It had been a strange six months with what the whole being abducted and being held captive thing and then having to help exonerate Wing Commander Gail Denmark of the charges of treason against her. That had taken longer than I had expected but it was the right thing to do. When that was finally sorted out, I had found a new job, I had indeed been downsized by my former firm, but it had worked out well as I was now in a job that I actually enjoyed. I had also plucked up enough courage to ask Gail out, but my advance was stoutly rebuffed. Anyway, I had decided to take a holiday to recharge my batteries. This time planned and as far away from home and the beach as I could do. That was how I ended up in a Russian holiday resort in early winter. There was a covering of snow on the ground and the temperature had dropped since yesterday, hence why I was wearing a down jacket over a t-shirt and sweater. To defend against the cold, I also had on thick gloves along with a hat and a pair of thermal-lined trousers. I wasn’t much of a skier so just contented myself with some outdoor activities and enjoying the nightlife at the various restaurants, pubs and clubs in the resort.
It was after a night out where I had fallen in with a group of Danish students that I had decided to head out and get some fresh air and some food. I vaguely remember my new friends mentioning the name of a bar so I thought that I would give that a try for lunch the following day, see if they would be there and see what they were up to. Using the wonders of modern technology, I managed use my phone to get the location and headed off. On my way toward the bar, I was in my own world but walked between two women. “Sorry ladies,” I apologised. As I got the other side of them, I glanced round to see if I could get a better look at their faces, something in the back of my mind called to me I had seen them before. They didn’t glance back or acknowledge my apology and I couldn’t see anything as they both wore massive, full length, down coats with the hoods flicked up. Honestly it looked like someone had pumped up the jackets. Anyway, the bar was now in sight, so I shrugged it off and headed off to find out what the day held in store.
I didn’t find my new Danish friends, but I had a great burger and was currently sat at the bar enjoying a cider and exchanging chat with the barmaid when she wasn’t serving when the door opened. I spun round to see two bundled up figures enter the bar. Although it was only the middle of the afternoon the bar was busy and the new arrivals were struggling to find a seat as I turned back to enjoy my cider and try and attract the attention of the lovely barmaid. It was then that I felt the presence of some people standing to my right. The barmaid smile and was heading in my direction, I was about to offer some of my best chat when she walked a pace past me and stopped, the new arrival had obviously got her attention. “Two mojitos please,” a female voice said.
“Come on, are we really on the cocktails this early,” a second female voice replied. This one sounded familiar.
“Mojitos barely count as cocktails.” The first voice said. “We will build up to the better stuff.”
“Look, I came here for a break and some rest and relaxation,” the second voice replied. “I don’t want to get blitzed every day!” I definitely knew that voice. I spun round on my stool to let my eyes confirm what my ears were telling me. I caught enough of the woman’s face before she turned away from me. It was indeed Wing Commander Gail Denmark.
“Hello Gail,” I said to her back. Even with her back to me I could tell she had recognised the voice. It took her a couple of seconds to turn around. Gail had on a long down jacket which was at this point unzipped to reveal a down vest. “Great to see you. How have you been getting on?”
“Fine, thanks,” Gail replied. It was clear that she was a little uncomfortable. “Just trying to get away from things, fresh scenery, clear the head.” There was a cough from the other woman.
“Jake,” Gail said, “this is my cousin Jessica.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” I say, and it genuinely was. Jessica was an attractive woman, around five foot four inched tall, with a slender hourglass figure, long auburn hair, bright hazel coloured eyes and a beaming smile. “My friends call my Jess.” Jess it was then.
“Can I get you ladies a drink?” I asked.
“That would be…” Jess said before Gail put an arm on hers.
“Thanks, but we are just going to the one and then move on,” Gail said firmly.
“Oh,” I said, a little hurt. The barmaid returned with their drinks and am awkward silence descended.
“Sorry I didn’t reply to your text messages,” Gail said as if trying to restart the conversation.
“No, that’s fine.” Gail turned and headed for a table that had just become vacant, Jess looked at me, shrugged and followed Gail with her drink in one hand. I turned around and drained the rest of my cider, the barmaid smile pointed at my glass. I shook my head suddenly not interested in either another drink or some chat. Leaving the ladies to it I left the bar and headed back to my room.
“So how do you know Jake?” Jess asked once they were sat at the table.
“It was that thing last year,” Gail replied sheepishly.
“So, he was the guy that you were kidnapped with?”
“Well, I wouldn’t out it quite like that,” Gail responded. Jess gave her a look. “We were both abducted at different times by the same group and happened to be held in the same place.”
“You never mentioned that he was cute,” Jess said with a mischievous smile.
“You really think so,” Gail replied. “I just want to put the whole incident behind me and move on anyway.”
“So, you wouldn’t mind if I gave him a call?” Jess said. “Sounded like you had his number.” Gail didn’t reply, just raised the glass to her lips and took another sip of her cocktail.
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When I got back to my hotel, I was going to head straight to my room but I heard the sounds of people having fun from the bar and decided to investigate. Maybe their cheer would rub off on me. When I reached the bar, I managed to squeeze in, catch the eye on the bartender and order a rum and coke. As I stood enjoying my drink, I overheard two fellow tourists engaged in a conversation. “I went to buy some new hiking boots earlier, but the place was closed. It seems someone broke into the sports good store,” “What did they take?”
“Some money, climbing rope, those collapsible camping bags and a whole pile of sleeping bags.”
“Indeed.”
“Yeah, they left two staff members bound and gagged.” I was hearing the conversation but not listening, my mind was elsewhere.
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Having had two drinks with Jess, Gail had given into her pestering and given her Jake’s number. Then Jess had started talking to a couple of girls that she knew from a previous trip. Taking her chance Gail had grab her coat and slipped away, she just wanted to find some quiet, walk and clear her head. Whilst walking aimlessly Gail turned into a quiet side street between and headed down. Halfway down Gail noticed that there was a woman walking toward her, well Gail was positive it was a woman due to the footwear, which was the only real giveaway. The woman wore a large, full length down coat that looked like I had been overfilled to provide extra warmth. The exterior of the coat was blue and the internal bright yellow. The figure had the hood up the two flaps fastened together so that the only part of the face that was visible would have been the woman’s eyes, if they hadn’t been covered with sunglasses. There was a car on her left and just as she passed the rear door opened, Gail thought nothing of it until the woman wearing the long coat suddenly lunged at her. “Oft!” Gail exclaimed as she landed face down on the leather covered rear seat. Gail felt herself being bundled into the back of the car, landing with a bump on the back seat. Instantly she felt a pair of hands on her coat lift and drag her further into the vehicle before pressing her face down into some kind of soft pillow that was on somebody’s lap. “UUMMHH, HHRRHH,” Gail screamed but it was muffled by the pillow. Instinctively Gail began to lash out with both arms and legs but it was awkward being face down and any blows were glancing off the large down jackets that her attackers were wearing. Then an arm looped around her legs and they were held together before Gail heard the thump of the car door closing. Quickly Gail felt rope being wrapped around her ankles several times as despite her best efforts they were pulled tightly together before the roped were cinched and they tied off. Gail continued to buck and thrash but it was harder without her legs, then she noticed that the pillow her face was being pushed into was damp. “MMMM,” Gail shouted but nobody heard anything outside of the car.“I do remember that she was a feisty one,” the woman that had bundled her into the car commented. There was something wrong as her eyes were starting to sting and there was a ringing in her ears, wait there was a smell coming from the pillow. Gail inhaled deeply to try and identify the smell and when the sweet-smelling vapours hit, she knew that had been a mistake, she recognised the fumes as chloroform.
“MMMM, UURRPPHH, MMUUNN,” Gail mumbled and redoubled her efforts to break free but her arms just flailed around and mossed their targets or delivered glancing blows.
“I think that she just noticed the chloroform on the pillow,” the woman said again. Gail had to admit, it was simple but ingenious. Not only did the pillow smother her cries for help but the more she struggled the more she exerted herself and the more chloroform fumes she inhaled. Gail then felt ropes being wrapped around her thighs before these roped were cinched and tied off as well. The woman whose lap the pillow was on had also grabbed Gail’s right wrist and now had it pinned against the back of the seat. Gail could feel the chloroform starting to have a serious effect now, her limbs were heavy and the strength and coordination of her attempts to get free had gone, she was flapping around aimlessly now.
“OOHHMM,” Gail moaned but it was more a resigned sigh rather than a cry for help. The two attackers now brought her wrists together and wrapped rope around them, once, twice, three time before cinching the rope and knotting it tightly in a position where Gail could not get at the knot with her fingers. As her wrist were being bound behind her back Gail realised that the hand pressing her head into the pillow had been removed but she didn’t have the straight to lift her head, only turn it to the side.
“Nice timing,” attacker two said and pinched Gail’s cheeks to open her mouth which allowed the woman to stuff a wadded-up cloth deep onto Gail’s mouth before forcing the knot of a cloth into Gail’s mouth before tying the ends tightly behind her neck. At the same time attacker number one was wrapping a long length of cord around Gail’s body to pining her arms against her back before tying it off. Once those two jobs had been completed a very drowsy Gail was helped to sit up in the back seat. They flipped the hood of her down coat up and then zipped the coat up all of the way so that in addition to hiding the gag the down material also reinforced the gag.
“Staging post Pandora,” attacker one said. There was just a grunt of response from the front seat. Even though her mind was foggy and not functioning at its sharpest Gail started to put together what had happened and the name was perhaps the final part.
“Almost forgot,” attacker one said as the car pulled away. Gail saw something coming toward her face and tried to avoid it but couldn’t it. They were sunglasses but only had one-way lenses so she couldn’t see out. “Settle down and enjoy the ride Gail.”
