Storymania - Taming Sophie by Martine Hayes (Chap. 14)

Taming Sophie (Continued)
Martine Hayes

Chapter 14

Sarah lay still, slumped against the wall where she had originally fell. Her breathing was now becoming very laboured, her skin was pale and she hardly moaned. Sophie was trying as best as she could, to convince them to let her go, but Swifty and Clive had other plans, she wasn’t sure what, but she could tell that her pleas were falling unheard. Her efforts to side with Clive were boring her, there was only so much politeness left inside her, and she had no more strength to force some more, he wasn’t worthy of it, Sarah was.

Sophie stood to go to the bathroom. Swifty followed her, determined to nip any show of independence before it began. Sophie hated him, but she knew that soon it would be over, she could feel it.

‘Do you mind? I’ve been going to loo myself since I was three.’ Sophie smirked

‘Don’t get cheeky, or didn’t you pass the manners stage?’ Sophie pulled a sarcastic smile and closed the bathroom door behind her. The bathroom window lured her over, feeling of escape rushed into her mind, forcing all matters of safety, common sense and Sarah out of her mind. She thought for a second as Sarah’s beaten face re-established itself firmly into her conscience. Sophie held the half opened window in her hand, the gamble was too high. The door burst open and Swifty, in all his glory, threw himself across the bathroom and grabbed her by the hair. Sophie screamed as he twisted the hair round in his hands, forcing her head back against his chest. He covered her mouth with his hand. Flashes of Andy panicked her as she felt the heat of his hand against her face. She kicked and struggled as before, in an attempt to prevent what had already happened on that kitchen floor. It was Andy she fighting off, she wouldn’t let him rape her. She just hadn’t fought hard enough. Swifty laughed at the sheer determination of Sophie, he had seen the likes before on the rodeo shows, she would tire in the end, but for now, he would let her struggle knowing he could end it at any time.

Clive rushed to the bathroom to the screams of Sophie, he questioned the matter.

‘I caught her trying to escape, I told you not to trust them.’ Swifty swung her round and landed a punch onto Sophie’s face. Blood dripped from her nose into her mouth. She stopped screaming and stood emotionless. Clive handed her a face cloth, he knew she had deserved it, she had spoiled it for herself now, she was dangerous. Sophie stared at him.

‘What are you going to do with us? You can’t just keep us here’

Clive never answered as he guided her back to the lounge. Sarah was still quiet, Sophie was really worried now, her friend looked as though she was dying. She hadn’t seen Sarah look like this, she was always so strong, now she lay in a heap, her face was a mess and she had given up. Sophie had had enough.

‘Are you going to kill us?’ Her voice remained calm. Her eyes fixed on Sarah.

Clive stared at Swifty. Sophie was sure that he was waiting for Swifty to make the decisions.

Swifty smirked, he knelt down beside Sarah and listened to her breathing.

‘Sounds like she’s dying anyway. Unfortunate that eh?’

Sophie cried, ‘Please, help her. Please.’

‘I have an idea,’ Swifty left briefly and returned from the kitchen with a revolver.

Sophie froze with fear, why had she asked such a stupid question? She had put thoughts in his head now. Swifty stood pleased with himself.

‘You kill her, and we’ll let you go. Can’t be fairer than that.’

‘Fuck off, you psychopathic bastard. Did your mother feed you dead babies for breakfast?’

Swifty laughed. ‘.… Dead babies.… I like that one.’

Clive was getting nervous, he knew that things had gone too far. He only wanted to shut Sophie up, he hadn’t counted that Sarah would be involved. He was going to pay her off, but Swifty wasn’t too keen on splitting the money three ways, he wanted half. He said he could frighten her off, it looked like he was enjoying it too much now, the scare had gone too far. This looked too real, too scary. He also knew that they couldn’t just let them go, too much damage was done now, and Sarah was badly beaten, she would need to go to hospital. The police would have to be involved now. There chances of survival were slimming down rapidly. Clive gestured for Swifty to follow him to the kitchen.

‘We can’t kill them, you do know that?

‘We can.’

‘Why don’t we just tie them both up, get the passports and fuck off , while we still can.’

‘I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder every day. That’s why.’ Swifty seemed adamant.

‘Please, lets just go now. Someone is surely going to know that Sarah is here.’ Clive began to show his nervousness.

‘Are you mad? Those screaming bitches will be straight round to the police. We’ll be banged up before we even reach the airport. No, they have to be silenced, for good.’

Clive had realised that it had all gone too far. Sarah was in desperate need of a doctor, her breathing was still laboured and she was still losing blood. He watched helplessly as Sophie attended to her as best she could. He could see the look of fear on her as she glanced at her captors. Sophie still couldn’t understand what was happening, she had been there for four hours, and she saw no end to her plight. Her attempts at joining forces with Clive had failed, she felt a dooming atmosphere in the house. Swifty was determined that his way was the only way, he seemed to show no mercy or guilt in his equations. This was cold, calculated murder, this was something Clive hadn’t foreseen. The security guard was different. He had fallen into bad luck that night. Clive hadn’t seen his face, talked to him or even took much notice of him. The security guard was in a job which carried such risks, Sophie was an innocent, beautiful young bystander, she had no involvement with anything sordid, yet she too carried with her that day an overwhelming risk. Clive wondered if she could sense the immediate danger, he knew it was too late to save her, she and Sarah were already dead. Swifty remained calm and walked quietly into the lounge, leaving Clive watching nervously from the kitchen. He watched as Swifty approached the two young girls huddled together in a desperate show of unity. His mind raced trying desperately to find words to dampen the fire that raged within Swifty. A burning deeper than any reason or guilt could extinguish. He needed to buy some more time, for the girls’ sake.

‘Shouldn’t we phone Claire?’

Swifty turned to face him, his silence worried Clive for a while, then he spoke.

‘Claire suggested we frighten them off, like you, but can’t you see that if we let them go now, we won’t get away. It’s them or us. Once we get rid of them, we can go, we can share that sunshine with Claire, but we have to tie up the loose ends before we go.’

‘We don’t have to kill them, look at them, there terrified, I bet they won’t go to the police, and even if they did, we could be well away by them. Lets just knock them both out, that’ll give us more time. By the time they come round, we will be on the other side of the world, lapping up the sunshine and reaping the rewards.’

‘Yeah, and looking over our shoulders all the way there. And, probably for the rest of our lives. It’s the only way Clive. We’ve worked to hard for to throw it all away now.’

Clive could see Swifty’s point, but if only he could think of another way, time was running out.

Forest stared up at the window, it was time to move. A light had been switched on, they occupants were obviously unaware of the impending raid. Armed police lay in wait with their eyes firmly fixed on the cross hairs of their sights. Walters waited eagerly for the last few calls from the other units, the adrenaline was increasing rapidly, it was time to go.

Swifty took the revolver and calmly approached Sophie. The gun was still at his side, but Sophie knew his intentions. She screamed and begged as he approached, she held Sarah tightly in her arms.

‘Please, NO! Clive do something’ She placed her head down on top of Sarah’s, she closed her eyes and waited for the end. The agony of the silence pained her more than the gun ever would. The waiting for death seemed worse than any pain she had ever felt. Her mind was blank and confused, there were no flashes of life before her, only fear.

‘Wait, you can’t fire that, we’ll have the police here within minutes.’ Clive took hold of Swifty’s arm.

‘Are you mad?’ Clive watched as Swifty placed the gun at his side again.

‘Yes, perhaps your right, but I knew that anyway Clive, what’s wrong with having a bit of fun first?’ Swifty smiled as he stared at the two girls who’s life he held.

‘Jesus Swifty, you call that fun, you sick bastard.’ Clive was disgusted. It was barbaric torture, a side of Swifty he hadn’t seen. For if he had, he would have run. Everything so-far had gone to plan, Claire had gone on ahead to drop off the painting, she had collected the money and waited for them in Costa Rica, the only thing that altered the plot, was Sophie. Clive had to silence her, he had intended in paying her off, Swifty had refused, he knew a better way, he wanted to scare her off, unfortunately circumstances had changed, and the scare had become confused with murder.

Foster was just about to give the GO! She had watched and waited, tidied up all the different angles of organisation and now had everything and everyone in place. They all knew their involvement and were awaiting her order. The heading team were going to enter the premises, they were armed and ready. The radio sounded as she stood in alert.

‘Wait...there is someone approaching the house.... it’s a man.

Forest peered anxiously to catch a glimpse of the stranger, if he had seen any of the armed police, they were in trouble. The planning would have been thrown into the air, along with thousands of pounds worth of tax payers money. A stake-out like this, wasn’t cheap, she could lose everything, including her reputation. The radio sounded again, ‘He’s entered the building, ma’am.’

‘Did you get a positive ID?’

‘No, ma’am, we couldn’t get a good look at his face.’

Forest had yet another decision to make, she obviously couldn’t just go ahead as planned, she didn’t know who this man was, his involvement or his innocence in all of this mess. Walter’s knew the strain, he had felt this before, you could always have the best plans wasted by an unsuspecting visitor. It could easily have been an unsuspecting passer by or a woman walking her dog. All they could do was wait.

‘If he stays in there, then we can assume that A. He’s in on it. or B. It’s against his will, either way we have to go. She seemed calm in her equation. Walter’s could only agree with her. He had figured that out for himself. Not that he would have said that. It was her party.

Swifty froze nervously as the footsteps came closer. Clive glanced towards the sound and waited for the face to appear. Sophie too, looked on with anticipation, hoping that someone had come to help her and Sarah. Hoping it was over now, somehow she couldn’t trust her thoughts, she wanted to believe she was safe, but she knew the chance was slim. As the figure neared her, she gasped.

‘James, my god...Oh my god.’ She cried as she faced the man who she knew to be dead.

‘I..I thought you were dead, he shot you.’

James had a show of disgust on his face, ‘He told you that?’

‘Yes, he said he would tell the police that I had shot you, I had killed you.’

James kissed Sophie on the cheek. ‘I did warn you. The guys an arse hole.’

Clive smiled innocently, the irony of his smile wasn’t enough to hide his shame. He felt like the little boy behind the bike sheds. The one with the fag. If only his crime was as insignificant. Sophie glared at him, a glare of hatred. Clive faced her with little remorse. Sophie felt stupid. She could have gone to the police, this needn’t have gone so far. She could be home with Sarah, they could be getting on with their lives.

‘Why are you doing this, Clive?’

James interrupted before Clive had a chance to answer. ‘Because he doesn’t know when to stop. That’s why he lost Christina. She had the sense to leave him. She saw through him from day one, all his thieving and lies after lies. He never cared for anyone but himself. All this, it’s all from dirty money. Everything, from the shoes on his feet, to the floor we stand on, all of it.

‘What the fuck is going on? What have you done now?’ His voice quietened as he knelt to check on the girls. Sophie gripped his arm. ‘Please James, help her’ James stared at the once beautiful Sophie, her eye was black and some dried blood laced her cheek. Her friend looked grey and lifeless. James turned to Swifty, he had seen the blameless look on his face, he ignored it.

‘What the hell is going on?’

Clive was quickest to answer, ‘It’s got nothing to do with you, it’s all in hand’

‘In hand. Is this what you call in hand? Look at them. Look what you did.’

Sophie felt eased at the thought of having someone on her side. If only he could protect them.

‘Fuck this, I’ve had enough of this waiting about shit. James, don’t make me scare you. Why don’t you just toddle off back to your hole and shut the door behind you?’ Swifty approached them again, this would be the last time he would do it. He reached for Sophie and placed his hands round her neck, he laughed at her tiring struggles. Clive moved in and held James back as he struggled to remove Swifty’s grip from her neck. Sophie could feel the grip tighten, she could see only his eyes as he squeezed her throat, straining the life from her inner soul. A terrific thud echoed in Clives ears and as quickly as he had heard it, a barrage of armed police had entered the house.

‘POLICE. DON’T MOVE!’ the police entered the room at every angle. Clive was pushed to the floor in the chaos. He watched the scene as though it was in slow motion. He tried to view Sophie and Sarah, but his view was blocked by legs. Above him, he could make out a uniformed man, with a gun pointing at him. He lay still, the shock holding him to the floor.

Swifty let go of Sophie and stood helpless as she slumped to the floor. He quickly moved his hand inside his pocket and removed his revolver. He grabbed Sophie again and held the gun against her head. Sophie panicked as the shouts of the police filled the room, then the sound of gun fire.

Clive froze, he stared at the figure standing over him. Clive knew that he hadn’t been shot, if he had, he hadn’t felt it, could nerves be so numbing? He knew the shot had to have hit somewhere else or someone else. Sophie screamed as she too realised that she was still alive. She turned to see the ruthless, apathetic Swifty clutching his chest, where her knifes had pierced, warm with blood. He fell to the floor and lay still. Sophie was ushered to the doorway and ran out of the house with two policemen. She felt the cool air of the outdoors blow against her face. She was free. She was alive.

Clive walked handcuffed into the awaiting van, it sped off into the night as though it hadn’t been there at all. An ambulance paramedic unit raced inside the house, Sophie watched as they brought her friend out of the house, she was free too. She ran to the ambulance and kissed her friend, who was being carefully, but quickly attended to by the paramedics. Sarah was unaware of the chaos as she lay unconscious in the ambulance. She couldn’t see her friends tears, or the look of freedom on her face. Sophie hoped that she would see it soon.

The hospital was busy and Sophie knew the night would be long. Forest sat beside her and offered her a coffee. It was over, they were going home. Sophie let her head fall on Forests’ shoulders and cried. It was time to tell her everything, she would only be free when she had done so.

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