Page 134 of Ride With Me

So, after finding out I was gay, he’s spent the week calling me Victoria, knowing full well I’m not going to take him down for it. Yes, he sized me up almost as quickly as Lawrence did. Just this one exercise to get through, a debrief, and I’ll never have to see him again. I’ll be heading back to Soho in London, and he’ll be off to Manchester. It can’t come soon enough.

The last exerciseof the course is hostage management, the negotiation process, and how to retrieve hostages safely. We might be involved in different aspects. We’ve already done a lot of work on how to keep our clients safe to prevent a hostage situation, and this stage is how to manage if theyaretaken. We were split into different groups, to each take an aspect of creating and responding to the scenario. We’ve done everything in theory, so this is putting it into practice and to make it as real as possible. I curse getting paired with Glynn. I’m also not sure that giving him the role of hostage taking in this scenario was the wisest decision by the trainers, as he seems the type to use his skills for offensive work rather than protection. I did argue with them that taking someone on a lonely road in the middle of a forest wasn’t the sort of situation that was likely to happen withour clients. In return, I received an anecdote of how they’d tried it in a busy shopping centre but the public had thought it was real and the police became involved. They’d been told to not do that and cause public panic again.

So, the only person we didn’t know in this scenario was the one we were picking up. Something about keeping it more real, I suppose.

“Is this him?” I ask, seeing a slight figure in a hoodie walking along the road ahead.

“Sure, that’s him.” Glynn still doesn’t look up.

I see him turn slightly as we approach and then stick his thumb out. I take a deep breath, one more exercise and I can go home.

“You ready?” I ask Glynn, who for once has put away his phone. When I see the look in his eye, I realise he looks a bittooready for my liking.

I pull up just in front of the guy. Glynn jumps out of the car and sprints over to him. I watch the guy back away. He’s certainly making this feel very real. Glynn grabs the guy’s arm and spins him round. The guy struggles and I see Glynn lash out before the guy goes limp.

“What the fuck!” I get out of the car and stride towards him.

“He’ll be fine. I just knocked him out for a moment,” Glynn says. “Now, are you going to help me, Victoria, or just stand there like the big fucking dummy you are?”

I ignore his words for now, wanting to get off the road as soon as possible in case another car comes along. I realise now why the trainers aren’t allowed to do this exercise in busy public spaces. The guy is now gagged, with wrists and ankles bound. I hoist him into the boot of the car, noticing how light he actually is. I hope Glynn hasn’t hurt him. I feel like punching Glynn myself just for doing that.

“Woohoo!” Glynn lets out a yell as I start the car and drive along the road.

“That was awesome.” He draws out the last word, his mouth a wide grin and his eyes shining. Like I said, feral psychopath.

I drown out his shrieks and exclamations, hoping the adrenaline pumping through him subsides soon. He is one dangerous bastard, and I can’t help but think this course has just made him a more skilled one. I wonder, not for the first time, if he works for some mob, though he is likely too undisciplined for that.

We come to a village and the name feels familiar. A niggling worry starts to creep in, giving me goosebumps.

“Glynn, what were the actual instructions for where we were supposed to pick the guy up?” I have a memory that the point was after this village, not before it.

Glynn sighs and grabs the folder. He confirms what I thought as I drive through the village and out the other side, the forest road never wavering.

“Relax, big guy, so we’re early and the guy hadn’t walked as fast as he thought as we picked him up before the village.”

His words do nothing to stop my skin from starting to prickle.

“What if it’s the wrong guy?” I voice my concerns.

“There can only be one. What kind of idiot hitchhikes along here? The road doesn’t go anywhere.”

I look ahead and see another figure walking along the road.

“Then who the fuck is that?”

CHAPTER 3

JAMIE

I’m notsure what I become aware of first. That it’s pitch black, that I’m moving, or that I can hear voices.

I remember I was trying to get away and then the realisation that I’m also bound and gagged dawns on me. I think of Aiden, and a heavy dread forms in my chest. Has he found me? I didn’t recognise the guys in the car. Has he sent someone after me? Maybe those he spoke to on the phone? Fear spirals through me and my chest heaves. The gag prevents me from taking a proper breath and I lie gasping. Tears run down my cheeks at the futility of my escape earlier, wondering if this could be where my life ends.

I try to breathe through my nose, staving off a panic attack. I’m not dead yet, and they don’t know I’m awake. Maybe I can use that to my advantage somehow. Once my breathing returns to normal, I try to hear what they’re saying.

“What if it’s the wrong guy?” The voice is deep and rich.

“There can only be one. What kind of fuckwit hitchhikes along here? The road doesn’t go anywhere.” A second voice chimes in, with a slightly manic sound to it.

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