Filled with despondency, I leave with Fen and as soon as we’re out of the door, she takes my arm to stop me. ‘Jaxon assaulted you? Oh, Molly, are you okay?’
I nod. ‘He pushed me and I fell down. That’s all, really.’
She shakes her head. ‘What a bastard.’
‘It’s Madison I’m worried about now. She could be anywhere.’
‘Oh God, why didn’t she at least tell someone where she was meeting this thug, then we could find her!’
‘Molly?’
We stop and look up. Bobbie is leaning over the rail.
‘Flat 4, Twenty-Seven East View.’
*****
The flat we’re after turns out to be in an old, converted house in a row of other shabby, converted houses behind the railway station.
As we turn into the street, I immediately spot Jaxon’s car parked on our side of the road.
‘There’s Madison’s car.’ Fen points over the road, and I gaze up at the grimy-looking windows of number twenty-seven, my heart sinking.
‘Come on.’ Fen slips off her belt. ‘Let’s do this.’
‘Okay.’
‘What do you think she’s up to?’
‘Maybe she’s just checking him out. Seeing if he’ll offer her the same dodgy deal as he offered me, then she can have him nicked?’
‘Let’s hope so,’ Fen murmurs as we let ourselves into the main door, which has been left slightly ajar.
I know what Fen’s thinking. Madison can be quite hot-headed and rash if she’s annoyed about something. I’m crossing my fingers she’s being relatively sensible today.
We arrive at the door of flat four, peer through the bevelled glass, and exchange a nervous glance.
Fen bends to the letterbox and opens it to look through, and it lets out a horrible squeak that echoes throughout the stairwell. She grimaces. ‘Do you think they’re actually in there?’
‘They must be. This is the address Bobbie gave us. Shall I ring the bell?’
Fen nods, so I do, and we wait.
‘Someone’s coming!’ I hiss, seeing a shape loom towards us.
‘Geez Louise, what do we say?’
The door opens and to my relief, Madison is standing there. She looks surprised to see us but otherwise okay.
‘Where’s Jaxon?’ I mouth.
She points behind her with a triumphant little smile. ‘Lying down.’
‘What are you doing?’ whispers Fen.
‘I’m making sure justice is served,’ she announces in a loud voice. ‘And I don’t know why you’re whispering. Jaxon’s not bothered what you say.’ She turns and calls cheerfully, ‘Are you, Mr Savidge?’
A strangled noise, like an angry moose caught in a barbed wire fence, emerges from what is presumably the bedroom.
Madison leans closer. ‘Bless him, he’s a bit – erm - tied up at the moment. But I’m sure he’ll want to see you, Molly. Come in, come in.’
She ushers us in, and after exchanging a worried glance with Fen, we step over the threshold.
The flat is horrible - cold and bleak, with paper peeling off the walls and an acrid smell of damp. When Madison pushes the bedroom door open, my chin practically hits the floor.
‘Holy Mongolian clusterfuck,’ murmurs Fen. ‘What the hell?’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Jaxon is naked, apart from a sparkly red thong. His wrists have been padlocked to the headboard and a pair of ankle-cuffs seem to have manacled his feet together.
The strangled moose sounds get louder when he sees us, accompanied by lots of energetic but futile movements, similar to a bucking bronco.
‘Get these fucking things off me, or I swear I’ll batter you into next week!’ he rages.
Fen, not taking her eyes off Jaxon, grabs my hand.
Similarly entranced, I stand there momentarily wordless.
‘Oh, now, now, Mr Savidge. That’s not a very nice thing to say.’ Madison glares at him from the end of the bed. ‘Especially in the presence of your favourite tenant.’
‘How did you get him to put the joke thong on?’ I ask in wonder.
‘I didn’t. He was already wearing it, would you believe?’
‘Ugh!’ Fen shudders.
The figure on the bed, his face red as a beetroot, jerks his arms violently and the bed frame rattles.
‘What if he phones the police?’ murmurs Fen in between Jaxon’s howls of incandescent rage.
I nod. ‘I mean, fair play and everything, Madison. I really appreciate your support. But you don’t want to land yourself in trouble.’
‘Oh, he won’t go to the police. It’s obvious he’s a crook. He won’t want them getting wind of his dodgy dealings. I just wanted to give him a taste of what life is like for his tenants. Cold and damp, in conditions you wouldn’t want your dog living in.’
‘When I get out of here, you’re fucking toast,’ he growls. ‘Every one of you.’
His glare focuses on me, and in spite of the handcuffs keeping him firmly in place, a shudder runs through me. I can’t decide whether I find this really funny or quite scary. But I can’t deny I’m feeling a great deal of satisfaction seeing my tormentor squirming about on the bed in his red sparkly undies.
‘Right, now for the piece de resistance!’ says Madison calmly, and I glance at Fen in alarm.
Oh, God, what now?
‘Guard the monster, girls. Molly, I’ll be Face-Timing you in just a minute!’ And she whisks out.
All the fight seems to have gone out of Jaxon now. He’s just lying there, staring up at the ceiling, probably wondering what other humiliation is about to land on him.
I nudge Fen. ‘He’s not having a good day.’
‘You think?’
My phone goes a minute later. It’s Madison on Face-Time.
‘Hiya, girls! Molly, can you let Mr Savidge look at your phone? We don’t want him feeling left out, do we?’
I grimace at Fen, but she’s grinning.
‘Do it!’
Obligingly, I shuffle nearer and hold out my phone so we can all see the screen. Jaxon is straining to look now, the veins bulging in his neck, his face puffy and sweaty.
Madison, walking along the street, stops and produces her car key, waving it about for our benefit. And behind her is Jaxon’s monster of a car.
With a look of relish, she takes the key and starts scraping all along the side of it, as Fen and I watch in fascinated horror. At this point, the air turns every possible shade of blue, as Jaxon’s anger reaches apoplectic proportions.
‘Shit!’ breathes Fen when the call ends.
I nod. ‘Shit times two.’
Madison pops her head round the door, to a torrent of abuse from Jaxon, calling her all the names under the sun for daring to scratch his beloved motor. To her credit, she simply ignores him and says cheerfully, ‘Coming, girls?’
‘We can’t just leave him here.’ Fen looks doubtful. ‘Can we?’
Madison turns to me. ‘What do you think, Molly?’
I grin. ‘Well, Eva and I put up with living in one of his dumps for a good few months. With the delightful addition of sexual harassment and abuse. One night should be a breeze!’