Barbara lay as still as the motion from the car allowed, her teeth gnawing against the duct tape. Breathing was becoming more difficult, especially as the smell of exhaust fumes mingled with the stink from her own urine was beginning to make her feel nauseous. She had managed to grip a bit of the tape between her teeth and could feel an edge of something as she chewed. Her tongue probed, examining and then she experienced a small moment of triumph as it penetrated the tape completely.
Blowing her breath out through the tiny hole felt like a major achievement. But there was still so much to do, she thought, moving her wrists feebly against their bonds. Her head ached and Barbara knew she must be dehydrated by now. How long was it a human could carry on without water? She cursed softly, thinking of the last drink she’d had back at the garage.
It was only a matter of time before her various organs began to shut down, the policewoman knew. But the car was still on the move, Badica at its wheel, so perhaps her fate was to be decided sooner than that.
The sound of her mobile ringing in the inside pocket of her coat made Barbara freeze for an instant. Would he hear the ringtone? Guess that someone was trying to locate her? She held her breath as the noise of the engine and the rattle as the car passed over yet another pot hole drowned out the sound of her phone. For a moment her thoughts raced. If this was Monday morning then perhaps she had already been missed? Maybe at this very moment officers were out combing the countryside for her.
As the car turned a sharp bend Barbara sensed that they were climbing upwards into hill country, her body rolling back against the edge of the boot. She had tried to make out whereabouts they were going after the car had left the confines of the garage but it had been hopeless. Stops and starts that might have signalled traffic lights, the thunderous noise of lorries (on a motorway?) and the whine of vehicles passing them by had given way to the sound of the Mercedes’ engine note alone and Barbara guessed that they had left the city behind.
When the car stopped abruptly, she felt her whole body being jolted against the sides of the boot. Then she heard the sound of footsteps on gravel and at last the boot door was raised and a sudden light flooded onto her face.
Barbara squeezed her eyes shut, too terrified to look at the man who bent over her.
With an exclamation of disgust he pulled her roughly from the boot, hauling her by the binding tapes so that she cried out as they bit further into the flesh around her wrists.
Then her feet were being dragged along the ground and Barbara felt the freezing air around her and heard the incongruous note of a robin shrilling nearby.
As her head hit the frozen ground Barbara thought for a moment that he was going to leave her there. But the thought was short lived as blow after blow rained down on her unresisting body.
She heard the sickening crunch of metal on bone as something struck her bare wrists but the gasping moan was drowned out by her attacker’s sudden yell.
She couldn’t understand the language but there was no mistaking the tone of venom.
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when the man’s boot made contact with her back and then she was rolling down and down, pain coursing through every bit of her body as she thudded over tussocks of frosty grass and sharp stones that bruised her face and hands.
The thorn tree that broke her fall was halfway down a steep gully so full of litter that the policewoman’s body would look like just more rubbish left by fly-tippers.
Her head pounding, Barbara heard the car door slam somewhere in the distance then the noise of the Mercedes’ engine became quieter and quieter until it disappeared completely. As she lay there, pinned against the trunk of the tree, her eyes closed against the cold skies.
The vagrant robin called fretfully from a neighbouring bush but there was no listening ear to hear his song.
‘Where the hell is she?’ DI Proctor cursed under her breath. The telephone call to Mr and Mrs Knox had not helped in the slightest and had only caused Barbara’s mother to become