Where There's A Will

Chapter Twenty

Alice woke abruptly. Her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright as a scream erupted from her throat to echo around the room. She stared around her wildly, trying to pierce the darkness she found herself enveloped in. It was to no avail; the darkness was almost absolute.

She had no idea where she was, but after a moment she did recall what had happened to her. Her heart, which was already racing, shifted into overdrive as the memory of being kidnapped came back to her. Not sure what she was going to find, she hurriedly ran her hands over her body – she calmed only a little when she discovered that she was uninjured, aside from sore spots at her wrists and ankles, and a tenderness on the left side of her jaw, and that the only item of clothing she was missing was her shoes.

"I think Sleeping Beauty's woken," Crash remarked when the scream reached him from upstairs. An amused grin lifted the corners of his mouth as he said, "I hope she's comfortable up there."

A squeak from the armchair diverted his attention for a second time, and looking around he was surprised to see Lewis getting to his feet. "Where're you going?" he asked of his partner.

"To check on Alice," Lewis told him, "and to take her some water and a sandwich."

"What the hell are you doing that for?" Sitting up, Crash swung his legs round and got to his feet so he could follow Lewis into the kitchen. As he passed the foot of the stairs, his eyes went to the door at its head, it was still closed, locked and bolted as far as he could see, not that he had expected it to be anything else.

"We can't leave her without food and water, especially water."

"Why not? She's only here for a few days, there's no reason for us to have anything to do with her. If you or any of us go into that room, we run the risk of her being able to identify us, and to escape, is that what you want?"

"Of course not," Lewis said quickly, "but we can't leave her without water, she'll get sick." As he spoke, he took a bottle of water from the fridge, as well as a plate of thickly cut Wiltshire ham and some strong cheddar cheese.

Crash wasn't sure if his partner was telling the truth about Alice Keating getting sick if she was made to go without water. It seemed like a reasonable possibility, though – he knew how he felt when he went most of the day without anything to drink; just in case, he let Lewis carry on with what he was doing. He didn't care, personally, what happened to the girl so long as he got his money, but he didn't want Lewis to know that. "If you want to take a chance on her being able to identify you later, that's your lookout, just don't cause me any trouble." With that he turned away and went back to the film he had been watching.

The moment she heard the sound of a key in a lock, Alice backed up. She didn't know what was behind her, but the door being opened was in front of her, of that she was certain, and she wanted to get away from whoever was entering the room. She had scrambled just a few feet when she backed into a wall, which she began exploring with her fingers. She stopped when the door opened and she was blinded by the light that flooded the room; it wasn't strong, but it was enough to sting her eyes after the darkness.

Alice blinked her eyes rapidly to get them to focus properly. Once she could see the room she was in, and the silhouetted figure that entered it, she hurriedly crawled away until she was in the corner farthest from the door, where she felt a little safer.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," Lewis said as he moved into the room and saw what she was doing. "I've just brought you some water and something to eat, and I thought you'd like some light." He set down the lamp he had brought with him at the side of the room, where it would provide the most illumination.