Sometimes it is just one thing after another. Sometimes we have a catalogue of disasters which wind us up and overwhelm us.
This seems to be the case for one Sarah Bentley, a teenager from the northern village of Tottington. Accused of the murder of her brother and drug running crystal meth and even blamed for the death of a police officer, shot by assassins on motorbikes
Sarah has managed to escape from police custody, only because a police surgeon who insisted she be examined at hospital turned out to be another assassin. Sarah by the skin of her teeth has evaded him and returned to Tottington in a taxi only to find that her best friend Vicky and the rest of her family have been slain, with the police calling it a murder – suicide, a scenario which to Sarah seems far from the truth.
As the sympathetic Asian taxi driver takes her away from the scene to avoid the police, unknown to Sarah, her taxi is being followed…
Sarah had no idea where to go now, her best friend and her family must have been murdered shortly after her brother had been killed by the assassins who were looking for her, but why? It was obvious even to Sarah, that the killers were after her for a reason, but again why kill Vicky and her family?
If they had left it with her brother, maybe that could be understood, he was forever trying to hack into other people’s computer hoping to uncover some big conspiracy, and if he had found something he should not have done, well that would explain a hit, as would the taxi driver’s theory that her brother had been some kind of internet drug dealer, but why her and her friend?
A sudden sinking feeling hit her.
Sarah had other friends, not as close as Vicky had been, but maybe they could be in danger.
“We can drive past your house and see if the police are still there” the taxi driver suggested, “Then maybe you can get a change of clothes”
“Ok” Sarah replied tearfully.
The taxi drove to the opening of the road, but for some reason the taxi driver was not indicating he was due to turn into it.
Then Sarah saw why, there were still police officers outside her house and the taxi driver did not want to draw attention by driving into the street.
“It was worth a shot” the taxi driver sighed, “Do you have any other friends?” he asked as he piloted the taxi on to Market Street, the main road and told Sarah he was headed towards Greenmount away from the police activity
“Won’t they go after them?” Sarah whined
“I never thought of that” the taxi driver replied, “Do you think you should warn them”
“I can’t, my SIM card doesn’t work”
“Did you store their numbers on the SIM or the phone” the taxi driver asked
The taxi driver then asked Sarah who her provider was and Sarah told him. The taxi driver opened his glove compartment which had a number of SIM cards, “My stupid cousin thought I ought to promote his business in cloned SIM cards, I only took this little lot to shut him up. If you ask me his little scheme plays into the hands of the racists”
The taxi driver found a SIM card pack that matched Sarah’s provider and handed it to Sarah. “Try this one Miss” he told her, “Maybe you will be lucky and their numbers will be on the phone and not the SIM”
Sarah took the SIM card pack and took her phone from her handbag. She opened the phone and removed the useless SIM and extracted the new SIM card and placed it in her phone.
She turned it on and held her breath.
She got a signal!
Sarah went into the contacts list, although it was smaller there were still some contacts there, but not the number of contacts she had before. Some of them were obviously on the old SIM.
Sarah ran through the list of her friends and found the number for Jessica, another close friend after Vicky.
Sarah selected the number and rang it.
The number rang and rang and then went to voice mail
Jessica always picked up!
Sarah swallowed hard
Were the killers somehow trying to hunt her down by going after her friends?
“Excuse me Miss” the taxi driver interrupted, “I have no idea what is going on and why people are after you, but we are being followed by a black mini and who ever is doing it is a real pro since he is doing it quite some distance away.
“I’m sorry” Sarah said in a pathetic tone of voice, “I have no idea what’s going on, but I’ll get out if you want me to”
“There is no need for that Miss” the taxi driver chided her, “I once drove on the streets of
Rawalpindi in Pakistan when I was there for two months when our grandfather passed away, we had to learn how to loose a tail, especially as we were near the Kashmir border and we had to avoid some of the terrorists over there.”
“But there aren’t many places we can turn in to loose a tail” Sarah complained, “Not on the way to Greenmount or Holcombe”
“But I can make a sudden turn onto that small road that will take us to the Brandelshome Road we are coming up to and make another double back manoeuvre back towards Tottington Miss” the taxi driver explained.
Immediately he turned the taxi a hard right, almost hitting another car in the process and entered
a narrow country lane and accelerated.
Sarah held her breath in terror as they tore down the country lane; she hardly dared look behind to see if the black mini was on their tail. She did not see how he could shake them off as the lane was effectively a one track road, and she prayed they did not meet anyone coming the other way.
The taxi driver came up to another junction. On the left was some kind of barn made out of stone, on the right the road went through a courtyard that looked like a
small castle. There were some gated opening in the castle on the right which fortunately seemed to be open, and so the taxi driver braked hard and drove through and round into the yard and stopped.
“Hopefully he will drive on through to Brandleshome road or along Mill Lane” the taxi driver told Sarah, “That is the problem with tailing a vehicle from so far behind. Your average westerner would not spot it, but if you want to stay alive near the Kashmir border you need to learn what to look for”
“What do you want me to do?” Sarah asked, “I can’t expect you to risk your life for me, especially as they seem to be killing everyone I know”
Then Sarah broke down
“Why me?” she sobbed, “What have I done?”
“Probably nothing at all” The taxi drive told Sarah, “Unless you are some kind of master criminal”
“No I’m not” Sarah objected “If you think that about me I better go” Sarah said angrily and in tears and undid her seatbelt
“I’m sorry miss” the taxi driver apologised, “That came out all wrong”
Just then they were interrupted by the sound of a car driving past the entrance to the castle complex.
“Buckle up Miss” the taxi driver told Sarah, “The fool has fallen for it. We are going to go back the way” he added as he started the taxi.
Sarah re-attached her seatbelt and just shook her head. Who ever killed Trevor, Vicky and her family and possibly Jessica was trying to find her, but why she still could not fathom.
The taxi driver drove out of the yard and not before time as the owner had just opened the door to see who they were and what they were doing in their private yard. The driver turned left, then headed back to the junction with the small country lane and started driving back to the main road they had left to go down it.
As they drove along, Sarah replaced her phone in her purse, as she did so she noticed a glint of metal.
Her brother’s computer memory stick!
“Oh my G_d” Sarah whispered
Maybe this was it? – Sarah had taken her brother’s memory stick by mistake, so maybe they had originally been targeting her brother all along over something he had hacked into. Maybe they had discovered that he had placed something on his memory stick which they now wanted to retrieve.
Now they were targeting her, as whatever Trevor had stumbled across, the secret was so important that someone thought it was worth killing innocent families for, but what secret file could be that valuable?
Sarah wondered if she could trust the taxi driver with this information, after all he had gone above and beyond the call of duty so far and seemed to be on her side.
“I think they were after this” Sarah ventured holding up the device.
“A memory stick” the taxi driver queried
“It’s my brother’s” Sarah explained, “It looked like mine, so I took it out by mistake when I went out last night”
“So what has he got on there?” the taxi driver asked, “The plans for our missile defences or something like that?”
“I don’t know” Sarah whined, “It’s the only thing I can think of that will explain all this”
“I have a cousin” the taxi driver went on, “She is about your size, so maybe we can get you a change of clothes since you can’t go back home”
“You don’t have to do this” Sarah protested, “It’s my own stupid fault” she said wi****lly as she stared out of the window as the taxi drove along the country lane, “If I had taken the right memory stick or stayed home like he asked as it would have been our parent’s wedding anniversary”
“Then you would be dead too” the taxi driver interrupted, “maybe the fates have willed this, maybe this was meant to be so whatever grubby little secret they are trying to hide you are destined to expose”
“I don’t care what secret they want to hide” Sarah snapped back, “I want my brother back, I want my friends back, and they can keep their secrets”
“I am sorry miss” the taxi driver apologised, “That came out all wrong again”
The taxi turned onto the main road to Greenmount and then on to Holcombe.
“What we will do is drive up passed Ramsbottom, through Edenfield and back down to Rochdale” the taxi driver explained, “It may be a long way around, but it is pretty and avoids the police”
Sarah took out her mobile again and looked through the contacts list, and then she looked at her brother’s memory stick.
How many of her friends would be slaughtered for that small device, assuming that was what they were after and what was her brother in to?
Sarah looked up, they were approaching the settlement of Holcombe, and next it would be Ramsbottom.
Suddenly a thought struck her, she remembered her brother’s geeky friend, he lived this way. “Shaun Chapman” Sarah said out loud
“Who is this Shaun Chapman Miss” The taxi driver asked
“He was a mate of Trevor, my brother” Sarah explained, “He came to our house a few times and was just as much into conspiracy theories as my stupid brother was. He lives in Ramsbottom”
Sarah went quiet,
One should never speak ill of the dead she was often told
“So what has this Shaun got to do with this memory stick you have?” the taxi driver pressed.
“Maybe he can work out what is on it, he was good at hacking into systems just like my brother” Sarah explained, “plus he has a sister who is my size. We met in town at the
Two Tubs last Christmas, she was just as much fed up with him as I was with Trevor”
“Do you have their number?” the taxi driver asked
“No” Sarah sighed, “He was my brother’s friend, and I only ever met the sister that once, we didn’t even go to the same school. I was at Tottington and she was at Bury Grammar”
“So how do you hope to track down this Shaun if you do not know their number” the taxi driver asked, “Even for a small town, Ramsbottom is a very big place Miss”
“He works in some computer repair place in Ramsbottom” Sarah explained. “His sister usually took the bus into Bury to go to school except recently in the Summer months when that
steam train service was running some kind of early morning special, except they were using diesel trains.”
“Do you know which shop this Shaun works in” The taxi driver then asked
Sarah shook her head
The taxi driver brought the taxi to a stop and shut the engine off, “I will see how many there are on my new Iphone” the taxi driver said, “There can not be that many Miss, not in Ramsbottom”
The taxi driver fished from his pocket his Iphone and started tapping away.
“I have found at least two Miss” the taxi driver told Sara excitedly, and then with a sound of surprise in his voice, “It seems my signal has dropped.”
Then the taxi driver angrily exclaimed, “What do you mean my SIM card is not valid, I have a contract and I am fully paid up” he shouted at his Iphone
Sarah had a sudden sinking feeling and looked at her phone.
It too was showing the sign that the SIM card had been declared invalid and was useless. She showed it to the taxi driver.
“Oh my!” The taxi driver exclaimed, “We need to get moving” he added as he started the taxi up again. The taxi driver then stopped and fumbled with his Iphone and opened the back of it, removing the battery.
“Take your battery out of your phone” the taxi driver ordered Sarah, “Those b******ds are tracking us through them some how”
Sarah in a panic nervously removed the back of her mobile and pulled out the battery.
“How can they do that?” Sarah asked
“I do not know, GPS maybe” the taxi driver replied, “But we need to find your brother’s friend before they do. I may already have sealed their fate by my Googling” he added as he accelerated the taxi.
Quickly the taxi sped through the through the village of Greenmount past the houses as people were finally emerging into the morning light
Any moment Sarah expected the gun toting motorcyclists to come after her again
Who on Earth had the power to track mobiles and invalidate the SIM card of not only her phone bat that of the taxi driver
“This may be slightly illegal” the taxi driver said to Sarah in a panicky voice as he flipped a switch on his radio.
Immediately the radio was switched to a police band.
As they drove past the houses coming up to the village of Holcombe, passing
Holcombe Brook they heard chatter about the hunt for Sarah, now wanted in connection for the death of not only her brother but the female police officer that the phony police surgeon had shot. According to the police radio, they had decided that she had been in league with this phony police surgeon all along,
A lie but who was going to believer her?.
For now they seemed to be focussing the search around the hospital and possibly into Rochdale, at least that was good news of sorts.
There were also reports of looking for the phony police surgeon as well, but from what Sarah heard of the police chatter, he had effectively dropped off the face of the planet.
Some of the chatter referred to the detective Sarah had met, who seemed to be convinced that the death of her friend Vicky and her family might be connected to Sarah’s elicit dealing in methamphetamines -
another lie. The detective was adamant, he did not believe in coincidences.
Nobody seemed to believe that Sarah was innocent at all; they had effectively already convicted her of multiple murders.
Sarah glanced nervously at the Asian taxi driver, would he stop believing in her innocence as well.
Sarah got back to scanning for motor cyclists
Then she saw one
He came from down from Longsight Road at speed heading for the taxi.
He ducked in behind the taxi and then started to accelerate to be level with the car.
Sarah found she had stopped breathing as she stared transfixed on this motorcyclist.
But then he continued accelerating and disappeared from sight.
Sarah started breathing again
It was just an innocent motorcyclist
Or was it?
“Knowing
Murphy’s Law” the taxi driver began, “I suspect we are still to early for either of those computer stores to be open Miss”
“But I don’t know where he lives” Sarah protested
“I have an idea” the taxi driver told Sarah, “It maybe is a long shot, but does his sister still go into Bury by the train?”
“I don’t know” Sarah answered, “Last I heard was that she dropped out of school or at least did not sign up at Bury College. I think she works”
“Well scratch that idea” the taxi driver responded, “Maybe we should just go to my cousin in Rochdale after all”
“Ok” Sarah relented
The taxi continued to drive past the stone built house on towards the town of Ramsbottom
If only she knew where Shaun worked or where he lived.
If only she could have gone back to her own home!
Still Sarah looked out for motorcyclists and black minis; the atmosphere in the taxi was tense. Someone had tracked them down to the road up to Edenfield, the killers had to be on their way, not to mention the problem of being hunted by police, now angry at her for somehow causing the deaths of two serving officers.
The taxi passed the welcome to Ramsbottom sign and after going over the brow of the hill started descending into the town.
Suddenly Sarah could not believe her eyes, because in the distance as they fast approached it, was Lauren Chapman, Shaun’s younger sister waiting in some kind of uniform outside a
hair salon
“That’s her” Sarah yelled
The taxi driver swore and braked hard with the screeching of tyres, as he overshot slightly.
Quickly Sarah undid her seatbelt, grabbed her handbag, opened the door of the taxi and called out to Lauren
The teenager did not seem to recognise Sarah at first; after all it had been a long time since they had briefly met at the Two Tubs in Bury
“It’s me” Sarah called out, “Trevor’s sister”
“Trevor who?” Lauren said icily
“Trevor Bentley” Sarah said nervously, “We met last Christmas in Bury at the Two Tubs?”
“Oh yes” Lauren sneered, “When I was dragged along there by my loser brother because Mam was working late and told me to meet her there so we could get lift home with her. What do you want Sarah?”
“I need to see Shaun?” Sarah pleaded
“And I thought you came to see me” Lauren snapped back, “Surely you can do better than him”
For a moment Sarah was confused then pleaded “Please Lauren, I need to see him, it’s urgent”
“Why?” Lauren asked
“Her brother has been murdered” the taxi driver said from behind Sarah.
Sarah instinctively turned around to look at the taxi driver
“What? When did this happen?” Lauren asked the taxi driver, ignoring Sarah
“Last night” the taxi driver replied, “Miss Bentley here has a memory stick belonging to her brother and was hoping there might be answers on it”
“Why don’t you just take it to the police?” Lauren asked
“They think I killed my brother” Sarah said shaking her head
“Well did you?” Lauren asked
“No Lauren” Sarah whined, “They tried to kill me too. They’ve even killed my friend Vicky and her family”
Lauren’s face went ashen, “That was the lass you were with at the Two Tubs”
Sarah nodded
“And I’m afraid you may be in danger too” the taxi driver chipped in, “Or at least your brother”
“What do you mean?” Lauren asked angrily
“They managed to block my SIM card” Sarah interrupted, “He gave me another one in the car over here, but they blocked that one too”
“So how does that make us in danger?” Lauren asked
“I googled for computer repair shops on my Iphone before they shut that down too” the taxi driver admitted, “For all I know who ever did this may have seen what I was googling”.
Lauren shook her head in disbelief, “I knew Shaun and Trevor’s obsessions would bring us grief” she muttered, “It’s a good job I’m opening up this morning”
“This salon opens this early?” the taxi driver asked pointing at the front door of the hair dressers, “I always thought they opened at ten in morning”
“No silly” Lauren replied and took out her key and opened the door of the
dental surgery next door.
Lauren rushed in and cancelled the alarm, whilst Sarah and the taxi driver entered the dental surgery.
“So this is what you’re doing now?” Sarah asked
“Yeah!” Lauren called back, “Since dad decided to go off to London with his bit on the side leaving us and Mam behind, going to college wasn’t an option if we wanted to keep a roof over our heads”
Sarah swallowed hard, Lauren’s life had been just as hard as hers, but at least Sarah had had the chance to continue in education. Lauren was obviously a dental receptionist now.
“Why do you need my brother?” Lauren asked, “If it’s a memory stick as soon as I boot up the computer we could see what’s on it”
“It may be encrypted” Sarah replied, “Trevor had a tendency to do things like that”
The taxi driver closed the door, “If you just tell us which computer shop your brother works in I can take Miss Bentley over there”
“They won’t be open yet” Lauren replied as she switched on the computer at the reception desk, “My sorry excuse of a brother won’t even be out of bed yet” she added with an air of irritation.
“We need to get in touch with him urgently” Sarah pleaded, “We need to warn him about the people who killed my brother and Vicky”
“They could be on their way right now” the taxi driver added
Lauren reached into her handbag and pulled out her mobile and went to switch it on, “I’ll call home, but I doubt he will even hear the damn thing”
“Don’t” Sarah yelled as she placed her hand over the mobile phone, “They can track mobiles”
“Right” Lauren said with irritation, “The boss isn’t in yet so I’ll use the surgery phone”
Lauren picked up the surgery phone and tapped out a number and waited
“Mam” Lauren spoke into the phone, “Can you get Shaun get over here as soon as possible”
Someone talking back on the phone
“No Mam, my mobile hasn’t died and no I haven’t run out of credit” Lauren went on
Some more talking back on the phone
“Can you just kick his lazy a**e out of bed and get him over here”
Some more talking back on the phone
“I can’t really say over the…” Lauren then tried to reply Lauren put the phone back down and frowned, “The phone just died”
A cold shiver went down Sarah’s back, “They’re coming here” she whispered
“What do you mean” Lauren asked
“The people who killed my brother and framed me” Sarah whined, “They seem to be able to do anything”
“She’s right” the taxi driver interrupted, “If they can track her phone, even when the SIM card is swapped and shut it off and mine too, who knows what else they can do”
Lauren shut her eyes for a moment and then went to the window, “A few months back as a crime prevention measure they did something with the CCTV around here”
“Oh my goodness!” the taxi driver exclaimed, “They must have interrogated my Google search and cross checked it with known associates of Miss Bentley’s brother”
“How?” Lauren pressed
“Databases” Sarah suggested
“Miss Bentley is right I am afraid” the taxi driver confirmed, “You pay tax and national insurance do you not?”
“Yeah” Lauren replied sceptically
“Well they can easily track you through such databases by linking several up to find out where you live” the taxi driver said in a worried tone
“But how the hell can they get access to that information” Lauren demanded
“I’m sorry” Sarah apologised and made for the front door, “Maybe if I give them that stupid memory stick they will go away”
The taxi driver grabbed Sarah’s arm, “I do not think that is right. They would still kill you to get rid of loose ends, whatever this is all about”
“He’s right” Lauren reluctantly agreed.
Sarah just stood there staring at them. Somehow whatever mess her brother had got into was drawing these to into as well. It just seemed like an utter nightmare.
“We need to go right now over to your brother’s house Miss Lauren before they do” the taxi driver insisted.
“S**t” Lauren swore, “The other’s are not going to be pleased. It was my turn to open up early today” she protested
“That can not be helped Miss Lauren” The taxi driver retorted, “Just tell us where you’re house is” the Taxi driver went on, “Then lock yourself in here if you have to stay, but I strongly advise against it”
“Please Lauren” Sarah pleaded, “These b*****ds have killed two police officers, Vicky, her brother and her parents, they may have killed another friend of mine as well as Trevor”
Lauren swore again and grabbed a message pad tore a note from it and scribbled a brief message and placed it in an obvious place on the reception desk. “I just hope I don’t loose my job over this” she fumed.
Lauren went back to the alarm and set it and then ushered Sarah and the taxi driver out of the dental surgery.
The taxi driver went across to the taxi first followed by Lauren, who got in the back behind the taxi driver. Sarah followed and went to get in the front passenger seat.
Sarah glanced up and noticed a CCTV camera.
It had just finished moving and was looking straight at her.
Another chill swept through her.
These killers were able to access a CCTV system, even in a remote northern town such as
Ramsbottom.
Who were they and what was Trevor into?
Sarah got in the car, “They’ve spotted us” she told the taxi driver, pointing up at the camera”
“Oh my goodness” the taxi driver replied, “We must be up against some kind of government conspiracy here”
“Now you’re sounding like Shaun” Lauren said from the back
“And Trevor” Sarah thought to herself
The taxi driver started the car and accelerated down the road.
As soon as they reached the junction with Bridge Street at Lauren’s instruction the taxi driver turned right and headed down the narrow road.
Still Sarah looked out for motorcycle assassins, but she was now acutely aware of all the CCTV cameras there were on poles or on the sides of building, possibly watching their every move and guiding the killers’ right to her.
The taxi then turned left just before the church in to a road called
Crow Lane. This was the road that Lauren lived on with her brother and her mother.
The taxi came to a stop outside the house, just as Shaun was stepping outside.
Sarah got out first and called to Shaun, followed by Lauren
“Sarah? Long time no see” Shaun said with a smile as he saw Sarah approaching.
“Forget it Shaun” Lauren said as she angrily walked over to her brother, “She’s out of your league plus, you and your stupid computer hacking games have got her brother killed”
“What do you mean?” Shaun retorted, “I haven’t done any hacking for a while”
“Yeah, Yeah” Lauren replied, “Well your friend has done, and it has got him killed along with a number of others and according to these two the killers could be on their way here right now”
“You have got to be kidding” Shaun said in disbelieve, “When did this happen?”
“Last night Shaun, while I was out in Manchester” Sarah tearfully told Shaun, “They framed me for it and they also killed my best friend and her family” Sarah added. “I think they were after this” Sarah then said producing the memory stick
“An Iron Key?” Shaun said in confusion
Sarah nodded, “I went out to Manchester last night to audition at a strip club and and meet someone in. I was told could help me break into the glamour modelling industry. We need the money, they were going to take the house away and Trevor was useless at getting a job”
“Ok” Shaun replied, “I understand, but where does that Ion Key come into this?”
“Vicky had taken some photos for me to show on mine, but I took Trevor’s by mistake” Sarah explained
“Trevor must have uncovered the shadow government’s plan to control our lives.” Shaun said in exasperation. “We said this would happen one day, but did anyone believe us?” Shaun sighed, “You lot better get in the house”
“No” interrupted the taxi driver, “You all need to leave now”
“What?” Shaun asked
“The people who did it are in the phones and the cameras apparently” Sarah added
“I was on the phone to Mam from the surgery when the phone went dead. According to these two, it was cut off by whoever killed Trevor” Lauren told Shaun
Shaun shook his head again, “As I said, it’s just like we’ve been saying all along” he muttered, “It’s the shadow government controlling its own citizens, at the behest of the CIA I bet”
“We have to hurry” the taxi driver interrupted
“I need a change of clothes” Sarah found herself saying.
Top government assassins were after her and these other people and she was worrying about a change of clothes?
“Lauren” Shaun commanded, “Pack a bag with some of your old things you were going to take to the charity shop”
“Since when do you give orders” Lauren countered
“Just do it” Shaun replied, “I’ll pack some stuff too, if Sarah and I go on the run maybe we can keep a few steps ahead of them and figure this out. Maybe we can finally expose this conspiracy”
“If what they are after is on that Iron thingy, can’t you just go to your shop and see what is on it?” Lauren asked
“That will be the first place they look” Shaun answered back, “I’ll get Mam to pack as well while you’re packing stuff for yourself and Sarah. Go stay with Uncle Patrick, he understands about the secret government and he has a gun and isn’t afraid to use it”
“Uncle Patrick” Lauren said in disgust, “I’m surprised he’s not in the loony bin, let alone allowed to keep a gun”
“At least he was wise enough to keep off the electoral register, so he can’t be tracked”
“Now your being just as paranoid as Uncle Patrick” Lauren spat back
“Lauren” Sarah interjected, “You don’t know these people. I was in a police cell and one of them walked in pretending to be some kind of police doctor. When he made them send me to the hospital he killed the police officer guarding me and would have killed me if it were not for one of the doctors there interrupting him. I think he killed that doctor too”
“We are wasting time” the taxi driver interrupted, “They could be here any moment”
“Ok – Ok” Lauren conceded and beckoned for Sarah to follow as she entered the house.
Sarah followed Lauren up the stairs to her bedroom. Lauren was muttering under her breath, which made Sarah feel even guiltier that she was for disrupting the lives of another group of people, even endangering them.
Lauren grabbed at an overnight bag and opened her draw and grabbed some panties telling Sarah she had just bought new ones and these were going to be thrown anyway
Charming
Then Lauren pulled out a few old tee-shirts and sweatshirts and stuffed them in the overnight bag. Finally she grabbed a couple of skirts.
Sarah did not feel it would be right to mention that she was not really a “Skirt” person like Lauren was.
Lauren then zipped up the bag
There were no bras because one, Lauren was a different size to Sarah in that department and two Lauren told Sarah that she never usually wore any as she thought they contributed to breast cancer, except when she worked at her dental receptionist job and that was only because her boss had insisted that she to wear one to work. Otherwise she would do push-ups against a wall, because she had heard that would make wearing one unnecessary and she advised Sarah to do the same accordingly.
It sounded like too much information to Sarah, so perhaps in spite of Lauren’s bluster against Shaun; they weren’t so much different either. Not like Sarah as far as she knew did not have any obsessions like that, as far as she was aware.
Then Shaun got Lauren to tell Sarah to change out of her old clothes and take a shower while Lauren fixed something for her to wear, as she needed to change her appearance. Sarah was only too happy to get out of them as she had been wearing them since her unsuccessful trip to Manchester.
As she got out, Lauren presented her with what she would be wearing, fresh panties, open toe sandals, (No socks – Lauren did not believe in them either), a skirt and a tight fitting tee-shirt.
Sarah retrieved her bikini top and put it back on, Lauren may want to be Bohemian, but that was not really Sarah. Her experience of going into Manchester with nothing on under her denim jacket, (which she had to give up as well), made that quite clear.
“I think you ought to know something” Lauren said to Sarah quietly
“What?” Sarah asked
“I need to warn you that I think my brother fancies you” Lauren answered
“Nah!” Sarah said dismissively, “It was my brother and his stupid conspiracy theories he was interested in, not me”
“Ok” Lauren replied and held her hands up, “But he always mentioned you when ever he came back from visiting your brother”
Sarah blushed. She had always been a bit of a “plain Jane” and never really had any boyfriends during her time at Tottington High School.
“Are you decent” Shaun called through the bedroom door
Sarah opened the door to the bedroom and looked up at Shaun. He did look sort of handsome, for a nerd that is.
“I’ve got Joe from next door to take you and Mam to Uncle Patrick” He told Lauren.
“But I have a job Shaun” Lauren protested
“They will track you there and kill you” Shaun insisted, “You’re up against the government”
“So I just let them kill my colleagues at work then?” Lauren retaliated
Shaun did not have an answer for that so he turned after a few seconds to Sarah, “I’ve got my notebook, and me and Ali are waiting downstairs for you”
“Ali?” Sarah questioned
“Your taxi driver?” Shaun replied
Sarah felt embarrassed, all this time with the one man who up to now had been her saviour, and she had not bothered to find out his name.
Shaun looked at what Sarah was wearing and for a moment was quiet.
“Is that a bikini top you have on under that?” Shaun asked with what Sarah thought was a slight hint of incredulity
“Doesn’t it go?” Sarah found herself asking, “I don’t have any bras” she added without thinking.
Suddenly she wanted the ground to swallow her up for even discussing such a thing with a man
“Don’t worry about it love” Shaun went on, “You look really good in what you wear, even if some of it came from my sister. You always did”
“Thanks” Sarah blushed, (Nobody had ever paid her a compliment like that) “I’ll be down in a moment” she added closing the bedroom door on Shaun.
Then Sarah removed the tee-shirt, took off the bikini top and put the tee-shirt back on. She could not think why she was doing it; it was so unlike her, maybe because she wanted to do something for Shaun.
At least Lauren seemed to approve, or so she thought, however Sarah did place the bikini top in her handbag, just in case.
Sarah opened the door and went down into the hallway. There was Shaun, his mother and Ali the taxi Asian driver.
Sarah noticed that Shaun’s mother was reluctantly handing over a large sum of cash to Shaun.
“I hope you’re satisfied” Shaun’s mother accused Sarah, “Disrupting our lives like this”
“I’m sorry” Sarah could just squeak out before unexpectedly dissolving into tears.
Shaun embraced Sarah and held her in her arms, “Mam, that’s uncalled for and you know it” he scolded his mother, “You saw the lies they put on the teletext. This is a government conspiracy her brother unearthed and we are going away to uncover the truth while you get to safety, assuming it’s not too late”
“I may be able to take you to Rochdale” Ali said to Shaun and Sarah
“Thanks, but I have another idea” Shaun replied
“What?” the taxi driver asked in a surprised tone
“Take me and Sarah to the railway station” Shaun instructed
“This is ridiculous” Shaun’s mother spoke up, “Why don’t we just go to the police”
“Because, Mam, they’re in on it” Shaun insisted.
“Mrs Chapman” Sarah spoke up, “These people planted drugs on me and managed to place forty grand in my bank account” Sarah then proceeded to give a quick account of the attack on the police car by the motorcycle assassins and how the police officers at the station blamed her for his death.
“In my day” Shaun’s mother began, “people respected the police”
“Not after that bloke was gunned down on the underground and they killed that newspaper seller at the G20 march” Shaun retorted.
“Believe me Mrs Chapman” Ali added, “Some police are really lazy and will do anything to close a case early”
Shaun picked up a holdall, “We need to get to the railway station”
“Don’t forget your mobile this time” Shaun’s mother told him as Shaun opened the front door
“No way” Shaun replied as he took out his mobile from his jacket and placed it on the hallway table, “They can track those things through their GPS chips, that’s probably why they got at Sarah and Ali’s phones even though she changed her SIM card”
Shaun peered through the front door, “No sign of anyone” he called out, and then shouted “Go, go, go”
Sarah and the taxi driver raced to the taxi following Shaun who had beat Sarah to the front passenger door.
Sarah would have to ride in the back this time.
All three of them got into taxi and the taxi driver accelerated down the road, turning into the next right turn.
The taxi driver then sped down through a side street before taking another right and heading out to come out onto Bridge Street and turning left.
“Why the train?” the taxi driver asked
“Because one is about due and it’s old technology and harder to track” Shaun explained.
“Ok” The taxi driver relented, “I will drive on to Rochdale and hopefully act as a decoy to let you get away”
“Thanks that’s much appreciated Ali” Shaun replied
“Where are you headed” The taxi driver pressed
“It’s better all round if you don’t know” Shaun replied
“If you are sure about all this” the taxi driver asked
“Positive” Shaun replied
The taxi came to a stop outside of the
Ramsbottom station on the East Lancashire Railway line.
In the station was a diesel train, loading up with passengers.
“Thanks for everything” Sarah told the taxi driver as she grabbed her bag and exited the taxi along with Shaun.
Ali watched as Shaun and Sarah as they rushed into the booking room, bought their tickets, and rushed onto the platform only just boarding the train in time before it left.
Then Ali sat there as he watched the train depart in the direction of Bury
After the train had pulled out of the station the taxi driver pulled out another mobile phone from his jacket pocket and pressed a speed dial button.
Ali was almost oblivious to a red Ford Fiesta parking close behind
“Brigadier General” Ali spoke into the phone, “I regret to report that the Bentley girl is no longer with me. She remembered some friend of her brother’s in Ramsbottom”
Talking from the other phone
“You were right to get me to shadow the Bentley girl as the police took her to that hospital. I can’t believe how she somehow got away from them. I found her on the main road Brigadier General she was trying to catch a bus of all things so I used my cover of being a taxi driver. She did not suspect a thing” Ali said with a grin
More talking from the other phone
“Oh dear Brigadier General, That is so unfortunate” Ali said with concern in his voice, “Anyway this friend of hers has some kind of alternate plan. There was no way I could veto it without raising suspicion. The Bentley girl is now travelling with this friend of her brothers. But do not worry I managed to plant the micro tracker on her, they do not suspect a thing”
More talking from the other phone
“Oh yes I almost forgot to tell you where they are headed” Ali started to say.
Suddenly the side window of the taxi shattered as Ali was shot dead, hit at almost point blank range from a pistol with a silencer carried by an elderly man in his late fifties and hidden by an old newspaper.
+ + +
Lauren was still angry along with her mother as they started to get into their next door neighbours car to go to an uncle she did not really like.
Lauren briefly looked up towards the church and the main road.
There was a motorcyclist in black coming down the road, with a pillion passenger
Lauren did not think much about it and turned to get in the back.
That was the last thing she ever did.
The pillion passenger opened fire on Lauren, her mother and the neighbour with a fully automatic submachine pistol.
Every shot counted
Every shot hit Lauren, her mother or the neighbour
Every shot was a kill shot.
The motorcycle stopped beside the car so the pillion passenger could pull out a grenade, which he removed the pin and tossed into the car, before speeding up.
As they drove away the Pillion passenger spoke into a radio mike in his helmet.
“This is Major F” the pillion passenger said into his radio, “Tertiary targets deep cleaned along with another civilian. Still searching for primary target”
+ + +
Sarah sat down in the carriage and looked nervously out of the window at the passing countryside of the Irwell Valley
The carriage seemed like something from the nineteen sixties; well it was a heritage railway after all
Everything just seemed so unreal about her situation. Sarah should be going into college, not running from the law and from people out to kill her like they had killed her brother and most likely her best friend and her best friend’s family.
“It should be under quarter of an hour to Bury” Shaun interrupted Sarah’s thoughts as he sat opposite her, “So no point trying to hack into Trevor’s iron key”
“Ok” Sarah replied weakly looking briefly at Shaun and then resuming her staring at the passing countryside with tears in her eyes.
There was an awkward silence between the two, as it seemed Shaun wanted to say something, but did not know what. Shaun eyed Sarah up and down, “You ditched the bikini top” he observed
Sarah grinned, “Do you like it?” she asked for a brief moment forgetting all that had gone on.
“Yeah I suppose” Shaun admitted, “But you didn’t have to just for me”
“I wanted to Shaun” Sarah admitted.
Even more insanely Sarah considered lifting up the Tee-shirt to give Shaun a quick flash but just then the train stopped at a station
It was the halt at Summerseat,. The two of them returned to the reality of their situation and there was a tense time as the two of them eyes all the passengers getting on, just in case the assassins had tracked them down.
The train started up again
It looked like their trick of using an old form of transport had paid off and for now they were safe.
“When we get to Bury Sarah” Shaun told Sarah, “We will take the Metrolink to Piccadilly Gardens and then get a coach either South or North. The train is too expensive and too well policed. I always prefer the coach to trains”
“Ok” Sarah said in a non committal manner
“Any preferences Sarah?” Shaun asked, “of where to go?”.
Sarah shook her head,
what kind of question was that?
Shaun seemed to think for a moment, and then asked, “Did Trevor mention visiting any place recently? My last email from him was that he wanted me to go with him on some trip, but I was working”
Sarah suddenly remembered her dead father’s motoring atlas and the red felt tip mark Trevor had made.
“He seemed to be planning some trip to Kent Shaun” Sarah replied, “He said he had found some kind of link as he put it, to an old press report about an old abandoned world war two base down in Kent which was torched by arsonists a few years back, if that makes any sense.”
Shaun nodded, “In my last email he mentioned a place near Leeds, I thought he was talking about across the Pennines, obviously not”
“That’s all I know Shaun” Sarah replied, “That plus he was on about someone called Doctor H, when I mentioned it Trevor became quite secretive”
Shaun blew out through his teeth, “It looks like we may have to find this Doctor H and the best place I can think of is down near that Leeds place in Kent”
“What?” Sarah said with incredulity
“Sarah” Shaun went on, “For all we know this Doctor H could be behind every thing. Maybe Trevor stumbled onto his identity. Maybe this Doctor H is the leader of the Shadow Government of the New World order we have been warning about.”
“You sound just as crazy as my Trevor did” Sarah said as the train pulled into Bolton Street Station.
“Maybe Sarah”, Shaun answered back, “But it’s the best explanation I can think of, especially if they can hack into your bank account, your mobile phone and the CCTV systems”
Sarah grabbed her bags and followed Shaun onto the platform and the pair of them headed out up the stairs.
The reached the stairs and were mingling with the other commuters as they approached the corner to the ticket hall of the Bolton Street Station in Bury
Just as they were coming around the corner, across the barriers and through the doors Sarah caught sight of several blue flashing lights.
Outside the police station there appeared to be a number of police cars
Someone had tipped them off they were coming
To be continued