Deadly Dozen: 12 Mysteries/Thrillers (105 page)

Tim, her boss, called over, “Linda. Any chance you can show Mr. Gibson around this property in Mayfair this afternoon?”

Before looking up, Linda gulped and tried to compose herself. The last thing she wanted to do was let him know how much he still scared and intimidated her.

With her sister’s well thought out plan at the forefront of her mind, she beamed at the two men. “I’d be delighted. What time did you have in mind, Mr. Gibson?” Just saying his name caused an unwanted shudder to ripple up her spine.

Gibson placed a contemplating finger on his cheek. “How about five? Is that all right with you and the vendors?”

Tim intervened. “No problem there. The house is empty, as the vendors had to move back to Texas last month. All right with you, Linda?”

She cleared her throat to dislodge the lump that had developed. “I’ll meet you there at five on the dot.” She gave Gibson the sweetest, most charming smile she could muster.

When Gibson left the office, Tim approached her desk. “Are you sure that you’re all right with this, Linda? I feel awful, putting you in such a position. The thing is, Gibson wouldn’t deal with anyone else. Maybe he wants to make amends in some way.”

“To be honest, Tim, I’m a little apprehensive about meeting the guy alone, but I appreciate how valuable his business is.” She winked at her thirty-year-old boss and added, “Maybe there could be an extra bonus in the sale for me, too. What do you reckon?”

He turned and laughed all the way back to his desk. “Forever the trier, aren’t you? We’ll see.”

Linda picked up her handbag and checked that her mobile was inside before she made her way out to the tiny kitchenette area at the rear of the agency, where the staff prepared their drinks and ate lunch. She placed a call to Fiona.

“Everything all right, Linda?”

“Umm… Couldn’t be better, Sis. Any chance you can sort out some time off this afternoon?”

“Let me check the diary. I have a brief meeting at three thirty. What time was you thinking of and why?”

“I need you to be at a certain address by five o’clock,” Linda told her as an unexpected bout of excitement shot through her.

Her sister sighed. “Depends where it is, love. You’re being awfully secretive.”

Linda gave Fiona the address. She heard her sister tear a sheet of paper from her notebook and waited for her to scribble down the information. Then Linda announced breathlessly, “It’s time to put our plan into action.”

“You’re kidding? Seriously? Today? Are you okay with this?”

Linda chuckled. “At least give me a chance to answer a question before you ask the next one. I’m soooo ready for this. The idiot’s arrogance was on show again today when he made the appointment. I can’t wait to knock that smug look off his supercilious tanned face.”

“Me, neither. Are you going to ring Ami?”

“Just about to do it now. Wait outside the property; there’s a park across the road from the house. I’ll give you the heads-up from the front bedroom on the first floor. God, I hope we can pull this off, Fi.”

“Positive mental attitude, sweetie. Between us, we’ll make this happen. We’ll wait for your signal. Tell Ami I’ll be waiting in the park for her. Good luck, and Linda…”

“Yes, Fi?”

“Be brave and confident that we have your back.”

Linda smiled, and her eyes misted up. “Love you. See you later.”

She hung up and left a voicemail message on Ami’s phone. Linda noted the time on her watch and realised that Ami was probably held up in a lecture. She knew Ami would get back to her the minute her schedule allowed her to.

Linda boiled the kettle and poured two instant coffees for her and Tim and returned to the office.

“Wondered where you had disappeared to. I’m gasping for a drink, good call. Have you finished updating those files yet? I’d like to get them up on the website this afternoon if at all possible.”

She handed him his mug and nodded. “Almost finished; another five minutes should do it. I’ll pass them over as soon as I’m done.”

She sat at her desk and put all thoughts of Gibson out of her mind and got on with the task her boss had set her.

Within minutes, she had handed him the completed files and was just about to start on the next thing on her to-do list when her mobile jangled that she had a text. She opened the message to see the words ‘I’ll be there. Revenge will be sweet.’

Linda smiled as she deleted Ami’s message. A sense of pride filled her, and she puffed out her chest. What better friends and family could one hope to have?

The rest of the day was full of deepening trepidation. Gibson’s handsome but arrogant features constantly flooded her overworked mind. Silly reasons why she should pull out of the meeting with Gibson knocked against her skull on several occasions, but she quickly dismissed them.

When the clock on the wall above her boss’s head reached four o’clock, that meant she had exactly half an hour left before she had to leave for her rendezvous. Those final thirty minutes were some of the longest of her life, coming a close second to the time when Gibson had raped her. All the pain and fear she had suffered that night ripped through her.

Her determination grew tenfold. If she had any doubts before that they were doing the right thing, those doubts were now being pushed to the huge abyss in the back of her mind.

Five minutes to go before her departure time, Linda gathered the details of the property she was going to see and to several other houses in the same area. She had decided to tell her boss that she would go straight home after showing Gibson round the property he was interested in and the similar ones she had picked out a few streets away from it. It would give her the excuse she needed for her extended leave from the office. There was no telling how long Fiona’s plan would take to fulfill, once they got started.

Linda looked up again as the minute hand agonisingly moved to half past four. After drawing in a sharp breath and releasing it, she rose from her desk, gathered the keys and the details to all the properties she intended to visit—at least, as far as her boss was concerned—and said farewell to her boss for the evening.

Her legs trembled, and it felt as if her shoes were suddenly made of lead as she made her way out the back of her office to the car park at the rear.

Normally Linda was an error-free driver, but during the journey, she repeatedly missed gears and even ran a red light. Pull yourself together, girl.

When she pulled into Drake’s Avenue, she parked in a free space at the top of the road. There, she had a moment’s hesitation as to whether she and the girls were doing the right thing. But images of that degrading night drifted into her mind once again.

She restarted the engine and slowly made her way down the road. She parked her car outside the Georgian mansion house at two minutes to the hour.

Glancing around, she couldn’t see Gibson’s Ferrari anywhere. Linda let herself in the front door of the house and immediately ran upstairs to the front bedroom. A flash of red in the park across the street caught her eye. Is that the girls?

The front door bell chimed.

Panic shot through her faster than a lightning bolt. She ran back down the stairs, almost tripping on the final step. Remember: Stay calm at all times.

She planted a huge smile on her lightly made-up face and opened the door wide. “Hello, Mr. Gibson. It’s lovely to see you again. Do come in.”

Her words appeared to catch him off-guard. At first he looked bewildered, but then he smiled graciously and entered the house. Linda discreetly lifted the catch on the front door and swiftly shut it behind him. Her heart rate began to escalate, and there was little she could do to control it except take several steadying breaths.

Linda led the way around the lower floor highlighting the properties good points. Gibson was unusually quiet, almost reflective, and she couldn’t help wondering if he regretted what he’d done to her.

The rooms were empty apart from the odd pieces of furniture that had seen better days and had been deliberately left behind by the previous owner.

She did, however, get a wow out of him the second he walked into the enormous kitchen. The flecks in the granite worktops twinkled in the late afternoon sunlight as it danced across the surface.

“If you’d like to follow me upstairs.” She cringed inwardly as she said the words she’d been dreading saying because of what it could imply. She could feel his eyes burning into the flesh of her backside as she climbed the stairs in front of him. She did her best to wiggle less, but fighting the natural movement of her body was pointless. His breathing increased as if the view was turning him on. Crap! Be calm and brave.

Once they had reached the top of the large sweeping staircase, Linda headed into the master en-suite. She crossed the oak floorboards and stood in the centre of the big bay window, looking back at Gibson, who had remained in the doorway.

He nodded his approval at the dimensions of the room.

She moved across the room to open the large fitted wardrobes, which showed off the room’s adequate storage, then she pointed at the door to the en-suite, inviting him to venture in and take a look at the Victorian claw-footed bath and marbled surroundings.

His impressed expression when he rejoined her ordinarily would have sparked the pound signs to register before her eyes, knowing that a sale was imminent. But with Gibson, she took his enthusiasm with a pinch of salt. She had a feeling his enthusiasm was riddled with pretence and probably wouldn’t lead anywhere.

She led the way into the double bedroom at the rear of the property. Gibson raised a questioning eyebrow at the red flock wallpaper adorning all four walls.

Linda had to admit the room did have a feel similar to a tart’s boudoir. She shrugged. “The lady of the house liked to experiment with colours.”

He took several steps toward her, gave her one of his devastating smiles and said, “Tell me, Linda—do you like to experiment too?”

Unknowingly she stepped back. The emphasis he’d put on the word experiment sent shockwaves of panic shooting out to every frazzled nerve ending. She had to get out of there, away from him, quickly.

Linda forced her shoulders back and squeezed past him. Her breasts touched his chest, and he attempted to grab her shoulders, but she was too quick for him. She darted for the stairs and ran down them before he had a chance to reach for her again.

Linda sprinted into the lounge and waited for Gibson to follow her.

Gibson screeched to a halt when he saw Linda standing alongside her sister. He turned sharply when he heard a sound behind him and tried to duck when he saw the baseball bat aimed at his head, but Ami made a direct hit. Gibson crumpled to the floor, knocked out cold.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“Jesus! What do we do now, Fi?” Linda asked as the three of them gripped each other’s forearms and stared at the prostrate figure beneath them.

Fiona took charge, she glanced around the room and pointed. “Ami, get that chair. Linda, there’s a rope in the carrier bag in the corner.”

Linda and Ami ran to different sides of the room and returned with the items. Fiona positioned the old wooden dining chair at the rear of Gibson and knelt down beside him. “Help me get him into the chair,” Fiona demanded urgently.

Between the three of them, they heaved Gibson’s dead weight into the chair amidst plenty of heavy breathing and straining noises. Fiona put her Girl Guide’s experience to use; she quickly and expertly tied Gibson’s wrists behind him to the wooden upright of the chair. Standing back, she admired her work.

After a final tug on the rope, she turned to Linda and Ami. “If anyone has any second thoughts about this, speak up now?”

One look at the girl’s faces gave Fiona her answer. “Linda, is there a cup or pot left in the kitchen cupboard?”

“Not sure. Why?”

“Will you go look for me, please? If you find anything suitable, fill it with water.”

Linda left the room and came back to find Fiona delving into the carrier bag. One by one Fiona laid the contents of the bag on the floorboards in front of her: a hacksaw, pliers, matches, and a newspaper. She arranged the items carefully on the wooden floor.

Linda and Ami looked on in astonishment. They had never discussed what would happen to Gibson once he’d been caught. When the girls glanced up at Fiona, she had an evil glint in her eye, and an ominous smirk tugged at her red lipstick–stained lips.

Fiona held out her hand for the glass of water. Linda hesitated for a moment or two, then reluctantly passed the glass to her sister. She threw the water, hard, in Gibson’s face. He coughed and spluttered into life again.

Immediately, his gaze narrowed at the three of them. “What the fuck is this all about?”

Fiona noticed Linda cower back from his anger-filled tone. Fiona looked her way and winked, and instantly Linda stood proud and tall again, ready for the fight that lay ahead of them.

Gibson warily watched the exchange between the girls before he verbally attacked them, “When I get out of here, I’m going straight to the police. You do know that kidnapping is a crime, don’t you?”