The Gruinard Project Chapter 28

[khandy]

Chapter 28

The Grand Hotel 1.30am

Lucas stood outside the door; the noise of the shower could be heard clearly. His hand hovered over the handle as he debated with himself about going in. He had called her name twice but she either hadn’t heard or was choosing to ignore him. Something was terribly wrong; Kate had sat ramrod straight in the car on the journey to the hotel, not speaking at all. He had hoped she would have the same fond memories of the place as he did but for all the reaction she showed it could have been some seedy motel.

She had excused herself the moment that they had entered the room saying she wanted a shower; that was forty-five minutes ago and still the shower was running. He had removed his clothes all except his dark boxer shorts and sat on the bed to wait, but he had been unable to sit still and had started to pace. Lucas couldn’t imagine what she was doing in there all this time but his concern was growing with each passing minute.

The problem was the shower. Why did she have to be in the shower? Even this side of the door the noise was making him uneasy. He moved to the night stand where the two drinks he had ordered as a night cap stood. He had wanted to toast to her success on the op but she had not emerged.

He picked up the glass and swirled the contents a couple of times, focusing on the patterns it made in the glass before taking a sip. Dutch courage he told himself as the fiery liquid hit his gullet. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind.

The door opened soundlessly and he called her name softly before entering the small room. The noise of the shower was much louder in here; he could hear it hitting the shower tray, a rhythmic, repetitive drumming, so loud and intense that he almost backed out of the room again. Shivering slightly he approached the shower stall, its opaque frosted glass and the steam from the shower spray making it difficult to see in. He had expected Kate to be standing but there was no silhouette of her, just a dark shadow in the corner.

Taking another deep breath he pulled open the door. Steamy, humid heat hit him as it poured out of the open door. His eyes immediately focused on the pulsating jets of water that poured out of the power shower. A wave of nausea swept over him and a sudden chill passed over his body. An image flashed into his mind, a shower starkly bleak and utilitarian. Focus he repeated to himself, focus on Kate. He forced the image aside. Lucas knew he had to reach in and switch off the shower. As the water connected with the skin on his arm soaking the dark hairs, his mind jolted back. The tiles were dingy white, the grouting dirty and cold as ice. His breathing increased as adrenaline surged through his body. Focus he chanted, Kate needs you. He forced the image aside and quickly rotated the dial.

Silence is golden was Lucas’ first thought once the shower had stopped and he had got his breathing under control, but then he realised that the room wasn’t silent. Kate was crouched in the corner of the shower stall, quietly sobbing.

“Kate! Baby, are you hurt?”

She didn’t respond swamped by her own misery. Deeply worried Lucas lowered himself to her side and tilted her chin up so her eyes met his.

“Are you hurt?” he asked again.

She shook her head.

“I’m so sorry I screwed up,” she whispered.

“Screwed up? Why would you think you screwed up?" Lucas was totally confused.

“He followed me. I must have done something wrong? I failed, like I failed to get all A stars in my exams, like I failed at being a doctor. I lost your respect.”

Lucas shook his head in disbelief.

“Oh, Kate, no, you’ve got it wrong. Come on let’s get you out of here and dry.”

Kate looked into Lucas’ deep blue eyes, no longer icy blue but much darker. She thought she would see disdain in them but what she saw was concern and maybe she dared to hope love.

She took his hand and he pulled her up, gently kissing her forehead before wrapping her in a huge, soft bath sheet.

Lucas sat her down on the bed and gave her the glass of whisky he had ordered for her. Kneeling in front of her he said, “I ordered the drinks to toast your success.”

Kate took a sip of the liquid. Its familiar taste and the warmth in it created felt comforting and soothing.

“How could I not respect you? I love you and I couldn’t love anybody I don‘t respect.”

“Oh, Lucas, I’m sorry.” Kate kissed him, the taste of the whisky on her lips bringing back memories of a night long ago.

Much as he wanted to relive those memories Lucas was worried about how Kate was feeling about the op.

“I really think we need to talk about tonight,” he told her.

“Later, I need you to make love to me. I feel numb, shock I guess. Help me feel again, Lucas. Make love to me please?”

“Sweetheart, we should talk first…,” his words were cut off by her mouth claiming his again. The kiss was deep and raw, as if all the emotion she was feeling was pouring out like a dam that was breeched.

“Talk later.” She undid the towel and lay back on the bed. “Love me first.”

********

Limp, loose, languid and sated they lay together in a comfortable post love-making haze but little by little the world seeped back in.

“Kate, I love you that goes without saying, so please don’t think that affects, or has any bearing on what I am going to say.”

Lucas felt her tense slightly in his arms.

“Tonight on the op, you were amazing; you carried out your part to the letter. I had no idea you felt you had failed. I still don’t understand why you think you did?”

“He followed me. I thought I had done something to tip him off.”

“No, Kate, he recognised your car from the motel. If anybody is to blame it's Malcolm and I for not realising that a member of staff lived so close to that motel.” He kissed her head softly.

“Oh so it wasn’t my fault?“

“No it wasn’t.”

“But you would not let me do the job at the lab.”

“That was because you were tired and emotional. I need you focused and alert; allowing you five or six hours rest was the most important thing. Ok?”

Kate nodded feeling foolish.

“Thanks, Lucas.”

She waited knowing he would not let her words in the shower go unquestioned.

“You said you failed at other things; who did you fail, Kate?” The question was asked softly, his arms tightened around her before she answered, as if shielding her from some unknown pain.

“My Grandfather. I loved him dearly; he raised me when my parents died and he loved me.”

“If he loved you, Kate, he would not have made you feel as if you failed at anything.”

“You have to understand, he was a brilliant, brilliant man, a noted cardiac surgeon, truly gifted. He wanted his son to go into medicine but my Dad wasn’t interested apparently. I suppose I thought I owed him something for bringing me up so I allowed his dreams for me to become mine. He wanted me to go Oxford as he had done, but I only got 2 A’s and 2 B’s in my A levels. He was so disappointed and then angry when I wouldn’t re-sit. I already had a place at Bristol and that’s where I studied.”

“Kate, you cannot live somebody else’s dream.”

“No I realised that. Just before he became sick I told him I wanted to train to be a microbiologist, that I couldn’t cope with losing patients. He was disappointed about that as well. So I agreed to carry on for a further year. I gave up two months after he died.”

“Do you regret that decision?”

“No, not for myself. I just wish he could have seen how much happier I was and how much more successful.”

“Kate, you know it’s pointless wishing for what we can’t have. I suspect you are a brilliant microbiologist but on tonight’s evidence you would also make an excellent agent. You should prepare yourself for Harry offering you a job.”

She turned her head towards him.

“Really!”

“Yes, really, now we should get some sleep.” He kissed her one last time and she settled into his warm embrace.

******************

Lucas wasn’t sure how long he slept; he woke suddenly, only aware of the marrow deep cold he felt and the voice. The voice was Russian; it was shouting at him. Lucas felt himself recoil from a sharp slap across his face. The man ordered him into the shower.

Lucas moved slowly, his muscles painful and sore from the abuse he had suffered, his eyes unaccustomed to the bright light after months in solitary. The shower area was a stark utilitarian room, tiled from floor to ceiling with tiles which were probably once white. Now though they were grey, the grouting between them even dirtier still. The floor was concrete. Like everywhere else in the prison it was freezing cold.

The guard ordered him to strip, Lucas could only hope that he would be given clean new clothes to wear once he had showered, the ones he was removing were little more than rags. The guard threw a small hard piece of soap at him, it hit him firmly in the chest where the Blake image had been tattooed the last time he had left solitary. Lucas waited until the man gave him the order to shower, he knew better than to move until he was told he could, he had felt the butt of a gun rammed into his ribs or whipped across his head too many times.

The order came and Lucas switched on the shower. The water was lukewarm at best but an improvement on the freezing water he remembered from the last shower he had taken. How many months had past since then, four at least? Keeping track of time in this place was nearly impossible. The small hard piece of soap was pathetically inadequate for the job; try as he might Lucas could barely make any lather from it. He dipped his head under the spray allowing the water to fall over his lank dark hair. He rubbed the bar of soap against his scalp in an attempt to clean it.

The door of the shower room opened and a fresh blast of frigid air entered the room. Two men entered and glanced at the guard who nodded silently and left the room passing another man on his way out. Lucas tensed alert to the danger he was now in. The two men moved towards him and slammed him face first into the wall of the shower. Despite his weakened state he struggled against the hold they had on him. They pushed him hard against the freezing cold tiles.

The third man moved behind him; unlike the other two men who wore underpants he was as naked as Lucas was. He didn’t need to see the man’s face to know who his attacker was: Vladimir Sarkov. The goons who had him pinned to the wall were his hired thugs.

He felt the man’s breath against his ear as he spoke slowly in Russian.

“I’ve waited for a long time for this moment, Lucas. It is Lucas, isn’t it?”

When he didn’t answer one of the men holding him hit him in his right kidney.

“Answer Mr Sarkov.”

Lucas nodded briefly.

“That’s better, Lucas. I am sure you understand that this will be less traumatic if you co-operate.” He stroked Lucas’ cheek. Lucas felt bile rise up his throat and swallowed it back.

“He has made me wait, I mean Kachimov in case you were wondering who I meant. You must be special, Lucas; he normally allows me my pleasures but not with you.

If he was going to avoid being raped he had to act now He moaned low in his throat and whispered the word please in Russian.

Sarkov paused.

“Please what, Lucas?”

“Come here I want you,”

Sarkov moved forward smiling, he never saw Lucas move. Within less than a minute he was doubled upon the floor and his two goons were dead. Lucas knew if he was to ensure he was never touched again he had to end this “Say your prayers, Vladimir.” The man’s neck snapped like a stalk on a dandelion.

With the three men dead Lucas crawled to the corner of the shower and waited to be found.

***************

Kate woke with a start. She glanced at the clock wondering what had woken her so suddenly. The bed was empty and she could hear the shower running. Lucas must have got up early. She turned on her side intending to grab 15 more minutes shut eye when she realised what had woken her.

The shower! Lucas would not use the shower. She slipped out of bed and pushed open the door of the en-suite. She could just make out Lucas’ figure behind the frosted glass. Suddenly and without warning the shower door flew open and before she could blink Lucas had pinned her to wall, his hand against her throat.

[BravoNine]

Brilliant! Simply brilliant!

[khandy]

(03-12-2010 07:11 AM)BravoNine Wrote:  Brilliant! Simply brilliant!

Thank you very much for the comment

[HellsBells]

A wonderful chapter, so well written.