Chapter 27

“When shall we do this?”
“Now.”
“But, but, I haven't been to Sasha yet. She only arrived last week. I promised I would visit tonight.”
“When we succeed, you can.”
“Alright, alright.” She gathered herself. “Before I change my mind. Where first?”
“Marcus. You said he is the most isolated and he is also the boss. He should have the keys in his room somewhere. That should make the rest easier.”
“How is this going to happen.”
“Best case scenario. You pick his lock, he doesn't wake up. I creep into his room. If I can, I will try and punch him in his carotid sinus, in his neck. It is one of those one punch knockout things. I've never tried it because it is too dangerous, but I know how to do it, in theory, anyway.”
“What if it doesn't work?”
“If it doesn't knock him out, it should disorientate him. I'll climb behind his head and hold him in a head lock. It puts pressure on the carotid sinus and will cause him to faint fairly quickly.”
“Then what?”
“We have a couple of choices. If I held it long enough, he would die, or we can tie him up and gag him. Killing him maybe the best option. If we don't, he could always come after us again.”
“Don't get me wrong. I hate him. I hate him like you wouldn't believe, but I'm not sure I could kill him. And wouldn't that risk you getting in trouble with the law.”
I didn't know quite what to say. Anything that improved our chances of escape seemed a reasonable thing to do. If we all escaped and I kept him from hurting anyone else, the risk of the law going after me seemed minor. Maybe my moral compass needed a bit of direction, cause I had no issues with the idea of it. “How about we incapacitate him and decide later.” In my mind though, I made the decision that I wouldn't hesitate if it was necessary.
“OK. And after that?”
“If we find his keys, you could go back to your room and lock yourself back in. That would be the safest thing for you.”
“No. I will see this through to the end. Even if that just means observing. I can be the distraction if that is needed.”
“You sure?”
“No, but I will do it anyway.”
Abby was really impressing me. I have never believed courage is a lack of fear, more feeling the fear and doing the right thing anyway. First of all creeping around at night, knowing if you get caught, you might be killed, but doing it to help others, then being willing to try helping me tonight. I admit, I was scared too. But I was even more scared of doing nothing. Me taking action, was not showing courage, more desperation and necessity.

“Right then, lead the way. Are there any creaky floorboards or things to avoid.”
“A few. Just follow in my footsteps.” She said carefully opening my door and going out into the dark unknown. I followed her down some stairs, we stayed close to the wall, then along a corridor. The place must be huge, we passed at least 4 rooms before we came to a inconspicuous door.

She got out a little bobby pin and started working the lock. The atmosphere was tense. She wasn't making a lot of noise, but in the quiet of the night, every sound was worryingly loud. I stayed close to the door, trying to listen for any movement behind the door, in case he woke up. It seemed to take forever, but was probably only a couple of minutes, before there was a click. I was expecting Abby to step back and allow me to take over, but she carefully opened the door, staying flat against it to allow me to slid past her into the room.

Lying on a double bed with only a sheet covering him, was a father Christmas look alike. Marcus was probably in his late 50's or early 60's with mostly grey hair going towards silver and full beard completely white. Bit of a pot belly, lying on his side, snoring relatively quietly. Maybe all of us look pretty innocent when sleeping. I would never have guessed evil was in front of me, if I didn't know any better. Nathan and his goons didn't look evil either. There was something in Nathan's eyes though. Marcus had his eyes closed, so I had to harden my heart and trust my knowledge. I couldn't just kill him though. I had never met the man before and let's face it, besides what Abby had told me, the circumstantial evidence against him was strong. I had been kidnapped, woken up naked in a locked room. I needed to question him before I could make a final judgement and that couldn't happen until after I had subdued him and anyone else who could prevent me from leaving.