Part 44

    Danielle found that she enjoyed school quite a bit over the next couple of months, but she loved going to school with Lianna more than anything. The more time they spent together the more in love they both felt. Danielle felt weird when a couple of the male student body asked her out on dates, but she just smiled and said she wasn’t interested in dating while she was at school as she was trying to get her grades up so she could get into a good college.

    Lianna just wanted to tell them to go take a long run off a short pier, but she knew that would confirm the fact that she and Danielle were an item and very much in love, and for the most part they were trying to keep that a secret. The ones that did know never said anything about it, as they were all close friends and didn’t want to see Danielle or Lianna getting hurt if the truth came out.

    Danielle, Lianna and Lauren were just making their way from one class to another when a man stepped out into their path. At first he looked like a school maintenance man, but Lianna looked down and saw that he was wearing designer label shoes and not the standard work boots the other maintenance men whore.

     “Danielle isn’t it?” The man asked looking smug. “I was wondering if we could go someplace a little more private so we could have a chat...?” He asked as he reached out to take hold of Danielle’s arm as he looked around like he was making sure no other adults were around.

    Before he had a chance to touch Danielle, he found himself being spun around and dropped to the floor by Lianna grabbing his hand and twisting it around until he had no choice but to drop down to his knees or risk Lianna breaking his wrist.

     “I don’t want to hurt her, kid.” The man screamed out in pain as Lianna twisted the man’s arms even more as he tried to make her let go. He soon realised that he was not going to get loose by trying to fight. He soon had other things to worry about when he saw Lauren come into view with something in her hands just before she did something and he was blinded by a spray of something hitting his eyes that stung like nothing he’d ever felt before.

     “Push your panic button Danielle!” Lianna shouted. Lianna was still holding the man as he tried to roll around on the floor in pain screaming about being blind as he tried to rub the spray out of his eyes with his other hand.

    Lauren was stood over the man following his every move with her can of pepper spray pointed at his head ready to give him another dose so she couldn’t get her panic button out and push it.

    Danielle reached into her blouse and pulled out a small black box on the end of a chain and pushed the small red button on it and then winced as it started making a high pitched screeching sound that had the hallway filling up with teachers in seconds.

    Miss Wren was one of the first teachers to get to them with Mr Moore just behind her. “What’s going on?” She asked as she pulled out a little key card and placed it on the panic alarm Danielle had pressed and it stopped making the noise.

     “This man is pretending to be a maintenance man, but look at his shoes.” Lianna started to explain as she let Mr Moore take over holding the man down, not that he was much of a flight risk due to him not being able to see through his swollen eyes. “He knew Danielle by name and wanted her to go with him for some reason.” Lianna added as she went over and pulled a shaking Danielle into her arms. Lauren joined them and they all just hugged each other as the fear of what might have happened got to them.

     “You better call the police so they can come and sort this out Miss Wren.” Mr Moore the head sports teacher said as he pulled the man to his feet and then twisted his arm up behind his back to let him know he wasn’t going to put up with any trouble from him.

     “I wasn’t going to hurt her.” The man said as he blindly looked around while he tried to blink out the pepper spray, but his eyes were too badly swollen for that to work. “I’m a reporter, and I was just following a lead on a story.” He tried to explain.

     “Well we’ll let the police decide if that’s the truth or not, but either way you’ll be looking at prison time.” Miss Wren said as she started walking towards the headmaster’s office with Danielle, Lianna and Lauren, while Mr Moore dragged the man along just in front of them.

     “Police...? Prison...? But I didn’t do anything.” The man said as he tried even harder to break free from Mr Moore.

     “You broke into school grounds and then tried to abduct a child to do god knows what with her while pretending to be a maintenance man.” Mr Moore growled as he bent the man’s arm up behind his back even more to make his point sink in that fighting would only hurt him even more. “I almost wish you would try to get away, just so I have a reason to give you a beating you pervert.” Mr Moore growled as he gave the man’s arm another good shove up his back and getting another scream of pain from him.

     “I swear I just wanted to talk to her.” The man said in a pained sounding voice.

     “You should have done your research a little better then.” Miss Wren said sounding a little too smug with herself. “Danielle’s father will not be going easy on you when he finds out, and he will order the police to prosecute you to the full extent of the law, and I for one hope they lock you up and throw away the key.”

     “We will also want to know how you managed to find your way onto school grounds and where you got that uniform from.” Mr Moore said as he twisted the man’s arm up his back a little more.

     “That was very well done you three, but you should have pushed your panic button first and then found a safe place to wait for a member of staff.” Miss Wren scolded the three of them lightly.

     “I’m sorry, but we didn’t have time Miss Wren.” Lauren said. “He just jumped out at us and then went to grab Danielle as he said he wanted to take her some place where they could talk in private. Lianna grabbed his arm and stopped him touching Danielle, and I sprayed him in the face with my pepper spray, while Danielle pushed her panic button.” Lauren explained.

     “I don’t know what Danielle’s father will say when we call him with this.” Miss Wren said sounding flustered. “I’m sorry this happened, and we will find out how he got onto school grounds and stop anyone else from doing the same.” Miss Wren promised.

    They got to the Headmaster’s office and he was already aware of the breach and the police had been called and he was just making the call to Carl, as Mr Moore pushed the man claiming to be a reporter into the office and then down into a seat where he then stood over the man who was still having trouble seeing.

     “Hello, this is Mr Stanman from the Belmont private school. I need to speak with Mr Wayne right away please.” Mr Stanman said into the phone and then listened to what the person said on the other end before he placed his hand over the receiver and looked at Danielle, Lianna and Lauren. “Are you three alright? He didn’t do anything to any of you?” He asked nervously.

     “No, other than scare us all.” Danielle said for the three of them as they were all huddled together again on a sofa Mr Stanman had in his office.

    Mr Stanman was just about to say more when he heard a voice on the other end of the phone, so he took his hand off the receiver and started speaking.

*****

    Carl was just reading through some reports in his office when his intercom buzzed to let him know that his assistant wanted him for something.

     “Yes, what is it Rachel?” Carl asked after pushing the talk button.

     “I’m sorry to bother you Carl, but Mr Stanman from the Belmont school is on the phone asking to speak with you.” His assistant explained.

     “Please put him through.” Carl said as he sat up and then picked up the hand set. “Hello Mr Stanman, what’s wrong? Are the children alright?”

     “All the children are fine Mr Wayne, but we do need you to come to the school as we’ve had a little bit of a problem with a man getting onto school grounds and he tried to abduct Danielle.” Mr Stanman started too explained. “Danielle was with Lianna and Lauren, and between them they stopped him from touching her.”

     “How the hell did he manage to get into the school in the first place...?” Carl snapped. “I pay you a lot of money to keep all my children safe, I’m not happy to hear this Mr Stanman.”

     “We’re looking into how he managed to get into the school as we speak, and I’ve already called the police.” Mr Stanman stuttered on the other end of the line.

     “I’m on my way now, so don’t let the police anywhere near my children until I arrive.” Carl ended the call and rose to his feet before Mr Stanman could say another word.

    Carl knew he’d need to call in at the shop and pick up Mandy and Chrissy so they could go with him to the school and make sure the kids were okay for themselves. He told his assistant, Rachel to cancel all his meeting for the rest of the day as he would be out of the office.

*****

     Chrissy and Amy were busy getting the orders packed up ready to go out in the post, and Mandy was serving a customer when she saw Carl enter the shop with his ‘we’ve got trouble’ face. Mandy finished with the customer and then she walked down to the front door and locked it before she turned the sign to say closed and she turned to face Carl and find out what was wrong.

     “What’s wrong?” Mandy asked as she stepped into his arms and looked into his worried eyes.

     “I’ve had a call from the school.” Carl started to explain. “Some guy got into the place and tried to take Danielle, but Lianna and Lauren stopped him and he’s being held while they wait for the police to arrive.”

     “We better see about getting over there then.” Mandy said as she made her way back to the front of the shop and pushed the button to bring down the steel shutter.

     “What’s wrong sis?” Chrissy asked as she entered the shop from the back room when she heard the shutter coming down.

     “There’s been some trouble at the school involving Danielle, Lianna and Lauren, so we need to get over there.” Mandy said to the back of Chrissy’s head as she had spun around on her heels and was already running back into the back room to close down the computer and let Amy know they had to leave right away.

     “I’ll be coming with you.” Carl informed Mandy as they made their way into the back room. “I got one of the hotel cars to drop me off, so I don’t have to worry about my car being left here, and I’ll get it dropped off back at the house later.” He added as he took Mandy’s keys off her so he could drive her car.

    They soon had the shop locked up and were on their way to the school. Chrissy and Amy asked Carl a bunch of questions, but he knew very little at the minute.

    Miss Wren was stood just outside the main school building when Carl pulled up in Mandy’s car. She walked over to greet them as they got out.

     “What happened? Are the children alright?” Mandy asked before any of the others could say a word.

     “The children are fine, which is more than I can say for the man that tried to take Danielle.” Miss Wren started to explain. “He says he’s just a reporter and he wanted to talk to Danielle about an ongoing police investigation into a child porn ring, but Lianna almost broke his wrist when he went to grab Danielle, and then Lauren sprayed him with pepper spray.” She added with a little smirk.

     “Remind me to up their allowance.” Carl said sounding proud of what Lianna and Lauren had done. “Have the police arrived yet?” Carl asked.

     “Yes, but they came in unmarked cars to try and keep more press from turning up, if the man is from the press in the first place.” Miss Wren frowned.

     “Do you think he might be lying to you about who he is?” Chrissy asked.

     “I just find it hard to believe he would be dumb enough to come onto school grounds without finding out who Danielle is the daughter of and not expect to get caught trying to take her.” Miss Wren explained her trouble with the man’s story.

     “It does seem strange that he would go to so much trouble just to talk with her.” Carl agreed. “But he’d have more trouble trying to get close to her anywhere else.” Carl pointed out.

     “So you think he might be telling the truth then?” Chrissy asked.

     “I’m not sure, but I plan to find out.” Carl said as he picked up the pace so he could make sure the children were alright, and he could get some answers from the man that tried to take his daughter.

    Miss Wren picked up her pace and managed to get in front of Carl and lead him to Mr Stanman’s office where the man was now in handcuffs and Danielle, Lianna and Lauren were still huddled up together on the sofa. They were soon on their feet and running into Carl’s, Mandy’s, Amy’s and Chrissy’s arms when they saw them enter the room.

     “Are you okay sweetie?” Mandy asked with worry in her eyes as she broke the hug with Danielle.

     “I’m fine mummy, but only thanks to Lianna and Lauren.” Danielle said with pride for the two of them as they got hugged by Chrissy and Amy.

     “Well done girls, and thank you for saving my baby.” Mandy smiled at the two of them as she pulled Danielle close again.

     “Is this the man that tried to take my daughter?” Carl asked as he stepped over to where two men were stood either side of a third man in a chair with sore blood shot eyes that were still weeping from the pepper spray Lauren used.

     “Yes it is Mr Wayne.” The man on the left said. “We’ve just done a check on him, and he does work for the press, but it’s a freelance deal. He sells his stories to the one that pays him the most money.” The officer explained in a tone that made him sound less than impressed with the man’s carrier choice.

     “As I’ve tried telling the officers and the headmaster, I wasn’t trying to abduct the child, I just wanted to get an interview with her about the reasons for her name coming up in a police investigation into a group of paedophiles.” The man said in a pleading tone for someone to believe him.

     “If that was the case, then why didn’t you contact me direct and try to arrange an interview with my daughter?” Carl asked still not trusting what the man said.

     “Because I knew you would never agree to it.” The man said in a tone that said Carl was being stupid for asking such a thing in the first place.

     “So you do know who I am then?” Carl asked with anger edging his voice.

     “Yes I know who you are.” The man said using the same tone.

     “Good, then you will also know that I plan to have you arrested for the attempted abduction of my daughter and her two friends, as well as whatever charges the school wish to bring against you.” Carl said as he bent over and looked the man in his swollen red eyes so he could see that Carl meant every word.

     “You’ll never make the charges stick.” The man said looking smug. “So don’t waste your time trying to scare me.” He added with a sick sounding chuckle as he tried to make Carl think he wasn’t scared.

     “Just you wait and see.” Carl said in a cool calm voice as he smiled at the man. “I’ll have a team of private eyes looking into everything you’ve ever done with your life up to the point you tried to lay a hand on my daughter, and then by the time I’ve done taking your life apart, you’ll be lucky to get a job delivering newspapers, never mind finding one to let you write for them.” Carl added in the same calm voice.

     “I’m telling you the truth.” The man said in a more pleading tone without looking smug this time.

     “Truth or not, you still broke the law, and making an example of you will stop any other idiots trying it in the future.” Carl said as he looked at the two officers as if to say ‘you can take him away now’.

     “We’re just waiting for another car to arrive, so they can take him in, and then we need to get statements from the three girls.” The second officer explained.

     “Do you mind if I sit in on the interviews?” Carl asked.

     “No, we were waiting for you to arrive before we started, just in case you wanted your solicitor to sit in on the interview.” The officer asked.

     “They’ve done nothing wrong, so I don’t see the need for them to be here. Unless you know something I don’t?” Carl asked.

     “No, there’s nothing to worry about, but we didn’t want to upset you anymore than you already are.” The officer said with a nervous tone to his voice after seeing what Carl had just done to the reporter. Carl could look and sound very powerful when he wanted to.

    Miss Wren found them a side room they took each girl into so they could tell the officers their version of what happened. The officers had miniature recording devices that they set up to get video and audio of the girls telling their story, so there wouldn’t be any trouble later. Each officer had a device, so they got the evidence they needed from two angles to stop it being dismissed later if the lawyer for the man tried to say it had been tampered with.

    The man had been taken away by the time they got done giving their statements and all the other kids were all sat out in the hallway waiting with Brad, so he could give them all a lift home due to there not being enough room in Mandy’s car for them all.

    Simon and Ian were still at school waiting to make sure they were alright, Brad had spoke with both boys parents and said he’d drop them off on the way home as he had plenty of room on the minibus.

    Lauren ran and jumped into Simon’s arms when she saw him stood out in the hallway. “Are you okay baby?” He asked just before he kissed her.

     “Better know we’re heading home.” Lauren said as she hugged Simon. “It was so scary when he stepped out acting all creepy.” Lauren added with a shudder as she thought about the man again.

     “You’re safe now, and I doubt he’ll be getting out anytime soon either.” Simon smiled as he knew what Carl was like over things like this.

    Chrissy, Mandy and Amy all went with Brad and the children, while Carl stopped behind to have a chat with Mr Stanman. Mandy left Carl with the keys and she gave him a hug before saying she’d see him back at the house later.

     “I’ll see you later daddy.” Danielle said as she ran back to give Carl a hug.

     “Okay sweetie, and don’t let any of this worry you too much, it won’t happen again.” Carl promised as he crouched down and gave her a hug before he watched her run off back to Lianna.

     “I’m sorry this happened Mr Wayne.” Mr Stanman said once they were back in his office.

     “I know you do all you can to keep the children safe, but I think this has pointed out that you have some holes in your security and I’d like to help you plug them up if you’d let me?” Carl asked. “I’ll hire a team to come in and look over the school and then come up with a plan to make it safer for all the children without making it look like a prison.” Carl added when he saw the worry in Mr Stanman’s eyes.

     “I’d do anything to keep the children safe Mr Wayne, but it could be tough trying to get the board of governors to sign off on this new security being implemented.” Mr Stanman warned.

     “That will be the easy part because I’m on the board remember?” Carl smiled. “Even the hard nose members will think it’s a good idea by the time I’ve done explaining what could happen if something like this ever happened again.” Carl smirked.

     “I have no doubts that you will convince them this is what they need to do.” Mr Stanman agreed.

     “I will also be adding some security to Danielle until we have the other things in place.” Carl said as he got up ready to leave.

     “I can understand you doing that, but if they could keep a low profile so as not to disrupt the other students.” Mr Stanman asked politely.

     “I only hire the best people for the job, but I will make sure they keep out the way as much as possible.” Carl agreed as he shook Mr Stanman’s hand before he left to head home and get in touch with his legal team and get them started on tracking down everything there is to know about the reporter that wanted to talk with Danielle.

    Carl was also interested in finding out who it was that leaked Danielle’s name and details to the reporter in the first place. That was one of the reasons for him using such harsh threats on the man, so he might want to leak his source to try and get a lighter sentence. Carl wasn’t happy to think that someone on the police force was willing to sell of a child’s details for money, or to settle a debt.

*****

    The mood on the minibus was quiet to start with, but Chrissy and Amy soon had them all giggling as they sat behind Brad asking him if they were there yet every couple of minutes. Brad kept saying no, but you could tell by the tone of his voice that he was getting tired of answering them.

     “Ask me once more and you two are walking the rest of the way home.” Brad warned them when he stopped at a set of traffic lights.

     “Sorry Uncle Brad.” Chrissy and Amy pouted at the same time as they looked at Brad with puppy dog eyes.

    The whole minibus burst out in a fit of laughter which even Brad was having trouble with trying to keep a straight face. The lights changed and a car horn sounding from behind let Brad know he had to get moving again.

    Chrissy and Amy had invited Simon and Ian over for dinner, so they just headed back to the house instead of dropping the two boys off on the way. Lauren and Clare were both happy that they would get to spend more time with their boyfriends.

    Clare’s mother, Carol joined them for dinner most nights and then took Clare home later in the evening. Carol was Clare’s legal mother now after she’d let Carl help her sort out the paperwork to make it all legal. Not that it made any difference because Clare had been calling Carol mum, mummy and mother for the past several months now anyway, but it was nice to see it in writing. Carol had said when she received the paperwork telling her that Clare was now her daughter.

    Lauren and Lianna found themselves being pulled into a hug by Becky the minute they walked through the front door. Danielle didn’t escape either as Becky grabbed her as well and hugged the three of them all at the same time.

     “The three of you were so brave.” Becky said sounding very emotional.

    The three girls tried to squeak out a thank you, but due to the crushing hug they were in, it just came out as a groan.

     “I think you’re crushing them baby.” Chrissy pointed out as she made Becky let go so they could all take in a breath.

     “Sorry about that.” Becky giggled after letting go, and the three girls all taking in a lung full of air. “He didn’t hurt any of you did he?” Becky asked looking worried again.

     “No mother, he was the one that got hurt.” Lianna smiled as she thought about how good it felt to almost twist the man’s hand off while watching her sister blind him with pepper spray.

     “Good!” Becky snapped looking angry. “Do we know what he was trying to do?” She asked Carl more than anyone else in the group. He had managed to catch up with them on the way home in Mandy’s car, so they all entered the house at the same time.

     “He did have a story, but I’ve already got my team looking into his past to make sure it’s the truth.” Carl started to explain. “Now if none of you mind, I’m going to go into the study and make some calls to see if I can find out how he got Danielle’s name in the first place, as it’s not supposed to be known by anyone outside the police force.” He added with a frown just before he turned and walked away towards the office.

    With all the trouble at school, Chrissy and the other grownups decided to let the kids do their homework later in the evening so they could all go and get changed and have some fun in the pool. They had some extra swimming trunks and costumes, so Simon, Ian and Clare could join in.

     “Do you really think Danielle is doing alright?” Mandy asked Chrissy as they watched them all playing around in the pool with a beach ball.

     “I’m sure she’ll have some nightmares over it, but for the most part she’ll be just fine, and she has Lianna to help her get over it.” Chrissy said with pride for her daughters and what they did.

     “I was never sure about the children being shown how to defend themselves when you and Carl sorted out the lessons for them, but after today, I’m glad you did.” Mandy said as she pulled Chrissy into a hug.

     “They did well today, and by the time Carl’s done making an example of this pervert, I doubt anyone else will want to approach any of the children.” Chrissy smirked at the thought of Carl dragging the reporter over the coals, that’s if he was really a reporter in the first place.

    The children were finally told to get out the pool and to go and get showered off and then get dried and dressed ready for dinner.

    Simon, Clare and Ian all had dinner with them and then they sat and did their homework together after they helped get the dishes and the kitchen cleaned up under the ever watchful eye of Holly.

    Carol took Clare home just after eight, and Carl ran Simon and Ian home just before nine, after Lauren got a couple of minutes to kiss Simon goodbye.

*****

     “I hope what happened at school today, hasn’t put you off wanting to go?” Mandy asked as she tucked Danielle in between Lianna and Lauren.

     “No, I still enjoy going.” Danielle smiled as she let Mandy kiss her on the forehead. “Daddy said he’s got people coming to the school in the morning to talk with Mr Stanman about stopping anything like what happened today ever happening again, and he’s also going to have some security people following us around until the new security at the school is put in place.” Danielle repeated what Carl had said to her and the others earlier in the evening after Simon, Ian and Clare had gone home.

    Chrissy and Becky kissed all three girls good night and then left the bedroom to go down and see what Carl had managed to find out so far. It had only been a matter of hours since the man was arrested, but Carl knew who to call and find things out, and he’d been on the phone most the night talking to different people about what happened.

    Carl was just pouring himself a drink in the living room when Chrissy, Becky and Mandy entered.

     “Do any of you want a drink?” He asked as he held up the bottle of whisky.

     “No thanks, but I would like an update on what you know about this man that got so close to abducting my daughter.” Mandy frowned.

     “I’d like to know how he got onto school grounds in the first place, and then managed to dress up like a maintenance man.” Chrissy asked.

     “He called and booked an appointment for him and his wife to come and look at the school as they were thinking of sending their child there.” Carl started to explain. “A pass was left at the main gate for him to collect on his way in. He then had free run of the school and he found a set of overalls in a cupboard and slipped them on.”

     “Didn’t the person on the main gate think it odd that he would have two passes, but only the husband would turn up?” Mandy asked sounding angry with the poor work the guard did.

     “That’s one of the things that will be corrected as part of the new security measures I’ll be putting in place at the school.” Carl agreed. “I have been able to find out that he is just a reporter looking for a story, and chances are he did just want to speak with Danielle.” Carl added as he took a seat on one of the sofas and then pulled an angry looking Mandy down to sit next to him.

    Once Mandy was sat down and Carl had wrapped his arm around her, she took the whisky glass out of his hand and then took a good sip from it.

     “I didn’t think you wanted one?” Carl asked as he watched Mandy take another sip from his glass.

     “I don’t, but I like sharing yours with you.” She smiled just before she gave him a kiss and then gave him the glass back and rested her head on his shoulder.

     “If he wasn’t trying to abduct Danielle, then where do you stand on charging him with trying to take her?” Becky asked.

     “My legal team say that they could try the case, but chances are Danielle’s name would end up coming out and it could become one big mess, so it looks like he’ll only be charged with trespassing, but I am going to make sure he goes on the sex offenders register to stop him being able to go anywhere near ours or anyone else’s children.” Carl explained.

     “Do you know how he got Danielle’s details in the first place?” Mandy asked.

     “No, not yet, he’s keeping tight lipped about all that, but the police are getting a warrant to go search his house to see if they can turn anything up there.” Car said sounding angry that someone had given the reporter important information about a child that was already part of an investigation into a paedophile ring.

     “I hope you plan to press charges against the person that gave him the information?” Chrissy growled.

     “I won’t say what I’d like to do, but yes they will be taken care of once we find out who they are.” Carl growled this time.

     “How can you be sure that this reporter isn’t part of the ring just trying to cover his own backside and stop Danielle speaking to them, or worse?” Mandy asked looking worried as she lifted her head and looked Carl in the eyes.

     “I can’t princess, but all we can do is keep a close eye on Danielle and the others while we look into the man’s past and see what we turn up.” Carl admitted. “They won’t get near any of them again, not now we’ve been made aware of a problem at the school.” Carl added with a promise in his eyes.

    Mandy and the others were happy with Carl’s word, as he never failed to deliver once he gave it, and they all relaxed and made the most of the peace and quiet before it was time for them to turn in for the night.

 

To Be Continued Next friday  

 

Story by SaraUK

 

Edited and Posted by SamanthaK

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Child and Parent guide:

Parents	Children
Chrissy & Becky	Andrew/Lianna, Lauren (Twins)
Amy & Amber	Jessica
Ann & brad	Jennifer
Sara & Cathy	Peter
Mandy & Carl/Carla	Craig, Danielle (Adopted)
Jayden & Callum	Richard, Nicola (Twins)
Dan & Faith	Penny, Christopher

    EDITORS NOTE: Please Comment and/or leave Kudos and let Sara know you like her work please, Any comments on spelling, grammar or the layout of the story please PM me “Samanthak” not Sara. Thank you