Chapter Nineteen

Neve

"Wash," orders Finn angrily. He drops a bar of soap on the mattress where I lay. He'd had two buckets of warm water brought down to the cellar, and the other two girls had eagerly washed, happy to feel clean again.

"No," I mutter, turning my back to him and curling my knees up to my chest. I was still wearing the tatters of silver dress he'd ripped from me and I had no intention of stripping off in front of him.

"Fine," he mutters, moving away. I gasp when cold water hits me, sitting up and spluttering. "We'll do this my way." He then whistles and two men come down the steps. I watch in horror as they each position themselves beside the mattress. "Hold her," says Finn.

I scream in anger as they each grab a limb, pinning me to the bed. "Get off me," I yell, trying to fight them off.

"You always have to be so fucking stubborn," snaps Finn, picking up the bar of soap and rubbing it onto a sponge, "I asked you nicely." He shreds the remains of my dress and begins to wash me. I don't stop fighting, screaming at the top of my lungs until my throat aches in protest.

When he's finished and is satisfied that I'm clean, he grabs a bucket of water and swills me. The two men release me and leave. Finn throws a towel my way. "Dry off and then dress in that," he instructs, pointing to a dress sitting on the bottom step. "If you mess me around, I'll call those men back and I'm sure they'll come up with creative ways to make you comply."

"What's happening, Finn? Where are you going to take me. What did that man want and where's Harlee."

He spins back to me, pointing a finger in my face. "Fuck you, Neve. I don't owe you an explanation, not after what you did to me."

"Quit your bitching, you're still, here aren't you?" I yell angrily.

Finn shoves his hands in his pockets heads for the steps. "I told Ryder that he owed me a woman, what do you think I meant by that Neve?" He stops turning to face me again. "Alice was mine. We were meant to be, and he ruined everything. She died in his fucking arms," he hisses, balling his fists.

Everything suddenly makes sense. "It was you," I gasp, "You were the other man. You pushed her."

"Clever girl. It was all because of him. So now I'm taking you. I want him to suffer, to know what it feels like to lose the one person that you love more than anything. I was changing for her, I was going to be a better man."

"He went to prison for something he didn't do," I yell. "He's suffered enough. Fuck," I snap, "I bet it galled you when you knew we were together. You killed her, not him."

"It was an accident and he caused it. Now he's determined to make my life hell, stealing my shipments, taking my clients, offering my girls work at his strip club. He brought this on himself, so when you get to your new home with your new owner, think back to this and remember that he put you in this situation, he should have left me well alone."

"Finn, listen to what you're saying. I am the mother of your child, are you really going to use me to prove a point to Ryder? What about Harlee?"

"Harlee is fine. She'll be happy with Mary."

I bend slightly, the pain in my chest intensifying. "No Finn, no. Please, please don't take her away from me. You loved me once, how can you do this?"

"I loved you and then you ruined it by having her. You should have kept things the way they were."

"Think about Alice, would she want this? She wanted you to be better."

He marches over to me and I scramble back until I hit the wall. I screw my eyes closed, waiting for the blow but it doesn't come. "Don't ever speak about her again," he hisses, close to my face. "Now get dressed, we have to leave in five minutes." I watch as he leaves, and then the women rush over, wrapping me in their arms.

"Oh Neve," Adelina says with a sigh, "Poor Neve."

"I'm fine," I whisper, my words barely a whisper. "We have to be brave now. When we get a chance, we must run because they are going to sell us tonight to bad men. We can't let them sell us." Both women nod, stepping back so that I can pull on the short black dress. "If you get the chance to go on your own, then you must take it, don't stop to help me or they will kill you. Just run, fast."

Adelina repeated the same to Malia who nodded, with tears in her eyes.

The door opens again and Finn stands at the top. "Let's go," he snaps.

We all take each other's hands and I lead us up the steps. We have no shoes or underwear, just the short black dress and as we follow him out onto the gravel driveway, I wince as sharp stones stick to my feet.

We're instructed to get into a black Range Rover. Finn climbs in the front along with the driver. "The doors are child locked so don't get any ideas."

Ryder

I blow my warm breath into my hands. We've not long arrived but it's cold with a strong wind blowing off the Thames. Griff hands me a hat and I pull it on, grateful for extra warmth.

The place is dead, and although we're opposite the entrance to the docks, I'm still stressed thinking we might miss them. We've stationed thirty other men in and around the stacked shipping containers. All armed and all just waiting for my order.

I still when my earpiece crackles and Bear announces, "Three Vehicles approaching."

Two minutes later, three Vehicles turn into the docks and take a right, slowly driving in convoy. We wait until they're out of sight before Griff taps my shoulder and indicates for me to follow him. We weave in and out of containers as silently as we can until we spot the taillights on the third car, slowing down.

Crouching down behind a barrel, we wait as the vehicle doors open. Two security men in dark clothing step out first and open the doors on a container. They go back to the vehicle and drag a female from the back. She's struggling and fighting against them. I go to rush over but Griff stops me, shaking his head. "Wait," he whispers.

The guard slaps the girl hard and she screams. He holds her arms behind her back, "Gag the stupid bitch," he growls, and the other guard steps forward and proceeds to wrap material around the girl's face.

A second girl steps from the vehicle, dressed the same as the first, neither looked familiar. It's only when a third gets out that I gasp. Neve. Griff grabs my arm, smiling with relief. The doors to the other vehicles are opened and security wait with big umbrellas, keeping the men that get out, dry.

Neve

I see my opportunity. Adelina is being difficult, fighting against the man holding her. The other security men step in to help, leaving me and Malia to follow on. I squeeze Malia's hand and use my eyes to indicate that she should get ready. I glance back, Finn is shaking hands with other men, all smiling and greeting each other enthusiastically.

I give Malia's hand a small tug, before turning to run. Shouting rings out all around us, and I feel a hand brush against me, letting me know that there's someone hot on our tales. I daren't look back, instead I focus ahead. And then I lose my footing, the mud beneath me making it impossible to stay upright and I crash to the floor with Malia landing on top of me. Laughter comes from behind and humiliation burns me. We were so close.

Finn looms over me, laughing hard. And then he crouches, grabbing a handful of my hair and pulling me to my knees. "You stupid cunt," he hisses.

The click of a gun surprises us both and for a second, I think I'm hallucinating. "Get your hands off my old lady," growls Ryder, his voice low and menacing. I almost laugh with relief. I never thought I'd see him again after tonight.

Finn yanks me to him, standing with an arm around my waist. I feel something sharp pressed to my neck. "Good evening, Ryder. How nice of you to join us uninvited."

"I wouldn't do anything stupid if I was you, Finn, look around." My eyes trail over the men that appear from the shadows, all dressed in black, all armed. Finn is outnumbered, but he presses the blade harder into my skin and I begin to feel panic. He only wants Ryder to feel pain, and seeing my throat cut, would give him the best results.

"You're making a huge mistake, Ryder."

"Bigger than letting you live when I had the perfect opportunity to kill you?" asks Ryder. "I should have chased you down instead of comforting Alice. I should have slit your damn throat."

"Do you know what she told me, what she said before I pushed her?" Finn taunts. Ryder remains quiet and Finn laughs. "She told me she was pregnant with your fucking kid, pregnant by a scumbag."

Ryder remains calm but I can tell by the tick of his jaw this is new information to him. Finn continues, "She came to tell me it was over, she was leaving me because you and her were out in the open. Stupid bitch. There was no way I was letting her leave me for you, and then, even after all of that, you go after my wife. You must like my cast offs."

Ryder glares hard. "So then you let me take the blame for her death, even though it was you all along."

"Boo fucking who. You couldn't just leave it could you. You had to come and try and ruin me. Well fuck you. Have this stupid whore, she's useless to me anyway." He shoves me towards Ryder who catches me, sagging in relief as he grips me to him.

Suddenly, the place is bathed in blue. Police cars surround us. "Armed Police. Drop your weapons," shouts an officer.

I cling to Ryder harder, pushing my face into his chest. "Baby," he whispers, letting go of me. "We have to step apart, they aren't fucking about."

"No," I murmur, refusing to move.

"They have guns, Neve. Let me go. You're safe now."

A female officer gently take my arm. "Come with me," she whispers.

Ryder

Officers begin to cuff men. The chief of police comes over and Griff hands over the recording device. "Well done," he says, patting him on the back. "I'll be in touch."

"I'm sure you will," Griff utters. He hadn't been keen on making a deal, or even approaching the chief, but we had no choice. It was taking too long to get to Neve and this was the perfect opportunity to get Finn for what he did to Alice. Apparently, the chief had been playing Finn all along. The dinners and golf had all been a ploy to find out more about the shady shit he was doing. We decided to partner and nail the bastard. Plus the chief agreed to help us secure custody of Harlee and get an injunction against Finn, which means safety for my old lady.

"Where's Neve?" I ask and the chief points to a nearby police car.

"Ryder, you need to know that we found the house where Neve was kept. Harlee wasn't there." I give a nod, I'd suspected as much.

I go over to the car and the second Neve sees me, she climbs out, releasing the hands of the other two girls who are sobbing in relief.

"Have they got Harlee?" she asks.

I shake my head and she pales. "They're working on it Siren. We'll get her back."

"His house maid took her. Her name is Mary. She lost her own child. She looked after Finn when he was a kid."

"Okay baby, okay. I'll tell the chief. We'll get her back I promise."