Mark
The call came just after six thirty. Angus was outside, checking that the guns worked properly, or something like that. I picked up the phone and carried it outside, still ringing. Angus appeared like a ghost out of nowhere in seconds. He pressed a button on the phone and said, "Yes, Fergus. What have you got?"
"There are two possibles. The more likely one is about fifty miles from where you are now. There's a privately funded care home for people with some degenerative neurological disorder. The reason I'm a bit suspicious of it is that Marcus tells me that people with this disorder rarely live beyond five years at the most. Some of the people in this place have been there twenty years and up."
"Hmmm."
"Indeed. There were a few unexplained and deeply suspicious deaths in that vicinity in the late 1800's."
"What's the address?"
Fergus read out the name of the place, and the postal code. I knew Angus would be able to punch that into his satnav. Easier than tracking by smell.
"How many residents?"
"Eleven. The staff appear to have evenings off. Strictly nine to five working hours."
"Auxiliary staff?"
"Nothing registered. But cash can still buy you an army."
"Yeah."
"Look after yourself, brother." Click. This family were clearly not big on the whole hello and goodbye thing.
I looked up into Angus' hardening face, and I was suddenly afraid for my friend. He was a good man, whether he chose to believe it or not, and I didn't want him to die tonight.
Rebecca
They dumped me in what looked like an old fashioned dungeon, and slammed the solid wooden door shut. Massive iron bars appeared to have grown out of the stone floor and into the thick beams in the ceiling. My cell was about three feet by five feet, dusty, with a rough wooden bench along the far wall. I stood with my back to the bars as ordered while one of my captors sliced through the cable ties around my wrists and ankles. As soon as they had freed me from my restraints, they stepped away from the bars. I turned to watch them as I massaged my wrists and stretched my arms out. They were leaning against the wall farthest from my cell. Clearly taking no chances. What a shame. I sat down on the bench and leaned my back against the rough stone wall.
"Oscar's been wrong before." The gruff man smiled evilly at me, although he was clearly talking to his colleague.