Chapter 4
Nikki couldn’t believe her eyes. The car just seemed
to appear out of nowhere but she was the one at fault. She had been travelling
too fast and hadn’t even bothered to slow down as she joined up with the main
road.
After escaping the prison van, she had run for miles
trying to put as much distance as possible between herself and anyone pursuing
her then hitched a ride on a lorry travelling south. They had stopped at a
motorway service area and she gratefully accepted a meal from the driver. After
the meal, a quick recce round the car park had furnished her – thanks to an
absent-minded owner who had left his/her keys in the ignition – with the Range
Rover she was now driving. She had now added car theft to her criminal record!
She had seen the driver of the car had been a woman
and she couldn’t leave her stranded out here, especially now the snow was
falling so heavily. With an exasperated sigh, she turned the vehicle round and
drove back the way she had come.
The car was off the road and she saw a figure slumped
over the steering wheel but as she drew to a halt, the woman raised her head.
She bent down beside the car and tapped on the window.
Helen wound the window down barely a couple of inches. “Are you alright?” Nikki
asked solicitously.
“Fine, no thanks to you! Don’t you have any bloody
road sense?” she demanded furiously.
"Sorry, I was in a hurry."
"Well, don't let me detain you."
Nikki regarded Helen intently. There was something
vaguely familiar about her. “Have we met somewhere before?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Helen told her stiffly. “I’m
not from around here.”
“I can tell. Scottish, isn’t it? Your accent, I mean,”
Nikki replied pleasantly.
“Look, much as I am enjoying exchanging pleasantries
with you,” Helen retorted sarcastically. “I’m freezing cold and I need to find
somewhere to stay for the night, so I’d like to be on my way.”
"Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Nikki apologised.
“I'll just check the car for any damage before you start the engine." She
walked round to the other side of the car. She’d seen the shock on the woman’s
face when she first saw her and she had been as nervous as hell since. Wade, I
think you’ve been rumbled, she thought to herself! Maybe a little delaying
tactic wouldn’t go amiss!
Helen's brain whirled. The woman was an escaped
murderer and she was alone with her. Her had reached for the ignition key just
as Nikki again spoke through the open window. "You've got a flat
tyre." She opened the car door before Helen had time to stop her.
"Come on, I'll give you a lift into the village."
"Don’t bother,” Helen replied. “I'll change the
tyre."
"You can’t in this weather."
"I'll be alright. I'm quite capable." She
tried to close the car door but Nikki held on to it firmly.
"But I insist," she said menacingly. Well it
seemed menacing to Helen.
Reluctantly she removed the keys from the ignition,
snatched up her handbag from the passenger seat and climbed out of the car.
Nikki took the keys from her and, after winding up the
window, locked the car door. "We don't want anyone stealing it, do
we?"
"My...my case is in the boot," she
stammered.
"I'll get it," she said curtly. After
stowing her case in the back of the Range Rover, Nikki took Helen’s elbow and
helped her into the passenger seat. "Don't forget to fasten your seat
belt," she advised as she slid in beside her, although, Helen noticed, she
didn't fasten hers.
Nikki drove to
a spot where the road widened then spun the Range Rover round to face the way
they had both been travelling.
As they passed the Peugeot, Helen gasped. "You
said I had a flat tyre!" she exclaimed accusingly.
"I lied," she said smugly.
"Unfortunately, darlin’, you made the mistake of recognising me – and
don't bother to deny it – so I have to keep you out of circulation."
"If you let me go, I wouldn't tell anyone I’d
seen you," she said desperately.
"You really don't expect me to believe that do
you?" Nikki sneered. Suddenly, she turned off the road and onto a narrow
track that had been made even narrower by the snowdrifts.
A hand of fear clutched at Helen’s heart. She hadn't
seen a living soul for miles and here she was being driven into the 'wilds' by
an escaped murderer. Even when her car was found, the rate the snow was
falling, all evidence of her whereabouts would be obliterated. When Lofthouse
had sent her for a story she little realised she could be the newspaper's next
headline.
"Where the hell are you taking me?" she
demanded with more fear than courage.
"Somewhere safe," Nikki said
non-committally.
"Who for? You or me?"
"I haven't decided what to do with you yet,"
she replied without a hint of emotion in her voice.
"Then why don't you take me back to where you
found me and I'll take my chances?"
"Because I am not prepared to take my
chances." They came to the end of the narrow track, bounced their way
across a field and into a wood. Nikki spun the wheel, weaving a path through
the trees and Helen was flung alternately against the vehicle door and then
against her abductor.
"You bloody maniac!" she exclaimed as they
screeched to a halt.
"Your descriptions of me are getting really
monotonous," Nikki quipped as she climbed out and held out her hand for
Helen to slide along the seat and follow her.
Helen ignored the outstretched hand and opened the
passenger door and jumped out. She looked around her helplessly.
"Don't even think about making a run for
it," Nikki warned as she appeared round the front of the Range Rover.
"What are you going to do with me?" she
asked nervously.
Nikki looked at her appraisingly. She was bloody
gorgeous and for the first time a smile touched her lips. "Now that
conjures up some interesting possibilities,” she drawled suggestively. “But,
like I said, I haven't decided yet." She abruptly turned away.
"Follow me," she snapped, ducking under an over-hanging branch and
plunging deeper into the woods.
They had gone about a hundred yards when they reached
a small log cabin set in a clearing.
Nikki took Helen by the arm and after cautiously
approaching the cabin flung open the door.
Helen laughed nervously. "Did you think they'd be
waiting for you?" Long fingers bit into her upper arm as she was propelled
inside. Helen shook off Nikki’s hand and glared at her defiantly. "Do what
you want with me, but you won't get away with it. Every police force in the country
is looking for you."
Nikki shook her head wearily. "I have no
intention of harming you. All I want is to keep you out of action until I can
get safely out of the country."
Helen looked at her in surprise. "You're leaving
the country?"
She paused briefly before replying, "I don't
think that concerns you. Now, would you like to get us something to eat whilst
I go and get your bags from the Range Rover." She nodded towards a small
kitchen area. "There are some eggs and things in there."
After she had left the cabin, Helen sank down onto one
of a pair of shabby, but comfortable, armchairs. She couldn't believe this was
happening. Abducted by a fugitive who had calmly asked her to cook her dinner.
Scrambling to her feet, she made for the door. She had
to get away. She couldn't spend the night under the same roof as a murderer.
She crashed her way through the woods at the back of
the cabin. The snow was hampering her escape and a blind man could follow the
trail she was leaving but she hoped she had enough of a head start on Wade to
evade her until she got to safety.
Once the woods were behind her the ground started to
rise steeply making her calf muscles feel like lead but the need for
self-preservation drove her on.
She heard a noise above her and looked up to find
Nikki looming over her. "How the hell…?" she began.
"Short cut," she said solemnly.
Helen sank to her knees, hysterical laughter bubbling
in her throat.
"Stop it!" Nikki ordered. She dragged her to
her feet and shook her roughly. "Stop it!" she repeated and brought
the palm of her hand hard against Helen’s cheek.
The tears ran unchecked down Helen’s face as Nikki put
her arms around her and held her clasped against her chest until her sobbing
subsided. "Come on, we're getting soaked," she said gently.
Helen allowed herself to be led back to the cabin,
Nikki’s hand at her elbow steadying her as they walked.
"Go and get out of those wet things," she
ordered once they were back inside the cabin. She motioned towards the only
other door. "That's the bedroom. There are some towels in the top
drawer."
After making sure the door was closed firmly behind
her, Helen looked around the bedroom.
It contained only a single bed and a chest of drawers on which stood a
mirror and an oil lamp. There was a small window that was covered by a pair of
faded curtains. She examined the window catch and her heart sank when she found
it was locked.
Resigned to staying where she was for the moment, she
opened the drawer Nikki had indicated and took out a couple of the towels. Her
fingers were shaking as she stripped off her wet clothes down to her panties.
There was a knock on the door making her start.
"Are you decent?"
"Just a minute," she wrapped the largest of
the towels around her. "What do you want?"
The door opened and Nikki entered carrying her
suitcase and handbag. "I thought you might need these."
"Thank you," she said begrudgingly grateful.
Nikki placed the baggage on the floor at the foot of
the bed. "Do you mind if I have a towel?”
She smiled wickedly. "The one you're wearing will do."
Helen clutched the towel to her and backed away from
her.
"I was only joking. I may be a dyke but I don’t
jump on every woman I see. I've told you, I mean you no harm." She went
towards the chest of drawers and again Helen backed away. The back of her legs
came into contact with the side of the bed catapulting her forward and she fell
against Nikki.
Strong arms went around her to steady her. Desire
flared in Nikki’s eyes as the towel slid from Helen’s breasts. Her hand cupped
her firm, rounded flesh. "Please don't," Helen begged, but her
protests were stemmed as Nikki’s mouth covered hers. She pressed her gently
down on to the bed where her roaming hands pushed the towel aside. Helen gasped
as Nikki’s lips left a trail down her throat and her mouth covered her breast.
She felt an unfamiliar dull ache in the pit of her stomach as Nikki’s tongue flickered
across her nipple.
Nikki forced her knee between Helen’s legs and ran her
hand down her body. She felt long fingers slide under the waistband of her
panties, but as they started to explore lower, she pummelled at Nikki’s
shoulders with her fist. "No! You can't!"
"I can!" she mocked triumphantly.
She struggled helplessly as hands threatened to caress
her into submission. "You're already a murderer!" she cried.
"Are you going to add rape to your crimes?"
Nikki’s hands stilled and she pushed herself from the
bed. "Get dressed," she said wearily. "I'll make us something to
eat." She left the bedroom without looking at Helen and slammed the door
behind her.
Helen pressed her hands to her flaming cheeks. For one
brief moment, much to her disgust, she had almost given herself up to Nikki
Wade’s passion. No, not passion…lust.
She pulled the towel tightly round her, curled herself into a ball and
wept silently.