Chapter 83
An island in the Mediterranean
This was now getting a bit more complicated and dragging out longer than Hayley had hoped. On the positive side they now had a firm plan for getting off of the island, assuming that they could get the key for the cruiser. They found the room where Callie and Scarlett were being held and Hayley disengaged the electronic lock. “You get these pair and I will go and get Elise,” Hayley hissed at Natalie who nodded a response and pushed the door open. Once Natalie had entered Hayley turned and rushed as fast as the dress would let her to the next room along the corridor, flashed the card and pushed the door open. One entering the room Hayley found Elise sitting up in bed, totally unbound.
“What is going on?” Elise asked rubbing her eyes. “Bit late for one of you to visit.” There was a slight edge to the young woman’s voice that Hayley had to admire. Even after behind held captive for all this time she retained an edge.
“Sorry,” Hayley said as she flipped on the light and the room became filled with light. Elise blinked against the sudden brightness. “My name is Hayley King.” Hayley approached the bed.
“I know,” Elise said. “We met briefly in Austria.”
“I remember,” Hayley replied. “Look, we are making an attempt….”
“You were bound and gagged,” Elise stated as she flung off the covers.
“That isn’t uncommon for me….” Hayley responded with a sigh.
“What’s going on?” Elise asked. “I thought you were the good guy,” Elise looked perplexed. “Are you with Elizabeth Crawford?” Hayley hung her head for a second. To be fair she understood the young woman’s confusion.
“No, well, not exactly…” Hayley stumbled before she caught herself and took a breath. “We are getting off this island. Do you want to join us? I will explain everything on the way.”
“So, you are with the good guys?” Elise asked as she stood up.
“Yes,” Hayley said as she grabbed Elise and ushered her toward the door. “Wait. Do you have normal clothes?” Hayley just clocked that Elise was only wearing a pair of silk pyjamas.
“Yes, I have some things in the wardrobe.”
“Stick them in a bag,” Hayley instructed as she released her grip on Elise’s arm. Hayley could tell that the young woman was confused and reeling from what had just happened.
“I don’t have a bag,” Elise stated as she headed for the wardrobe and flung it open.
“Just grab what you can,” Hayley said, “and do it sharpish.” Hayley tapped her foot as she watched Elise grab what looked like a diary or notebook, a pair of black leggings, a light sweater and a pair of boots before carrying them all over toward Hayley. “Happy?” Elise nodded and they both headed toward the door. After opening it Hayley peered through the gap to make sure that the coast was clear. Thankfully it was and Hayley ushered Elise along the corridor and into the room where what was now becoming a large group was gathering.
“How are you doing?” Hayley asked Callie and Scarlett who were standing next to Natalie. Both women were wearing brightly coloured down suits.
“Fine,” Callie replied.
“Totally confused,” Scarlett said honestly. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Not got time to explain that at the moment,” Kirsty said. “We should really head to the security office now.”
“Agreed,” Natalie said.
“And get Penelope and Jasmine on the way,” Hayley commented.
“What about Lara Sanchez?” Kirsty asked.
“Lara Sanchez isn’t here,” Natalie said to Hayley.
“I heard the guards mention that she wasn’t here anymore,” Scarlett chipped in.
“I heard that she was offered the chance to leave but wanted to stay,” Elise chipped in. “She is over at the seamstress’s house.”
“Well, on her own head then,” Hayley stated. “We do not have the time to go and get her.”
“Let’s go,” Kirsty chided as she headed for the door.
“Alright Kirsty,” Hayley said. “Just wait a minute.” She then turned her attention to Elise, Callie and Scarlett. “We have to go and do something that will help us greatly in our attempt to get off the island but it means that we have to leave you alone.” Hayley looked at each of the three young women in turn, they all looked nervous. “If anyone comes through that door that isn’t us then you have two options, surrender and be restrained again or fight for your freedom. I will leave it to you to decide what to do.” Delivering the speech Hayley lifted her skirt and spun round to join Kirsty and Natalie at the door.
“What about these two?” Hayley spun to find Elise pointing at Constance and Louise both of whom were lying bound and gagged on separate beds.
“They are both securely bound and gagged,” Hayley replied. “Neither of them will cause you any problems.” Hayley pointedly looked at Louise when she said this. Louise just shook her head in response. “You ladies get changed into more suitable clothes if you can find something that will fit in our wardrobe.” Hopefully Hayley had managed to boost their confidence with that little exchange. Kirsty had already checked to make sure that the coast was clear and held the door open to allow Natalie and Hayley to stride into the corridor and head toward the security room.
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An island in the Mediterranean
“Don’t take all day,” Kirsty hissed at Hayley as she hurried across to the bed where Jasmine was entombed in her down cocoon. Hayley waved at Kirsty and Natalie to show that she understood but that this would also take a bit of time. Sitting down on the bed Hayley leaned and saw that Jasmine was actually awake. That would hopefully save a bit of time.
“Remember me?” Hayley asked. Jasmine nodded a response, making a rubbing sound on the smooth fabric of the restraining bag. “Good, well in that case I will get straight to the point.” There was a mixture of fear and confusion in the eyes of Jasmine Lockspeiser as Hayley began to try and explain what was going on. “Look, I know that you probably think that I am one of the bag girls here.” Hayley then read the expression on Jasmine’s face. “Don’t get me wrong, I can understand why you would think that. After all I did assist in your abduction…But, believe me, am I am one of the good girls.”
“Hurry this up Hayley,” Natalie commented form the door. Hayley turned and held up her hands in a placating gesture.
“We are making an attempt to get off the island and we wouldn’t feel right leaving you behind. I know that it would need a leap of trust form your side but do you want to come along?” Jasmine nodded her head vigorously. “Alright then. Let me get that gag off.” Jasmine raised her head to allow Hayley easy access to the buckle which mean that she could remove the gag.
“Thank you,” Jasmine said once the gag had been removed.
“No problem. Now let’s get you out of these bags.”
“Yes,” Jasmine said with a smile. “Although…”
“They are bizarrely comfortable,” Hayley finished the thought with a smile. Hayley managed to unzip the external restraining bag before running to the bottom of the bed and grabbing the foot box and pulling with some force. The smoothness of the fabric helped Hayley in this as it assisted the external bag in slipping off the internal bag. Once the external bag had been pulled off Hayley tossed it to one side and then set about unzipping the internal bag fully so that she could flip it open and had full access to the bound figure of Jasmine. Quickly, Hayley set about removing the strap around Jasmine’s legs. That job done Hayley helped Jasmine to her feet and then hustled her toward the door.
“What about the rest of this stuff?” Jasmine asked referring to the cuffs, finger control mitts and other strap on her upper body.
“We are short on time,” Hayley replied. “I will get the girls to get you out of those.”
“You are asking for a lot of trust here,” Jasmine commented. They had reached the door where Kirsty and Natalie both waited. “You all have on those dresses.”
“I appreciate that I am asking you to trust me but please do.” Jasmine turned and looked at Hayley. There must have been something in her eyes that suggested that she could be trusted as Jasmine nodded her head. The group of four headed back along the corridor. They stopped at Hayley’s room and let Jasmine in to wait with Elise and the rest of the group before the three of them made the sort trip along to the security office.
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“This is taking far too long,” Natalie commented as Hayley used Lousie’s card to unlock the room where they would hopefully find Penelope.
“I told you,” Hayley said as the electronic lock beeped and she opened the door, “not leaving any of the good guys behind.” Kirsty and Natalie sighed as they entered the room. The room was in complete darkness and they all paused as their eyes adjusted. Then a deep moaning came from the direction of the bed and they hurried over. Penelope was lying on the bed, unbound and seemed to be coming around from either a deep sleep or forced slumber. As Penelope’s eyes opened and then closed before opening wide. With the three sets of eyes looming down on her and being in a state on confusion opened her mouth to scream.
“mmpphhff!” Penelope screamed into Hayley’s hand. She had just clamped it over Penelope’s mouth in time.
“Shush,” Hayley hissed. “It’s Hayley.” The hand remained in place until Penelope took some time to regain her senses. Once she had managed to compose herself Penelope nodded and Hayley removed her hand.
“Sorry about that,” Penelope whispered.
“No problem,” Hayley replied.
“We are getting out of here.” Kirsty said. “Fancy coming along?” Penelope looked from Kirsty to Natalie and then Hayley.
“They are on our side,” Hayley said.
“Let’s get going then” Penelope said and shot out a hand. Kirsty grabbed it and hauled Penelope up off the bed. They group snuck out of the room.
“Two rooms down on the right you will find the rest of the good guys,” Hayley said to Penelope.
“Where are you going?”
“Couple of jobs to finish before we can leave,” Kirsty chipped in.
“Are you sure you don’t need some help,” Penelope offered. Hayley looked at the woman, something was slightly off, she didn’t look quite herself.
“Thanks, but we have this,” Hayley confirmed. “You head off and get ready to leave.” Penelope nodded and headed off down the corridor whilst Hayley, Kirsty and Natalie headed off in the other direction.
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An island in the Mediterranean
“MMMOOAAHH,” Tahani moaned as she saw Hayley, Natalie and Kirsty enter the security office. As Kirsty and Natalie made their way across to the main computer terminal Hayley cross the room to the source of the noise.
“You just lie still and be quiet or the chloroform comes out again,” Hayley said as she loomed over the guard who was lying, struggling against her bonds in the restraining bag. Kirsty sat down at the console and fired up the login screen. “Now, for the real test,” she said flexing her fingers. Having delivered the message to Tahani, Hayley made her way across the room and stood just behind and to the left of Kirsty with Natalie just behind and to the right.
“What are you going to do?” Hayley asked.
“I am going to lock down all of the electronic locks so that only the security cards that we have work.”
“I like the sound of that,” Hayley replied, a wide smile spread across her face.
“Well, that would be the plan.” Kirsty went to work. After bringing up the login screen Kirsty used typed in the details that Louise had supplied then hovered her left index finger over the enter key whilst holding up her right hand with the two longest fingers crossed. Then Kirsty depressed the enter key and the screen went from mainly black to bright blue. “Looks like we are in.” Kirsty then set about selecting menus and going through various sub menus until a plan of the main house came up showing all of the electronic locks.
“How are you getting on?” Natalie asked.
“Almost there,” Kirsty said concentrating fully on the screen and keyboard as she continued to enter commands. Then a plan of the group of cottages at the coast pop up and Kirsty bashed in some more commands. “The only two locks that we can’t hack in the main house are Elizabeth’s room and study as they have good, old fashioned mechanical locks. Also, there is one of the cottages that seems to have its own separate system that can’t be controlled from here.” Hayley and Natalie exchange a glance then looked back at the screen. Kirsty punched in some more commends before returning the system to the access screen and pushing the chair back from the table, causing Natalie and Hayley to move slightly to there
“Done?” Natalie asked.
“Should be,” Kirsty said standing up. “That should be all of the locks disabled with the only thing that can open them being the two security cards that we have. I have also reset the password for the system so that only we can get access.”
“That sounds ideal,” Hayley commented.
“Well, I assume that Elizabeth and Debbie,” Hayley gave Kirsty a questioning look, “Debbie runs the IT, have an override code that can reset the system.”
“And they should be locked in their rooms,” Natalie said.
“Well, Debbie will be. It would depend if she has some kind of access to the system in her room, whether that be a terminal, via laptop or mobile.”
“Can you shut down the mobile signal and Wi-Fi from here?” Natalie asked.
“Good idea,” Kirsty said “However, different system so we would have to go to the basement, I think. Probably with a baseball bat or something else heavy and cause some damage.”
“No time for that I am afraid,” Hayley replied before turning her attention back to Tahani. “Comfortable on the floor?”
“MMOOHH,” Tahani replied.
“Would you prefer lying on a bed?” Tahani nodded in the affirmative. “Well, if you promise to behave, we will take you back to our room.” Tahani nodded again. With some help from Kirsty, Hayley managed to lift Tahani and between them they carried her, still in the restraining bag along the corridor and into Hayley and Kirsty’s room. As they entered the room, they got quizzical looks from Elise, Callie and Scarlett. They ignored them and carried Tahani across to the bed and placed Tahani down next to Constance. Penelope was sat on the floor with her head in her hands.
“I really need to work on my core,” Hayley said as she stretched out her back. As Hayley reached for the ceiling, she looked at the Elise and noted that the young woman had changed into the clothes that she had taken from the wardrobe in her own room. Callie and Scarlett had also found clothes and got changed out of the down suits.
“Are you alright Penelope?” Natalie asked, noticing the woman on the floor.
“Fine,” Penelope replied. “Just feeling a bit off, discombobulated…” Natalie nodded and turned her attention back to the rest of the group. “Must be the drugs.”
“Just take deep breaths…”
“Wait!” Penelope exclaimed and stood up.
“Will you be quiet,” Kirsty hissed.
“We can’t leave without Grace,” Penelope announced to the room.
“Who is Grace?” Natalie asked.
“The young woman that I was brought here with.” Penelope headed for the door.
“Hold it!” Kirsty said. “I have some bad news. She has already been taken off the island.” Penelope stopped and her shoulders slumped. Hayley approached Penelope and put a consoling hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, we will help you track her down. But we can’t do that if we are stuck on this island.” Penelope nodded her head.
“What do we do now?” Elise asked.
“Now, we go and get Elizabeth Crawford.” Hayley asked.
“What about all of the other guards?” Scarlett asked.
“There should only be one other guard roaming about if we bump into her. The rest are locked in their rooms,” Kirsty said with authority.
“How are we going to get Elizabeth to open the door?” Natalie asked.
“I will sort that out,” Hayley replied but didn’t go any further. Hayley then turned around and removed the bindings securing Constance’s legs together and then helped her up from the bed and onto her feet. “Scarlett, can you handle Constance. She won’t give you any problems. If there are then the chloroform comes out and we leave you hear to her fate.” Constance nodded that she understood. Kirsty picked up the holdall that has been filled earlier and handed it to Callie.
“I have a chloroformed soaked cloth in my pocket. Please, give me a reason to use it,” Natalie said to Louise after removing her leg bindings and helping her off the bed. Penelope got to her feet and moved toward the rest of the group.
“You take the lead Kirsty,” Hayley said and nodded at Elise to go next. Then it was Callie and Scarlett who was escorting Constance, followed by Natalie who was escorting Louise and then Jasmine and Penelope. Hayley took a quick glance around the room taking it all in and hoping that she never saw it again before heading off to be the last person in the train. The troop was spread out as they made their way along the corridor slowly and carefully. They all stopped as Kirsty at the head of the chain reached the door from the secure wing into the main house. Hayley took a deep breath as Kirsty disengaged the lock and opened the door and held it open a everyone else made their way through. After they were all safely through Hayley scanned the way ahead and couldn’t see anything that caused her concern. Kirsty made her way to the front of the line again and took up her position as they all moved off. As they stalked through the building in the dead of night Hayley winced at every sound that they made and jumped at every shadow that moved. However, to her immense relief they made it all the way to Elizabeth
Hayley slipped off her short down jacket and handed threw it to the ground next to the door. She raised her hand to knock on the door before stopping and reaching round and pulling down the zip on her dress enough to let her slip the left shoulder of her dress of and display a little more flesh. After then running both hands through her hair to give her a bit of a ruffled look Hayley knocked on the door. Right after that Hayley turned to Natalie and gave her a quick wink. Nothing happened for what seemed like an eternity then there was a sound of a key being turned and the door opening.
“This had better be importan…” Elizabeth Crawford’s ire trailed off as she saw how was standing on the other side of the door. “Now, this is a pleasant surprise.” Hayley saw the look in Elizabeth’s eyes. The smile was wide and the voice was warm but there was something in the eyes. “What do I owe the pleasure? You, look a little dishevelled.”
“Constance wanted to, well, you get the idea,” Hayley said. “But; she is a girl and I am used to a woman who knows what she is doing.” Elizabeth was wearing a pair of black silk pyjamas and a patterned silk dressing gown was leaning against the frame of the door. Hayley was praying silently that she didn’t step outside the room and take a look around.
“Well, you had better come in then,” Elizabeth turned and left the door open and walked deeper into the spacious bedroom. Hayley followed a couple of steps behind, the only light on in the room was coming from a large standing lamp in the corner. “Take that dress off and get comfortable.” Hayley unzipped the dress, let in fall to the ground and stepped out of it leaving herself feeling exposed in the underwear. “You really are an alluring woman, Hayley. Whether it be those big blue eyes, luscious lips, those shapely hips or those breasts. Truly you are a work of art.” Hayley watched as the Elizabeth Crawford walked toward a chest of drawers, open the top and take something out. “It must be very easy to fall under your spell.” There was something in the way that Elizabeth was talking that made Hayley feel uneasy, well even more uneasy that she usually would in this situation.
“I don’t know what you mean?” Hayley asked.
“I am sure you do.” Elizabeth appeared from the gloom pouring liquid from a glass bottle onto a folded handkerchief.
“I told you there was no need for that,” Hayley nodded at the handkerchief.
“Relax and let’s have some fun,” Elizabeth said putting the top back on the bottle and setting it on the ottoman at the foot of the bed. Elizabeth continued to walk toward Hayley who was frozen in place when Elizabeth walked behind her. “I am not going to put you all the way out, just enough to make you sleepy. I love the whole fluttering eyes thing.” Then the handkerchief was in front of Hayley’s face, closing in. The fumes strong enough that they were invading her senses from inched away. They the damp cotton was over her nose and mouth, blocking out fresh air, forcing the sweet-smelling sedative into her system. “Take a deep breather Hayley, inhale the fumes, I know that you like this, being tied up, being chloroformed,” Elizabeth whispered into Hayley’s ear as she ran a hand over Hayley’s breast. “Just admit it to yourself and surrender.” Hayley moaned softly into the handkerchief and knew that she had to turn the tables soon but Elizabeth knew how to relax you and without even realising it, Hayley had taken enough breathes for the sedative to start to have an effect. Hayley closed her eyes and the slipped her left foot back and wrapped her leg around Elizabeth’s own left leg and then without warning threw her own weight backward, the force and lack of balance took both women crashing to the floor where Hayley’s full weight landed on top of Elizabeth.
“OOUUHH,” Elizabeth cried as she landed on her back. The shock of the fall mean that Elizabeth lost control of her limbs and they splayed everywhere. In a flash Hayley rolled over and locating Elizabeth’s right hand ripped the handkerchief from her grasp and after getting it set in her own hand smashed it over Elizabeth’s nose and mouth. “MMUUMMHH,” Elizabeth Crawford moaned into the handkerchief but Hayley wasn’t in the mood to listen or show any mercy. The handkerchief was going to remain in place until Elizabeth was dosed enough to be docile. Elizabeth shook her head trying to shake off the handkerchief but Hayley kept it in place. It wasn’t even much of a fight as with Elizabeth being winded and Hayley having the advantage of leverage it wasn’t long before Elizabeth’s struggles started to fade and Hayley watched her adversary’s eyes closely and kept the handkerchief in place until Elizabeth’s arms and legs stopped moving and her eyes started to flutter. Then Hayley carefully and slowly removed the handkerchief. Even then Hayley stayed in place, straddling Elizabeth until she was sure that she wasn’t going to be a problem. Hayley noticed that her hands were shaking from the encounter as she stood up and took stock. Looking around Hayley walked over to the door, opened it and let in the rest of the group in.
“Can you deal with Elizabeth?” Hayley asked Kirsty. “There will be supplies over in that cupboard.” Hayley pointed over in the corner.
“No problem,” Kirsty said with a nod. “I won’t ask how you know that.” Before doing anything, Hayley had to rest for a minute, a combination of the adrenaline and the chloroform that she had inhaled had taken a toll. Sitting on the edge of the bed Hayley watched as Kirsty flipped a semi-conscious Elizabeth onto her back and used a pair of leather padded cuffs to secure Elizabeth’s wrists together and then used a strap to lock Elizabeth’s arms to her body. As they would be moving soon Kirsty didn’t bother with binding Elizabeth’s ankles or legs but Kirsty had found a gag and used that to silence Elizabeth before wafting the smelling salts under her nose. Hayley noticed that the room was in total silence whilst this was taking place. As if they couldn’t believe that they had managed to subdue the woman and didn’t want to jinx it by talking.
“UURRPPHH MMHHRR,” Elizabeth grunted as she came back to life, reacting to the strong scent that was held under her nose.
“What about the keys?” Scarlett asked finally breaking the silence in the room. Hayley got up and walked over to where her dress was lying on the floor and put it back on. Callie stepped over and zipped her up before handing her the down jacket that Hayley had earlier left outside.
“Thanks.” As Hayley was getting dressed Kirsty helped Elizabeth onto her feet. “They will be in the safe. Which is behind that picture over there.” Hayley pointed without looking. As she looked around the room Hayley caught Elizabeth’s gaze and they locked eyes for a couple of seconds. There was something in the gaze but Hayley couldn’t work out what it was and didn’t have the time to think about it at this time.
“Found it,” Natalie said as she removed the painting and placed in carefully on the floor. It was a small, rectangular safe with a twelve-digit keypad the only thing on its shiny black surface. “We have an issue,” Natalie commented as Hayley made her way across. “What do you think the code is?” Natalie asked.
“Try 1209,” Hayley commented. Natalie gave her friend a look and then punched in the suggested digits. Hayley turned, looked at Elizabeth and she knew that she had guessed correctly. There was a split second before the red light went out ad the green light came on.
“Your birthday. Really.” Hayley opened the door and looked at what was inside Elizabeth Crawford’s treasure trove. There was a USB drive, a glass bottle of what Hayley assumed was chloroform, a set of keys, a notebook, a passport, a leather-bound book and a satellite phone. Grabbing everything Hayley put everything into the holdall apart from the keys which she tossed to Scarlett and the phone which went into her pocket. “Any of them look like it could be for the cruiser?”
“Yes,” Scarlett sorted the keys until she found the one that she was looking for and held it up. “This is it.” Hayley walked purposefully toward Callie and thrust the holdall at the young woman. “Do not lose this.” Callie nodded. Then Hayley walked over to the bed and hauled Elizabeth Crawford to her feet. “Let’s get moving.” Taking her que from that statement Kirsty headed for the door and everyone fell into line behind. Now it was speed that was the main aim and they hustled through the main hall and out through the door into a clear moonlight night. At the rear of the line Hayley was dragging a reluctant Elizabeth Crawford along until they got halfway down the driveway before stopping.
“Kirsty, Kirsty,” Hayley hissed trying to get the woman’s attention. The request made it up the line and Hayley saw Kirsty signal for the rest of the line to continue and then she came back to join Hayley.
“She causing problems?” Kirsty asked looking at Elizabeth Crawford.
“A bit, but I want to make a call. Can you take her?”
“No problem,” Kirsty grabbed Elizabeth and hauled her away down the driveway as Hayley pulled out the satellite phone. As she walked slowly toward the beach Hayley punched in Christina’s number and put the phone to her ear. It didn’t even ring or go to voicemail, the line was dead. To make sure Hayley tried the number again but got the same result. By the time that Hayley had tried making the calls she had caught up with the rest of the group who had stopped just short of the beach.
“I couldn’t get hold of Christina,” Hayley said to Natalie.
“Time difference. Did you leave a message?” Natalie replied.
“Dead. Didn’t even give me the option. A bit concerning.”
“Who is Christina?” Penelope asked.
“A friend that could help us out,” Hayley replied. “If we can get hold of her.”
“Try Gayle, Rhiannon or Natascha,” Natalie suggested.
“I will once we get to the pier.” It was an awkward journey getting over the beach to the pier but eventually managed to stumble across, Hayley, Kirsty and Natalie having the most issues with their large dresses. Once on the pier they made their way along to the end. As they walked Hayley pulled out the satellite phone and punched in Gayle’s number. This time it rang, and rang until a groggy voice picked up.
“Hello,” it said. Drawing the five letters out like it was a much longer word.
“Gayle? Gayle?” Hayley said excitedly.
“Hayley! Is that you?” Gayle asked on the other end of the line after recognising the voice.