No doubt the murderous men were guarding the front door anyway and she would never make it. She heard the shoes echoing against the cold concrete slab and she flattened herself against the walls and inched backwards from the voices.
She couldn’t believe it. She dared not believe it. Her heartbeat was thundering inside her chest. She must be having a nightmare. She heard the lightning and saw the thunder crash through the sky from the windows high above.
“I’ll check this room,” she heard someone say but the voice was moving farther away not nearer.
She felt along the blackness even as she knew the men were searching for her. It was unthinkable. Unbelievable. She still couldn’t grasp the face of the man who had stared back at hers. She shivered. She couldn’t stop to dwell on it now. She must leave this place and find Val. He could end this.
She was feeling her way along the wall when before her she saw a set of concrete steps. A door! Her heart beat faster. It was a door! She moved down the steps just as she heard someone crash into the other side of the building.
“That’s far enough!” A voice yelled and she heard many other voices as she sank with relief.
It was Val. Val was here. Val was here. The nightmare was over. The monsters were caught. She clutched at her purse and was about to pull herself up the small stairs when two strong arms came around her.
The arms jerked her forcefully back causing her to collide into him.
“Not so fast, Caroline. It’s not over. Yet.”
Chapter 25
Val entered the building with Felix followed by the two overly eager constables. They were quick to show their desire to do his bidding and when Val came face to face with Charles, he wasn’t entirely surprised.
“I didn’t want this. I-I didn’t do anything.” He stammered.
“You lured Caroline here for what? Tea and scones?” Val said angrily.
“Arrest everyone,” he told the constables as he and Felix searched for Caroline.
“Not me, Pierce. I couldn’t do it,” Charles yelled out. “They were trying to make me, but I couldn’t.”
“Possibly the most truthful thing you’ve told me since this all began,” he said coldly.
One constable yelled out that they had discovered two men trying to escape but no woman as of yet had been discovered. When the men were brought into Val’s vision of sight, he laughed.
“What sort of joke is this?”
“No joke Guvnor. These were the men that were trying to escape.” The constable said solemnly.
“These men?” Val said pointing to the two men held in captivity.
“Yes, Guvnor,” the young constable nodded. “Caught them trying to sneak away we did.”
Val looked at the two men being held by the constables and he felt his heart heavy inside his chest. He thought he might be in some horrible nightmare but he knew it was not so.
“Take them away.” He said.
The four men exited leaving behind Felix and Charles.
“Where is she, Charles? Tell me. This will go easier for you if you do,” Val told the man.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know where he took her.”
One of the constables returned breathing heavily. “We just saw a man and a woman get into a carriage heading down the main street. She was yelling in the rain and he had her by the arm. We couldn’t hold our prisoners and rescue her.”
Val nodded and instantly Felix took Charles while Val headed outside and jumped inside his own cab which had been waiting.
“Did you just see a carriage leave?”
The driver nodded.