The Collared Collection (37 page)

‘I bought you ham salad – I wasn’t sure what you like.’

‘Thanks.’ She avoided eye contact, since she remembered reading somewhere that it was advisable in hostage situations not to visually challenge your captors – and she nibbled at the brown bread, savouring every crumb because she was beyond ravenous.

She felt him watching her. While her eyes focussed on the floor, her lips formed an involuntary half-smile in total ignorance of how to react for the best. She thought she should portray herself as his friend – or at least someone who was not a threat to his control in this power situation – and someone who was not about to sit in judgement over him or his crimes.

That was a grave error on her part – she’d made no allowance for the fact she wasn’t dealing with a rational, sane person. Encouraged, he came closer and she was seized by fear – had the stupid smile sent him entirely the wrong signal? As he reached out a hand to brush her cheek, she winced – afraid this was when the ‘fun’ he’d mentioned earlier would begin.

‘Nice tits …’ The hand dropped from her cheek to fondle a breast through her shirt and when she dredged up every scrap of willpower she possessed not to pull away, he slid his hand into her bra and squeezed, becoming visibly aroused.

She screamed hysterically in her head – how could she have been so dumb?

She tried to remain outwardly calm, while her mind raced with hare-brained schemes of responding to him, even going so far as to offer sex – thinking he’d then become vulnerable, let down his defences, and she could grab her chance to escape … maybe. She talked herself out of that idea – too risky. One of her hands was still bound to the bed – a major problem – and she didn’t even know if she’d be able to get out of the building. If she tried and failed, he’d kill her instantly – of that she was certain.

When he forced her down onto the bed, she knew things had gone way too far for her to in any way manipulate what would happen – the situation was spiralling out of control. Not that she’d had any control in the first place, but she’d thought she maybe stood an outside chance of turning things slightly to her advantage. That moment had passed.

Though she knew she should behave like a whore, pamper his ego and lead him on so he trusted her … she couldn’t do it, even when her life was at stake. Silent tears poured over her cheeks and into her ears.

He cut the plastic restraint which bound her ankles and lay on top of her – she was completely overpowered by his weight and therefore at his mercy.

He raped her.

Ridiculous though it seemed, she was afraid to scream. Instead she tried mentally to transport herself elsewhere, to imagine nice things, beautiful scenery where nothing bad could possibly happen – to become anaesthetised to reality and the vile thing that was happening to her. It didn’t work. And she felt a searing shame that she’d brought all this upon herself, though sheer, self-pitying stupidity.

He grunted. ‘Is that how you like it, Callie? Hard and rough?’

She thought she might throw up. ‘No … Please don’t … don’t … you’re hurting …’

‘Relax … enjoy, you know you want it.’

She whimpered, trying to ignore the agony burning its way through her body. ‘I can’t do this … please …’ she implored.

He leered again. ‘I can.’

The pain quickly became unmanageable and she started to scream at him, hysterical with misery, begging him to stop. He clamped his huge hand over her mouth and continued the violation, working himself up into even more of a frenzy. His teeth clenched and he yowled like a wild animal as he pushed harder and harder and she thought her body must surely split in two.

He grabbed her neck, his eyes wide and manic as he spat, ‘You’re a fucking tease, you only got what you deserved.’

Thrashing her head from side to side, she cried smothered protestations of hurt, humiliation and despair. She tried to scratch him, to mark him and get his DNA under her fingernails as well as inside her – she didn’t want her boys to think she’d given up without a fight.

When she couldn’t bear the pain any longer she prayed for death to come quickly.

But suddenly, he went still.

She unscrewed her eyes to see a gun held to his temple.

Chapter Sixty-one

As he was manhandled from the room, she spewed into the bucket for several minutes and then rinsed out her mouth with the water Mike had provided.

‘How long were you outside?’ she whispered.

Susan wiped the sweat from Callie’s forehead and pulled her shirt around her, helping her to get dressed. ‘A while; we thought it would be safer for you if we took him down outside … until we heard you screaming.’ She looked completely different; her long hair had been cut, layered, and lightened to strawberry blonde, which suited her. So did the trendy spectacles.

When shivers took hold of her entire body, Susan removed her jacket and laid it round Callie’s shoulders.

She took a guess. ‘Barney is one of yours?’

‘Yes.’

She retched again, so violently it hurt her throat.

‘Come on, Callie, let’s get you looked over by a medic – I’ll drive you to a private clinic we use. They’ll carry out all the necessary forensic tests and check you for internal injury, give you precautionary drugs – the whole shebang and in complete confidence.’

She hugged herself, burst into tears. ‘I don’t want anyone to touch me, ever again.’

Susan lightly brushed her hand. ‘I can understand that, but if nothing else, you need to be examined. The staff are all very kind and sympathetic – and their counsellors are former rape victims.’

Racking cramps shot through her abdomen and she bent double, crying out in agony.

Susan held her tightly. ‘Let me help you, Callie.’

Weakly, she nodded consent.

Susan barked orders at three men who hovered in the background, before gently leading her away.

Chapter Sixty-two

Throughout the time she was being examined, giving blood samples, having swabs taken, and details noted, Susan stayed by her side. While a nurse inserted external stitches where she’d been torn, Susan held her hand and told her gently how she would get through this ordeal, and emerge stronger the other side. She was still there when Callie spent an age in the shower, running water at the highest temperature she could tolerate, to try to scrub the smell and feel of Mike from her body and her mind.

Susan wanted to ring David but Callie pleaded with her not to; she was too ashamed to look him in the eye, afraid he’d think – as she did – it was all her own fault. She felt Mike had been right when he said she got what she deserved.

When the female doctor came back to talk to Callie, Susan offered to leave the room, but Callie asked her to stay.

It was a good thing she was laying down, because Doctor Meredith’s opening sentence sent her into freefall.

‘Mrs Ashton – Callie, may I first of all assure you that the physical trauma you have suffered has not in any way harmed your baby,’ she smiled. ‘Congratulations.’

‘Baby … What baby?’

‘Callie, you are, in my rough estimation, seven to eight weeks pregnant. He’s a little toughie – he’s hung on in there. We can do a scan, to be more accurate of his ETA.’

She felt any trace of colour left in her face drain away.

Susan beamed, ‘Callie, that’s such wonderful news! You have to let me call David now.’

Dr Meredith spoke again, patting her hand, ‘I can see this has come as something of a surprise. I’ll leave you to absorb the happy news and come back later. Try and get some rest, if you can.’

She hugged her belly. There was nothing like knowing your body is nurturing a brand new, fragile life to put things into a manageable perspective. Everything else paled, for a short while at least, into insignificance – Mike, Mike’s Balaclava Man persona, terrible violence and loss … she was able to slot them all into the holding bay at the back of her mind. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe that was where they’d stay, but for now, she wanted to think about her precious baby … David’s baby. She made a silent vow always to keep him or her safe from harm.

A huge bunch of mixed pink flowers entered her room, followed by David – he was wearing the widest grin she’d ever seen on his face.

‘Callie! You look terrific.’ He put the flowers down at the foot of her bed and, noticing how sore her lips were, kissed her on the cheek. ‘I thought I’d lost you …’

He smelled masculine and wonderful.

‘You don’t get rid of me that easily.’

Susan coughed politely, ‘If you’ll both excuse me …’

Callie remembered her manners, ‘Don’t go, Susan.’

She smiled. ‘I must, I’m afraid – and you two don’t need me around … you’ll want to talk.’ She winked. ‘I’ll come back tomorrow, Callie, I promise.’

She held out her hand and Susan grasped it. Callie whispered, ‘Thank you, thank you so very much for everything.’

‘My pleasure – see you soon. Oh, by the way, I have someone stationed outside your door. They’ll be there around the clock, even though we have the bad guy – it’s just a precautionary measure.’ She shot a loaded look at David, who decided to study the floor tiles, until she clunked the door shut behind her.

Callie looked him in the eye, ‘David … there’s so much I have to say … I don’t know where to begin, but first you must tell me, how are Sam and Alex?’

‘I spoke to them just now. They’re bursting to come in and see you.’

She pictured them both in her mind – she couldn’t wait to see them either. But first …’ David, I must tell you something …’

‘Everything’s alright, my darling. The only important thing is you’re safe.’

‘Mike … attacked me … actually, it was much worse than that.’ She couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

He put his arms around her, hugged her close. ‘I’m so sorry, I should have worked out it was him. All the signs were there, if only I’d looked deeper – it should have been obvious to me that he was obstructing the investigation – even sabotaging it at times. None of us could see what was under our noses and that left you vulnerable.’

‘But I was so stupid …’ Tears started to fall – not what she’d planned.

‘Nothing matters, except you’re OK – we can take everything else one step at a time. I’ve failed you once – I promise it’s never going to happen again. And we need to get you well.’

Because she was determined to tell him what had happened, she struggled through the deep sobs that made speech so difficult. Unchecked, tears drenched her face. ‘David, he … Oh God … he raped me – and I put myself in the position where he was able to do that. It was all my own fault.’

He tightened his arms around her and her head nuzzled into his shoulder. ‘I know what the bastard did, Callie – you mustn’t take that responsibility on yourself, when the only one to blame was Mike. Of course you trusted him – we all did. When he was acting strangely, I suspected him of having an affair – nothing more.’

He sat back and dried her eyes.

When she’d taken time to compose herself, she inhaled deeply, ‘I have something else really important to tell you …’

His grip on her hand tightened. ‘You don’t have to, whatever it is can wait. You must get some rest.’

‘No … this is good news. Actually, it’s something amazing – well, I think so.’ His face relaxed and he smiled. She smiled back, hurting her lips. ‘I’m pregnant.’

There was several seconds’ silence while he digested the words. ‘Callie! That’s incredible! Are you sure?’

‘The doctor told me earlier. You’re not upset, are you?’

His eyes filled with tears. ‘Upset? How could I be? It’s the best news possible! Are you feeling alright … is there anything I can get you?’

‘I’m fine – I haven’t started to crave marmalade and coal dust fricassee yet.’

He paced up and down, grinning and chuckling. ‘I’m going to be a dad … me … I’m going to be a dad.’

‘Yes, you are.’

‘Do you think Sam and Alex will mind?’

‘Not Sam – he’s always wanted to have someone younger than him in the family, so he gets to boss them around. Alex will take it in his stride I’m sure, and be a very protective big brother.’

He sat on the side of her bed. ‘Thank you, Callie, you’ve made me so happy. I can’t wait to tell everyone.’

‘It might be best to wait a while, just to be on the safe side. It’s very early days.’

‘When will he be born?’

‘I’m not exactly sure yet, probably late spring. And what do you mean “he”? What if it’s a girl?’

‘Oh … right – well, girls play football too, don’t they?’

She laughed. ‘Yep and they love to play with trains, so you’ll have an excuse to buy all the toys you coveted when you were a kid.’

He kissed her softly, several times in quick succession. ‘We’ll have to get a bigger house for everyone – and all those toys.’

‘Yes, I suppose we will. Plenty of time to think about that …’

He looked serious. When he knelt down, she thought he’d dropped something on the floor. ‘Callie, I love you. Now will you marry me?’

She didn’t hesitate, knowing the time was right. ‘I suppose I’ll have to, won’t I?’

‘Yes! I’ll light a fire under Simon Stirling’s arse so we can set a date as soon as possible. And you realise there’ll be no escape now from that meeting with the rest of my folks, including Jocelyn?’

She tried to be serious for a moment. ‘I want to work through this first, perhaps go into therapy. I must face the demons I know will come back to haunt me. I need to learn to deal with negative issues head on and put all these awful events behind me, so I can move forward and enjoy my new life … our new life. Our new family.’

He brushed hair from her forehead. ‘I’m here to help you and support you every step of the way, Callie. We’re going to be together forever.’

‘Yes, we will be. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me now.’

Chapter Sixty-three

Before she’d even made it properly through the door the next morning, Susan asked, ‘How did David take your news, Callie? Was he thrilled?’

She couldn’t help but smile. ‘Yes, he was – and we’re going to get married, fairly soon.’

She clasped her hands together, nearly squashing the bunch of grapes she was carrying. ‘Wow! That’s brilliant! I know you’re all going to be really happy together.’ She admired the flowers placed around the room. As well as the bunch David brought, everyone at Montague’s had chipped in for a gargantuan bouquet – the nurses had trouble finding enough spare vases to accommodate them all. She felt very cosseted. ‘Have you told the boys yet?’