Chapter 21
Penny
Penny dried her hands in the women’s toilets, the station’s seemingly endless Tannoy announcements rendered foggy and indistinct by the door. They’d said their farewells—and their thank yous—to Laila and Dex, and she couldn’t have been more grateful for their help.
She assessed her reflection in the mirror, catching sight of the little polar bear hanging from her belt loop.
She hadn’t really wanted the enormous polar bear toy anyway. It would have been a logistical nightmare to lug around all day—and it would have made her stand out like a sore thumb.
Today had been terrifying. She’d become accustomed to the safety of Roman’s flat. Leaving it to meet with Laila and Dex was one thing, but turning on the phone knowing it was tracked was quite another.
The miniature polar bear plushie, though? The sight alone made her want to throw her arms around Rhys’s neck and never let go.
He wanted a future with her. A future.
Penny was still stunned by it. She’d known him long enough to know he never lacked for bedtime company, jumping from one partner to another. That had never changed in the eight years since they’d met.
And she, by comparison, had been passed over by her own father. It wasn’t something she shied away from, but she’d be lying if she hadn’t wondered what would happen after her troubles with Chomsky were over. Would he lose interest, like with all the rest?
No, he wanted a future with her.
In the mirror, Penny watched a radiant grin bloom across her face.
Rhys had told her to think about it, but in her heart she knew what she wanted.
Him.
Penny exited the toilets. A crowded train had clearly just pulled into the station because a mass of people flowed past, their collective voices merging into a wall of sound.
She stayed against the wall to avoid being carried away in the throng, her attention glued to the door to the men’s toilets. She’d expected Rhys to be out first, seeing as all he wanted to do was flush her work phone down one of the toilets.
“Penny Isaac?”
Penny’s heart jumped in her throat at the sight of a police officer walking towards her, her black police hat beneath her arm. How does she know my name? “Yes?” Penny croaked, wondering—like she always did at the sight of the police—if she’d committed a crime without realising.
The officer’s eyes travelled over the crowd before returning to Penny. “Are you all right?” the officer asked, schooling her features into a kindly expression.
It was the last question she’d expected. “Y-yes.” The word came out as a panicked stutter.
The officer nodded, but her attention kept returning to their surroundings. “I don’t want to alarm you, but we’ve received intelligence of a possible threat towards you. Your friend—Mr Stone—is waiting for you in our office.” She gestured towards a door a few feet down from the women’s toilets.
Penny’s feet moved, relief rushing through her. Rhys must have told them her name. “Is he okay?”
“He is, but we’ve been dealing with a small situation.” The officer scanned her access card through the slot, which emitted a tiny beep as they were granted access. She swung the door open, gesturing for Penny to enter first.
The room was empty. Two desks ran almost the entire length of the office, leaving only a narrow walkway between them.
Computers and filing trays littered the desktops.
It was easy to see that each workstation belonged to a different member of staff; some were immaculate, the folders neatly organised with colour-coded tabs, whilst others were a mess of papers, fizzy drink bottles, and cables.
“He’s in our waiting room,” the officer said, just as Penny heard the door shut behind them. “It’s the door at the end.”
The door labelled fire exit.
Penny swallowed, her steps slowing. She glanced back at the officer with a feigned smile. “Do you mind if we, we keep that door open?” she asked, nodding at the door they’d just come through. She’d always had a healthy respect for authority figures—it had served her well in school.
But right now, she was realising that respect might have clouded her judgement and caused her to make an utterly fucking stupid decision.
The officer brushed past her without an answer, her hand resting on the long bar across the door. There was a hint of remorse in those eyes, but it was almost eclipsed by determination.
To Penny’s horror, the officer pushed the bar down, opening the door to reveal Bielak stood there.
Entire swathes of his skin were covered in dark scabs, peeling in sections to reveal the raw pink below.
Hatred gleamed in his eyes as he advanced, striking fear in her very soul.
She ran back to the door to the station, wrenching on the handle with all her strength.
Penny yelped as Bielak’s iron grasp tangled in her hair, dragging her backwards against her will.
Her hands automatically went to his wrist, trying to minimise the pain in her scalp, even as she screamed bloody murder in the hope someone would come.
She kicked out wildly, sending computer equipment and neatly stacked folders flying.
She aimed a solid kick at the police officer, but the woman jumped back in the nick of time—much to Penny’s irritation.
Just before Bielak dragged her through the doorway, she noticed a fire alarm secured to the wall. In a last act of desperation, Penny reached out a clumsy hand to break the glass.
The effect was immediate. A deafening alarm howled through the room—and the station beyond.
It didn’t matter. It was nothing but the futile action of a woman cornered.
She screamed for help as she found herself in what looked like an outdoor loading area for the businesses backing onto it, enclosed on three sides by tall brick walls. She caught sight of a police car in her peripheral vision.
Penny cried out in pain as she was thrown backwards into the boot of a dark grey car, striking her head and elbow on the surrounding metalwork.
She kicked out at Bielak, but he quickly subdued her, pinning her down as he searched her pockets.
Her phone clattered to the ground, followed by the little USB stick Laila had given her.
The moment Bielak’s weight left her, Penny went to kick out again, but he got there first.
Bielak pulled her up by her collar with one hand, holding her in place as he drove his fist into her face so hard her vision whited out. Her ears rang as he dropped her into the boot like a wet rag, stunned and half-blind with pain.
“That’s for throwing hot coffee in my face, you fucking cunt.” Bielak’s voice came—before he slammed the boot lid down above her, replacing the sky with terrifying darkness.
The lid had squashed her into an awkward position, one knee pressed up against her stomach. The punch had left her reeling, but awareness was returning to her as the seconds passed. Penny’s lips trembled, pressing a hand against the lid.
No, no, no, no, no.
The rumble of the engine sounded just as tears began to burn her eyes. She tried to shift her bent leg, but agony laced through her elbow as she moved. Was it broken? It certainly fucking felt like it.
It was all too much. The blinding pain muddying her thoughts, her elbow screaming in protest, the inescapable darkness, the warm liquid seeping from her nose and travelling across her face.
Penny began to hyperventilate, but even that hurt.
She grasped the little polar bear keyring on her belt loop, thinking of Rhys, of being safe in his arms under the aurora lights, listening to the steady sound of his breathing as she drifted off to sleep.