we go in and if we’re carrying anything it won’t go well for Faith. Remember, she’s a hostage.”
“This is really fucking shit,” said Abi. “After what Marlow did to her and now this. It’s not fair.”
“I know,” said Caleb, wrapping his arm around her. “But we’ll get her back. Faith is probably giving them hell already.”
Faith groaned at the pain in her head. Her throat ached and she was desperate for a drink of water.
Around her she heard voices talking but they sounded muffled and vague.
Faith forced her eyes open, blinking against the light, which made her head ache even more.
“Hello, can you hear me?”
She stared up at the face floating above her, which swam in and out of focus.
“Ben,” she grunted.
When she tried to put a hand to her head, she found she couldn’t move. The panic that flooded her body sharpened her senses and she realised she was tied down to what appeared to be a camp bed, flat on her back.
“Where am I?” she demanded, struggling against her bonds but it was futile. Her voice came out weak and raspy and talking hurt her throat.
The four firefighters were gathered around her, back in their civilian clothes. She smiled grimly at their bruised faces. “You lot look as bad as I feel. My brothers obviously kicked the hell out of you.”
“I’m still doubtful that one of them is just a brother to you,” commented Ben. “But right now that’s the least of our concerns.”
“I take it this is a hostage situation?” she said, looking around the room. It was impossible to tell where she was because her surroundings were so non-descript – a bare room with a laminated floor. No ornamentation or furnishings, just the camp bed she was lying on, a couple of portable heaters and a table and four chairs. She noticed there were scorch marks up the walls. “What is this place?”
“An old furniture showroom that got ruined by fire. Faulty wiring.”
“I see. Can I have a drink of water?”
Ben nodded at Amanda, who produced a plastic bottle and stuck a straw in it. When Faith struggled to lift her head, Amanda grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head up.
“Take it easy Amanda,” Ben told her.
“This bitch bust my nose,” she scowled at him.
“It was a fair fight.”
Faith ignored the conversation, she was too busy gulping down the water, which eased her parched throat. When she’d drunk her fill she sank back into the bed, wanting to conserve her energy.
“The best thing about this place,” continued Ben. “Is that it’s been condemned. It’s too damaged to sell. A developer’s going to level it and build a house. It means there are no close neighbours, no one to overhear our business transaction.”
“What happens now?” said Faith.
“Hopefully your brothers will bring back the drugs.”
“And then what?”
“We’ll see.”
Faith knew they intended to kill her, they had to if they wanted to keep those drugs. The question was, did they intend to kill her entire family too? She thought perhaps they’d take out Vance and Caleb but they might let the rest live.
She forced down the rising panic. Vance would know what to do. She smiled at the thought of him. This lot had no idea what was coming.
Ben held up his phone, rather dramatically Faith thought.
“Now it’s time to call your brothers,” he said. “I need Vance’s number Faith.”
To their surprise, she rhymed it off without objection. Amanda, who had hoped to coax it out of her, was disappointed.
“You gave that up easily enough,” said Ben before he pressed the call button.
“Because I want this over with. And I want my brothers to come here, cut me out of these ropes and then kill the lot of you.”
Ben smiled. “We’ll see about that.”
The brothers all looked at each other when Vance’s phone started to ring.
“Number withheld,” he said, looking at the screen.
“It’s them,” said Abi.
Vance put the phone to his ear. “Hello.” He rolled his eyes. “No, I haven’t been in an accident you fucking retard. Get off the phone.” He hung up and looked to his siblings. “Spam call.”
Immediately the phone started to ring again. “If that’s them calling back I’m going to hunt them down and pull out their tongues. What?” he snapped into the phone.
“That’s not a very pleasant greeting,” replied the voice on the other end.
“Ben,” he growled. “I do apologise,” he
