“Yeah, I’m really sorry I wasn’t able to give you more notice, Mrs Simmons – but it happened very suddenly to both of them. I know they were really looking forward to coming to your party.”
Zoe nodded as she held the telephone handset to her head. The young brunette haired au pair was wearing a short sleeved black dress, black tights and knee length black leather boots.
“Of course I’ll tell them both you hope they feel better soon, and thank you again Mrs Simmons. ‘Bye for now.” As she ended the call, she handed the telephone over to the man standing beside her, who smiled as he said “very well done. Now, please, turn round and put your hands behind your back.”
“What exactly is it you are going to do,” Zoe said quietly as her arms were taken behind her back, and she felt the rope rubbing on her bare wrists as they were secured together.
“Oh don’t worry,” the man said in his soft Geordie accent, “if you all do exactly as we say, everyone gets along just fine, and the family have a story to tell.” He was dressed in a dark blue boiler suit, and also wore a pair of black workman’s boots, black leather gloves – and a black balaclava which only allowed his eyes and mouth to be seen.
“There,” he said quietly as he tied the ropes off, and tucked the loose ends into the bands, “now, why don’t we walk back into the front room, and you can keep an eye on your charges while we are about our business?”
They had arrived at nine that morning – an hour ago – just as she was preparing to drive Emily and Robert to the event they had been invited to. They had, however, been most persuasive in terms of staying at home today to the children, to their mother and to herself – and the man when he had spoken had somehow managed to calm all of them down as well despite their fears.
There were four of them – but as the man guided her into the front room and made her sit in the armchair, only one of the other three was in the room as well. The only woman, she spoke with a Scottish accent, and smiled as she said “There noo – yer friend’s safe, and yer’ no afreed any more, are ye?”
Emily shook her head as she watched the masked man kneel down, and tie Zoe’s ankles tightly together with the rope. She and Robert had been scared at first, but the woman – she had said to call her Mrs McPhee – had explained how if they treated what was going to happen as a game, then everything was going to be all right.
She was sat on one side of the longer couch, her legs bent and the long skirt of dress covering them. It was white, with a black circle pattern, and she also had on a short black cardigan which covered her arms. She glanced down at the black shoes she was wearing, and the band of rope that went around and between her ankles there, then at the similar band that held her wrists together in front of herself. A length of rope linked the two together so that she was stuck in that position – well, that and something else that held her there.
“Ulrrtssses?”
“Yssmfn,” she said through the strip of white tape that held her lips closed, as she felt Robert trying to move behind her. Her older brother was wearing a black shirt, fawn pants and black trainers, but he had his wrists and ankles bound in the same way, a length of rope linking them. A further length of rope was tied round their waists, and their upper bodies around their arms and chests, keeping them firmly back to back.
“Did you have to tie them up and gag them as well,” Zoe said as the masked man stood up.
“Och they’re fine,” the masked woman said, “aren’t they Jay?”
“They are indeed Mrs McPhee,” the man said as one of the other two men looked in.
“House secured and all mobile phones collected Jay.”
“Excellent – now my dear, lips together please.”
Zoe stared at Jay as he pressed the strip of white tape firmly down over her lips and jaw, the material forming to the contours of her face as she looked at him.
“Good – would you stay here for a moment? I require a word with Mrs McPhee,” he said as he looked over, the masked man nodding.
“Ah willnae be a minute,” Mrs McPhee said as she looked at the children, “and when ah return, we’ll do a singalong, all reet?”
She could see the smile on Emily’s face as she nodded, Robert groaning as he shook his head while the two intruders left the room, and walked into the kitchen, the remnants of the breakfast dishes still there.
“Well, so far so good,” Mrs McPhee said quietly in her normal accent, “but I don’t like the idea of moving about in the middle of the day as we planned.”
“I’m not exactly fond of it either Yvonne,” Mark Williamson said, “but it’s the only way we can meet our objectives, and also do what Brian asked us to do.”
“I know, I know – but we’re taking an awfully big risk, especially with the bust street outside…”
“Yeah – at least we made sure the van was inconspicuous this time…”
Two weeks earlier
“You want Jay Edwards and Mrs McPhee to strike and leave during the day?”
“That’s right,” Brian Holderness-Carter said as he and his wife Sarah sat with Mark and Yvonne Williamson in their front room. Charlie and Lisa were spending the day with friends at Holderness Manor, allowing the adults to talk about the issue at hand.
“Not exactly what we are known for,” Yvonne said quietly as she sipped her coffee.
“We appreciate that,” Sarah said, “but there are reasons why we need you to do this.”
“Okay – so who’s the target for this daytime visit.”
Brian picked up a folder, and took out a photo of a woman in her early forties, with chestnut coloured hair. “This is Margaret Blair, self-made business woman. She runs a financial consultancy service from her home, where she lives with her children, twelve year old Robert and ten year old Emily. There’s also a live-in au pair, called Zoe.”
Mark looked at the photographs, and then passed them to Yvonne as he said “Husband?”
“Widow – works from home Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and we need you to visit on the Friday. If you time your visit to start between eight and nine, you should be able to secure the house and do what you need to do from her home office.”
“But the house is on a main street – how do we cover what we’re doing,” Yvonne said.
“We have time to figure that out,” Brian said, “but the key thing is you are finished your business by two thirty on that day.”
Mark and Yvonne looked at each other, before Mark said “Why?”
Now
As Mrs McPhee went back into the front room, and Jay heard the DVD for Moana start. He shook his head as he walked up to the first floor, and into an office. The fourth member of his team was there, along with Margaret Blair. Wearing a Laura Ashley print dress with short sleeves and a round collar, tights and knee length black boots, she was sat on a black computer chair, her ankles and legs secured with bands of rope, and a band of rope round her waist holding her to the chair back.
“Thank you for your patience, Margaret.”
“I had a choice? Where are my children and Zoe?”
“Secure downstairs,” Jay said with a smile, “but we have some business to discuss. Shall we begin?”