There were moments of sheer panic that swept over her, when Kate thought about what might happen if they kept her there, what if no-one came looking? She had no idea where she was, and wondered what if she was never found. She kept telling herself that she would be rescued; she knew she wasn’t being left for dead as Tanya and Jay were still in the house, she had heard them talking just outside of the door at the top of the stairs, saying that Billy would be just about ready to call, that they had made him sweat it out for a few days and now he would be willing to pay, whatever the cost. She had been shocked at Tanya’s voice, talking as if she hated Billy now; she was clearly out for everything she could get. This was all for money, Kate thought disgustedly: the pair of them deserved each other.
“That will teach him and that tarty little bitch he’s shagging,” Tanya had said nastily, obviously still seething at the fact that he had replaced her so quickly and in such a humiliating way, she would be a laughing stock now. Well, she would show him; he would be very sorry he had treated her like a piece of rubbish he could just throw away at a moment’s notice. Kate had been surprised to see that Jay had been behaving like a pathetic little puppy when he was around Tanya, it was clear he didn’t know how to play this situation out, and Tanya seemed to be the one barking out all the orders. Jay was just going along with it all like her little puppet; it was truly pathetic to witness. He hadn’t even had the bottle to look Kate in the eye on the few occasions he had brought her down food; mind you, if it had been left to Tanya she would have probably been left to starve, as she had seemed to take great pleasure in Kate’s predicament and made Kate feel as degraded and helpless as possible. Tanya had taken her to the toilet and watched as Kate struggled for privacy and didn’t give her the chance to clean herself up afterwards. She called her names and told her how much she hated her, how she had always hated her. That she blamed Kate for ruining her and Billy’s relationship and it was all her fault that she had started things up with Jay. She had muttered the same things over and over, appearing to make herself more and more irate each time. Kate wondered if Tanya was mentally unstable, she seemed to be losing the plot and acting irrationally, getting in more and more of a state about Billy as time went on.
Kate looked around for ways to get out should the opportunity arise, hoping that there might be a way for her to escape but from what she could see, other than the tiny window constantly covered by the dark curtain, there was only a door at the top of the stairs that led to the main house.
Tugging once again at her taped wrists, she knew there was little point even trying to think of an escape plan; there was no way she was getting out of the bloody tape, let alone the grimy basement. Wanting to cry with despair, she rocked herself to sleep; she was like a caged animaclass="underline" hungry, cold and scared. All she could do was pray: surely, it would not much longer now… but where was her brother, and where was Paul? Thinking of Paul she realised that she did have feelings for him. Emma had been right. She had done nothing but think of him since she had been here. She missed him so much and would have done anything to feel his arms around her right now. She had not made it to the meeting with him, she had been on her way there when she had been lured into the car by Jay, and she was still wondering what that was all about. Sometimes she let herself believe that he felt the same as her, and that he had been about to tell her. She knew she was being stupid and it was probably just something to do with the club but the warm, comforting thoughts kept her going as she closed her tear-stricken eyes and gave in to sleep.
Upstairs, Jay was struggling to get his head around what Tanya was saying.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, Tan: what’s the point? He’s going to know it’s us, he’s not fucking stupid.”
“Of course he’s going to know it’s us, Jay, from the minute he hears our voices on the phone he’ll know it’s us; that’s exactly why we need to do this, it’s the only way he’s going to take us seriously. Jay, he thinks you’re a fucking mug, trust me on this one. I’ve heard just about every opinion that bloke has on you a hundred fucking times; he has no respect for you whatsoever. We need to show him that we mean fucking business, or he’s going to think you’re just fucking with him.” Tanya lit up her first joint of the day: six o’clock in the morning was too early for a glass of wine, even by her standards.
Pacing the floor, Jay didn’t know what to do; in a way, Tanya was right, Billy had no respect for him, and Billy hated him with a passion and had treated him like a cunt. Billy had publicly made it known to everyone and anyone that no-one was to do any kind of business with him, and that was what pissed Jay off the most. He had worked hard to gain clout, and now he was going to have to go back to square one, dealing pathetic wraps to school kids. He needed this money as much as Tanya; and he needed to show Billy that he wouldn’t be mugged off by him… but this? This, he wasn’t sure he could do.
“I’ve done a lot worse, Tan, you and I both know that, but I don’t think I can do it. I guess I’ve been too close to her. Isn’t there some other way we can make him see we’re serious?”
“No, Jay, there isn’t. I want Billy to be sitting in his kitchen, my fucking kitchen, eating his poxy cornflakes, with that little slag, and I want him to get the shock of his life when he opens his mail and gets a couple of his sister’s fingers staring up at him. I hope he fucking chokes on his own vomit.”
“There must be some other way, surely—?”
Cutting him off, Tanya shouted, “There is no other way, Jay, this is it. Grow some fucking balls, or I’ll go down there and chop her bloody fingers off myself.”
Jay felt sick. Kate irritated the life out of him, but she was a good person at heart, a bit prim and proper but decent all the same. He knew he had treated her like a piece of crap on his shoe, she had been nothing more than a toy of which that he had quickly become bored and had then tossed aside. He had put her through more than one person deserved in a lifetime, yet she had not retaliated. She had simply picked up her bags and left, with not a word to him, and every ounce of dignity she had in her. He respected that.
Jay couldn’t even look Kate in the eyes when he had gone downstairs to give her food and water. Every time he had gone down to the basement he could feel her glaring at him, he could feel the hate radiating from her; he couldn’t bear it, he wanted to be a heartless bastard to her and take his anger out on her, but he felt none, in fact all he felt was guilt. There was no way he could do what Tanya wanted, and he knew he had to find a way of delaying her impulsiveness.
“Tan, babe, you’ve been watching too many gangster movies, we do mean business and we don’t need to start cutting people’s body parts off and sending them via Royal Mail to prove it love, trust me. We need to make the calclass="underline" today. We tell him what we want, and we tell him that unless we get it then, and only then, Tan, will we take more extreme measures to show him we’re serious.”
Tanya finished her joint; she stubbed it out in a little floral ashtray and sank down onto the sofa. She knew it made sense; she just really wanted to wipe that fucking grin off Billy’s smug bloody face. Tanya was starting to get pissed off with Jay, though; she could see that over the last few days he seemed to have a real problem doing anything that involved sorting out that sad cow, Kate. He didn’t even want to take food down to her, they had almost had a barney over it, and he had backed down. Tanya couldn’t stand the bitch, and the less she did for her the better.