Nick has abducted Lisa after he hides in the back of her car before she sets off on her journey back to Scotland. Unbeknown to Nick, Lisa had just put Alan’s memorised mobile number into her phone before she founds out Nick is in the back of the car. As he climbs into the front seat beside her, Lisa presses the call button. Alan receives her call just as he’s about to leave Chelmsford police station. Nick has told Lisa that he will find and kill Alan if she doesn’t do exactly what he tells her to do, so feels that she has no choice but to follow his instructions.
 
 
     Alan put his mobile onto speaker phone the minute he realised what was happening. Within seconds Eve and Dave were also listening to the bizarre conversation between Lisa and Nick in her car.
 
     Alan could hear the sheer terror in Lisa's voice, and the madness in Nick’s. When he heard her weeping and admitting to how much she loved him, he wanted to grab the phone and scream back that he loved her too. But Eve grabbed his phone and held it well out of his reach.
 
     Within seconds, Eve had instructed one of her colleagues to put out an APB on Lisa's car, the details of which were fortunately on file due to their investigation on Nick. A bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle wasn’t an easy thing to miss, and with a bit of luck it wouldn’t be long before she would be tailed by at least one unmarked car.
 
     At one point, Alan jumped out of his chair and begged Eve to do more, but there was nothing else she or any of her colleagues could do until they were found. A road block or an active chase was deemed out of the question due to their knowledge of Nick’s past history. Nobody doubted what he was capable of, especially if he was put under pressure.
 
     They were forced to sit and listen to the macabre conversation as Lisa drove her car further north. For the first time since he’d waited at the hospital for Lisa to come round after the accident, Alan prayed a silent prayer...
 
                                                                             ..........................
 
 
 
 
 
     After a few moments, Nick held up the gun and told Lisa to start the car again. She dried her eyes and slowly drove to the top of the slip road, his right hand still cradling the nape of her neck, his left holding the gun on his lap. His threat to try and kill Alan again being her only motivation to do as he asked.
 
     “I want you to turn left here,” he told her after studying the signposts. As she indicated and turned into the road, Lisa felt Nick staring at her again.
 
     “You don't think I really want to kill you, do you, Lisa?” He asked.” His fingers had moved from her neck and distractedly played with a strand of her hair while he talked. His very touch made Lisa's skin crawl, but she knew she couldn't say anything. She was surprised he hadn’t killed her already.
 
     “I don't know, Nick. I don't know what you want...” She replied as calmly as she could. She knew she mustn’t upset him again, or God knows what he would do.
 
     “I want you to understand, Lisa. You and I are destined to be together, one way or the other…”
 
    Lisa took her eyes off the road for a moment and stared at him, unable to believe he could think that it was possible, especially after everything that had happened. She shook her head and turned her eyes back to the road.
 
     “Even if I don't love you?” She asked, fighting back the tears.
 
Nick laughed bitterly.
 
     “Well, you managed to pretend successfully before, Lisa. Who's to say that you can't do it again? You certainly had me fooled.”
 
     “I didn't know about Alan's accident then, Nick. I thought he didn't love me.”
 
Nick stopped playing with her hair for a moment, and looked at her intently.
 
     “And what makes you think he loves you now?”
 
Lisa looked back at him, a sad smile on her face.
 
     “I don't…”
 
Nick seemed encouraged by her answer.
 
     “So what's different, Lisa? If you could forget what happened, then so can I. We could start again…”
 
     Lisa nearly told him that she would never pick him over Alan, but thought better of it., A voice inside her screamed out her revulsion at what Nick was suggesting, but she believed that, if he thought Alan wasn't a threat, he might not want to harm him. All she had to do was live long enough to warn him.
 
     “Where are you taking me, Nick?' she asked, praying that Alan was listening.
 
Nick looked pleased with himself and smiled back at her.
 
     “I've rented us a little love nest in the woods, Lisa. I thought it would give us a chance to get to know each other again without other people interfering.”
 
As they came towards a turn off after a bend, Nick suddenly told her to turn left. The unmarked car that was following them rounded the bend fifty metres behind them - then carried straight on.
 
      After what seemed like an eternity, Nick told her to turn into a country lane signposted to Short Grove, which was three miles away.  Alan and the other officers listened in horror as the line started to break up and eventually, having broken on and off for a few seconds, it went dead. A few seconds later, the officers in the unmarked cars radioed in to advise that the car had disappeared. They were going to have to retrace their steps.
     
     Lisa drove her car down the long dirt track that led to the wooden chalet at the bottom, unaware of whether she had been connected to Alan's phone, or not. When she stopped the car, there was an eerie silence before Nick got out of the passenger seat and walked round towards her door before opening it.
 
     “Don't think of trying to run off, Lisa,” he warned as he held up the gun. “I don't want to use this, but I will, if I have to. I have nothing to lose, remember? The sound of gun shots won’t alert anyone here. This woodland is a favourite spot for hunting, so people hear shots all the time.”
 
      Lisa nodded her head while she tried to feel under her seat for her phone, but Nick reached down, having seen it by her feet where it had ended up when she’d stopped the car. After he picked it up, Lisa held her breath as he studied the screen.
 
     “You'll need this later to tell your parents that you've stopped off to stay with a friend for a few days. I'll look after it till then.” he added smugly, putting the phone in his pocket. He then took Lisa's arm before he frog marched her into the chalet and locked the door behind them.
 
    
 
 
 
 
     Alan's face was contorted with anger and his hands gripped the table in front of him until his knuckles turned white. Now nobody knew where Lisa was; only that she was in danger.
 
     “What the hell are you going to do?' he shouted at Eve across the room. The other officers all looked back at him compassionately as Eve tried to calm him down.
 
     “We're bound to find them soon, Alan. Our guys know the approximate location, and they're checking every side road as we speak.”
 
Alan started shaking his head, the frustration showing in his voice.
 
     “And in the meantime, we just sit here while that bastard is doing God knows what to Lisa? Don’t you understand? He'll probably try and kill her again...”
 
     Eve grabbed her cap from the table and went up to Alan and put her hand reassuringly on his shoulder.
 
     “No, Alan, we can't do anymore here, but I think you should be there for Lisa when we find her. Oh, and don’t forget your phone,” she added, as she made for the door.
 
     Alan followed Eve out to the back of the station where Dave had already organised a waiting squad car.
 
     As they drove towards Saffron Waldron, the siren screaming most of the way, Alan sat in the back seat, staring down at his phone. For the first time since it had rung over an hour before, he realised that he had never questioned the fact that Lisa had rung him in the first place. He knew it was probably only because his name started with the letter A, so the easiest number to find, but now that he’d heard what she’d said, he knew that wasn't the only reason she had chosen to call him.
 
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     Lisa stared around the chalet, desperately looking for a way out, apart from the locked front door. Nick must have been there before because not only was there wine in the fridge, which he was now opening, but the black silk night-dress and the taffeta robe which he had bought her in London were laid out on the double bed in the corner. It was just as Nick had said, a love nest in the woods. Lisa accepted the fact he had no intention of letting her go until he had what he wanted.
 
He smiled as he walked over to her, a glass in each hand.
 
     “Here, have a drink. It'll help you relax,” he suggested as though they were out a date.
 
     Lisa took the glass and raised it to her lips, her hand shaking so much that the pale golden liquid cascaded over the sides of the overfilled glass.
 
     “Not yet!” he shouted, as she started to drink. Lisa jumped, nearly spilling what was left.
 
     “We have to have a toast first,” he insisted, as though they had something to celebrate.
 
Nick came over to her and chinked his glass against hers.
 
     “To us,” he announced triumphantly, before downing the contents.
 
Lisa stared at him in disbelief and, unable to contain herself any longer, threw what was left in her glass in his face.
 
    “There is no us, Nick!” She cried.
 
His smile dropped, and wiping the wine from his face with his sleeve, he took the gun from his pocket and viciously pushed it up to the side of her face.
 
     “Oh that’s where you're wrong, Lisa. I have enough provisions here to last out for months. You won't be going anywhere until there is an 'us'.”
 
     “But I don't love you!” she shouted back at him.
 
Nick's face hardened for a moment before he dropped the gun to his side.
 
     “That doesn't matter, Lisa. You'll learn to love me again, especially when you're expecting my child.”
 
     Lisa felt the tears welling in her eyes thinking that nobody knew where she was. If her phone had been connected to Alan's, Nick would have noticed…
 
     “Please don't do this to me, Nick. Let me go.” she begged.
 
Nick ignored her and walked over to the bed where he picked up the silk night-dress and the robe before handing them to her.
 
     “Why don't you slip into something more comfortable, Lisa? You'll look much better in these.” he suggested.
 
He then inclined his head over to the only internal door in the chalet.
 
     “There's a bathroom over there where you can put them on. That is, if you're feeling modest for a change,” he added sarcastically.
 
Lisa stared at the door and then down at the clothes in her hand, praying that there might be a window in the bathroom to escape from.
 
     As she walked across the room, she felt as though her legs were going to give way beneath her. Before she reached the door, Nick came up to her and, taking her chin in his free hand, stared intently into her eyes.
 
     “Don't take too long, Lisa...”
 
     Once inside the door, Lisa searched for a lock, only to find it had been removed. The only window was a sky light seven feet above, and there was nothing to stand on to get at it. She was trapped.
 
     In the same way as Nick had laid out her things in the main room, the make-up and toiletries from her room in the Isle of Man were placed neatly on all the shelves. Nick must have been so sure he would get off in court the day before. He had planned her abduction right down to the very last detail.
 
     Lisa slid down to her knees, her back against the door…