Red Notice

88

Laszlo put down his weapon and produced a roll of silver duct tape, which he proceeded to wind around Delphine’s neck. He dragged her across the buffet car, manhandled her up onto the far end of counter, and wound the tape around the stainless-steel shelving pillars behind her. Sambor did the same with her arms, waist and thighs. By the time they had finished, she looked like a badly wrapped present.

Laszlo and two of his men then set to work on the junction boxes that were set into the bulkhead at the end of the carriage.

Delphine stared up at him. She knew it was pointless resisting, but she could still show the defiance that Tom had mustered in her. The hatred in her eyes was all her own. ‘I will not be bait for your trap,’ she hissed.

Laszlo gave her a look of contempt. ‘You almost make it sound as if you have a choice in the matter.’ He reached for his weapon and pressed the muzzle against her head. ‘Would you prefer me to pull the trigger and end it now for you and your child?’

‘Yes.’ She pushed against the cold, hard steel. ‘And don’t forget to say goodbye to Tom for me when he cuts off your balls and stuffs them into your mouth.’

Laszlo merely smiled. ‘I can see why he was attracted to you. You have more than a child in your belly. There is fire, too. Spirit.’

An expression appeared on his face that she hadn’t seen before. She wondered for a moment if he was a little jealous. She suspected that Laszlo had been fighting and hating for so long that he had never had the time to find a woman, let alone worked out how to keep one.

He nodded slowly. ‘You are extremely lucky to have each other.’

She worked her jaws for a second and spat at him.

He paused to wipe his cheek. ‘Hmm… Perhaps too much spirit.’

Pinpricks of light danced on her retina as he punched her just above the temple.

‘I think it may be time for some silence.’

He tore another length from the duct tape and wrapped it around her mouth and the back of her head.

‘You seem very confident that Prince Charming is going to ride to your rescue. It may surprise you to hear that I hope he does, too. And I hope he brings his black-suited friends with him.’ He forced her head back against the shelving to duct tape her neck even closer to the unit. She wasn’t going anywhere: she was the prize perched high on the counter for all to see.

She soon heard the splash of water behind her in the galley. Sambor appeared in the customer area, pushing a drinks trolley in front of him, laden with beer, wine and mineral water. Delphine stared at them, baffled, as the two brothers smashed the neck of one bottle after another against the edge of a table and poured their contents onto the floor.

She saw Laszlo select a Châteauneuf du Pape and pause for a second. He invited her to admire the label. ‘A good wine like this should be savoured, don’t you think?’ Then he smashed that one too and thrust its jagged spout closer and closer to her cheek.

Time came to a standstill as she watched a globule of crimson liquid glisten on the razor-sharp edge of the glass.

His face once more devoid of emotion, Laszlo inched it towards her eye, but at the last moment he tipped it, too, onto the floor.

When they had finished, a pool of froth-slicked liquid covered the middle of the buffet car. Laszlo was pleased with their work. He beamed at Delphine. ‘I imagine that you share my excitement about what will happen next,’ he said. ‘You won’t be disappointed. It promises to be quite a spectacular performance, a veritable son et lumière.’ He turned and ushered Sambor down the carriage, towards the front of the train. A moment later the glass door slid shut behind them.

Delphine summoned up as much of her dwindling reserve of energy and defiance as she could muster, and began straining and heaving herself against the duct tape that bound her. It held her fast. She breathed in as deeply as the constraint would allow, trying to ease the tension from her shoulder muscles and the feeling of dread that rose inside her.