As she slipped further out of consciousness, and into some black void, Vicki hoped to encounter Laurie. More than that, she hoped to reach out in the gloom, and possibly find her father. In her mind, the sound of the flames taking hold became the comforting sound of the ocean; her surroundings blurred into the scorching sand, in which Vicki felt herself buried in the hot sand … sinking deeper and deeper.
Somewhere in the confines of the bus, she sensed a presence.
‘Vicki, I’m here for you. It’s okay,’ the voice said softly.
I know, Vicki thought, you’re in the darkness here with me.
‘You need to help me,’ the distant voice said, ‘I need you to open your eyes.’
Vicki wanted to stay in the warm, safe abyss, but her eyes opened to find Leighton looking at her, his face soot covered, skin bleeding, and eyes concerned. She realised he had somehow, extinguished the fire and dragged the heavy man off her legs.
‘Hey there,’ he patiently urged. ‘I need you to reach up to me. Can you do that?’
‘We were right,’ she said softly.
‘I know.’ Leighton nodded. ‘But, you need help Vicki, so you must reach for me, okay? Do you think you can do that?’
Vicki slowly raised her left arm towards the retired detective, who gripped her wrist, and drew her safely towards him.
Once she was out of the confinement of the seat, Vicki could see for herself the carnage surrounding her. More than a dozen bodies were as she had been – crushed or pinned against the windows on the driver’s side. A couple of them who had been wearing seatbelts remained strapped into their seats. Almost all of them had their throats cut.
‘Come on,’ Leighton said, as he slipped a supportive arm around her waist. ‘This way.’
He guided her towards the burst skylight on the ceiling he had stepped through, but struck by a sudden thought, Vicki reached back to where the large man lay, and yanked the cluster of collected rings off his neck.
By the time Leighton had half-dragged and half-carried Vicki back up to the dusty road, she was struggling to remain conscious. Her shirt was nothing more than a slick vertical puddle, which seemed to be wicking away her blood. Leighton had hoped to drive Vicki directly to the nearest hospital then hand himself in, but when they reached the road, they discovered the police car was gone.
‘Shit!’ Leighton kicked at the ground.
‘The last one escaped,’ Vicki slurred, without fully opening her eyes. ‘He started the fire on the bus.’
‘It’s okay,’ Leighton said. ‘The road is a dead end, and the police will be here soon.’
Wincing against his own pain, Leighton helped Vicki to sit on the dusty roadside. He then sat beside her, with one supportive arm around her shoulder. Vicki tapped weakly at his leg, and he looked at her. She still had her eyes closed, but she began to speak.
‘You came through, Leighton - you saved me.’
‘No, miss,’ he said softly. ‘I think it’s the other way around. But, just you rest.’
It was at that moment the orange jeep swerved towards them. It screeched to stop, and a wild haired man stumbled out of it.
‘Are you, Jones?’ he called across to Leighton, who nodded cautiously.
‘Where’s the bus?’
‘What?’
‘They took my wife! Where’s the damned bus? I’ve been scanning the police channels. You said it was here!’
‘The bus is down there.’ Leighton nodded to the ravine. ‘But, there’s no woman on it.’
Mike Bernal grasped his skull, pacing backwards and forwards in desperation.
‘Listen,’ Leighton said calmly. ‘Somebody from the bus got away. They took the car I was using. Maybe they took her.’
‘Fuck!’ Mike kicked at the dusty jeep.
‘This road doesn’t go anywhere, other than to a couple of farm buildings. They can only be a few minutes ahead of us.’
‘Okay.’ Mike nodde with renewed hope, and started back towards the jeep.
‘She’ll have a better chance of surviving, if we come with you,’ Leighton said, as he helped Vicki to her feet. ‘I think I can help.’
43
Janey had only just started on her journey along the dusty track, when she saw the approaching police car, and felt the sudden deluge of hot tears drench her face. She turned around and ran back towards the house, waving wildly with one arm while covering her breasts with the other. The car pulled up in front of the farmhouse and screeched to a stop.
As the dust settled around the hot vehicle, a small, elderly looking detective got out of the car and glanced all around, before walking sternly towards the woman. The strange expression on his face, suggested he was both surprised and bemused by Janey’s appearance.
‘Thank god you’re here,’ she blurted, tears of relief already washing over her grazed face, ‘My name is Janey Burnal, and I was abducted. There was this bus, like a Greyhound, I was drugged and taken here, and-’
‘Did you call the cops?’ he asked flatly.
‘No, there was no phone. I was in there just-’
‘Is there anyone else here?’ he interrupted.
‘No, just me, but I think that others were killed here because-’
The small man held up a hand to silence her. ‘I have one question for you, ma’am?’
‘What?’ Janey frowned.
‘What the fuck did you do to Mr Dyer?’
Janey took a moment to realise the man standing before her was one of the men from the bus. She felt her bladder weaken. The man’s eyes were locked on her, cold and still, as he pulled the long knife from the waistband of his trousers.
‘You should accept you will die here today - it is your destiny. But, first, you will serve as a crude bargaining chip.’
44
As Leighton drove cautiously into the yard at the front of a farmhouse, he saw the police car abandoned to one side of the building. Despite his expectations, he found that Mike Bernal’s wife was alive and standing on the porch of the house. Behind her, however, was an elderly man holding what looked like a blade against the shining skin of her neck.
Leighton, his face ashen, stopped the car, and stepped carefully out of the jeep. Vicki remained slumped, semi-conscious, in the passenger seat.
‘Well, it looks like the nasty little cunt got herself a sugar daddy,’ the elderly man called.
‘What do you want?’ Leighton asked, his voice strained and weary. ‘Whatever it is, we can deal, and you can let the woman go.’
‘Oh, you poor fool.’ The man laughed. ‘I’ll leave here, with both women and that jeep.’
‘There’s a perfectly good police car right there.’ Leighton nodded to the cruiser. ‘It’d be faster.’
‘And easily tracked from the air, too. No, an inconspicuous old jeep will suffice. Now, open the driver door, then step back in front of the vehicle!’
Leighton, without any other options, did as he was told, returning to stand dead centre in front of the car.
‘Now, place your hands on your head and kneel down. If I see you move, I will give this bitch a cheap fucking nose job.’
Locking his fingers on his head, Leighton knelt in the dust.
The elderly man pushed Janey out in front of him, and they moved around Leighton and towards the jeep. As Janey neared the vehicle, Leighton mouthed a silent prayer she wouldn’t recognise it. If she did, no vestige of it showed in her face. He knew he had to keep the attention on himself.