From what she could see, Rebecca guessed that they were on the third floor of a new hotel. The room was lavishly appointed, but had that distinct generic feel to the fittings. There were other clues too. The TV’s remote attached to the bedside table by a curly wire, a pile of holiday brochures, one of which lay open to a rustic wood cabin hideout somewhere in Hogsback that boasted complete privacy. The carpets were immaculate and the smell of fresh paint hung thick in the air. Tiny recessed lights lined the ceiling at regular intervals, with a dramatic up light forming the focal point of the far wall. Lovely place for a honeymoon. The only problem being that this was everything but a honeymoon.
Rebecca shivered and looked across to where Claude lay sprawled across the hotel bed. He’d been that way since shortly after their arrival. The moment he knew she was securely tied, he’d fallen onto the bed in a dead sleep. The only evidence of life was the odd snore.
She had purposefully avoided causing a fuss in the hopes that he wouldn’t see the need to gag her mouth. Her efforts had paid off and her only bonds where wrists and ankles. She’d slept little during the time they’d been there, but had spent much of the time talking to God. The God who’d rescued her from drowning.
Her mind just couldn’t get around the peace that permeated her insides. The one thing she’d feared most had happened – Claude had found her. She was completely at his mercy and not a living soul knew where she was. Everything about the situation screamed disaster, and yet she was content. How was that possible?
When Jason left her at the hospital, gut-wrenching fear had gripped her insides. Clinging to the Bible, Rebecca had read the portion of Isaiah over and over until eventually falling asleep with the book still clutched in her arms. She’d woken up to find Claude hanging over her bed in a Paramedic uniform, snorting with glee. Immediately, the words from Isaiah sprang to mind and a bubble of peace surrounded her like a lifejacket. Just like that, the fear was gone. Not humanly possible.
She’d felt, rather than heard the whisper inside, “Go quietly, don’t make a fuss. Trust Me.” Wrapped in her peace-jacket, she’d followed Claude, signed herself out and flung herself at God’s mercy.
Whereto from here, she just didn’t know.
Without warning, Claude sat up and yawned, wiping sleep from his eyes. Not looking at her, he shuffled to the bathroom. Water ran and splashed, the toilet flushed and gurgled.
Rebecca closed her eyes and her insides leapt heavenwards, “Dear God – my Father. I don’t know why You’ve allowed this to happen, but I trust You. Please help.” Words blazed brightly, etched into her brain like living beings, “Fear not for I have redeemed you. I have summoned you by name, You are MINE.” Tears of gratitude flowed freely down Rebecca’s cheeks. Thank You Lord!
“Well, well… scared are we?” Claude was back from the bathroom, face a picture of triumph. “Ha ha! You are mine now, orphan-girl. All mine. Nothing you can do about it.”
Drawing from the deep well of peace inside, Rebecca couldn’t help smiling. “You can believe that if you want, Claude. It’s not true. I don’t belong to you and I never will. My heart is spoken for by a God who bought me at a great cost to Himself, and I belong to Him. It doesn’t matter what you do to me. Even if you have your way with my body – it doesn’t touch the real me.” She faced him calmly, saturated in supernatural peace.
His face turned a shocking shade of red. Nostrils flaring, Claude was at a loss for words. His hands clenched into fists and shaking with rage, he headed out onto the balcony. If not for the pain from her stitches, Rebecca would have laughed.
Feeling like she’d won some small victory, weariness closed in and Rebecca’s head sank to her chest. One battle down, how many to go? Her temple throbbed and blazed.
Just as suddenly, Claude was back. Rebecca’s heart leapt to her throat as a knife appeared from his back pocket. Reaching down, he cut through the ropes that held her to the chair. Holding the knife tip between her eyes, he warned, “No trouble, okay?”
Squinting at the sharp point, Rebecca nodded. Hardly daring to swallow, she met his eyes and nodded again in earnest.
Grabbing her roughly by the arm, Claude pulled her to her feet. Casting a brief glance around the room, his attention got caught by the brochure lying open. A grim smile broke out on his face. “C’mon. We’ve got to get out of here.”
***
Stanton drew a deep breath, reached into his pocket and produced a business card. “Sister O’Kennedy, my name is Stanton Trent.” He held out his other hand with such compelling presence that the Sister rose to her feet and returned his handshake, looking vaguely awestruck.
“In case you don’t know, I am the Director of HospiSecure. We are responsible for the in-house security of this fine medical establishment. Right now I need to see the Head of Security, Mr Jackoby. Would you be so kind as to confirm that he is in his office please?”
Jason caught Lisa’s eye behind Stanton’s back. She was chuckling at the amazement on his face, yet trying so desperately to control her mirth that her face was positively purple.
Sister O’Kennedy fumbled with the phone a few times before managing to ascertain that Elijah Jackoby, Head of Hospital Security, was indeed in his office.
Jason watched in awe as Stanton thanked her for her assistance, leaving her bobbing on the mat in a display of helpfulness that stopped just short of a curtsey.
Now here was a Master at work.
Personally accompanied by a sickeningly helpful Sister O’Kennedy, they soon stood face to face with a round man who could comfortably fit beneath Jason’s armpit. A warm smile split his face from one end to the other, as he shook Stanton’s hand enthusiastically. “Stanton Trent! It’s so good to finally meet you in the flesh. We’ve spoken on the phone so often, I feel like a family friend. Now at last, I get to attach a face to the name.” Turning to Lisa, “Aah… the lovely Lisa. Always a pleasure. Are you well?” He waited for her response before turning his warmth on Jason. “Welcome.” Showing them toward the bull-denim lounge suite, he sat forward on his chair, and asked, still smiling, “How can I help?”
Not one to dabble in the shallows, Stanton leapt straight in. “I need to see the security tape for the woman’s ward nurse’s station. One that would cover between 1.30 and 2.30am this morning.”
Elijah stopped smiling. “Is there a problem?”
“I suspect there’s been a breach in your security system and I’d like to get to the bottom of it immediately.”
“Absolutely. Follow me.”
***
Kenneth had taken to whining again. “This is a flipping ghost hunt. A complete waste of time. I want to go to the hospital.” It had been a long two hours of walking from hotel to hotel, with nothing to show for it.
Grabbing Kenneth by his shirtfront, Shane pulled him close and whispered, “Shut up and grow a backbone. Okay?”
Tim rolled his eyes and separated the two. “You two are a real match made in Heaven, you know that? Ken, give Shane the registration. Here comes the guy we need.”
They were just outside the entrance to the secure parking lot of the Prime Paradise Hotel along the Beachfront. It was a newly established hotel that looked set to prove stiff competition to its neighbors.
The security guard, handsomely decked out in a gold-braided maroon uniform, made his way toward them. Holding up his badge, Shane shook his hand and greeted the old man in Xhosa, “Molo Madala. Kunjani? ”
The old man beamed at being greeted in his mother tongue and responded enthusiastically with a grin that boasted three teeth. The two chatted for a bit longer then Shane handed over the paper with Claude’s car registration, neatly handwritten.
The old man pushed back the gate and beckoned for them to follow him into his guardhouse. There he opened a logbook in which the comings and goings of all the cars to and from the hotel were recorded.
Scanning the pages quickly, Shane found what he was looking for. “Bingo. Claude arrived here this
morning at 2.45am. Room C34”
Tim and Kenneth couldn’t believe what they were hearing, and nearly hugged in excitement. Stopping just short, they recoiled in horror and settled for slapping Shane on the back.
Taking their lead from the multi-lingual Shane, they all joined in thanking him for his help, “Enkosi!”
His face positively beamed with pleasure and he shook their hands warmly before showing them to the Guest’s entrance to the hotel. Shane couldn’t help grinning. This entrance by-passed the reception area, allowing them to go directly to Claude’s room, without the inconvenience of explaining their uninvited presence. Perfect.
***
“That’s her, I’m sure.”
The camera had caught the couple from behind. The woman was slender with long dark hair. The man next to her was wearing a paramedic’s uniform. At first glance, it looked as if he was supporting her, yet there was a tension to his arm that hinted at something more sinister. Then she glanced up toward the camera. Elijah hit pause and the image froze. He zoomed in until her face filled the screen.
Jason felt the wallop of emotion and looked across to Stanton. Gaze fixed, his eyes watered over. A tremor ran through him from head to foot and Lisa instinctively drew closer in support. Shutting his eyes, he spoke, “Let’s focus on the paramedic. This is definitely not a healthy situation. We need to know who he is.”
It took a few more minutes of scanning the tape before they came up with a close-up that was reasonably suitable for identifying purposes. Jason asked Lisa, “Why don’t you check with the ambulance service who was on duty last night. I’ll hook up with the guys and see if we can get a description of Claude.”
Lisa left the room to use the telephone next door, and Jason texted Tim.
A thought occurred to Jason. “I’m just wondering, where would Rebecca have got clothes from? She only had what was on her and those were soaked through. I’ve never seen what she was wearing in the video.”
Elijah clicked his fingers. “It all makes sense now. We had a complaint from one of the other patients in the woman’s ward that some spare clothing that they had stored in their locker had gone missing. Must be what your girl was wearing.”
Just then Lisa came back looking bleak. “Two emergency personnel did deliver someone here at about 2 this morning, but they were back at the base by 2.20am. It couldn’t have been one of them. Here’s the worst part. The spare uniform that was kept in the Ambulance is missing. They’re not sure when it disappeared.”
Jason’s phone beeped loudly, announcing the arrival of a message. Opening it up, he read the message then handed his phone to Stanton. The photo that had just arrived on his phone was a dead-ringer for the phony paramedic. “Claude has Rebecca.”
Stanton stood in frustration. “Who is Claude? What is going on here?”
“I’ll explain on the way. Tim says they’ve found the hotel where he’s got Rebecca. It’s about 5 minutes from here.”
Chapter 27 – Homecoming and Hotel Rooms
Edward Rochester was being twice as painful as his normal self. The worst thing was that he knew it, yet felt helpless to do anything about it. Heading for the kitchen, he sought out Hazel’s calming company.
“Can I make you some tea?”
He nodded and sat down at table that dominated the room. “I can’t take much more of this Hazel. Is everything ready?”
“Ja, we’ve been through the house three times. It will be fine, you’ll see.” Filling a plate with freshly baked Crunchies, she poured tea in his favorite bone china mug and patted his arm in genuine affection. “You drink your tea; I’m going to pick some flowers from the garden.”
“Uh, Hazel? It’s winter. Are you sure you’re going to find flowers to pick?”
“Madam planted some pink Camellia’s out back. They were her pride and joy. It would be good to have some inside, don’t you think?”
Winter-loving Camellia’s. Of course. How could he have forgotten? That made him feel even worse. The only response he could manage was a gruff harrumph.
He was halfway through his tea, when the noisy crush of gravel announced the arrival of a vehicle. Heart in his throat, Edward stood and walked to the door. Seconds stretched to eternity as his hand folded around the cold metal of the handle. Bright sunlight streamed in as the door swung back. With a jerk that nearly sent him sprawling down the stairs, time clicked back to normal speed. And then she was there. As fragile as a porcelain doll, yet with the vital sparkle of life dancing in her eyes, the absence of which had slowly bled him dry.
A few long strides closed the distance between them as he swept her into his arms. His love, his life – his Maxine. Home again at last. Her arms around him infused life back into the dry husk of his frame. In that moment he knew that one cannot mess with vows that state “Till death us do part” and not expect consequences. They were one until one of them passed on. It was good and right.
“Oh Maxine. I don’t know what to say.”
She reached up and silenced him with her fingers. “You don’t need to say anything. We were both scared, and ignorant. Not the best emotional state to make decisions in. I’m just glad to be home.”
Sally had hung back till now, giving them time to greet. Now she stepped forward and hugged Edward. “Good choice, Brother. This girl’s been pining for her family for too long now. You and those boys of hers.”
“Oh yes, my sons! Where are the boys, love?” She peered past him toward the house, expecting them to appear any moment.
Edward took her hand, wrapped it around his arm and led her inside. “The boys are away for a little while. How was the tri—”
His sentence was cut short by a wild squeal of excitement. Hazel ran to Maxine at a speed that Edward didn’t know someone her size could move at. Love lent wings to her feet and she dashed down the path, Camellia’s dropping from her hands as she ran. With tenderness in direct contrast to her enthusiasm, she hugged Maxine and wept.
“Welcome home, Madam! Welcome home. Go inside and have some tea, I’ll bring the bags.”
It was a happy reunion around the old oak table. Hazel had retrieved the fallen Camellia’s, which now graced the center of the table in a crystal vase. A sense of rightness settled into place over the four of them as they dunked Crunchies in tea and reminisced about the time the boys had played leapfrog on the lawn until one of them had actually landed on a bullfrog. Kenneth had run screaming one way, the poor frog leapt off to find safer pastures the other way and Claude had rolled about on the grass in such a fit of laughter that his stomach muscles had been sore for two days.
Edward sat with his arm around Maxine, smiling at the memory. Talk of his boys raked up concern over their well-being. A sharp reminder that he’d not heard from Kenneth since they’d left. Looking up from his cup, his eye caught Hazel’s across the table. She nodded and he knew her thoughts matched his.
Forcing a smile, he reached across to the teapot. “Refill, anyone?”
***
Jason and Stanton’s collective charm had failed. Lisa’s skills in diplomacy had got them nowhere. The clerk at the reception desk of the Prime Paradise Hotel would not budge. “I’m sorry, our guest asked specifically not to be disturbed by anyone for any reason whatsoever.”
Stanton’s head hung as hope failed him.
Unwilling to quit, Jason tried a different approach, “A young woman’s life may be in grave danger. You’ve got to let us go up there. You can even send security with us. Please!” For the look he got, he might as well have said that the sun was setting – so great was the impact that his sense of urgency had on this buffoon.
“Do you have any proof of this fact, Sir?”
No, none whatsoever. “Well, actually—” began Jason, brain working frantically.
Just then, the lift landed with a ‘ping’ and out piled Shane, Tim and Kenneth.
Shane saw them first and led the troop across the marble floor, “Hey Halloway! You made it to the party
. Don’t waste your breath, they’ve left already.” Sarcasm didn’t do a very good job of hiding his frustrated disappointment.
The desk clerk looked relieved as they made their way out.
Something in Jason’s heart didn’t want to leave and he felt wrong the moment he set foot out the building. He slowly walked to where Lisa was facilitating introductions on the pavement. Stanton’s face was an ashen mask of ice, Kenneth was as skittish as a racehorse and the question on everybody’s lips was, “What now?”
“Guys, I need to get into that hotel room.” Jason knew he was hankering after the impossible.
Shane spoke first, “Why?”
“Call it a hunch.”
Tim’s nodded knowingly, “Ah haa! I know the signs. He’s been doing this all week. Better start making plans to get back into that room.”
Shane grabbed Jason by the arm, “You lot hang here, and we’re going to chat to my purple and gold bedecked friend over there.”
Jason understood nothing of the conversation that followed, but he didn’t really care as it ended in them being ushered through the back door of the hotel. Shane retraced his footsteps from earlier. As they were headed up the staircase – avoiding the security camera infested lifts – Shane said, “I don’t know what you hope to find. They were only in the room for a few hours.” They made their way across the second landing, “And I don’t know how you plan to get into the room. Have you thought of that?”
Jason squirmed a little, “I have, but I don’t think that will be our problem.”
“You’ve gone soft in the head. What are you talking about? Do you see anyone else here? We’re IT, Halloway. Sum total of whatever is going to solve our problem – you and me. God help us.” Shane spoke flippantly, but Jason couldn’t help laughing.
“Don’t be surprised if He does.”
“Who?”
“God! You asked Him to help us, and I think He will. I also think checking the room is His idea in the first place. When He wants something to happen, He makes it possible.”