Header: Melody bound in a chair. Detail from the novel The Shocking Secret by Holly Roth, Kate’s Library

In-text illustration #1: Melody’s wrists wired. From TV series Angeles, Van’s site

In-text illustration #2: Mia Chantal nailed into a packing case. Detail from 10-Story Detective magazine, Cervantes’ site

In-text illustration #3: Melody caught by Hudson. Jeanna Michaels, Super Car 2, Panty DiDcap

Footer: Melody with packing gag. Detail from Kojak, Van’s site.

Dawn meant different things to each of the three women where they lay bound and helpless in separate rooms. For Melody Hazard it was wonderful to be able to watch the gradual greying of the morning light till the distant street lamp winked out. I must think of some means of getting us away from these horrible men, she thought desperately. What sort of plausible story can I cook up about that dratted diamond?

Mia Chantal lay sealed in a timeless zone. The only impressions of which she was aware were the rushing of the blood in her ears, and the numbness that penetrated her body from the tight coils of cord that seemed to bind every inch of it. But it was glorious to be so warm in the slick tight satin that encased her. Be thankful for small mercies, Mia said to herself. She did not relish the coming of Karl’s attentions with the morning.

In another room, Jasmine Morris lay beneath the blanket and heavy tarp in a pool of sweat. She had managed to rub the blindfold loose enough for it to slide down over her nose. But she regretted this more because it made her fight for each breath. After a lot of wriggling and stretching, however, she managed to poke her nose out from one side of the covers. This exercise succeeded in pushing the blindfold cloth lower so that it covered her bound mouth loosely and allowed sweet though musty cellar air into her dilating nostrils. When the dawn grey came filtering through a small aperture high up in one of the cellar’s walls, Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief. They’ll be coming soon, I know it. Why have they left it so long?

*

Events began to develop. Melody had dozed off. She was exhausted from straining against her ropes all night and had found scarcely any sleep. Because her ears were blocked by the leather helmet, she did not hear one of the gang members enter the room. She was jerked rudely into wakefulness when a hand took her by a shoulder. Melody lifted her head and glugged faintly through the gag. She could not see who was attending to her. The man stood behind her. Then the zips were drawn shut over her eyes and she felt the broad strap wound about her head and buckled firmly behind. She was plunged into stygian confining darkness again. Her first reaction was to scream, but Melody took a deep breath and willed her body to relax. Whoever it is, she thought quickly, he’s taking steps to stay hidden from the rest of the gang as well as from me. He had to come back and replace the blindfold. Melody guessed that her interrogation would soon begin.

Here we go again, thought Mia hopelessly as she felt herself rolled onto her back and rough hands begin to work on the knots that were spaced at many points along her body. The satin wraps were unwound and a hand steadied her at the small of her back, lifting her upper body into a sitting position. The leather helmet was unstrapped and she had a strange sense of lightness about her head. The cold of the cellar made her start shivering, now that once again she was protected by no more than her thin silk slip. It took awhile for her eyes to adjust to the dull light of the cellar. While she blinked and as the tears cleared, Montague’s voice spoke softly into her ear.

‘Keep still and cooperate, woman. I’ll see what I can do for you. It’s the diamond we want so badly. Kidnapping you is just a means to an end. Karl will get us all in deep shit if he goes on torturing you.’

Mia turned her head wearily to the man and nodded slightly.

‘So listen up,’ Montague continued. ‘I’ll let you use the bathroom. And you can have your clothes. Then I’ll have to give you back to Karl. He has orders to be more light on you, but don’t think you’re going to be comfortable. We’re moving out. This place is drawing too much attention with that toy Merc cruising up and down the streets. Another of Karl’s little peccadilloes.’

Montague reached to the back of Mia’s head and she felt the strap of her face mask tighten then release as the leather tongue was unbuckled. The thick gag was eased gently from her mouth. It took a long time before she could move her lips or work her jaw properly. Her cheeks and jaw felt numb and a thin thread of drool escaped from the corner of her mouth and rolled down her chin. Pain shot through her arms and legs as the cords were cut away. She was lifted and carried like a child up the cellar steps.

From the bed in the corner of the cellar, Jasmine watched as Montague freed Mia and carried her out. His voice had been too low for her to understand anything from the distance where she lay. The time dragged interminably. The light at the peephole up in the wall near the ceiling grew stronger. It was the only way by which Jasmine could trace the progress of the morning.

*

Montague and Karl made sure that Mia and Melody had no chance to exchange notes. The prisoners were allowed to use the bathroom separately, at different times. Melody, trembling and scarcely able to walk, ignored the cockroaches skittering across the floor and did her best to bathe her face, arms and legs from the filthy basin. Her bonds and the blanket that had been used to cocoon her had been removed. Her blouse and skirt had also been taken by a gleeful Karl, who took the opportunity to cup and fondle the exhausted woman’s breasts in both hands while standing behind her. As Melody rinsed her arms in the basin, tears of shame and revulsion streamed down her cheeks. She glanced into the small mirror that had misted over in the hot water vapour from the tap. There she read, gradually revealed, the words ‘CHIN UP.’ Mia must have been here, thought Melody groggily. Bless her. Quickly she erased the words.

Melody was then taken to another room and pushed unceremoniously into a rickety wooden chair. Her wrists were laced together behind her back with wire, around the back of the chair, and her ankles were similarly wired to the chair legs. There she was left, barely conscious, clad only in the white silk chemise. For some reason, Karl forbore to gag her. Perhaps it was because I’m too weak to make much noise, Melody thought.

*

‘And your friend, the woman Mia Chantal …? Montague asked quizzically.

‘Packaged and crated for shipment,’ said Karl with a grin.

Like Melody, Mia had been allowed to use the bathroom for a few minutes, her bonds removed. But she too was so exhausted that she was unable to do anything to help herself. A little freshened up, and allowed to wear her red dress, she had to submit to her arms being roped behind her again and her legs and ankles tied. Karl had toyed with the leather half mask with its pear gag, but when Mia begged huskily to be gagged with cloth instead he had shrugged unconcernedly. ‘Ho-kay, Missy Chantal. You won’t be makin much noise through those planks anyway. A white handkerchief was tied very tightly between Mia’s jaws and she was folded onto her side, crammed into a small square packing case. Thick planks were nailed over her and reinforced with wrappings of tarpaulin tied with heavy rope from the cellar.

Mia lay trapped once again in darkness, unable to move from the foetal position, wedged tightly against all four sides of the box. She felt the packing case being jolted, but she was so firmly jammed in that the movement did not injure her. When she thought she heard street sounds, Mia tried experimentally to scream. But all that came out from her mouth, dried by the thick cloth knotted between her jaws, was a faint choking mew.

‘She’s in the van already?’

‘Sure,’ said Karl. ‘Hudson lent a hand. He’s got some uses yet.’

‘I’m glad you got rid of that Merc and found the van instead. You left it locked? We don’t want any locals poking around.’

‘Nah. Missy C ain’t makin any noise,’ replied Karl confidently. ‘Anyway, Hudson’s there. He likes sittin in cars. A good way to keep him out of our hair.’

‘What about the dumb blonde in the cellar?’

‘She’s still there, waitin out her turn in a box. I’se not quite finished.’

‘Okay. Karl, go and finish the job. Then we’ll see what the Hazard woman has to say for herself when she comes round.’

*

‘We’re baaack,’ chortled Karl as he and Montague re-entered the room where Melody sat, still wired into the chair. Melody lifted her head wearily and looked up at her captors.

The two men surveyed her, satisfaction reflected differently in their faces. Montague’s expression was openly avaricious. He was thinking, Now we’ll really get down to it and find that diamond. Murgatroyd will be happy, we’ll be paid off, and I can get away from the looney and the dumbo henchmen. Karl’s look was one of open lasciviousness. Hoo hoo, I’se gonna have some fun with this one, were his thoughts.

‘Okay,’ Montague began. ‘You know what we want from you, Melody Hazard.’

‘Wh-what are you going to do with me?’ Melody asked apprehensively. Karl was fiddling with something in a corner of the room behind her. She tilted her head and tried unsuccessfully to look over her shoulder.

‘A little, ahem, unfriendly persuasion is all,’ Montague continued. ‘Karl, get her ready.’

Before Melody could speak and tell them she was already persuaded to divulge where the diamond was hidden, Karl reached over her head from behind and stuffed the leather pear gag into her mouth. The strap was buckled at the back of her neck over her hair. It was relatively loose, and therefore moderately comfortable, but it was impossible to get the gag out of her mouth. Johnny Montague stood over her, his hands on his hips.

‘We’re going to soften you up a little first, kiddo. Karl will do that.’ He looked up at his henchman. ‘What can I do?’ he asked softly.

Karl walked around and stood in front of Melody. At a nod from Karl, Montague changed places with him, taking up a position behind the young woman and placing his hands firmly on her shoulders to prevent her from turning away.

‘Tighten her gag,’ Karl ordered in a soft, tight voice.

Melody winced as Montague pulled the leather tongue through the buckle as far as the size of her face allowed, two maybe three eye holes in the leather strap. Melody felt her cheeks bulge out over the soft slick leather and her lips were pressed painfully against her teeth. The pressure on her cheeks compacted her mouth around the gag. She felt her palate start to dry out almost immediately and adhere against the leather. Melody gave a faint throaty whimper and shook her head from side to side. She looked up at her tormenters with wide frightened eyes. The pressure against the back of her neck made her feel faint. The blood pounded in her temples and sweat poured from her body. The fine silk of her single garment clung transparently against her skin.

‘Don’t like that, do yer?’ hissed Karl. His voice was soft, insinuating and deadly. ‘You’ll tell us where that diamond is, won’t yer?’

‘My God,’ thought Melody helplessly, ‘This bastard, Karl or Snedley or whoever he is, hasn’t told Montague that I promised I’d say where the diamond is. He’s enjoying the power trip.’

Melody nodded her head vigorously but Karl ignored her sign of acquiescence. Instead, he slapped her across the breasts sharply with one hand. Melody arched her back in pain, and if Montague had not been holding tightly to her shoulders she would have fallen, taking the chair with her. Karl grinned and a fleck of foam bubbled at a corner of his mouth. He bent forward over Melody, took her chemise where it formed a chaste V at the base of her throat, and with a single movement tore it down the centre to her midriff. He then pulled the two sides of the silk apart to expose Melody’s breasts.

‘Nice,’ Karl breathed. He lowered his face to Melody’s chest and inhaled appreciatively. ‘Nice woman smell!’

Melody struggled against the hands that held her and whimpered. She felt sick to the stomach and there was a taste of bile in her mouth. After fondling them a moment, Karl slapped her breasts again. It stung more now that they were naked. Melody arched her back and began dry retching through the gag.

‘Loosen the gag,’ said Karl in a bored voice. As the tightness of the leather strap eased, Melody took a deep breath through her nose and fought to keep from being sick. ‘I got a nice li’l toy for you,’ said Karl. He exited the room. Melody was so sick and faint that she scarcely noticed him leave.

Montague began to massage Melody’s shoulders and the nape of her neck. ‘Hey,kid.,’ he whispered, ‘Come clean. It’s not worth the pain. You know what he’s getting? He’s ...’ but Montague’s voice trailed off as Karl returned.

‘Got somethin nice for you, really nice,’ Karl said. Under his arm he carried a black box about the size of a lap top computer. He pulled over a battered table and placed the box on it in front of Melody. On one side of the box nestled a bank of dials. Two long cables extruded from another side. At their ends were metal clips. Melody had a horrible suspicion she knew what they were for. She was not wrong.

‘See here,’ Karl said conversationally, ‘these li’l numbers are gonna make you talk.’ He guffawed. ‘An this,’ he added on a triumphant note, ‘is a neat li’l handle that goes round an round. Tighten her gag.’

Melody began wailing and shaking her head. Very little sound escaped through the gag.

‘Le’s see,’ said Karl, and he began to reach the clips towards Melody’s breasts.

‘That’s enough,’ Montague intervened. ‘I think our pretty prisoner’s got the message. Haven’t you?’ he asked, bending over Melody and peering into her eyes. His back was towards Karl, and Melody saw a look of concern on Montague’s face. Melody nodded quickly. ‘I thought so,’ Montague said. ‘If we take off the gag, will you tell us what we want to know?’ Again Melody nodded, in a panic that her gag would not be removed and the torture allowed to continue.

As the leather pear gag came out of her mouth, Melody licked her dry lips and worked her jaw. She felt a taste of blood. Either her lip or her mouth had been cut by the leather.

‘Well?’ asked Montague tensely.

‘It- it’s ..,’ but Melody’s voice trailed off in a fit of coughing. There was a long pause, then she felt the cold lip of a tin cup being held to her mouth and she drank slowly and deeply.

‘It’s only tap water, but it’ll have to do,’ explained Montague. ‘Now can you speak?’

Melody nodded. The two men waited expectantly. Melody took a deep breath.

‘P-please don’t hurt me any more. I was ready to tell you where the diamond’s hidden yesterday, but you kept me gagged all the time.’ Melody did not add that she had had a lot of time during her night in bondage to think through her strategy. The-the diamond’s hidden back at the apartment ...’

‘Don’t give us that!’ Montague snorted. ‘You moved out of there.’

‘I know. It was part of a ruse to throw you off the scent,’ Melody extemporised. She was at heart a truthful woman but under the present circumstances Melody was discovering how easy it was to lie plausibly. ‘The diamond’s hidden inside one of the walls, in the living room near the heater. That’s it. That’s all I can tell you.’ She let her head fall forwards onto her chest in a well-executed near swoon that almost became reality.

Melody hoped desperately that neither Montague nor Karl would think to ask how she got the diamond in the first place, how she had secreted it during the robbery. That question remained a mystery to her, though she suspected that Jasmine Morris knew more about it.

‘Do you think she’s telling the truth?’ muttered Karl.

‘Don’t see why not,’ said Montague thoughtfully. ‘She’s scared to death. She knows what we can do if we don’t like her story. You hear that?’ he addressed Melody more loudly. Montague walked to the woman, took her by the hair, and pulled her head back. He looked deeply into her face. ‘She’s out to it.’

Montague walked behind Melody and inspected her wired wrists. On the back of one hand was a patch of half dried blood. The man hunkered down on his knee and snipped through the wire, using a small pair of pliers that had been left on the floor. He took a strip of cloth from his pocket - it had been intended for use as a gag - and tightly looped Melody’s wrists together with it. When that was tied he straightened up and came to his feet.

‘Okay. We’ll leave her here. No time to crate her up right now. We’ll take the other two to the second place and then go on and case the apartment.’

Before the two men left the room, Karl turned back and, acting on an afterthought, stepped behind Melody, grasped the chair in his hands and lowered it backwards to the floor. The semi-conscious woman now lay on her back in the chair with her legs raised, her ankles still wired to the chair legs.

Karl looked obscenely at Melody’s bound feet and giggled. ‘Saw this on TV once. She won’t be moving much when she wakes up. Say ... How ‘bout we dump Hudson too, some time soon? There’ll be a bigger share for us.’

‘Yeah. Right. We’ll think about it,’ answered Montague a little uncertainly.

Karl and Montague left, and a minute later Melody heard the rattle and cough of the van’s motor starting up. She could trace its passage up the street. It seemed a long time before the sound of the ailing motor died away in the distance. Melody rolled her head and sighed in relief. The tension drained out of her and this time she truly sank into an exhausted swoon. The time of her unconsciousness was short however. When she opened her eyes and stared about her in the empty room, Melody knew she must act as swiftly as possible to escape her bonds before the men returned. What they had said about ‘getting rid’ of Hudson might very likely apply to her as well. And what had they done with Mia and Jasmine?

*

The van lurched from one side street to another as Karl and Montague traversed the dockside area until they approached its outer limits. Here there stood another collection of ramshackle buildings. They were all warehouses however, not seedy residential blocks.

The two packing cases holding their frightened cargo stood side by side in the back of the van. Jasmine had lapsed into a faint after a burst of stifled hysteria and tears. Mia huddled silently and, as she always did in these situations, attempted to soften her body and accept the inevitable. There was no chance that the police would be able to follow the cold trail taken by the kidnappers and their prey. Mia, who had been the first to be sealed in a box, had no idea of Melody’s fate and was completely unaware that a third prisoner had been added.

‘Where the hell did you get this rattletrap?’ exclaimed Montague.

‘Hudson,’ replied Karl simply. ‘I gave him a pocketful of bills and told him to get us a van of some kind. This is what he found.’

‘Yeah. Great way to draw attention to ourselves.’

‘Good idea to leave him behind, eh?’

*

In a burst of renewed activity, Melody succeeded in side-ending her chair so that she was in a less undignified and marginally less immobilised position. Lying on her back had caused the ripped front of her chemise to fall apart, revealing her full breasts, not to mention the falling away of the flimsy silk from around her knees. Although there was no one present to witness her humiliation, she felt vulnerable. There was nothing she could do about it.

There was also nothing she could do at first about the wire wrapped around her ankles. But the chair was in such poor condition that one of the legs snapped on impact with the floor as it went onto its side, and a torn flap of Melody’s chemise fell across her chest and provided a scrap of modesty. After kicking about for some minutes, the remains of the chair slipped from the wire. Montague had depended upon the inflexibility of the wire and had not wound it tight about Melody’s ankles.

Melody turned her attention to her bound wrists. The cloth had been drawn tight and tied with a single double knot set flush against a point where her wrists joined her hands, at the same place where the wire had been wrapped. And at first there was no give in it at all. Fighting her panic, Melody concentrated on alternately relaxing, tensing and wriggling her hands - it had worked once before - and slowly the cotton material of the torn bed sheet began to stretch. The knot grew smaller as Melody pulled against it, and if it had been rope she would have been in a worse situation. But the tightening of the knot allowed a fraction more free play for her wrists. And when Melody thought to fold the thumb of one hand into its palm, at the same time doing her best to make it limp and soft, she at last succeeded in slipping her hand painfully through the loops of cloth.

Feverishly Melody completed the job of freeing herself. She worked the second chair leg out from the wire that was still bound about her other ankle. Then, sitting up, she pulled the two loops of wire from her legs. For about a minute, Melody nursed her bruised limbs, listening for any sounds that might betray the presence of a gang member. All was quiet, both in the house and outside in the street.

I must get myself out of here before they come back, Melody thought desperately. But how can I help Mia and Jasmine? I have no idea where the gang might have taken them.

But the first thing Melody had to do was to find some way of covering her body, not only for reasons of modesty but also to ward off the cold saturating the old house. Where had they put her clothes? She had been in so much pain, and semi-conscious for so much of the time, that she had not fully taken in the arrangement of meagre objects in the room. Upon looking more carefully around her, Melody saw almost immediately her skirt and blouse lying in one corner. They had been neatly folded together. Who among the gang members had such a thoughtful touch? Hudson again? It was difficult to imagine any of the three men taking the time to fold a woman’s clothing away in this fashion. There was no sign of her thick warm jacket. That was more typical of robbers.

After dressing quickly, Melody climbed painfully to her feet and took several tentative steps towards the door. Her body ached from the hours of tight confinement she had undergone and her legs felt like rubber. By the time she reached the door to the hallway she had almost fallen twice. Straightening up, she took a deep breath and began to take steps that still faltered but were comparatively firmer than they had been. The movement was pumping blood through her legs and providing her with additional energy. The adrenalin rush of fear that Johnny Montague and his henchmen might return at any moment helped too.

Melody reached the door and began fumbling at the lock with fingers that did not want to work properly. At last she found the right door handle and had just begun to turn it when she heard a faint sound in the hallway behind her. She wheeled about just in time to catch a glimpse of a broad bulky form looming in front of her. Then she was seized by one shoulder and spun around effortlessly. A huge bear-like arm encircled her waist, pinning her arms to her sides, and a hand the size of a baseball mitt clamped over her face covering her mouth and nose.

*

Melody’s first reaction was to struggle, but she was held effortlessly by the big man and she remembered he was an ex-wrestler or something. Ex-boxer, that was it. That was what Brod had told her. There was no chance of using her supple strength against someone this big and strong. What was more, she could not breathe. There was a booming in her ears and the room seemed to float around her. I should have known this would happen. Oh Brod I wish I’d taken your advice and left word where I was going.

As if from a distance she heard Hudson’s voice. ‘I won’t hurt you, li’l lady. Promise not to cry out.’

He seemed to repeat this. Melody tried to nod but could not move under the huge paw clamped across her mouth and nose. But her attempt to do so must have been registered by the man because the grip across her face slackened and in a moment her mouth was free. For a while she could concentrate only on regaining her breath. When her head cleared she found herself sitting on the edge of a lumpy bed in another room that led off the hallway. The blanket was still warm. Hudson must have been lying there taking a nap, and she had walked right past him.

Hudson was on his knees in front of her, a look of concern on his face. Melody felt strange and a little disoriented. Worry and dismay were certainly not in keeping with what one expects from a kidnapper. All the same, Melody found herself trying to stall for time.

‘Please don’t hurt me or tie me up. I won’t cry out. I’ll come quietly,’ she croaked.

‘Aw gee, I don’ want to hurt you,’ said Hudson. ‘Want to talk to you. Want your help.’

Melody couldn’t believe her ears. Here I am re-captured by one of that gang and he’s asking my advice about something. She was expecting more of the same treatment she had received at their hands over the last twelve hours, and this change in the situation had her off balance. Hudson remained silent while she caught her breath. Then Melody raised her head and looked at him in what she hoped was a bold manner.

‘Well, if you really mean what you say, let’s talk.’

There was an awkward silence. Hudson did not seem to know how to begin. Melody felt a pang of sympathy for the big clumsy fellow.

‘Suppose you start by telling me a little about yourself,’ she suggested. ‘Then I’ll know your situation better. All that I know now is that you’re a member of a gang who have treated me and those two other women very roughly.’

Hudson cleared his throat and looked up at her. The relief at being given a hearing showed in his face. He began speaking.

‘Was down on me luck a few years back. Bloke I was matched with in the ring made a mistake an hit me too hard.’ He raised his ham-like fist towards his head in a vague gesture. ‘Can’t think too good now. Mind’s gone funny. Headaches.’ He lapsed into silence a moment then went on a little faster. ‘Was in a pub one time an met this guy Johnny. Johnny was a good frien’. I thought. Then we did a job in a warehouse. Y’know, where they keep those hardware gadgets.’

‘Computers?’ Melody guessed.

‘Yeah. Them. That other guy Karl, he was with us. Johnny asked me to drive the truck. They had some sort o’ trouble in there. I was in the truck. Papers the nex’ day said a watchman been hurt bad.’

‘Oh no!’

‘I din’t wanna stay with em after that. But Johnny said I was an assery an the police would lock me up an throw away the key.’

‘What happened then, Hudson?’

‘I’se Bill to me frien’s.’

‘What did you do next Bill?’

‘Dunno. Just stayed with em I guess. Did a couple more jobs. Went on the grog a bit. They din’t seem t’wanta use me when I’s on the grog, so I drunk it y’know so’s to stay away from em.’

‘Then they asked you to come in on one more job, on the jewellery store?’ Melody offered.

‘Yeah. They said it was easy. Would be hardly anyone there an no trouble. So we went in. An you were there, an that other girl. Yous was so fright when we pushed yous inta that room! That other girl she run ahead an bump inta you, hold onta you, an you fall down.’

Melody hugged her arms around her body as she relived those frightening seconds.

‘I seen the look a fright in you eyes when Karl put that blin’fol’ on your mouth. I thought you might not be able t’breathe. So I decides to help yous.’

‘So you thought of distracting their attention with that story about a policeman coming?’

‘Uh huh. It work too. They leave yous alone. But I’s still worry you can’t breathe proper. So I goes in, to look for knife I told em.’

‘And you said kind things to us so we wouldn’t be frightened. Oh thank you Bill!’

Melody took his hand in hers. ‘I really did appreciate it, Bill. But I never thought I’d be able to thank you personally.’

‘Tha’s a’right li’l lady,’ Hudson mumbled in embarrassment.

‘And you want me to help you now?’ Melody asked.

‘Yeah. Don’t wanta do jobs with those guys no more. They laugh at me. I heard em talkin ‘bout settin me up for the cops when they get that di’mon’. An I don’t wanta hurt no more people. Specially pretty ladies like you.’

‘Thank you, Bill. That’s the best way.’ Melody squeezed his arm. ‘I think I know how to help you. But I guess I have one or two questions myself. When you saw that girl - her name’s Jasmine - bump into me, did you notice whether she had anything in her hand?’

‘Nah. It all happen too quick. An I lookin at you, not her. But I don’ think she had anythin. Nah.’

Melody felt disappointed. She had been speculating whether Jasmine hid the diamond under a mat or something when they were shoved into the office. She had had a night of enforced immobilisation in which to do a lot of thinking. Melody wondered whether she could persuade Bill to go with her. From what she had overheard of the conversation between Montague and Karl, it was very likely that Hudson’s life was in danger. It depended what they meant when they agreed that the big man should be dumped.

Aloud she said, ‘Look, Bill. I know it might sound funny to you, but the best thing would be to hand yourself in to the police. I know Inspector Clifford. He’s a sort of special branch detective. I’m sure when he has all the facts he’ll put in a good word for you. And so will I.’ Hudson looked doubtful. Melody thought of another argument to sway him. ‘And you don’t have to face those two again either. I heard them say they were going to dump you. I don’t know what that means, but it might be very dangerous for you. It might be better if you just hide away for a while. Give yourself time to think. But remember the police will be looking for the gang. It will be worse if they have to come after you.’

‘Guess you’re right,’ said Hudson uneasily.

‘Anyway, where are Johnny and Karl now? And why were you here in this room?’

‘Come to get away from them,’ Hudson said, answering thesecond question first. ‘They din’t want me to drive this time.’

‘Do you know where they took Mia and Jasmine?’

‘Nah. Las’ night they were talkin to two blokes. Somethin to do with that di’mon.’

Melody had sudden misgivings. ‘Where are they now?’ She’d be trapped if Karl and Montague returned now. Bill Hudson opened his mouth to reply when Melody heard, still far away, the unmistakable chug and backfire of the van’s ailing motor. It was as though Melody’s question had attracted them magically.

She still had time to get out and run for it. Melody was sure Hudson would not attempt to stop her. But she owed him for becoming a secret ally when she was bound, helpless and totally at the mercy of Karl’s whims. Melody decided that to protect Hudson, and also to find out where Jasmine and Mia had been taken, she must put herself back into the robbers’ hands. It was a huge risk, but she was loyal to her friends, even a scheming little minx like Jasmine, but especially to Mia. The chances were that she would be taken to the same place as the two other women, most likely another derelict house, or a warehouse, going on the gang’s past MO.

Taking a deep breath, Melody spoke urgently to Hudson, ‘Look, Bill. They’re coming back. You’ve got to tie me up again. If you let me go now, you’ll be in really bad trouble. They might even kill you.’

She cast her eyes around the small room. A pile of rope of assorted lengths and thicknesses lay in a corner, obviously part of Karl’s bondage equipment. She ran to it, took a length of cord at random, and turned back to Hudson.

‘Here,’ Melody said breathlessly. She handed it to Hudson and turned and presented her arms behind her.

‘I- I dunno ...’ Hudson began.

‘You’ve got to, Bill. This way they won’t know about you wanting to get away from them. And when they go away next time, you can untie me.’

‘Well, a’right.’

Hudson fumbled with the cord at first, then he started winding it around Melody’s arms just above her elbows, and about her body.

‘Make it tight,’ Melody instructed. ‘We’ve got to do it for real, otherwise they’ll get suspicious. She winced as Hudson obeyed her. The big man did not seem to know his own strength. Melody looked over her shoulders. ‘My wrists too, Bill ... No, that’s too loose. Karl will see it straight away. That’s better.’ It hurt, but it had to be done.

The coughing and rattling of the van was coming closer. Melody sat on the edge of the bed. ‘My legs next. Remember, we’ve got to make it look good.’ She bit her lip as Hudson obeyed this instruction literally too. In a few seconds her ankles were crossed and bound, and her legs roped together above the knees. The cords were not cinched as Karl would have done, but they were tight enough to press noticeably into the skin of Melody’s legs. Melody realised that these bonds would be very difficult to budge.

It sounded as though the van was now only a block or two away. ‘They’re nearly here. You have to gag me too, Bill. I left the handkerchief they used in the other room. You’d better get it.’

Bill lumbered off to do her bidding, and while he was out of the room Melody tested her bonds. They were very effective. She could not move her arms, and she realised with a pang of apprehension that she would probably be unable to get out of the knots. Bill re-entered the room. He carried a man’s white handkerchief in his hand and two brown stockings that Melody recognised as having come from her bag. Where had they put that? It hadnot been in the room where she was interrogated.

The chugging motor sounded as though it was in the street a block away. ‘Quick, Bill. There’s no time to lose,’ Melody exclaimed. ‘When the gag’s in place, roll me onto the bed. Tell them that I got free and tried to escape, but that you caught me and tied me up again. It’s pretty close to the truth.’

‘Yeah ... okay. But you sure you’ll be a’right?’

‘I’ve had worse,’ Melody answered truthfully. She looked at the cloths in the big man’s hands. ‘You might as well use both of them. Roll the handkerchief up and stuff it in my mouth, then tie one of those stockings over my mouth.’

As Bill brought the wad of cotton to her lips, Melody added quickly, ‘Tie the gag tight. That’ll impress Karl. And remember, come and untie me when the right ti ... ’ Melody’s voice ceased abruptly as the packing was pressed into her mouth. The silk stocking was then bound over Melody’s lips and drawn so tight that she let out a faint yip as the wad already in her mouth was pressed back over her tongue. Hudson finished tying the double knot at the back of Melody’s neck under her hair as the motor coughed into silence outside the house.

There was just time for Melody to be lifted and rolled onto her side on the bed as the footsteps of the two other gang members sounded on the porch outside the front door. The lock rattled. There was a confused murmur of voices as Hudson met Montague and Karl in the hallway. Then heavy feet came to the threshold of the room where Melody lay. Her back was to the audience. She closed her eyes and feigned unconsciousness.

‘Hoo hoo!’ exclaimed Karl, ‘Li’l nest egg try to fly away?’

Chapter 10

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