Charlotte
It hurts. Oh God…. It hurts.
Master. Where are you?
Michael…
Momma…
I’m cold…
I’m so cold.
They’ll come. They’ll come…
Stay calm…
The pain ripples over my stomach and I writhe, curling around myself as, inside, my body clenches and spasms… And with the contraction, my lungs pulse out another fit of coughing, racking my chest and throat.
Oh God… Come soon…
Please come soon…
*****
James
Back home, Klempner broods in silence, staring at the pinned-up face on the wall; the ‘medic’, as I tell the tale of our encounter with Finchby
“So, do you believe him?” asks Richard… “Klempner? Klempner… Are you with us at all?”
Klempner seems to jerk back to reality. “Sorry… lost in thought, there. But no, not necessarily. His story doesn’t sound right. As I told James here, Finchby’s sharp. A bit of misdirection would be just his style. Baxter has no cause to be at odds with me. I didn’t abandon him. He wasn’t there to be abandoned. The last time I saw him was when Ben had knocked him unconscious at the bottom of those stairs and taken his gun. As I left, Baxter wasn’t there. He’d obviously regained consciousness and made a sharp exit. And given that the police were on the doorstep, so did I.”
“So how did you pay him whatever it was you owed him?”
Klempner shrugs. “I forwarded it to his bank in the normal way.”
Richard folds his arms. “Don’t suppose you’d care to share the details of that? It might help sweeten my relationship with Will Stanton.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” snaps Klempner. “It is implicit in these dealings that we don’t rat on each other.” Klempner’s gaze sharpens. “Sweeten what with Will Stanton?”
“I have to talk to him, Klempner. We go back years. At a time like this, he would think it very odd if I weren’t asking him for regular updates…”
“And…?”
“And… he… knows I’m holding something back.”
Beth cuts in. “Will probably thinks there is a ransom demand and you’re preparing to pay it. He wouldn’t like that.”
Klempner looks doubtful…
“If he knew you were here…” says Richard… “…do you think we’d still be talking? And do you seriously think that I wouldn’t follow what I thought was the best route for getting Charlotte back safely.?”
Klempner Hmmms…
Richard continues. “If it was plain misdirection on Finchby’s part, would he have known enough of your affairs with… What was his name? Baxter… to be able to play that card?”
Klempner considers, chewing a thumbnail in that habit he has. “I don’t see why not. All he really said was that Baxter had been left behind after the business with…” His gaze shifts to Michael… “After the last time…” He chews on the nail again, seems to find nothing left to chew and instead gnaws at a finger knuckle. “What came out as public knowledge afterwards? I wasn’t here to have my ear to the ground.”
“Let’s see…” Richard muses… “It was known that party or parties unknown helped you break out whilst being transported between prisons. That you were somehow involved in the rescue of two women from…” His eyes also shift to the silent Michael… “… and that you and at least one other party vanished from the scene before the police arrived.”
“And that’s all that was public?”
“It’s about all that made it to the papers. And I wouldn’t have thought your Finchby was in the habit of gossiping with police officers.”
“He’s not, no. But he does know lawyers, and they’d know what was going through the court rumour-machine.”
“If that’s so, he could well know the whole story. And if he wanted to hatch some trouble, it would be easy for him to do. He’d have facts enough to concoct a plausible story that would send you along the wrong path.”
*****
Charlotte
This is one of the parts of the magic of motherhood they don’t dwell on.
My body is trying to eject a baby. But everything else gets ejected too. Everything.
I’ve read that it helps the baby later on if, minute-one, she gets a healthy dose of Mama’s dirt and bacteria to kick-start the immune system.
That doesn’t mean I want to lie in it.
Above me, the camera indicator blinks red.
Bastards!!!
And as my abdomen spasms, it takes my lungs with it, coughing out, hard enough to puke.
Calm down… Keep control…
Count…
Count the timing…
One… Two… Three…
… Three-thirty… Three-thirty-one… Three-thirty-two…
And my body squeezes inside… The pain shimmers down, my muscles spasming…
And I cry out.
Remember the lessons…
Breathe…
In through the nose…
Out through the mouth…
In…
Out…
My abdomen convulses…
And I scream…
The red light is suddenly joined by another, blinking green.
Master…
Michael…
You were supposed to be here…
Oh, God… Help me…
Please… Someone… Help Me…
*****