A Still Small Voice of Calm

By Mike Holden

Kim and Ned are two very ordinary people but they are the most unlikely pair of friends that one could meet. Nevertheless there is a bond between them. She is Chinese, in her 20's and a qualified and practising lawyer. He is in his 50's and owner of a moderately successful business consultancy. Kim is strolling through Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester when she sees a young girl being assaulted and abducted. She uses her newly-acquired martial arts skills to rescue the girl. Realising the determination of the girl's pursuers and the danger facing both of them, Kim seeks ned's help. They are horrified to learn of the traumatic and sickening experiences of Ermeela, the girl, and decide to hide her from this ruthless gang. But they will stop at nothing, using blackmail, threats and sheer brute force to retrieve the girl. Their actions have catastrophic and fatal consequencies to everyone concerned.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AUK Authors
• Release date: Feb 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781782346999

Book preview

damages.

CHAPTER 1

Day 1 - Thursday

As she lay in her bed in the middle of the night, hurting badly from the soreness of her body, Ermeela Lees came to what was for her, a very momentous decision. She simply could take no more, either mentally or physically. Today would be the start of the rest of her young life and although she feared for the consequences of the decision she was making, she was determined to stand by this decision, no matter what the repercussions were. She knew that she could never again face the people, who had brought all the pain to her. That would be tantamount to suicide. Her only alternative was to escape, run away was how she thought of it. She knew that it would put her mother in serious danger but that now had to be a secondary consideration. Of course, she would do what she could for her but she had felt that, somehow, her mother had let her down. She knew that her mother had been threatened with arson, physical violence, rape and even death, but even this did not reconcile her feelings of abandonment. She slept fitfully the rest of that night awaking with the early dawn.

Ermeela was a slightly built girl; barely over five feet tall whose breasts were still developing and indeed, were only really visible in tight fitting clothes. She had longish blond hair, sometimes swept back into a ponytail and sometimes brushed to the side to accentuate the length. She had never regarded herself as beautiful but her friends and indeed her male contemporaries regarded her very attractive. She had always thought of herself as looking too young for her age and whenever the opportunity occurred; she would always use make-up and dress in clothes to make her look older, a tart, her mother said to her. She realised, sadly too late, that her young appearance was her downfall.

For a girl entering into her teens, she had a bubbly and outgoing personality with a pleasant disposition that had a positive effect on all those people she knew. Her family had been dysfunctional with her father being absent virtually from conception and her mother, whilst a loving one, was often pre-occupied with boy friends that failed to last any length of time.

She packed her sports bag with as many clothes, underwear and toiletries as she could cram in. Instead of her school uniform, she dressed in a t-shirt, sweatshirt, jeans and trainers. On normal days, her mother would have to constantly badger and bicker at her to get up, but not this morning. She was already in the kitchen eating a large bowl of corn flakes when her mother, Julie walked through the door.

I don’t believe it, she said smiling, Have you wet the bed? Ermeela was in too sombre a mood to make any reply. She just finished her corn flakes. Julie was painfully aware as to what her daughter had been enduring and she cursed herself remorselessly every day for not having the guts or courage to help her. One day, she kept saying to herself that she would do what any self-respecting mother would do to protect her daughter. Sadly, she kept putting that day off.

Ermeela said sombrely and began to cry,

Listen, mum. I just cannot stand it anymore and I’m leaving today for good. And I’m not coming back, the memories are too painful.

Julie looked sadly at her daughter. How could she blame her for this decision? Deep down in her heart she knew that this would happen one day and today the self-cursing had raised itself to inner screaming.

Are you absolutely sure? Perhaps we can go somewhere together, maybe London

No, mum. I need to be on my own to get over all this for awhile. I’ll give you a ring and let you know what’s happening. Once it’s safe, perhaps we can start again.

You know what’s going to happen, don’t you? she said quietly to Ermeela, although her head was at bursting point.

Yes, but if I stay, I swear I’ll kill myself She paused. Mum, the best thing for you is to go and stay with Auntie Helen for awhile. You’ll be alright there and besides they don’t know that she exists. Ermeela finished off her orange juice and picked up her bag.

I’ve got my phone, it’s topped up and I’ll keep in touch. I’ll see you again when it’s all over

She approached her mother, gave her a long hug, took her jacket from the hallstand and disappeared through the front door. She did not tell her mother she had decided to catch a train for Manchester. She had enough money for a few nights in a cheap bed and breakfast or a hostel and this would give her sufficient time to decide exactly what she would do. She caught the local bus, which ended its journey at the railway station. As it was not yet school time, she did not expect to meet any of her friends, more like former friends now, she thought.

*

Before the bus had reached the station, Julie, fearing the consequences of her daughter’s action rushed upstairs to pack a bag. Emmy was right, she would go and stay with her sister, Helen, in rural Yorkshire until everything had blown over. She knew that Helen had little regard for her, believing that she had wasted her life, a teenage pregnancy, several short lived affairs with boyfriends who were little more that a waste of space and who valued a roof over their heads as important as anything. Having little self-esteem over the years, she could not argue with her sister but she had become more choosier with her lovers and boyfriends and whilst the quality had improved, the quantity had certainly diminished. She knew that Helen would not refuse her and she now needed a convincing sob story to persuade her. She dare not tell her the truth, as she was ashamed of what had happened with Ermeela. She was a loving mother and had tried to do her best for her daughter but she knew she had failed her so badly.

Once her bag was packed, she made her way to the same bus stop that her daughter had used not too long before. She knew that it would have been disastrous for her to call a taxi.

*

As Ermeela’s bus pulled to a halt at the station, she hurried towards the main station entrance, taking no notice of anyone around her.

This was not the first mistake in little Ermeela’s young life or the first time in her life that she should have been more observant, for the young girl was being closely watched by a dark haired swarthy young man who had just pulled into the station in a taxi.

CHAPTER 2

The taxi driver, who went by the name of Umar Pawar quickly disposed of his paying passenger, parked his taxi in the space next to the rank and ran into the station. He searched the concourse and platform for Ermeela and spotted her on the far one. A train was pulling into that platform as Pawar raced across the footbridge. He saw her boarding the train in the front carriage. She had not yet seen him.

Ermeela sat on a seat facing the rest of the train, simply because there were few seats available. The train slowly pulled out of the station and she was able to relax a little. But not for long! She spotted Pawar in the next carriage and she realised that he must have seen her board the train. She began to shake with fear. She knew him as Afzal, as that was the name he told her: It was not his real name and Pawar ensured that she would never know that. Watching him like a hawk, she began to realise that he had failed to spot her although his eyes were everywhere. She looked around her and saw the toilet. Attempting to conceal herself as much as possible, she crept quickly into the loo and locked the door. How long she had to stay there, she could only guess.

Pawar walked through the four carriages but could find no sign of the girl. Was she hiding somewhere or had she sneaked off the train? Three toilets were engaged and she could be in any one of them. He decided to wait next to one of them until she came out. The gori, as he referred to her since he had met her around two years ago, had been a great asset to him and after a few threats to her and her mother; she had become very acquiescent and very popular with his clients. He did not understand why she had suddenly turned against him like this and his immediate reaction was that he was not going to allow her to escape from him, at least not until he was through with her. On the other hand, he thought, she might just be having a day’s shopping trip to Manchester and would be back this afternoon, although she was carrying a large bag and that suggested that the shopping trip was an unlikely scenario. Perhaps he should just keep his eye on her and not intervene unless it was necessary.

Two incidents happened simultaneously, a large woman emerged for the toilet that Pawar was watching and Ermeela peeped out into the carriage. She recognised the man she knew as Afzal, intently watching a fat woman coming out of the toilet. She dashed out and ran in the other direction, only to be confronted by a door, which she ran through without any hesitation.

What the ____? shouted the driver? Ermeela realised too late that she had run into the driver’s cab. She pleaded with him

Please let me stay here

Pawar noticed Ermeela running through the door at the far end of the carriage and leapt out of his seat. He walked very quickly towards the door that Ermeela had disappeared and was almost there when the train guard seemed to appear from nowhere and block the passageway.

In a hurry, sir? he said somewhat sarcastically to Pawar

Where does that door lead to? was Pawar’s reply as he tried to push past the guard. The guard stood his ground

I hope you’re not thinking of trying to get into there.

Pawar realised that any unusual behaviour by him could be misinterpreted as a terrorist action and he did not want to bring that type of attention to himself. Not just yet and not working independently. He sat down knowing that she would have to come out through that door sometime.

*

The train driver scrutinised Ermeela closely and he could see genuine fear in her eyes. He told her to stand in the corner and then pressed a button on his console. He began to slow down for the next approaching station. The guard came through the door, responding to the emergency call from the driver and stopped in his tracks when he saw Ermeela standing in the corner.

What’s this then? he enquired of both of them. The driver replied,

Seems that this young lady is in some spot of bother. Anything suspicious out there?

Actually there is. There’s a guy out there, one of our Asian bretheren, who, a minute or two ago was heading this way in a bit of a hurry. I told him to sit down which he did but he’s never taken his eye off this door he turned to Ermeela and said,

I take it that he’s some way connected to you, young lady

By now, Ermeela was finding it hard to control the tears running down her face.

His name is Afzal and he’s a real nasty piece of work. Please let me stay here until you reach Manchester, she pleaded.

The driver, who had a granddaughter not much younger than Ermeela, agreed that she could but he would have to arrange for the police to meet the train. She did not want to involve the police but that was better than Afzal getting his hands on her again.

The guard left the cab with the driver quickly locking the door behind him. He watched the dark-skinned man as he left and he shivered quietly to himself and the man stared intently at the cab door. He made his way to his own cabin where he made that phone call.

Pawar not only watched the cab door for any signs of Ermeela emerging, but also he watched the platform at every station in case she got off the train.

Ermeela did not trust the police. Where she came from, she knew that they had done nothing about Afzal and his friends and she knew that some of them were actively in league with him. She felt certain that she had met more than one.

The train was soon approaching Manchester and she had to think hard as to her next course of action. She was envisioning both the police and Afzal trying to get at her once the train had pulled into the station. The police would be the better bet. She would wait and see.

CHAPTER 3

The train was slowing down as it approached Victoria Station in Manchester and from where Ermeela was sitting in the cab, she could see two policewomen on the platform. As the train stopped, she allowed herself to be escorted by the driver into their custody. She turned around to the driver

"Thank you very much for your help and all you’ve done for me. You’ll never know just how much help you have been to me.

This was part politeness and partly to let the two female cops know that there could be serious trouble if they were less than conscientious in looking after her.

The driver smiled as he walked the opposite way along the platform to where she was being led. The policewomen smiled at her and they informed her that they could talk in a private room on the station that had been arranged for them.

Pawar watched all this from a discreet distance and followed the three to the private entrance of the station offices.

Once inside she was ushered upstairs to a room bedecked with an old largish table and four chairs that had seen better days. Ermeela was invited to sit on one of the chairs. The elder of the two smiled at her and said

My name is Alex Sweeney and my colleague is Kirsty Worrell. And your name?

Ermeela Lees

That’s an unusual but pretty name, Ermeela said nothing.

Would you like a drink, Ermeela?

Orange juice, please

Constable Alex Sweeney gestured to her younger colleague to get the drink. When she had left Alex sat down opposite Ermeela and said

You looked pretty scared when you left the train. Has someone been upsetting you?

It took Ermeela some time to answer and she would tell this policewoman as little as possible

"There was a man on the train who was following me, a really nasty man and if he caught me, I’m sure he would hurt me.

Do you know this man?

Constable Kirsty Worrell returned to the room carrying a plastic cup with orange juice in it and handed it to Ermeela.

Now tell us the whole story starting with your address. Ermeela gave a false one

The man who followed me on the train has been pestering me for some time to go out with him and he won’t take no for an answer. He has told me that if I continue to refuse him he will beat me up and then he’ll start on my family. I didn’t think he was serious until he followed me on the train this morning and when I saw him, I was really scared and ran into the driver’s cab. That’s it really.

The two policewomen looked at her; their years of working with young girls told them that there was more to this what the girl had said. They also knew that they would get nothing out of her at present until they had gained her confidence some more. They decided to take her back to the nick where they would be able to find the underlying cause of this. Kirsty Worrell radioed in to say that they were returning to the police station with the girl.

This was not what Ermeela had wanted, she did not intend to tell these two women anything, and she had to think quickly. They left the room, went downstairs into the station concourse and walked towards the main exit.

*

Pawar was watching intently from a discreet distance, and followed the three females into the busy city streets. They walked along Corporation Street and towards the refurbished shopping mall. When they arrived at the entrance, Ermeela slowed down to look into one of the shop windows. The police officers languidly watched her and she was able to gain valuable space between her and them. When she thought they were not looking, she suddenly dashed into the centre, much to the surprise of the two police officers. But they soon gave chase. They were not the only ones, Pawar ran after them just a few seconds later.

Ermeela was very nimble on her feet, having previously been good at athletics and gymnastics at school and she was able to dodge through the mass of shoppers quicker than her two pursuers. She saw an exit at the far end and sprinted towards the doors. She gave a backwards glance and was pleased to see that she had gained some ground on the policewomen. She rushed through the open doors and quickly noticed a Debenhams department store across the road. She ran inside, stopped behind a perfume counter and waited. The longer she waited the more convinced she was that she had shaken off her pursuers. She now mentally planned her next actions.

*

Alex and Kirsty were quite out of breath when they reached the exit of the shopping mall and as they looked along both sides of the street, Ermeela was nowhere to be seen. They believed that it was most likely that she would head towards Piccadilly Gardens where there were more people. They radioed into the station informing their sergeant as to what had happened and where they intended to go to see if they could locate the girl. They were unaware that the dark-skinned man, now standing practically next to them, was listening intently to that conversation.

Ermeela walked quickly and unobtrusively through the store and up the escalators to where the ladieswear department was located. Travelling up the escalators she looked back to see if she could see her two pursuers but there was no sign of them.

Once in the department, she knew exactly what she wanted and spent no time browsing, even though it was a favourite pastime of hers. She had in the past, been known to undertake a little shoplifting but that was more for excitement than for anything else. This time she did not want to draw attention to herself. On paying for the items with her debit card, she enquired as to where the changing rooms were. Once inside, she set about making a quick change in her appearance. A denim mini-skirt replaced her jeans but not too short to draw attention to herself, her hair was tucked inside a woolly hat to hide all her blond hair. In addition to this, she bought a short dark gray coat and the final disguise was a pair of sunglasses. Satisfied with her appearance change, she left the changing-room and the store with a little more confidence.

She walked towards the Gardens where there were quite a number of people milling around. She crossed the road but before she could reach the grassed area, two arms grabbed her, one round her neck and the other on her left arm.

CHAPTER 4

She screamed as she was dragged along the side of the road and it was Pawar’s intention to find somewhere, such as a bench where he could ensure she would not escape whilst making a call to a relative living in the city to transport them home. Once home, he would really teach her the hard way that it was useless trying to escape. Perhaps to start with, he would let Latif give her a good seeing-to on the way home whilst he drove the car, then he would satisfy himself with her before the fun really started.

Pawar found a bench sat her down and almost sat on her whilst he made his phone call. Latif would help but he had to make his way to the other side of the Gardens where the car could pull in. He manhandled Ermeela again to standing position who screamed again. Her last screams went on deaf ears as no one tried to rescue her from this animal. Pawar also noticed this and as a response to the screams, he hit her as hard as possible across her face. The sheer force of this, caused her to fall to the ground

Stop screaming, Gori, he yelled at her, otherwise I’ll give you something to scream about Her screams turned into sobs as she was again manhandled to her feet. Even the hard slap did not stop her from resisting every footstep but she knew that Afzal was much stronger than she was.

Pawar decided that