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Introductions / Hello

« Last post by debnet on April 03, 2012, 07:05:56 pm »

Good luck with the new site!

I'll be writing some pages for you... when I get in the right mood too!

debnet

Introductions / Hi everyone!

« Last post by IceMaiden on April 03, 2012, 05:17:08 pm »

Hi everyone, just to let you all know i will soon be starting a crafts for mums section, card making and fascinator section.
If you have your own craft you wish to add please let myself or Moth know.
From paper and feathers to photography and writting, we do it all here!!!

Anything Goes / Re: Chapter 4, I'm just trying to introduce you to all of the characters in the book

« Last post by IceMaiden on April 03, 2012, 05:03:29 pm »

Hurry and finish the book! cant wait to read the rest

Introductions / Intro

« Last post by chilly658 on March 22, 2012, 07:01:49 pm »

Hi,

My name is Paul Thompson, most people know me as Chilly (long story) and I currently live in Tonbridge, Kent in the UK.

I've been writing on and off for around twenty years I guess, I've had nineteen short stories published to date but 85 Levels of Deception is my very first novel, and I have another three lined up in my head, all with completely different themes.

The challenge for me with this novel has been to complete it because I, like everybody else suffers from writer's block on occasion or my mind set isn't right.

I think I'm getting there with it, I'm not expecting a best seller but I do believe whole heartedly that I'm learning my own methods of how to write a novel.

I hope that you all enjoy reading it.

Paul

Showcase / Chapter 10

« Last post by chilly658 on March 22, 2012, 05:59:17 pm »

10
Task force HQ, Police headquarters, Wigmore Street, Marylebone
Thursday 27th January 2011

Sam Henning had his mocking impersonation of chief Martin Roberts perfected and was giving a private performance to detective sergeant Nicola Garwood while they were alone in their office. "Good god Henning, I mean, she's a bloody woman for heaven's sake!" Henning mocked and although Nicola Garwood was staring at her pc screen she couldn't help but laugh. "Now you know what you'll end up like if you don't retire." She teased him and Henning nodded. "How can somebody so sexist and racist make it so far up the ladder and get himself an OBE on the way?" He asked.

Henning grinned at Nicola Garwood who was still quite engrossed in whatever she was reading. "Henning can you imagine if she was black or Asian?" He continued with his mimic. "Why she'd probably have her eyes set on my job!" He added in his pursuit of perfecting chief Martin Robert's voice.

Just then a young police detective gently tapped on the glass door and stepped inside. "Guv?" He said and looked to Henning first and then Garwood. "I've just taken a call that I think you'll find of interest." the young policeman told them both.

Detective Dave Parker was just twenty five years of age and had somehow been selected for this task force mainly due to him being a considered up and comer within the force, he had short cropped dark hair and stood at five feet eleven inches in height and obviously worked out in the gym very regularly.

Nicola Garwood looked up from her pc. "What is it?" She asked and then pondered for a few moments. "Dave, right?" She asked and Parker nodded his head. "Parker ma'am, Dave Parker." He told her.

Nicola looked over to Sam and grinned before turning her attention back to detective Parker. "What is it Dave Parker?" She asked, attempting to jest with Parker in an attempt to shed the belief that was going around the Ops room that she was someone who resembled a cold hearted and single minded officer concerned only with her own progress, she had been nick named 'The Ice Queen' in private circles around the task force.

Parker took in a deep breath. "Ma'am I just took an anonymous tip off." He told her and then revealed the contents of the anonymous call which had been made just five minutes ago. "From a call box in Fulham." He added. "Somebody had given us a name of one of the ring leaders of the outfit abducting the homeless." Parker added.

Nicola looked over at Sam Henning with widened eyes before she turned again to detective Parker. "What's the name?" She asked and immediately he told her.

Nicola tapped the mane into her keyboard and began to read the file in front of her. "We pulled her twice for soliciting but have never charged her." Garwood revealed as she looked at the police file on Jade Harris, Indigo bosses had thrown in a new diversion for the police to continue to look in the wrong direction and had made a call giving Jade's name as a ring leader.

She looked up at Sam. "Bloody hell, it's beginning to make some sense." She told him and now Sam sat up to listen to what Nicola had to say. "She's connected to Carmen Richardson." Nicola told him.

Parker now interjected. "The property tycoon ma'am?" and looked to Sam Henning who nodded his head. "But Carmen is worth millions now through property development, she doesn't need to be involved in something like this." He told them both.

Nicola slowly spun her pc monitor around and showed him a photo fit of Jade Harris. "That's as maybe but she isn't the multi millionaire, is she?" As she pointed to Jade Harris and then she turned her attention back to Parker. "Can you find me an address for Jade Harris?" She asked and Parker smirked. "Already did ma'am, she owns a shop selling clothes in Lambeth." He told her.

Nicola Garwood stood up and Sam Henning raised his eyebrows. "Where are you going?" He asked as Nicola headed for the door. ?Lambeth, coming?" She asked and Sam shook his head. "You know who I have a meeting with in twenty minutes." He reminded her and Nicola grinned. "Good luck with that." She told him but Sam called her back and asked her to close the door for a moment. "Nik just remember that you've been given a name by someone who didn't give their own." He began his lecture. "Tread very carefully." He advised her. "If she's connected to Carmen we could end up with their legal team stomping all over us." He added.

Nicola Garwood looked at Sam with a puzzled expression. "Sam, are you on first name terms with Carmen Richardson?" She asked and he nodded after a pause. "I've known her for a long time, I'll find out where her office is and pay her a visit for old time's sake later today."

Twenty five minutes later Sam Henning was in the office of chief Martin Roberts with the same map unrolled on top of the chief's desk with new small coloured sticky circles placed onto it, black ones. "These sir are where the moles are to be placed from tonight and for the next two weeks." Sam told him. "And then they'll be rotated into other Havens." He informed Roberts who again studied the map intently. "So these are the hidden cameras?" She chief asked as he pointed and Sam nodded. ?Yes sir.?

The chief studied again. "These are the same houses you call Havens?" The chief enquired and again Henning nodded. "That's correct sir."

Roberts now stood there staring down at the map. "Very good Henning, very good indeed." The chief remarked which surprised Sam considering he had already informed his boss that this was all Garwood's work.

Suddenly chief Roberts looked up to Sam. "Do you fancy a cup of tea Henning?" He asked Sam who shrugged his shoulders. "Why not sir?" He asked and the chief actually smiled. "Why don't you pop down to our lovely new canteen and the end of the hall and get you and I a nice cuppa?" The chief suggested.

Henning walked out of the office and toward the new canteen at the end of the hall. "Now I'm not just his snitch, I'm his bloody tea boy snitch." He said under his breath.

When Sam finally returned to the chief's office his trained eye immediately spotted the blank note pad on top of Robert's desk and also noted the chief's lack of desire to remain in their scheduled meeting. "Henning, something's come up." Roberts told him. "I've been asked to attend a meeting elsewhere.'

Sam nodded and put the two cups of tea onto the chief's desk and started to roll his map up again. "Yes you clear up here and we'll talk again later Henning." The chief said as he headed for the door of his own office. "No problem sir." Henning smiled as the chief left and closed the door behind him.

As soon as the chief had left, Henning tore off the top sheet from the blank note pad and slipped it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, rolled up his map and headed out of the door himself.

When Sam arrived back at his shared cubicle office he found Nicola Garwood once again sitting at her pc. "You didn't go to Lambeth?" He asked and she looked up. "Oh we went, she hasn't been there in a couple of days judging by the mail on the other side of her letterbox." Nicola informed him.

Sam sat down at his desk. "I'm sure she'll turn up." He told Nicola who nodded as she still stared into her pc screen. "I think she knows we're onto her and she ran." She told Sam.

He then took out the blank sheet of paper from his pocket, which he had removed from the chief's pad and scribbled over it lightly with a pencil to reveal whatever the chief had written on in and then removed and could see clearly that the information on the paper was the whereabouts of everything on their detailed map."Does the chief answer to anybody?" Sam asked her as she fixed a picture of Jade Harris to the top of her board because Jade Harris was now wanted for questioning.

She turned to face Sam. "Only the home secretary." She told him. "Why?"

Sam handed her the piece of paper and told her how he had found it.

She looked at him again. "The chief did this?" She asked and Sam nodded his head. "How bizarre." Nicola responded and Sam Henning nodded this time. "How bizarre indeed." He agreed as he looked up and saw Jade Harris's picture at the very top of a white board as Nicola pointed her finger at it. "I want to talk to her." She told him.

Showcase / Chapter 9

« Last post by chilly658 on March 22, 2012, 05:58:10 pm »

9
Jasmine Fashions, New Kent Road, North Lambeth, London
Wednesday 26th January 2011

At three thirty in the morning even the New Kent road was deadly quiet apart from the odd car or truck passing through so when Jade Harris heard two doors quietly closing outside of her bedroom window downstairs in front of her shop she sat bolt upright in her bed.

It was a cold and wet night outside and the three men dressed in black complete with balaclava's walked quietly up to the brown front door which led to the flat and one of them easily picked the lock and pushed opn the front door to Jasmine Harris's flat.

They quietly crept up the carpeted stairs and knew exactly where they needed to go in the flat to find her, somehow they had studied floor plans of the place.

All three quietly walked past the kitchen door which was open allowing minimal light inside the hall due to the street lights shining in from outside.

The man in front quietly opened the bedroom door and as he stepped inside his two companions followed him in and as he reached the bed he saw that she wasn't where she was supposed to be.

Confused, he turned to his two companions who looked back at him with equal confusion, they had seen her go up from the shop earlier and she hadn't left and they had been watching it all night and all three looked to each other with confusion.

The third man into the room shrugged his shoulders because he had no clue as to why she wasn't here and the second man looked to their leader too who now turned to face his two colleagues but when he did so they watched his eyes widen in terror.

Just that day on her way back from Carmen's house Jade Harris had purchased herself a very heavy wooden baseball bat from a sports shop and had been hiding behind her bedroom door since she had heard the lock being turned down at her front door.

Jade Harris had trouble sleeping.

She quietly moved forward behind the third man who entered her bedroom and with a scream swung the bat as hard as she possibly could and as it connected with the back of his head a cracking thud was heard.

The man immediately dropped to the floor with blood seeping out of his ears as she swung again, this time aiming for the second man, Jade had caught them all completely off guard.

The second man fell over her bed and landed on the floor at the other side although she had missed him by about two inches and now she had her bat raised ready again for the leader who had also stumbled backward onto her bedside table with a blood splatter across the wall behind him and his face was also covered in blood from the third man who had entered the room.

Jade pulled the bat way behind her head once again and was about to swing with all of her might and he immediately put his arms up over his head in an attempt to defend himself as much as possible but he genuinely believed that he was about to die just like his fallen colleague had but then there was a sound, a 'SNAP!' and Jade Harris stood motionless for a few moments, staring into his eyes as he slowly lowered his defensive arms, staring back at her.

On the other side of Jade's bed, his conscious colleague had managed to compose himself while she was about to take on the leader of the group and her intention had been to batter them all to death with her new defensive weapon but he had calmly removed the Tazar gun from his inside pocket, charged it and carefully aimed it at Jade Harris's chest and right now, 5000 volts were surging through her still body until eventually she too slumped to the floor.

Jade could only see white lights as the intense pain completely immobilised her now rigid body and she laid there completely defenceless.
The petrified man sitting right in front of her who's head had only just escaped the swing of her bat quickly rifled through his jacket pockets and found a white paper mask and then he reached into his inside jacket pocket and took out the small brown bottle of chloroform which he poured into the mask with his trembling hands.

Jade's eyes were flickering and she was still semi conscious but he quickly held the mask over her face.

Her arms flayed but she couldn't stop him as she was barely conscious which didn't last for much longer and then Jade Harris fell into unconsciousness.

He secured the mask to her face while his conscious companion attempted to revive the unconscious one who's condition was thanks to Jade's bat and heavy swing to his head.

He looked up. ?I think he has a fractured skull.? He told the leader who was looking out of the window. ?We'll deal with it as soon as we can, right now we have to get out of here.? He responded. ?Go an open the back of the van and I'll carry her down.? He added and his colleague nodded and ran.

He then checked on his fallen colleague. He shook his head. ?He's dead.?

Jade had become a victim of circumstance, she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time but had lessened the abductors in numbers by one.

Showcase / Chapter 8

« Last post by chilly658 on March 22, 2012, 05:53:38 pm »

8
Task force HQ, Police headquarters, Wigmore Street, Marylebone, London
Thursday 27th January 2011

A brand new Police task force had been set up to deal with the cases of recent multiple abductions in London and a new office block had been allocated for it in Wigmore street near Marylebone Rail station.

Detective Inspector Martin Roberts was still moving into his office when he took the call from a national newspaper who had already discovered that the task force had been assembled and that he would be heading the thirty nine strong team. ?Yes Frank I fully appreciate that.? The chief explained to the Editor in chief of the national newspaper. ?But the fact remains that dubbing this case the missing four thousand isn't going to help my cause is it?? Chief Roberts pointed out. ?Well it's implying that every other homeless person in London is going to be abducted too, isn't it?? He said into the telephone.

Detective Inspector Martin Roberts OBE was now fifty one years of age who stood at five feet and eight inches tall with dark balding hair and he had a slight frame.

Regardless of his high rank and profile detective inspector Roberts never wore a suit to work, he could always be seen in his highly decorated black uniform and of course the service ribbons just above his left breast pocket. ?Well look Frank.? He continued with the editor. ?I'm more than happy for us to sit down and talk and I'm fully aware that it wasn't your newspaper who created this damaging name for the case but you can help by refusing to use it.? He told the editor. ?And when I read that you're helping the cause instead of damaging it I'll be more than happy to sit down with you.? He added and then abruptly put the telephone down and continued to unpack the box containing his personal effects.

There was a knock at the chief's office door. ?Enter!? He called out and then the door opened and in walked a policeman in a grey pinstriped suit, a white pressed shirt and a blue satin tie.

Detective Sergeant Sam Henning was around six feet tall and a well built man although he struggled these days with the various fitness tests and was due to retire in just five months time but the chief had asked for him to be assigned to this task force specifically. ?Good morning sir.? Sam Henning said as he stepped inside. ?Ah Henning, come in, come in.? The chief ushered and pointed to a wooden chair at the opposite side of his desk.

Henning sat down. ?You asked to see me sir?? He asked as the chief placed the cardboard box down on the floor. ?Yes I did Henning.? He told the DS. ?Yes I did indeed.? He added.

The forty nine year old Sam Henning listened intently as the chief laid out exactly what he wanted from him and why in fact Henning had been assigned to this task force as the chief had read through many police profiles and considered Henning perfect for what he had in mind. ?The thing is Henning.? The chief began.

Chief Martin Roberts had expressed many times in the past and often publicly that he was opposed to these new fast tracked promotion schemes within the force. ?You've been in the job what, twenty one years Henning?? He asked and Sam Henning nodded his head. ?Coming up for twenty two sir.? He told the chief. ?And this Garland woman is the same rank as you in six years?? He told Henning. ?Garwood sir, her name's Garwood.? Henning corrected him.

The chief gave him a blank expression for a few moments. ?Yes well whatever her name is, she's where she is because she's a woman.? The chief pointed out. ?We have to have black and Asian officers in high ranking positions these days purely because they're black or Asian.? The chief ranted on. ?If an Asian young woman joins the force today she has a good chance of making it to the very top while you Henning, have spent twenty years working your arse off for this Garland or whatever her name is to eventually pass you.? The chief told him and Henning had no idea why he was being given this ridiculous speech until the chief finally laid his cards onto the table.

He leaned across the desk and stared at Henning. ?You and I Henning are old fashioned coppers.? He went on. ?This young lady has been brought in against my recommendations with her degree and new ideas of policing.? The chief began again. ?The bottom line Henning is that I want you to keep an eye on her and report directly to me.? The chief told him and now Henning understood why he had been drafted in and why the chief had just given him the speech on how unfairly he had apparently been treated, Henning was to be the chief's snitch.

Henning smiled across the desk at the chief. ?I'll do my best of course sir.? He said and then the meeting came to a halt and Henning left the office and closed the door behind him. ?Great, my new boss is a complete and utter pompous arse.?

Upstairs in a recently constructed enclosed cubicle Detective Sergeant Nicola Garwood was sitting at her end of the desk which she now shared with Sam Henning who she had met just before the task force had moved into the new building in Wigmore street and in fact that had gone out to dinner just four nights ago as they were going to be working together at least until Sam Henning retired and they both decided it would be good to get to know each other.

She watched through the glass window of their cubicle as Henning walked through the operations room where dozens of newly assigned police officers were still moving into their own desks and then he walked into their shared office and sat down at his desk. ?So?? Nicola Garwood asked and Sam grinned. ?Have you met him yet?? He asked, referring to their new boss of course and she shook her head. ?No, apparently only the righteous may enter his office.? She grinned at Sam who had of course only just left that office. ?So what's he like?? She asked.

Sam sat back in his chair. ?Well he hates you.? He chuckled and Garwood nodded her head. ?Fast track promotion scheme?? She asked and Henning nodded his head. ?I'm to keep tabs on you and inform him of everything that you do.? Henning told her.

Garwood frowned. ?Oh great so he'll block any advance we make based on the fact that he doesn't agree with how I got here?? She asked and Henning shook his head. ?Not if you forget to tell me about them.? He winked with a grin.

Nicola Garwood had already taken a serious liking to Sam Henning and now she was beginning to see why, he was a rogue, honest but a rogue.

She handed over a rolled up map to Henning. ?You know we have sixty four hidden cameras being put up on the streets of London right now, don't you?? She asked and Henning nodded as he took it. ?What's this?? He asked. ?That's phase one.? She reminded him, the map showed the locations of each and every hidden camera which was being put into place as they spoke and he nodded. ?I'll take it down and show his Lordship shortly, it might keep him off your back for now.? Sam told her.

But first you have to back me up out there.? She said as she nodded out toward the operations room and the dozens of new officers because she was about to make her self introduction speech to them and outline how they were going to run this case and because Sam Henning was a very well respected detective sergeant she wanted him to be seen on the same side as her.

He smiled. ?Nik you're a great copper, stop worrying about whether people want to accept you or not.? He told her.
Twenty minutes later Nicola Garwood stood in front of her new team in the operations room and introduced herself and then Sam Henning and then set to work on outlining what would be happening inside and outside of the operations room.

She spied around the room for familiar faces but knew nobody from the thirty six officers sitting in front of her. ?Good morning everybody.? She begun and then proceeded to outline what was required of them now that this task force had been set up.

Her speech went on for over half an hour before she pointed to a marked map which was pinned onto the wall behind her. ?The markings are indications of people we know have been abducted.? She told them all. ?There are going to be more that we don't know about.? She added and Sam nodded his head in agreement.

She then pointed to some green markings on her map. ?These are what we're calling safe havens where local councils have joined in to help and have made temporary shelters for the homeless to group together at night.? She told them ?Safety in numbers.? Sam Henning added.

Nicola pointed to them again. ?Some of you are going undercover as homeless into some of these shelters.? She told them. ?Thirteen of you all together.? She added, the moles, the officers going undercover already knew who they were. ?The remaining officer are exactly how many we need to run this Ops room efficiently.? She reminded them before she dismissed them all to begin work.

Sam and Nicola returned to their shared cubicle. ?I'm going to get this map down to him so that he can start to understand that you actually do know what you're doing.? Sam told her and then headed back down to the chief's office where he knocked and entered and then proceeded to unroll the map out onto the chief's desk. ?This is all excellent work Henning.? The chief told him as he studied the map in great detail, even writing most of it down into his police issued note pad.

The chief now looked up to Henning. ?And how is she doing so far?? He asked. ?Have you met her yet??

Henning had to stop the grin from appearing on his face. ?I have met her sir and she did this.? Henning told him as he pointed to the map.

Nicola Garwood sat up in their shared cubicle, she was the new breed of police officer, she was never going to be like Sam or whatever the chief wanted her to be, her long straight blonde hair was tied back into a pony tail except for a thin wisp of hair which always seemed to fall in front of her eye at the most inconvenient moments, she wore designer blue denim jeans whereas Sam wore a suit and she was wearing white designer training shoes. ?I can't chase down villains in high heels, can I?? She had explained to Sam when they had gone out for dinner.

The task force had been assembled and Nicola Garwood was in it regardless of who liked it or didn't.

Showcase / Chapter 7

« Last post by chilly658 on March 22, 2012, 05:51:15 pm »

7
Jasmine Fashions
New Kent Road, North Lambeth, London
Tuesday 25th January 2011

Despite the fact that Jade had already put a hundred thousand pound cheque into her account which merely joined the twenty three thousand that she had already saved from working in her former profession, the fact that Carmen insisted that she pay minimal rent on the shop and the flat upstairs was thrown in meant that the young woman with an inventive streak had the best start in business possible.

When Carmen had first shown it to her it was an empty space with a shop counter and dirty white walls and a threadbare red carpet in a shop which actually sold bathroom equipment but even back then Jade could envisage her own shop inside that dirty hovel

When she had finished painting, the inside of the shop had dark and deep red walls with pictures of fashion models tactfully placed and boxed shelving for piles of denim jeans and the like.

There were two full length mirrors screwed into the walls and she had knocked through into the store room so that she now had two changing rooms which were equally as tastefully decorated.

The shop had racks and racks of the latest fashion clothing which quickly filled the once empty space with a counter, a new electronic and digital till and credit card machine.

The sign writers had been a month ago after the shop front had been repainted and electronic security roller shutters had been installed too and in the mornings when Jade pressed the button to raise them up the sign writing displayed. Jasmine Fashion'

Jade Harris had found her independence.

Delivery drivers had learned to detest her because it was becoming widely known amongst the driver community that even if the box carrying her purchases was even slightly damaged it was sent back, she wouldn't even look inside and she got into so many arguments with delivery van drivers because of her stand up attitude.

But today she had been busy with a group of young girls who had come to the shop from school and were keen to try on just about everything that was in the shop and that included the accessories and so when a driver delivered some boxes with thirty two denim skirts, Jade for the first time ever didn't check them because the young ladies in her shop were her priority, she was trying to turn her shop into an after school hang out and get to know the local community.

However now it was twenty three minutes past eleven at night and Jade was laying in her bed upstairs from the shop in her new flat and there was just one thing on her mind, keeping her from sleeping. ?I need to check on those skirts first thing in the morning.? She said as she laid in her bed.

Jade had trouble sleeping every night and tonight it was the turn of the skirt to keep her awake, last night it was thinking about the old days after a night out with Carmen and April, the night before it was VAT, the truth was that Jade was just having trouble sleeping.

Two hours had passed and she still laid there looking for new problems to keep her awake and she wondered how Carmen ever slept with so much business around her now, before it was so easy, she had her client list for the day and she catered for whatever floated their boats and then went home for the night. this was so much harder.

She looked over to her red digital alarm clock which told her that it was now thirteen minutes past one and Jade sat up in her bed before sliding her legs out and slipped her feet into her pink fluffy slippers.

She then walked from her bedroom along the short hallway and into her recently decorated kitchen and made herself a cup of hot coffee before she checked herself in her full length mirror and in her two piece pink pyjama set and slippers with a coffee in one hand and her keys in the other Jade carefully walked down the stairs toward her brown front door which was right next door to her shop.

Before she opened the door she rehearsed her physical actions which were to be open the front door and check to make sure that nobody was outside on New Kent road because that would be highly embarrassing to walk out there in her pink pyjamas and matching fluffy slippers courtesy of April.

If the coast was clear she would step out and slip the roller shutter key into the lock and turn it so that the shutters went up high enough for her to open the glass door where she could then step inside the shop and close and lock the door behind her, after dis-enabling the security alarm system.

She replayed it over in her head again, New Kent road during the day was quite manic for traffic as well as pedestrians but at night it was very quiet and besides it had rained which often kept people in their homes.

She turned the latch of her front door and slowly opened it before she popped her head out and looked right and it was clear so she turned her head to the left and that's when she saw the sliver van across the street with it's back doors wide open.

Jade closed the door to a little so that she wasn't seen and then slowly looked through the small gap again and that's when she saw two men walking toward the back of the van.

Jade's eyes widened as she watched the two men carrying an unconscious person, a woman and as she focussed herder she could see that this woman wasn't old, she was quite young in fact with a head of flowing blonde hair, in fact Jade remembered seeing her across the street moving in a few days ago.

She could see that the girl was wearing something white over her face and it looked like a mask, something a paint sprayer might use or something like that and her hands had been bound together in front of her with tape.

Slowly and quietly Jade closed her front door and cringed as the latch made a quiet 'Click!' as it locked again and then she leaned her back against the inside of her front door. "Holy **** ****!" She quietly said to herself before running back up her stairs and into her flat where she ran straight into her bedroom and picked up her phone and called Carmen.

It took Carmen a few moments to answer her phone and when she finally did so she could tell by Jade's voice that something was very wrong indeed and she told Jade to calm down and think rationally. "Y....You know those abductions on the news?" Jade asked her and Carmen confirmed that she knew what Jade was talking about.

Jade took in a deep breath after Carmen again asked her to calm down. "I think I just saw one of those abductions Carmen." Jade told her, still working on breathing properly but she was beginning to calm down for her friend.
Eventually Carmen asked Jade to explain everything which her young friend did in great detail and now Carmen asked Jade if she knew whether they were still there or not?

Jade looked over at her bedroom window. "I don't know, should I sneak a look?" She asked but Carmen told her to stay away from the window and she had one more question for Jade and that was "Did they see you?"

Jade confirmed that they didn't see her, she had made sure. "Carmen they were right across the street!" Jade began again.

Carmen told Jade to get dressed, she would organise a cab for her and she could come over to Carmen's mansion and explain everything and then they would decide what to do, the truth was that Carmen wanted Jade to do nothing and just stay out of it.

They hadn't seen her because the two men were too busy carrying the subdued woman to notice Jade Harris standing at her door watching in horror, but their two colleagues sitting in a car as look outs from her left had watched Jade witness the abduction of twenty year old Kerry Mathews who had just moved into the flat across the street from Jade after living on the streets of London for the past two years, they knew exactly where she was and how to get to her and they knew that Jade Harris had seen them take the young girl.

Showcase / Chapter 6

« Last post by chilly658 on March 21, 2012, 03:27:07 pm »

6 C.R. Property Developments
Serpentine Road, Mayfair, London
Monday 24th January 2011

Within two and a half years Carmen Richardson had built an empire based on a conversation in that Cafe with Jade Harris and April Glover and one little black book, an empire which was now valued in excess of ?158 Million which now boasted no less than twelve very regent looking offices all over the city of London and boasted no less than eighty five members of staff.

She had bought, renovated and sold one hundred and sixty seven properties around London and also bought and rented a further four hundred and seventeen more creating vast revenues of cash and she had now begun to look into areas targeted for development in the counties of Kent, east Sussex and Bedfordshire as her business grew in accordance to her expansion plan which if the truth be told more or less came from that little black book.

Outside of her plush Mayfair office was her brand new car, her pride and joy, an Aston Martin DB9 which had come with all of the extras, Carmen Richardson was a self confessed lover of gadgets and of course prestige cars.

Inside her office she was sitting at her stunning oak four feet by four feet partner style desk working on some figures with somebody sitting opposite her at the other side of her desk. "It was lovely seeing Jade last night." April Glover told Carmen who nodded and then touched the new broach on her lilac business jacket which had been a present from Jade the night before.

The previous night they had all gone out to dinner, paid for by Jade as a way of saying thank you to Carmen for letting the shop and flat to her at a discount rate and Jade had presented the broach to Carmen who in all honesty hated the red, in her opinion, monstrosity but had gracefully accepted it because it had come from Jade and Carmen now wondered if Jade hated it too and this was maybe one of her little pranks.

Carmen hadn't really changed very much as far as appearance went, her clothes were now designer and much more expensive like the lilac business suit she was wearing today but her hair was still the auburn coloured bob and her personality was still the same as it had been before.

She looked up at April who was sitting there watching her work. "I miss her actually." Carmen told April who nodded in agreement. "I know that she's just on the other end of the phone or a drive to New Kent road but it's not the same." Carmen added, again to a nod of agreement from April who now leaned forward. "We ought to do it more often." She told Carmen who looked up with an expression of concern. "We ought to do what?" She asked.

April sat back now and giggled. "Spend time with Jade you daft cow!" She told Carmen who grinned knowingly. "Goodness if I was going to turn, I'd pick somebody prettier than you." April assured her.

Carmen looked out of the window. "I'm going to make a point of calling her at least every other day." She said which again brought a nod from April. "Yes that'd be nice, nothing like a good smothering is there?" April reminded her.

Carmen stared at April now. "You have no idea of the lovely image involving you right now when you mention smothering." Carmen teased and April mocked a face of utter shock.

Carmen now stared again at April. "Don't you have anything to do?" She asked and April shook her head. "Absolutely nothing apart from sitting here and irritating you." She told Carmen who nodded her head. "You're an expert at it for sure." She told April.

Carmen shook her head as she gave up and began to place the file into her desk draw. "I have absolutely no idea why I pay you so much." She told her long term friend who simply smiled. "You know how much it would bother you if I weren't here." She truthfully told Carmen who nodded in agreement. "I'm still keeping the smothering image for now." She said to April as she gave her a wink. "Come on, you can treat me to lunch." She added as she stood up from her desk and April stood up too. "Note to self, get rich by sponging lunch from your friends." April said as she followed Carmen out of the office door. "Can I drive?" April called as Carmen began to climb down the stairs and received no answer at all.

That night when Carmen was laying in her bed she called Jade's number. "How was your day?" She asked as she snuggled down in her bed with a smile as Jade Harris explained all of the days trials and tribulations of incompetent delivery drivers and teenage girls wanting to try on every single item in her shop.

Carmen was missing her friend Jade so much.

Showcase / Chapter 5

« Last post by chilly658 on March 21, 2012, 03:23:13 pm »

5 Albion Road, Hounslow, London
Saturday 22nd January 2011

The time was six minutes past three on a wet morning but at least it had finally stopped raining in London for the time being and the house which had been boarded up in Albion road in Hounslow for over a year was in total darkness.

The original owner of the property had died some time back and as far as anybody knew had no living relatives which meant that the property remained unoccupied until the squatters had moved in some four months ago and it was they who lived temporarily in it now until such time as an eviction order could be processed and they could be forcibly removed which was scheduled for three weeks and one day from now, an eviction order which would never be carried out.

The Silver transit van rolled into the drive silently as the driver had turned off his engine and allowed it to slide into the drive with complete stealth and out of the passenger side stepped out a tall figure dressed completely in black with a black balaclava with just two holes for his eyes to see.

His name was Manuel Bonitez from Spain and he was the leader of this team of four, two of whom stepped out of the double doors at the back of the silver transit dressed identically to him, the fourth, the driver remained inside the vehicle at his wheel in case a quick departure was required.

Manuel and his two colleagues very quietly made their way to the green front door where he used a key to open it effortlessly and then pointed so that one of his colleagues could produce a small pair of bolt croppers to cut the two security chains inside which the squatters had installed themselves and then the two chains quietly fell.

Manuel pushed the door open and quickly surveyed the area of the hall inside before indicating with his left hand for the other two to proceed inside which of course they did immediately upon his signal as the front door quietly 'creaked' as he held it open and he thought to himself how noise was so accentuated and enhanced in the dead of night as he shook his head to himself.

Once inside with the front door ajar he pointed to a room on the left. "Dos en el primero hay." He whispered to the other two in his native Spanish tongue. "Two in here first." As they all stepped up very silently to the door where he had indicated.

Manuel Bonitez pushed down on the brass handle and very quietly the dirty white wooden panelled door swung open to reveal a man and a woman asleep on a double sized mattress on the floor which was surrounded by food cans, clothing and other waste which was yet to be discarded and he then motioned his two former Spanish Army colleagues inside.

One of his colleagues made his way to the left of the mattress where the woman was facing away from the man next to her while his other colleague, the taller one made his way to the right to where the man was facing his girlfriend's back and both were unconsciously oblivious to the fact that they were no longer alone.

Manuel produced one paper mask which he then doused with chloroform and then handed to his friend on the left before pulling out the second white mask from his pocket which he also doused and handed to the tall man on the right.

They both watched him in the darkened room as he looked down at the unwitting sleeping squatters. "Ohara." He whispered in Spanish. "Now."

Both men knelt down simultaneously, the one on the left gently pushed the paper mask in his hand toward the sleeping woman's face without actually touching it whilst covering his own so that the rising vapours didn't have any effect on him, allowing her lungs to fill with chloroform and hopefully she wouldn't even rouse from her slumber.

The tall Spaniard did the same to the man while kneeling very carefully on the mattress behind him before he was able to slip the two white elastic bands attached to the mask around the sleeping man's head and he knew nothing ever of what had just happened to him.

Suddenly however on the other side of the mattress the woman's eyes opened as her lungs filled and stared into the Spaniards eyes.

Quickly and without even thinking about it he strapped the mask to her face and she gave out a muffled plea as he pulled back the duvet, took her wrists in both of his hands and crossed them, and held them onto her own chest as she stared up at him, her eyes bulging as the chloroform finally took effect.

Manuel looked at his watch and knew that since they had arrived up to this point had taken them seven minutes and he pointed his finger. "Upstars." He whispered. "Upstairs."

they soon reached the landing of the upper floor while Manuel doused three more masks this time and handed one to each of his colleagues. "Coaccion de la nariz." He told the shorter colleague. "Cover your nose." So that he didn't accidentally render himself unconscious too.

The other two entered a room while Manuel took on one by himself this time, a young man who was fast asleep facing away from him. "Perfecto."

Manuel moved closer and knelt down beside the mattress and held the white paper mask next to the man's face and allowed him to breath in until he slipped the white elastic over his head, attaching the mask to his face, this one never regained consciousness thanks to Manuel Bonitez and his ruthless efficiency.

The other two came out of the other room where they had subdued two more women and Manuel pointed to the next room. "Una mujer que." He told them "One woman there." And pointed to himself indicating that he would deal with her.

He then pointed to the room at the end of the the long hallway. "Hombre y la mujer no." He whispered to them. "Man and woman there." And with a finger indicated that they would be dealing with them, so they entered that room.

They waited while he doused two more masks for them to take with them and then they headed into the end room and Manuel waited this time for them to re-emerge some five minutes later before he stepped inside the last room where a single woman slept soundly and was facing him.

Manuel was confident as always and his arrogance allowed him to open the door and walk straight over to her where he quite nonchalantly placed the mask directly over her face and of course she immediately woke up.

His brown Spanish eyes stared down into her eyes as she muffled pleas and tried to scream to her friends for help but of course none would be coming and Manuel knew that, they had already been dealt with of course.

As her focus drifted with her state of consciousness he smiled down at her as she tried one last time to free the mask from her face as her eyes became heavier and heavier. "Shh." He told her with a smile and her eyes finally closed, allowing him to wrap the white elastic around her head.

They immediately began to carry their unconscious victims out of the house where they were loaded into the van one at a time while the driver stood watch and as his two colleagues laid the last man inside and climbed in behind him, Manuel looked at his wrist watch, the time was 3:39am and he knew they needed to improve on their times, that took thirty three minutes.

But at ?2000 a head, they had just earned ?16,000 which in his eyes was a good night's work.

The van pulled away and headed out of Albion road where it turned left onto Hibernia road and headed to the A314 Hanworth road where it could now travel the back roads east toward London's docklands area where they would offload their cargo.

It had gone completely unnoticed for months by the police because as far as the other residents of Albion road were aware was that finally the squatters had moved on and had probably gained entry into somebody else's property.

A neighbour next to the house had told his friend. ?Good riddance to them.? But unbeknown to him and everybody else, they had all been sold into slavery.

It would take the authorities weeks, even months to realise that they were not just taking the roaming homeless from the streets, Indigo concentrate their efforts on anybody who would not attract immediate attention.