Josh just managed to suppress his grin of triumph when the doorman hailed one of the cabs waiting for the Dorchester’s wealthy clients. It was worth the tip he’d had to give the doorman just to be inside the warmth of the taxi instead of outside on the freezing cold street.
It didn’t take the cabby more than a few minutes to reach the Russells’ address. After telling the driver that he wanted him to wait, Josh headed for the entrance.
Initially the doorman was reluctant to answer him when Josh asked him if he’d seen Rose, but when Josh pointed out to him that if, as he suspected, she was being held in the Russells’ flat against her will and Josh had to report that to the police, he gave in.
‘Arrived about half an hour ago,’ he told Josh. ‘But no one forced her to go in. Knocked on the door, she did, and then went in herself.’
‘I expect you’ve got a spare key for emergencies and that,’ said Josh in a friendly manner.
‘’Ere, I can’t give you no spare key. Lose me job, I would, if I was to do that.’ The doorman looked and sounded anxious.
‘Then I’ll just have to help myself to it, won’t I?’ Josh told him cheerfully, adding, ‘Don’t worry, I did a bit of boxing when I did my national service. I’ll make sure to give you a good pair of black eyes and a broken nose as well, if you like. That should convince everyone that I had to take it from you.’
The doorman’s hand was trembling as he removed the key from the bunch on the heavy key ring he took out of his trouser pocket, and handed it over.
‘Thanks, mate. I’d scarper for a few minutes now, if I was you.’
The doorman didn’t need any urging, already disappearing in the direction of a flight of stairs.
She had escaped from him, but for how long, Rose wondered, shaking with fear as she stood trapped in a small space close to the windows, behind a sofa. Arthur Russell had picked up a ruler that had been lying on a coffee table and now he stood in front of her, bringing it down lightly on his own open palm whilst he watched her with a look that made her skin crawl.
‘Now I really am going to have to punish you,’ he warned. ‘You need to learn some important lessons. I should have thought that a girl like you would have known better than to make me angry.’
Rose looked desperately towards the door.
‘You can’t keep me here like this,’ she warned him with a bravado she was far from feeling. ‘When Mrs Russell returns—’
Her words made him laugh out aloud.
‘Don’t bother was
ting your time pinning your hopes on her. She won’t be back until gone midnight and by then, my little lovely, I’ll have had what I want, several times. I should warn you that my tastes are rather unconventional, and that deliciously shaped little rear end of yours has been tantalising me since the first time I saw it. Ever had it that way before? Some girls don’t care for it, but I can tell that you aren’t that sort. Goes with the breeding. Everyone knows that the girls in Hong Kong are the best in the business.’
Horror crawled through Rose’s veins. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Josh sometimes joked about the sexual practices of the homosexuals who worked in the salon, she suspected that she wouldn’t really have known just what it was Arthur Russell was referring to. She certainly hadn’t known that it was something that men did to women, and the thought filled her with fear and nausea. She tried frantically to dart past her aggressor but had to retreat back behind the sofa when Arthur Russell swiped out at her with the ruler, bringing it down against her hand with a stinging blow.
If the bastard had put a safety chain across the door then he was stymied, Josh acknowledged as he slid the key into the lock. But to his relief, the door opened easily, allowing him to step into the hallway with its over-ornate décor. Several doors opened off the hall and Josh approached them each in turn, listening carefully outside them, giving a grunt of satisfaction when he heard the sound of a male voice on the other side of a pair of double doors.
Rose didn’t know which of them was the more surprised when the doors to the drawing room were suddenly opened by Josh.
‘Josh,’ was all she managed to stammer with relief as she was finally able to dart past her gaoler whilst his attention was focused on Josh.
‘Thought I’d better come and get you, seeing as you didn’t turn up for our date,’ he mock-chided her.
‘What the devil’s going on?’ Russell was demanding. ‘How the hell did you get in here? Neither of you is going anywhere. I’m calling the police.’
‘Good idea,’ Josh agreed affably, whilst Rose tensed, terrified that somehow Arthur Russell might have the power to convince the police that they were the wrongdoers and not he.
‘I’ve already tipped off a mate of mine that works for the Express that I might have a juicy story for him all about a certain businessman,’ Josh continued. ‘The wife know about your little hobby, does she, ’cos if she doesn’t she soon will.’
‘You’ll be sorry for this,’ Russell warned Josh. ‘I’ll make bloody sure of that.’
He came at them with such speed, his fists bunched, that Rose was sure they would both end up trapped, but somehow Josh managed to push her out of the way and then sidestep Russell, turning round to raise his own fists and then deliver a blow that had Russell gasping in pain and clutching his middle as he sagged towards the floor.
Josh looked at him. He was sorely tempted to deliver a blow to the fallen man that would ensure it was a long time before he wanted to go near any woman again, but he was conscious of Rose and the need to get her away to safety, so with some reluctance he left his opponent and went to Rose, telling her firmly, ‘Come on. I’ve got a cab running up a bloody fare that will cost me a fortune.’
Just the sound of Josh’s voice somehow alleviated the horror that had gripped her. They were outside and in the taxi almost before Rose could draw breath. Once she had, she began to tremble so violently that Josh had to put his arm round her.
‘I’ll never be able to repay you for what you’ve done for me, Josh, never.’