Finders Keepers by Edie Baylis (epub ebook reader txt) 📕

back of the black BMW. As Keith steered her closer, her whole being primed to run; run as fast as she could to anywhere that might offer a chance of getting out of this situation.

Her eyes darted around the rows of cars within the fenced off car park. Although she could make a dash for it, she might run into a dead end. Looking at the high wire perimeter fence surrounding the open air car park, she couldn’t see any cut-through points. She’d also seen no one. Not one person.

With one hand still tightly around Teagan’s arm, Keith opened the back door of the car with his free hand. Sensing the girl’s reluctance, he tightened his grip, ‘You’re not going to do anything stupid are you? Remember what I said, if I were you.’

Despite the threat and the futility of escape, primal instincts took over and Teagan pulled against Keith. ‘Let me go!’ Her voice was high-pitched and terrifyingly loud.

Snarling, Saul opened his driver’s door. ‘Get the fuck in, bitch!’ he spat, his eyes narrow slits. He glared at Keith. He’d made it clear there should be no fuss and the girl was fussing. Couldn’t Keith even lob some chick into the back of a motor?

Seeing the man in the car, the blood drained from Teagan’s face. Wasn’t that the man she’d seen running from Footlights? No, but the meaning was the same. These were the people Joe had been involved with - the ones he’d ripped off for drugs and the ones who had killed Helen.

Teagan shook violently, Robert was wrong. These people weren’t to do with Helen. They’d killed Helen because of Joe. They’d killed Helen because of her own involvement with Joe. And now they would kill her.

Joe had lied. He hadn’t sorted things out with them at all. They must believe she was still holding the drugs that Joe stole. God, no!

Suddenly pushed forward, Teagan thrashed around, blind panic overtaking coherent thought. ‘No, I won’t let you! You can’t!’ she shrieked, her eyes wild.

‘Fucking sort it!’ Saul hissed, glancing around. ‘And quickly!’

Slapping his meaty hand over Teagan’s mouth, Keith manhandled her into the car with minimal effort, such was his brute strength. Following her into the back seat, he’d barely closed the back door before Saul wheelspinned off.

Struggling to breathe, her mouth and nose covered with Keith’s massive hand, Teagan’s panic increased, her heart thumping wildly. Head twisted to one side, she stared up at Keith whose free hand held both of hers twisted behind her back, keeping her pressed into the leather upholstery, his elbow firmly against the small of her back.

Teagan forced her brain to function; to remember anything to give the police clues as to her whereabouts or the identity of these people, but found it would not stop swarming with pointless thoughts. Hyperventilating through her terror, she couldn’t concentrate on anything enough for more than a split second. Not that she could see much from her position. The only thing that was obvious was an overpowering smell of freshly valeted car.

‘You fucking dipshit,’ Saul snarled, swiftly turning out from the hotel’s staff car park onto the main road. ‘I thought I said subtle. That was not subtle.’

‘She just went batshit!’ Keith grumbled. ‘What else was I supposed to do?’

Huffing, Saul turned the music up as the car accelerated. He’d have words with Keith about this, but for now the main thing was getting the fuck out of here. Luckily, no one was about and he’d already made sure there was no CCTV in the car park.

Teagan felt bile make its way up from her stomach and repeated to herself over and over to calm down. Panic would get her nowhere, apart from thrown out at the side of the road and that was if she was lucky. If she was calm there was a chance of reasoning with these people and explain she knew nothing about Joe’s drugs or where he’d put them. Although reasoning with them was a long shot, she had little other options. Apart from that, her best bet was to work out where they were taking her.

It was only after a relatively short space of time by gauging the speed of the car, with rising horror she knew they were now on a dual carriageway – the one which, if she was correct, led to the motorway.

Her heart crashed in her chest. If they were heading towards the motorway and judging by the strong accents of the two men, they were going to one place and one place only. London.

Twenty Three

DULCIE SAT ON THE SOFA wringing her hands together nervously. ‘I can’t believe she’s done this.’ She looked up at Robert imploringly. ‘What will I do?’

Robert concealed his irritation behind an unfazed expression, refusing to show that Teagan’s lack of presence bothered him.

Yesterday, when after an hour, Teagan failed to return to the wake, he’d found himself getting more and more annoyed, reaching the conclusion that she was doing it as a childish attempt to gain his attention. Despite the growing urge to look for her, he’d remained where he was, swallowing his internal irritation. Honing his concentration, he’d continued politely chatting to the other mourners, all of whom were adept at skirting around the glaring issue that Helen had been shot dead shortly after her husband had been discovered with his brains splattered all over the garage floor.

He wondered whether any of them believed it to have been a random attack by a psychopath, or whether Helen had been involved in something which had cost both her and James their lives. Or even whether it had been Helen who had killed James and then someone had decided to off her?

Whatever anyone else thought remained unsaid, but Robert knew what he thought. Having to stand there pretending that he didn’t was akin to having the soles of his feet burnt off with acid.

Based on what his mother had written