Poster Boy, page 31
And the perpetrator of that lie was still running the country.
Greg was right. He had to pay. Not just for the past, but to protect the future. I understood it now, the passion and hatred in his voice. I understood why Teresa had squashed my naïve, petulant hissy fit when we first met. This was bigger than us. It was bigger than Jimmy. It was bigger than everything.
I rushed up the steps and banged hard on the door.
“Teresa! Teresa! I believe you!”
But it was Greg that opened it. He held me tight as the waves of fury and pain rocked through me. I sobbed into his chest. He smoothed my hair. Eventually I looked up.
“I want him dead,” I whispered fiercely. Greg just nodded.
“We all do Rosa, we all do,” he said softly.
“And I want to help.”
After that, I was no longer their prisoner. I wouldn’t have left if you’d paid me. The world outside was based on lies. I still slept in the basement, but the door was never locked. These were my people. This was where I felt safe. When I’d holed up at Ted’s bar and retreated into SIGHs, I thought it was anonymity I craved, but it wasn’t. It was purpose.
Even Teresa hugged me the next time she saw me.
“I’m sorry, Rosa,” she said. “There really is no easy way, y’know?”
I smiled, hugged her back. “I understand,” I said. “And not just about today.”
She laughed. “Well, you handled it better than I did, I’ll give you that. Took Daniel a good few hours to calm me down. But then, I always was a ball of spit and rage. You’re more intelligent than I gave you credit for. You’d have got into the PIDs straight away. Took a whole load of coaching for Daniel to get me through that exam. That’s the trouble with fake qualifications, it’s all well and good until you have to actually pass a test!”
I felt a level of admiration for her that I had never felt for anyone before. All these years. She’d taken that rage, that hate, and stuffed it deep down inside her. I went to pieces when I was misrepresented; she spent half her life working with the enemy. Sleeping with the enemy even. All for the greater good, all with her eyes on the prize. That’s the kind of strength you can’t help but be in awe of.
The next few weeks passed too quickly. I’d finally found my place in the world, but we all knew the net was closing in. Thanks to Teresa and Greg, we could be sure they weren’t yet able to find us, but everyone knew we couldn’t hide forever, not with every police force in the country looking for me. And even if we did, this new amnesty of Cole’s was designed to smoke us out. Supplies were getting harder to come by, recruitment dried up.
Christmas came and went, and just after New Year, Greg sat me down on the rug, clutching my hands in his. I could tell by his sombre expression I wasn’t going to like what he had to say.
“Rosa,” he sighed, squeezed my hand; he couldn’t look me in the eye. “We’re going to have to let you go.”
“What?” I stood up.
“We need to act. You know how bad things are. I don’t like it any more than you do, but… there’s only three months left until the amnesty is over. Then people are going to start being executed. There’s too much suffering already, it has to stop.”
“So why can’t I stay here? I can help. Whatever the plan is, I can help.”
“Rosa… you are the plan. Well, stage one anyway. You need to be found, safe and well, give Cole that victory over us. After that, Teresa and I can orchestrate some kind of publicity stunt from the inside. A rally, some kind of celebration, something the public will be watching… we don’t know yet. But he’s desperate for some good publicity, so he’ll jump at the idea; that’s when we’ll get him. But we need your help.”
I tried to quiet the panic that was running through me. Tried to remember who it was I wanted to be, tried to drown out the selfish voice inside me. I didn’t want to go back out there. To that circus. All those liars, all that attention. I was terrified. But this wasn’t about me. I had a higher cause now.
I took a deep breath, swallowed my fear.
“What is it you need me to do?”
28
TERESA
She came up fucking trumps, I’ll give her that.
“Keep it together, chick,” I said, as I led her to the van. “Tears is good, but keep the story straight, right?”
“Right,” she said, breathing steady.
“How’s that rope burn?”
She pulled up her sleeve to show me the chaffed skin. We’d had some coarse hessian tied around her wrists for a few days. The effect was perfect.
“Okay, honey,” I put my hand on her shoulder, “next time I see you it’ll be at PID HQ. So just remember to forget Teresa. Remember to—”
“Call you Zara?” She winked, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“You got it. Now, when Zachary opens the van he can’t hang around. Give him a few minutes, then head for the large tree to the west. You’ll see the school once you’re there. Kids should be out for break. It’ll be nice and dramatic.”
She nodded, and ripped her dress a little more.
“I’ll be beside you, Rosa, just a couple of hours. Just make sure you really egg up the need for a female, okay? They’ll want to give you Greyson. Don’t let them. You really are the one in control, remember that. They need you to talk. They’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen, got it?”
She nodded again. I shut the door and banged the side of the van.
It sped off and my stomach flipped over. Trusting someone else’s abilities doesn’t come easy.
I made sure I got to PID HQ with plenty of time to spare before the news came in. There was no missing the yell from Mills when he got the call.
“They found the fucking girl,” he bellowed. “She’s alive!”
The whole office stopped what they were doing. Nothing they were working on was as big as this. Mills could barely contain himself.
“Belinda,” he squawked, “you get on to the local police department… They’ve got her in custody, she has to come here. Here! Get it? Pull whatever you have to, she comes to us. Someone get me Heath on the line! Heath!”
I thought he might have a coronary. Greyson nudged me.
“Well, this is an exciting turn up for the books, eh?”
“Not for me,” I said, turning back to my screen. “I’m not allowed near her, remember? I expect you’ll get to be golden boy again.”
“Yeah,” he grinned. A slow, self-satisfied grin. “Yeah, I expect I will.”
Mills got his wish. Thanks to Heath’s call to the little country police station where Rosa was being looked after she was sent to us, but Greyson was laughing on the other side of his face when he came up to me a few hours later.
“She won’t talk to me,” he said.
“Lost your touch?” I said.
“No. No, it’s not that. She’s been through the mill… She’s in a bad way. She wants a female.”
“Belinda?”
“No. No, actually… you’re not going to believe this, but she’s specifically requested a familiar face. She wants you.”
I feigned shock. Well, it wasn’t entirely feigned. I hadn’t been at all sure Rosa would pull it off. One little slip, and my plan would have been scuppered. It was a risk, a huge risk. But she was the best hope we had, things couldn’t go on the way they were much longer. Still, I’d been nervous as hell waiting for news. Not only did she need to convince them of her story, but she also had to be assertive enough to get them to agree to do things her way. It could easily have gone wrong. But, as we’d hoped, it’s hard to argue with a crying abductee who’s covered in blood and bruises. In the interview room she played the part perfectly, gave them all the false information she’d memorised, agreed to do press statements. And, most importantly, agreed to have personal media coaching from a PID officer… as long as that officer was me.
29
ROSA
The few hours between being dumped in the countryside and coming face to face with Teresa in the interview room were a blur. The screaming faces of the children in the playground, the hustle of their teachers wrapping blankets around me. The police arriving, the journey back to London… all of it seems hazy, I can’t picture the details. I was too focused on getting through my part. On doing what I had to do to move us closer to our goal.
But my part didn’t end there. Everyone wanted something. The information wasn’t enough, the press statement wasn’t enough. Morning, noon and night they hounded me for more. Thank God I had Teresa to coach me through it, keep me sane. And thank God I had her to deal with my mother.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t pleased to see Mum. I hadn’t really expected to be, but I was. When she dashed into the interview room all the anger and resentment melted away, just for that moment. I rushed into her arms, and gave into the sobs. The real ones. The tears for all that had truly happened, the things I couldn’t speak of… yet.
But I couldn’t have gone home with her, even if I’d wanted to. Teresa was very clear on that. Mum was an expert now when it came to public relations. If she was with me, she would take over. Speak for me, on behalf of me, become the face of the Rosa Lincoln Kidnapping, just as she had with the Jimmy Lincoln Death. I had to use this opportunity, while I was the name on everyone’s lips, to usurp her media throne.
It’s awe-inspiring how quickly and easily the lies fall from Teresa’s lips. She doesn’t miss a beat. I guess she can’t afford to. To have been under their nose for all these years; a lesser liar would have stumbled by now. She had an answer for everything. A watertight comeback for every protest my mother could make.
“I do appreciate how you feel, Mrs Lincoln,” she said, when Mum insisted she wanted me with her. “Obviously Rosa staying with you would be the ideal scenario, but I’m afraid your location simply isn’t secure enough. Thanks to your valiant media appearances, your whereabouts is very well known. Your daughter is currently the best lead we have in terms of finding these terrorists. Keeping her safe is a matter of national security.”
There was little she could argue with. So I was set up in a small flat, in a quiet area of Islington, with round-the-clock police protection stationed outside, and Teresa visiting every day.
I played the perfect little PID puppet. Did every interview and appearance they asked of me. Allowed them to use me, as part of their campaign to whip up fear and frenzy. I was happy to say whatever I was told to say, as untrue as it all was.
Yes, I was raped.
Yes, they are planning an unprecedented attack on our citizens.
Yes, I overheard them praying in Arabic.
No, there should not be mercy. Yes, these animals should be caught and executed.
Yes, I do believe the death penalty is the only way to ensure the safety of our beloved country.
I was happy to spout all those lies, because Gridless needed me to. Lying for the greater good didn’t seem as disingenuous as I thought it would. In fact, it felt brave and noble. I began to understand Teresa a lot more.
I asked Teresa every day if we were any closer. What was the plan? How long now? She just smiled, told me to have patience. It was all in hand.
30
TERESA
Cole massaged my shoulders with his fat, greasy fingers. It was two months since we’d released Rosa, and he and I had slipped off for a weekend in the Cotswolds. Serena was attending some charity ball in LA. I couldn’t help but think that the cost of her flying over there was probably more than the donation she intended to make. But still, he was happy, and horny, which meant things were going well.
“I’ve got some very exciting news for you, Zara,” he said. “I thought you deserved to know, but keep it on the down low, okay? Look surprised when that boss of yours announces it.”
These were the perks of being his mistress: the odd little heads up. I looked coyly over my shoulder at him, fluttered my eyelids and opened my mouth in exaggerated shock.
“Like this?” I teased.
He laughed. “Now, I know you can be more subtle and deceptive than that,” he said.
“Ah, but I love to make you laugh,” I said, straddling him. He was always more inclined to spill secrets when he was turned on. I ran a fingernail from his belly button to the top of his boxers. “Amongst other things…”
He groaned. “You’re the devil sometimes, Zara. Why am I so addicted to you?”
I shrugged. “Because you don’t know what’s good for you maybe? Anyway, what it is it, this exciting news?”
“We’re going to hold a huge memorial service, on the anniversary of that kid’s death. 20th August, Hyde Park. Open to the public, everyone can come and pay their respects.”
“But, it’s been three years… Why now?”
“Well, with all this Gridless stuff going on, and his sister being front page news, Heath thought it would be a good idea to remind people what nearly happened, and get them scared about what these bastards might be planning next. Then, riding high on the back of that, we’re going to execute a prominent member of Gridless in September. Show them we are still the only party that can deal decisively and swiftly with terrorism!”
“What?” My heart sped up. Jesus Christ. Not Daniel, please not Daniel…“Is that wise? I mean, they were tried and sentenced already… This is a new law… Won’t it undermine public confidence if you go resentencing existing convicts?”
“Oh no, not one of the Underground bombers. We have to move with the times. One of the current lot.”
I was even more confused.
“But… we haven’t caught any? Have we?” Did he know something I didn’t?
“No. But we should have by then. Has to be by September you see. Heath has heard some disturbing whispers. There’s mutiny afoot. Some damn backbench ingrates. There’s talk of a vote of no confidence, a leadership contest. They’re watching my every move. Waiting to see how this pans out, hoping I’ll mess it up. I have to do something big, get the public on side, otherwise they’ll take the opportunity to stick their knives in my back.”
“But what if you, I mean we, don’t? Catch one, I mean?”
“We can’t not. Heath was very clear on that too. If more than six months elapse between that girl getting released and us being seen to have done something decisive… well, the public will lose confidence, it would be disaster. So, if we haven’t it’ll be a case of pick a criminal, any criminal.”
“You can’t wait too long,” I cautioned. “The country is only sixty per cent in favour of the death penalty. And that’s only because you’ve gone on and on about thorough trials and being completely sure of guilt. I mean, everyone knows these trials take months. If you want to execute in September you have to allow, what, a month for a failed appeal? At least six months for it to come to trial before that… so that would be March. And we’re already in February. You need to arrest someone in the next two weeks for it to be feasible.”
He sighed. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Damn it. That’s not going to happen. Shit. Why didn’t Heath think of that? I’ll have to call him. Damn fool.”
“Wait.” The germ of an idea was beginning to form, one that was so perfect, but so heinous all at the same time. I didn’t know if I go through with it. But I could at least give myself the option. “Perhaps you don’t have to actually arrest someone.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just announce you’ve captured a leading member of Gridless. You don’t have to name them. You can claim it would harm the ongoing investigation.”
“That would certainly buy us more time. I’ll speak to Heath, but I’m sure he’ll think you’ve pulled it out of the bag again, Zara!”
Cole climbed on top of me, delighted with my ingenuity. I made all the right noises, but my mind was elsewhere.
I was thinking about Rosa.
She’d changed since she found out the truth. She had a look of purpose, confidence even. She was lightyears away from the post-teen fuck-up injecting poison in her veins we’d kidnapped.
I’d already given her something worth living for. Could I go one step further?
Could I give her something worth dying for?
31
ROSA
As soon as she came through the door I could tell something had gone terribly wrong.
I’ve never seen Teresa look so panicked. She held her finger to her lips. She rushed to the window, to check the officer who had escorted her upstairs to my flat was safely back in his position outside.
“Jesus,” she snapped at me. “Why do you look so chipper? Haven’t you seen the news?”
I’d not long woken up, and hadn’t even switched on my Shades yet. She thrust hers at me, already logged into the BBC site.
Cole Confirms Arrest of Prominent Gridless Member.
If found guilty of terrorism, the suspect, who cannot be named for security reasons, will become the first person executed under the newly revised Anti-terror Act.
“Rosa,” she put a hand on my shoulder, “Rosa… I… I don’t know how to tell you this, honey.”
“What?” My heart was sinking through my stomach. I already knew before she spoke the words.
“Rosa, it’s Greg. They got Greg. I’m so sorry.”
32
TERESA
She fell apart like a game of Jenga, right before my eyes. I let her. I listened to her scream, watched the snot bubble in her nostrils as she wept. Held her close when the sobs turned to shudders. You have to let the pieces fall before you can put them back together the way you want them.
In reality, of course, Greg was safe and well and totally oblivious to the tale I’d spun Rosa. I knew they’d formed a bond while she was in captivity. Stockholm syndrome, I guess. Her eyes lit up when he walked into the room. It was sweet. It was innocent. And, unfortunately for Rosa, it was useful.
