Salvage Her Heart (17 page)

‘It’ll be okay, Evie. I’ll find you, no matter where you go. Once I know things are safe here, I’ll come looking you, and don’t worry about your parents. As much as I think they don’t deserve shit from you for what they put you through, I know that you still care. I’ll make sure they’re okay.’

‘Promise?’ I cry.

'Promise.’
He kisses me desperately, his body not so willing to let me go as his words are.

I break away from him before I change my mind and stay with him regardless of the consequences. I shut the door on the man who I love more than my own life. For him, I would have died just to keep him safe. I’m floored that he’d do the same for me.

I reach into the front seat and take my bag, dropping it on the concrete path before leaning over the passenger seat and giving Callum a peck on the cheek.

‘I can’t thank you enough, Callum.’

‘Hey, the minute Grayson rocked up with you I knew you had to be special to him. You make a friend of mine that happy then you’re our friend for life too.’

‘That means more to me than you’ll ever know. Please tell Kirima I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.’

‘You got it, kiddo. Now scoot before anyone starts asking too many questions.’

I nod, words failing me when I want to say so much. I can’t look back at Grayson for fear of changing my mind. I pick up the handle to my suitcase and start walking, one foot in front of the other. I pass through the glass sliding doors of the terminal and let them swallow me and my luggage.

There are few passengers milling about the airport. I ignore them and make my way to the nearest ticket counter to purchase my ride out of the country. I’m asked where I want to go. I tell her I’ll take whichever plane leaves first. The lady in her smart uniform seems surprised I’m paying cash, but stranger things have happened. She tags my baggage and hands me a boarding pass. I accept, the symbolism meaning much more than it does to most.

As I walk away, she watches me go, no idea that she has just handed me my freedom.

GRAYSON

‘Well that can’t have been easy,’ says Callum as we drive off.

‘Not even by a long shot. I feel empty
—hollow. She’s been gone all of five minutes but the distance feels eternal.’

‘Don’t worry
, mate, we’ll get things figured out.’

We can hear the banging in the boot from inside the car. In the early hours of the morning the traffic is quiet, leaving us to drive back towards the city mostly unobserved.

‘So, what’s next?’ Callum asks, staring out at the road as breaking dawn filters the sky.

‘We need to go back to the apartment, there’s a few things we’re gonna need.’

‘Do you think that’s wise considering we left the other guy in the stairwell?’

‘Probably not, but either way, I have to go. You just circle the block for fifteen minutes while I’m up there. With him kicking around in the trunk, you don’t want to be parked stationary on the curb in case someone walks past and hears his carry-on.’

‘You’re right about that.’

‘Besides, I don’t think that guy would have stuck around. I’m sure he doesn’t want a run-in with the police
, either.’

We’re silent for the rest of the trip, both of us on high alert and still a little strung out from earlier. My mind is going crazy, running every single scenario around and around, wondering what in the hell I can possibly say to Alex to convince him that going after Evie is not something he wants to do. Just threatening him won’t do. He needs to believe that his life is in real danger should he decide to pursue that line of thinking.

And Evie, how in the world am I going to find Evie? I promised her I would and I’m not about to break that promise, but I get the feeling things are going to be even more difficult than I was imagining.

I’m distracted from my thoughts by the sudden influx of vehicles surrounding us. The early morning city traffic consists of ladder-cli
mbers and CEOs, desperate to get their prime parking spots before the masses descend upon the city. We follow them like ants to the nest, all in a neat little line along the bitumen roads. Eventually we pull away from them, taking the riverfront street where Evie’s apartment is—was located on.

Callum pulls around to the back of the building, discreetly dropping me off before heading back into traffic. I scour the area before making my way back around to the front foyer, pleased that this time around I’ve at least got the keys to the place.

The building is quiet on the ride up, the normal hum minimised by sleeping tenants. I slip unnoticed out of the elevator and into the apartment. The evidence of our earlier scuffle is scattered across the floor. Broken bits of glass, upturned tables and littered cushions are scattered about the entry way. I ignore the mess and hurry back to the main bedroom. It’s hard to imagine that Evie ever had a life here with that guy. There is nothing personal to say she was ever here at all, despite this being her prison for many years.

In the closet, the safe is still open. There are no feelings of immorality as I go through its contents. I start pilfering items I think will be useful
, and of course, those that won’t. I’m sure with everyone else taking wads of cash out of there, Alex won’t miss one more. This is my insurance to make sure that I can keep my promise to Evie; that I will travel to the ends of the earth to find her. Artists slash baristas don’t make much money, ya know?

From my raid in the bedroom I don’t find what I’m looking for, so I head out to scour the kitchen drawers. Third drawer down
I hit jackpot. It’s an address book. Flicking through its contents I can see a list of people and their details, all written in Evie’s neat script. I pocket that as well before carefully locking up behind me. I don’t bother to check the stairwell on the way out because it’s locked from the inside. The guy who we trussed up in there would have had a very long walk down to the ground floor, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have stuck around to see if we were coming back.

There’s no sign of Callum’s car on the street, so I decide to keep moving and head down towards the next block where he’ll be cornering shortly. Sure enough, Callum makes the turn just before I do, but almost misses me because he’s not expecting me to be waiting there. I wave him down, and luckily he catches sight of me before it’s too late. I hop in the passenger seat, out of breath from my exploits.

‘You get what you were looking for?’

‘Yep.’

‘Okay, where to?’

‘You still got that rig you made for the tinny?’

‘The one for hauling up a big catch without tipping the damn boat?’

‘That’s the one.’

‘Sure I do. What’d you have in mind?’

‘Let’s go fishing.’

I can see the cogs turning in Callum’s head, trying to catch up with me. He takes the exit onto the highway as he catches my drift. 

‘Ho, ho, ho! Seriously Grayson, you’re a little bit more badass than I ever thought you were.’

‘Yeah?
Well, you mess with my girl, you’re gonna know just how far I will go to play the game until the end.’

‘I’m starting to see that. So, is this going to be an ocean or lake adventure?’

‘I’m thinking lake, we have more privacy there. But let’s stop at the hardware store before we reach your place. There’s a few things I’m going to need.’

‘You got it.’

I have to hand it to Alex, the guy is one persistent little shit. The whole trip down south towards Callum’s property he’s kicking the shit out of the boot. We don’t stop him. We want him to be tired by the time we get there. He only lets up momentarily when we stop at the hardware store. I make sure Callum parks well away from other customers, not wanting them to hear the tantrum he’s having in there.

I get what we need and we continue on to Callum’s property. When we get there, the sun is just coming up over the lake.

‘Judging by that bag of concrete you got there, I’m assuming we’re gonna weigh him down first?’

‘Absolutely.
I think he’ll take us a bit more seriously if we make this seem more real, don’t you?’

‘Yes, yes I do,’ he says grinning. ‘Just give me a sec to let Kirima know we’re back.
Oh yeah, and not to disturb us.’

He parks by the main cabin and jumps out. He’s gone a while, but when he comes back, I can see why. He’s got a thermos of coffee and some sandwiches
, all wrapped up in greaseproof paper. My stomach starts to growl. This is the first time since Evie left that I’ve actually thought about food. I can only imagine how thirsty our guest is in the trunk of the car.

We park right next to the barn as it takes up prime real estate right on the lake. For the moment, we leave Alex in the trunk while we quickly source what we need inside. He’s damn lucky it’s not a hot day or I’m sure the prick would have choked by now.

Inside the barn is a work shop like no other. It has tools to rival a hardware store and huge piles of timber left over from when he was building his cabins. The front part of the barn houses Callum’s boat. The decking of the barn is cut out at the front so the boat sits in the water, ready to be used when the front doors are slid open.

‘Right, let’s get those two large bits of timber there and secure them to this beam here,’ says Callum, patting the heavy beam that holds up the roofing. We grab the plank and I hold it in place while he shoots nails through the centre of it with an air compressed gun at shoulder height. We repeat the process with another plank just below knee height. We then grab four zip-lock ties and link them around the beam, but do not pull them tightly. We’re ready for Alex.

Both of us circle the car, ready to deal with the wild animal that we’ve held captive for several hours. I’m sure he’s had just about enough of his cage, although I can’t say his next holdings will be any better. I’m glad I’ve got Callum with me because I know that both of us can easily overpower Alex. Callum sticks the key in the trunk’s lock.

‘You ready?’

‘Yeah, I’m ready,’ I say.

He releases the catch and we fling open the lid. A very dishevelled Alex greets us, squinting from the sudden burst of sunlight. His hair is matted to his head, sweat dripping off every part of his body. His lips are cracked and dry, his dehydration quite plain for us to see. Good. It’ll make him more compliant. Before he has chance to react, we grab him.

He doesn’t come easily, despite his recent discomfort. It makes me wonder whether we’ll be able to break him. If we can’t, well, let’s just say I’m not fond of the alternative.

We both have him under the arm, dragging him towards the barn, although we stumble several times as he tries to trip us with his feet. Each time he does, he cops a smack in the head. We all fall into the barn, eager to be away from the open space of the outdoors.

With a great deal of resistance, we manage to hold him up against the beam long enough to secure his wrists with the ties against the horizontal plank of wood we just nailed there. We leave his legs for the moment, because we haven’t set up the buckets yet. He kicks out at us like a donkey, aiming to get us any way he can. Callum and I jump out of the way, not eager to feel his anger.

‘You fucking idiots, do you have any idea who you’re messing with?’ he screams at us. Just as well there are no residents nearby because the more excited this guy gets the louder his screams will be.

‘Yeah, we do,’ I say. ‘If I’m not mistaken, you’re a wife beater, a coward and a manipulator. We don’t like those sorts of people, do we Callum?’

‘Nope,’ he
says with a grin.

‘When I get out of here I’m going to kick the ever-living shit out of both of you!’

‘Who says you’re getting out of here?’ I deadpan. For a split-second, Alex hesitates, before recovering his composure.

‘You’re not the type.’

‘I’m not? No, I guess you’re right; I’m normally
not
the type. But for you, Alex, I’ll make an exception, because the way you treat people—the way you treat Evie—is totally unacceptable in my book.’

‘You fucking
dickhead! You’re going to risk the fallout of holding me here all for the sake of that common bit of ass?’

‘See that’s where you’ve gone wrong, Alex. She’s so much more than that, which is precisely why you don’t deserve her.’

‘Deserve her? You idiot! I fucking
own
her. You think I’d let her go so easily? Well, you might be right about that, but not to you. I’ve already brokered a deal that will see her with a new master. You think I’m bad? Man, you should see this guy.’

‘I don’t want to see him, or you, ever again. Neither does Evie. Right here, right now, is your only chance at walking away from this alive. You’ve got one option, and that is to convince me that you’re going to let her walk away from this without ever having to see you again, without ever having to look over her shoulder.’

‘Good luck with that. You think I won’t tell you exactly what you want to hear, just to get out of here?’

I walk towards him, but circle the beam at a safe distance until I’m standing behind him. I move in close, wanting him to hear what I whisper in his ear.

‘You will, at first anyway. But I’m sure by the time we’re done here you’ll mean what you say. Believe me, I’ll be able to tell the difference. It’s just a matter of how desperate you get.’

He doesn’t reply
; instead, I can already see him trying to sever the unbreakable plastic ties that hold his arms in place. All he proceeds to do is make himself more breathless, the ties biting into his flesh.

The barn doesn’t afford much light when the front doors that are lakeside are closed. The tiny windows allow us to see the trapped particles of dust which float about, but we need more light so that Alex can see exactly what we are doing. It will be fear that will be his undoing.
Callum rigs a makeshift light nearby while I go to collect two empty heavy duty buckets. They’re the type tilers normally mix grout in, or concrete in our case.

I give one to Callum and we approach from behind. When Alex realises that we intend to put his feet in the buckets, he resumes his wild kicking, trying to catch one of us in the mouth as we bend down to secure his feet. With the top half of his body secure, he doesn’t stand much chance. He’s tiring fast and he’s outnumbered. Pretty soon we both have a foot in our respective buckets. So that he can’t move his legs, we attach zip-lock ties just below his knees and tighten them so that the flow of blood is severely restricted to his lower limbs.

‘Now, for the fun part,’ taunts Callum, waggling his eyebrows at Alex. He opens the bag of Quick Set Concrete mix and pours it evenly into the two buckets. Alex watches on, mortified that he’s unable to do nothing to stop us.

‘How does that feel?’ I ask.

‘What?’ he snaps back.

‘Being powerless
—how does it feel? I mean, you subjugated Evie to feeling powerless all this time. Not nice, wouldn’t you say?’

‘Fuck off. I’m not about to beg.’

‘We’ll see. Callum, shall we add the water?’

‘Absolutely.’

He grabs another bucket and walks to the front of the barn where the boat is lapping gently against its moorings. He fills it
with the dam water and brings it back to us. Without hesitation he pours it into the concrete mix. I start to mix it slowly with a ruler I found on a nearby bench. Each bucket is filled with enough mix to set right at the top of his shins. That should be enough weight to sink the bastard if we have to. When we’re finished we sit back to admire our handiwork.