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2022-05-21
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Mother Love

Summary:

A mother's love can be just what a child needs. But when the mother becomes desperate and twisted, her love can also become warped. Nancy Carter is about to learn what happens when the child becomes collateral damage.

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Mother Love

 

‘You sure you’re going to be ok Nance?’ ‘Dad, I’ll be fine. I’m going on a holiday.’ ‘I know, it doesn’t stop me worrying about you, my little girl all alone in some foreign country where I can’t look after her.’ ‘Right, enough of that. First of all, I’m not alone, Zack’s with me, and secondly, it’s not like I’m going halfway across the world, I’m only going to Austria. Besides, I’ll be back in a week or so. You’ll be perfectly fine without me. You know, it was really nice of him to invite me, he didn’t have to.’

 

‘Don’t mean I don’t worry about my little girl. You know you’ve got money in your bank’ ‘Dad, I showed you my bank statements twice yesterday. I’ve got plenty in reserve.’ Frankie then walked in, hair high up in a ponytail, holding a box of salted peanut packets under her arm. ‘I would literally kill to be invited to somewhere like Austria. You’re a lucky girl Nancy.’ ‘Yeah, you’re not kidding. You sure you don’t want me to ask Zack if you can come?’ ‘No I’m fine, this is your private holiday if you know what I’m saying.’

 

Nancy seemed grossed out by the suggestion. ‘No way, this isn’t what it’s about at all. It’s just having a nice holiday to get away from all the stress with Mum’s drinking.’ ‘I know, I’m just pulling your chain Nancy. You get going, I’ll look after the pub. Now you’re going to be late if you don’t leave soon.’ She smiled, and then hugged Frankie, as Shirley came up to the kitchen. ‘Your bag’s in the taxi Nancy.’ ‘Thanks Shirley. Look after him while I’m gone.’ ‘You’ve got nothing to worry about, he’s no trouble.’ She looked back briefly, before walking out of the kitchen, and getting into her taxi. ‘Where to?’ ‘Airport please.’ ‘Certainly.’

 

45 minutes later

 

Arriving at the airport, she paid the taxi driver, and then entered the airport with her suitcase. As she did, she saw Zach on the phone near the check-in desk. ‘You’d better be there, ok? She won’t have it if you’re even a minute behind schedule. Great, thanks mate.’ He turned around, seeing Nancy, and wrapped up his call. ‘I’ve got to go. See you later, bye.’ He then opened his arms, but she just patted him on the back.

 

‘So, what was the call about? It sounded like it was getting pretty heated.’ Cooly, he answered her. ‘It was a mate of mine, I asked him to offer some temp work at the pub, just while you’re gone.’ ‘Oh no you didn’t need to do that for me, they’ve already sorted out the hours.’ ‘Well he’s on his way there now. I’ll probably get a call in a few hours saying as much.’ ‘Well thank you anyway.’

 

‘Right, the flight’s in an hour, so we need to get checked in.’ As Nancy went to check in, Zack held back for a moment, and furiously texted someone, before also checking in. Soon enough, they were on a plane straight to Vienna. Having boarded, Nancy settled down in her seat, while Zack just calmly sent one more singular text before switching his phone off.

 

Back in Walford

 

Mick was just walking back towards the pub with a carrier bag in each hand when he bumped into Linda. A tense moment ensued, before she broke the silence. ‘I hear Nancy’s gone on holiday without you.’ ‘Yeah, what about it? She’s a grown girl now.’ ‘Well here’s just a little advisory - she’s my daughter.’ ‘Yeah L, mine too.’ ‘Well you didn’t go through all that pain and suffering like I did. You didn’t carry her around for nine long months in the womb, you didn’t have to go through the pain of giving birth to her, you didn’t have to be there when she went through all her troubles at school and when the other kids would make fun of her.’

 

‘Didn’t stop me being there L. We were both there for her, everything was always joint, she could always rely on Mum AND Dad. That was until you decided the bottle was more important than her.’ ‘Better than running off with some… some slapper!’ ‘If I’ve told you once I’ve told you 50 times - there is nothing going on with me and Janine. There never was and never will be.’ ‘Oh, so that’s why she’s always there is it? With her claws in you?’

 

‘Listen L, I don’t know what you think is going on, and I don’t know how she feels. But I can assure you that there is nothing going on in that way. And if she asks, I will tell her. I’m not interested in some kind of rebound relationship, I’m not interested in playing games, and I’m sure as hell not going to be some magic sugar daddy. But I’ll tell you something - she and those girls have been there for me while you were just drinking your life away. So you go and find another bottle to cry into, while the adult of us goes back to run a business.’

 

As he turned to leave, Linda shouted to get his attention. ‘Nancy is my daughter, not yours! She’s going to see sooner or later just what you are.’ ‘And what’s that L - a caring father?’ ‘A gutless coward who couldn’t give less of a monkeys about her. She’s going to see Mick Carter, the failure who couldn’t protect his daughter if it was made completely obvious what was going on!’

 

Not believing a word of what he was hearing, Mick flipped Linda the middle finger before continuing with his daily duties. Meanwhile Linda got her phone out. ‘Alexa, it’s Linda. Is everything set up in Baden?’ ‘Yes, has been for several hours.’ ‘Good, the plane should be landing in about an hour. They already know the plan, so just make sure you find out what’s going on. Now you know the plan when they arrive?’

 

‘Yes, have nothing, guide them towards the tent. Now let’s talk money.’ ‘Ransom of 40,000 euros.’ ‘Make it 75 or the plan is off.’ ‘50 and I’ll pay the rest myself.’ ‘How do we know?’ ‘Show me the evidence, then I’ll show you the money.’ Noticing that people were starting to look around, Linda then had a change of tac. ‘I’ll text you my guarantee.’ She quickly terminated the call, and rapidly beat out a message, which was met with a simple thumbs up reply.

 

Vienna, Austria

 

The plane landed with a jolt, 20 minutes behind schedule. Both Nancy and Zack seemed relaxed about this though. ‘So where are we going Mr. I have a schedule?’ ‘Well what would a road trip be without a car?’ He casually put on his sunglasses, and walked over to the car rental desk. While the car was being prepared, he started texting again, and seemed slightly edgy about a particular reply. Nevertheless, he took the keys and got into the car, driving it around the airport to a rather impressed Nancy.

 

‘Convertible, nice.’ ‘BMW Z4, just 400 euros.’ ‘Someone’s becoming a wheeler dealer aren’t they?’ ‘You getting in or just complimenting me?’ She shook her head, smiling, before getting into the car. As she did, his phone buzzed again. ‘You want me to get that?’ ‘No, you just relax. Actually, I know you wanted to do some sightseeing, but there’s a wine tasting thing about 20 miles away from here. Don’t know if you’re interested?’ ‘Yeah, it sounds great, might even find something good to take back to the Vic.’ He smiled at her hearing this. ‘Like your thinking.’ He then put his foot down, skidding around before driving away.

 

In Walford

 

Frankie was manning the pub on her own when Sharon came in. ‘Hi Frankie, is your Dad in?’ ‘He’s upstairs, can I pass on a message?’ ‘Err, no, I’ll just… come back later.’ ‘If it’s about Linda, I can pass on the message. I have no reason to lie, I like Linda.’ ‘It’s just that I saw them arguing earlier and wanted to know what was going on. Just between us, I think Linda’s completely lost the plot.’

 

Leaning forward, Frankie dug for information. ‘Why do you say that?’ ‘It’s just that… she’s not been herself recently. I know there’s the drinking’ ‘She’s still drinking?’ ‘Worse than ever. The funeral was only the start of it. It’s got to the point where she can’t even stop herself. And she’s started going on these long rants about how she can’t even trust Nancy to have her back anymore.’

 

‘Nancy’s an adult, she can make her own decisions.’ ‘I know, but Linda’s just really cut up about everything. Actually, is Nancy around? I think Linda could really do with chatting to her while she’s sober.’ ‘No sorry, she’s gone on holiday with Zack to Austria. She’ll be gone for a week.’ Sharon seemed surprised at this, but nodded. ‘Ok, well I’ll just try and keep her away from any booze while Nancy’s gone. Thanks anyway.’ ‘No worries.’

 

Around 15 minutes later, a couple of guys in their early 20s swung by the pub. ‘Hey beautiful, two pints please.’ ‘Coming right up.’ ‘Yo, Zack works here doesn’t he?’ ‘Does Zack have a surname?’ ‘Hudson - Zack Hudson. You know where he’s at?’ ‘What am I - the yellow pages?’ This reference seemed to go over their heads, and she shook hers. ‘Yes he does work here, and no, he isn’t here. He’s on holiday.’

 

‘Didn’t tell us.’ ‘He told us that he was working long shifts here all weekend.’ Confused, Frankie shook her head again. ‘No, he’s definitely gone on holiday. I should know because my sister’s gone with him. Austria.’ ‘Never had him down as an Austria kind of person.’ As the guys got their drinks, they moved over and started chatting. Meanwhile, Frankie, starting to get suspicious, went to the back and texted Sharon.

 

Within five minutes, Sharon was back at the pub. ‘You wanted to ask me something?’ ‘Yeah, did Zack tell you anything about going on holiday with Nancy?’ She just laughed at the thought. ‘Holiday? He’s not even got the money to pay me back for that taxi from last week. Why, what’s he said to… that little blighter, I’ll bet he’s nicked my credit card.’ She was in for a surprise though, as when she checked her purse, all her cards and cash were present and correct.

 

‘When did they go?’ ‘This morning, they’re in Vienna now, Nancy texted me.’ ‘And Mick didn’t pay for this?’ ‘No, Nancy told us that Zack wanted to go on a road trip and invited her.’ ‘Not with him driving they're not.’ ‘Why?’ ‘He’s only got a provisional licence. And he’s got six points on that. I’ve tried telling him that he needs to book some lessons, but he doesn’t listen.’ By now, Frankie was extremely suspicious.

 

‘Something’s going on that we aren’t being told about.’ ‘I’m sure it’s nothing serious. Get Nancy to give me a call when they’re out of the car so I can talk to Zack about this. We’ll get it sorted out in no time.’ ‘Thanks Sharon.’ As she left, Mick came down the stairs. ‘Mick, does Nancy have a driving licence?’ ‘No, why?’ ‘Because Zack’s driving her around a foreign country with a provisional.’

 

‘No he ain’t, Nancy told me they’re using taxis.’ Frankie then showed Mick the texts between her and Nancy. ‘No that can’t be right, she definitely told me that they were using taxis.’ ‘I really think we need to get her to come back. Something isn’t right.’ ‘Calm down Frankie, it’s fine. It was probably a misunderstanding.’ ‘What’s there to misunderstand?’ Mick just brushed her off though. ‘How about you go and take 10? You’ve been at it all morning.’ ‘I’m fine.’ ‘No, I insist. You come back when you’re calmer, ok?’ He then went to man the front.

 

Hernals, on the outskirts of Vienna

 

As Nancy and Zack arrived, there was a touch of tension brewing. ‘Are you sure you’re ok Zack? Because I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to drive everywhere at 40mph.’ ‘Yeah, fine, just that we were late so I was rushing a bit. Besides, what’s a road trip without a bit of speed?’ ‘On the motorway, maybe. Not in a town centre though.’ Before the debate could continue, a woman came up to them. ‘Wine tasting?’ ‘Yep.’ ‘Right this way.’

 

As they stepped through, there were a number of glasses of red wine sat on a table, and around two dozen other people stood near them. ‘So everyone, I don’t know if any of you have been to a wine tasting before, but if you haven’t, we’re going to have a quick chat about each individual wine, and then have a tasting. So first up we have this one, it’s made with a grape grown especially in the state of Tyrol in the west of the country. There’s something about the mountains there that allows the grapes to grow with a certain sweet and almost nutty quality.’

 

An hour later

 

As the tasting came to an end, a clearly sober Nancy went over to the woman taking the class. ‘Hi, I work at a pub back in England. Can you order any of these for delivery?’ ‘Yes, give me the address and I’m sure we could sort out some samples.’ ‘Thanks.’ As she did, Zack put his arm around her. ‘So I take it we’re going back to the hotel?’ ‘No, you wanted to do some sightseeing didn’t you?’

 

‘Zack, you’re drunk.’ ‘I didn’t even have that much, half of that stuff was undrinkable.’ ‘Difference is that I’m not driving.’ ‘I promise I’m fine. But if you want to go straight back to the hotel, sure. It’s about 20 minutes from here. We’ll drive slowly, do some sightseeing along the way if you like.’ ‘Fine, but just be safe.’ ‘I would never do anything to put you in danger Nance.’ Finally convinced, she got in the car, and he got on his phone again, before starting the car and rolling away.

 

In Walford

 

Just as she was going back down after her lunch break, Frankie ran into Shirley. ‘Shirley, can I talk to you?’ ‘Yeah, Mick said you were a bit concerned about Nancy. She’s a smart girl, she’s fine. Hell, she’s been backpacking halfway across the world before.’ ‘It’s not that, something’s going on, I know it.’ Seeing a pen lying around, she grabbed it alongside an invoice, and turning the invoice over, scribbled madly on the back of it until she’d filled the entire page.

 

‘Tell me that all this is a coincidence.’Shirley took a look at the list, and nodded. ‘Leave it with me. I need to investigate a couple of things.’ She then shouted over to Mick. ‘Mick, I need to go out, I’ll be back later. Frankie’s coming back on shift anyway.’ ‘Ok mother, send her in.’ Before Frankie left, Shirley stopped her for a moment. ‘If something’s going on, I WILL find out.’

 

Austria

 

As they were driving back to Vienna, Nancy was starting to get increasingly concerned about Zack’s erratic driving. ‘What’s going on, you’re all over the place. I haven’t got a licence and even I could do better than this.’ ‘It’s just this car, it’s a little bit fidgety.’ They settled down somewhat after this, but something seemed to be playing on Zack’s mind, as if he was almost a bit pensive about something.

 

‘Are you sure you’re ok?’ ‘Yeah I’m fine.’ ‘You just look really tense.’ ‘Probably because I keep having my driving questioned when it’s the car’s fault.’ ‘Ok, ok, calm down.’ ‘Sorry, I’m just… it doesn’t matter.’ ‘No, tell me, I want to know.’ He took a deep breath, and nearly revealed a secret, before mentally backpedalling. ‘I just had a run in with your Dad the other day, I don’t think he likes me very much. So I was hoping to impress him by giving you a great time.’

 

Hearing this, his guest laughed. ‘That’s nonsense, Dad thinks you’re great. He wouldn’t have been fine with you inviting me on this if he didn’t like you, believe me there’s a lot of people he doesn’t like. But you’re not one.’ ‘Seriously?’ ‘Yeah, you’re a cool guy, and Dad sees that. Besides, you don’t need to work so hard just to impress me, I thought we were mates.’ ‘Yeah, well I thought it would be nice for you to have a memorable experience.’

 

They were just on the outskirts of Vienna when they encountered a problem. ‘Says there’s a diversion.’ Nancy didn’t seem too fussed, but Zack paused for a moment. ‘Hello, anyone at home?’ He didn’t say anything, but instead spun the car around violently, sideswiping the signs as he did, before speeding off at 95mph. ‘Ok Zack, what’s going on?’ ‘The diversion’s going to take longer.’

 

As he continued to drive erratically at high speed, Nancy was getting deeply concerned. Her worries deepened when, as they drifted around a sharp bend, the glovebox flew open, with Zack’s driving licence flying onto her lap. And just one glance at it made her look deeper. ‘Johnny Carter, Aged 34 from Birmingham? Zack, are you seriously using a fake driving licence? Seriously I like you, but what is going on with you at the moment?’

 

Zack said nothing, but suddenly stopped the car by the side of the road. ‘What’s going on?’ ‘Get out.’ ‘Pardon?’ ‘If you don’t like my driving, why don’t you just go back home? There’s a town a mile up the road, I’m sure you can call a taxi back to the airport from there.’ ‘No, I’m not’ ‘Get out or I’ll throw you out.’ As Nancy reluctantly stepped out of the car, Zack drove straight off, almost making her fall out of the car in the process.

 

Now lost in a foreign country with no transport, Nancy took a few minutes, sat by the side of the road, trying to hitchhike a ride to the airport. When this eventually failed, she took a deep breath, tied her hair up tight, and started hiking her way uphill towards the nearest town, which as it transpired, was a full three miles away.

 

Arriving, she took a moment to catch her breath, before getting to the task at hand. As she walked around the small town, trying to find someone who would take her back to the airport, she stumbled upon a man dressed in a suit, with a large brown cane by his side. ‘Hi, I don’t want to be too upfront, but I’m really desperate. I had an argument with my boyfriend and he dumped me on the side of the road. I just need someone to give me a lift back to the airport?’ Luckily for her, the man was able to help.

 

‘That’s fine. I’ll tell you what, you have money?’ ‘Yeah, sure, whatever you need.’ ‘Pay just five euros to the woman in this tent, she’s a friend, a fortune teller. Let her give you a reading, then I’ll take you back to the airport.’ Seeing no issue with this, she smiled at him. ‘Ok, thanks.’ She quickly walked into the tent, not seeing the man holding her phone.

 

In the tent, the old woman smiled at her. ‘Ah, I see it already, you must be… Nancy, am I right? From England.’ Nancy seemed surprised at the woman knowing so much, but desperate to get home, she just smiled back, and placed five euros in her palm. ‘Could you give me a telling please?’ ‘Certainly. Just sit close and look into my crystal ball.’

 

She sat down, pulled the chair very close, and looked into the crystal ball. ‘I see… many things for you. I see a future free of pain, free of worry.’ ‘That’s brilliant.’ ‘But there’s more. I also see… a future free of thought, and a desperation for someone else to light the path for you. You are destined to be a follower, not a leader.’

 

At this exact moment, the light in the ball turned a deep red, and Nancy found herself unable to look away. ‘You will be a follower dear Nancy, doing exactly as you are told. You are a good girl, and will find this role suitable.’ Nancy then pulled away, but turned around slowly, and walked straight out of the tent, barely even blinking. As she did, the man from earlier came over. ‘Are you ok dear?’

 

Completely entranced, she started rambling over her stumbled reply. ‘B… brainwash. I need to be brainwashed. Please, let me… let me be brainwashed.’ ‘That can be arranged.’ She was then bundled into the car, and as she continued to witter on about being brainwashed, they drove for fifteen minutes to another hamlet. She was then pulled out of the car, and guided to a small hut where she stood. A younger man then walked over to her.

 

‘Are you ok?’ ‘I need to be brainwashed. I need to be brainwashed, please, complete me.’ He laughed, and put a pair of headphones on her head, resting on the top of her hair. As a purple light came on on the side of the headset, she just stared right ahead. And there she sat for the next 40 minutes, having her mind completely destroyed by white noise going directly into her brain.

 

Walford East Train Station

 

Shirley was waiting at the station when Linda came walking up. ‘You wanted to talk?’ ‘I know that things aren’t good with you and Mick. But I think Nancy might be in trouble.’ Linda immediately looked concerned. ‘How?’ ‘She’s being driven around Austria by someone without a driving licence, he didn’t tell anyone else where he was going, and neither of them are answering their phones.’

 

Apparently confused, Linda dug deeper. ‘Does Zack not have a driving licence?’ ‘Only provisional. And there’s evidence that he booked the holiday under a false identity.’ ‘So how can I help?’ ‘You’ve spent time around Zack. I need to know if he’s been acting strangely in any way recently, and if there’s any other ways to contact him.’ ‘I’ll speak to Sharon and then get back to you. Nancy is my only priority.’ ‘Thank you.’

 

Baden, Austria

 

As the track of white noise concluded, the headphones were taken away. ‘Nancy, stand up.’ She did, and turned around with a blank look in her eyes. ‘I have been brainwashed, I want to be obedient, make me be obedient.’ ‘Does that really mean ANYTHING?’ ‘Yes, you can do whatever you like with me.’ She then had her phone placed back in her hand. ‘Phone young master Zack, tell him what’s going on.’

 

She then phoned him as her hair was taken down. ‘Nancy, I’m done talking, go away.’ ‘Stop, it’s ok. I’ve been brainwashed. Master Jordan is tying my hair into a ponytail and Mistress Alexa is preparing me right now.’ ‘I’ll be there in 15 minutes. I want you to be stripped by then.’ ‘Yes master Zack.’

 

As Zack arrived, he saw the sight he wanted. Nancy was stood, with her black scrunchie tying a pair of ponytails which gradually split, and she was completely naked, with it being clear that the other men in the hamlet had already had their way with her. ‘Nancy, tell me you love me and only me.’ ‘I only love my Master Zack and want to be his forever slave.’ ‘Good girl. Now we’re going to finish the job. Now get in the car.’

 

As she did get in, Zack went over to the others. ‘Satisfied?’ ‘Looks like you’ve done a good job. Contact her and tell her to place the note, we’re on our way back.’ As he got into the car himself, he looked at Nancy, who was sat silently awaiting instruction. ‘Nancy, ring this phone number, and tell the person on the other end that Zack’s bringing you home to them.’ ‘Yes sir.’ As she rung the number, they roared off.

 

As they came down the hill from the first town, the diversion that had blocked their path was suddenly no longer present. Zack smiled, and drove straight through, taking a significant shortcut back to the airport. When they arrived back, he tossed a checked shirt and skirt at Nancy. ‘Put these on, you’ll need them.’ As she did, he got his fake passport out and jumped out of the car with relish.

 

As people walked past entering the airport, he opened the passenger door, and took Nancy’s hand, almost dragging her onto her feet. He then looked into her empty eyes, and took her hand, before they walked together into the airport. Getting through check-in easily, they quickly boarded the plane before anyone could have the chance to stop them, and soon were on their way back to Walford.

 

In Walford

 

Shirley was returning to the Vic from speaking with Linda, carrying some contact details. She stopped in her tracks though when she got to the pub and saw a note taped to the door, reading “We have Nancy, and she isn’t being released. We want 50,000 euros by the end of the day, otherwise we will be selling her into slavery.’ Below that was a phone number, presumably to contact for bank details.

 

Seeing this, Shirley walked straight in, and looked around. ‘Everyone finish your drinks and then go, we’re closing for the day.’ Mick looked confused, as did Frankie, until around five minutes later, when everyone else had left. She then presented them both with the ransom note. ‘Just found this on the door.’ As she said that, she turned to Frankie. ‘You’ve got a good nose for trouble. Take you far around here.’

 

‘You think this is related to Zack?’ ‘How could it not be? He was on holiday with her, suddenly she’s been caught by whoever. Wouldn’t surprise me if the slimy bastard did it himself.’ Mick was less convinced though. ‘No no no no no, not Zack. He’s a good man, he’s a kind man.’ Frankie then concurred. ‘He’s right, Zack wouldn’t have done this.’ ‘And what makes you say that?’

 

‘Think about it - Zack clearly fancies her. He’s absolutely head over heels for her. The last thing he’d want is her to get hurt in any way.’ ‘Which is why he was driving her around a foreign country without a full driving licence.’ ‘Which makes me think, he isn’t alone.’ Mick was about to veto the idea, but interested in the theory, Shirley stopped him. ‘What are you thinking Frankie.’ She then drew a diagram to try and explain.

 

‘So what if he isn’t alone. He’s been put up to this by somebody, and they set up the ransom. But what if it isn’t the same person?’ ‘What - almost like a middleman?’ ‘Exactly! Someone’s using him. Just can’t work out why he’d do it.’ ‘Neither can we. In the meantime, what do we do?’ ‘We find the money. I need to speak to Linda. We’re going to get her back safe.’ As Mick left, Shirley wanted to know more about Frankie’s suspicions.

 

‘Why are you so sure there’s a middleman?’ ‘You said it yourself earlier, Sharon told you that he has no money. You think anyone’s going to go to all this trouble for free? Someone has to be funding it.’ ‘So we’re looking for someone with a lot of money who has some form of grudge.’ ‘Who has a grudge with Nancy though? Everyone loves her.’ They continued to debate this, while time ticked by.

 

Across the square

 

As Sharon’s doorbell rang, Linda answered, and found Mick on her doorstep. ‘Well look what the cat dragged in, I didn’t think you’d be back this quickly.’ ‘Stop messing around L, this note was on the door of the Vic.’ As she read it, her face dropped. ‘Not my beautiful Nancy.’ ‘Listen, I… I don’t want to ask you this as much as you don’t want to speak to me, but there’s no way we’re raising that 50,000.’

 

‘Well you’ll just have to sell the pub won’t you? Get a bank loan out and pay it back when the sale goes through.’ ‘We can’t give up what we worked so hard for.’ ‘Well there’s no way I can afford that kind of money.’ ‘I’m not asking you to pay it all. I’m just asking for something, anything to help us out. If we can just scrape the money together, I promise I’ll pay back anything you give me in double.’

 

Hearing this, Linda had a rethink. ‘Give me about an hour, Sharon should be back by then. I’ll see if she’s got some money to put towards it. In the meantime I’ll work out what I can give you. Just keep me updated please.’ ‘Of course L. I know she means as much to you as anything in the world. And thank you.’ No sooner had Mick stepped off of the doorstep then the door slammed shut behind him.

 

Inside the house, Linda went into the kitchen, and there sat Nancy and Zack. ‘I brought her back for you.’ Linda smiled at her daughter, before hugging her, all while there was no reaction. ‘Now why don’t we have a little chat?’ Nancy just looked at Zack for approval, and he nodded, leaving her to leave the room with Linda. Zack then looked at his phone, and texted one of the associates.

 

In the Queen Vic

 

Frankie and Shirley were still trying to work out who would have a grudge against Nancy when Mick returned. ‘L said that she’ll speak with Sharon when she gets back in an hour, and then see what they can do.’ Shirley had bad news though. ‘Fat chance of that - I just spoke to Sharon and she’s apparently on a ferry to the South of France as we speak. Won’t be back for two weeks.’

 

Meanwhile, Frankie continued to scribble madly, before she came to a realisation. ‘I’ve been stupid, I’ve been so so stupid!’ This made the others turn around. ‘We’ve spent this time working out who has a grudge against Nancy, right?’ ‘Yeah, and we came up with the sum total of a random bus driver she argued with three weeks ago. Poor bloke apparently lost his job as a result of that complaint.’

 

‘Yeah, well we’ve been doing it wrong. We shouldn’t be thinking of who has a grudge against Nancy, it’s who would want Nancy to not be exactly here. Who has a grudge that would involve her as collateral?’ At this exact moment, a lightbulb flicked on in her head. ‘Oh my god I can see it.’ Instead of sharing her idea, Frankie ran out of the pub as fast as possible, ignoring the shouts from Mick and Shirley.

 

She ran through the square, urgently looking around as if searching for a familiar face. And after a couple of minutes, she saw the face she was looking for, and froze but for a moment. A moment which allowed the Austrian gang to sneak behind her, and put a sack on her head, before snatching her off of the street and throwing her into a nearby van, before accelerating away as a number of concerned residents contacted the police.

 

On the outskirts of Walford

 

Having been caught, Frankie was dragged out of the van, and towards the woman who had previously done for Nancy, complete with her glass ball setup, before the sack was taken off of her head. As the ball started to glow red, she tried to look away, but had her head pushed closer to the ball instead, and quickly, she became completely entranced like Nancy. ‘You will be a good girl.’ She then stood up, the process being remarkably quick in comparison to Nancy’s. ‘Do what you need to with me, I will follow any command.’

 

Quickly she was chaperoned away, to a quiet area where two other men waited with a pair of headphones. They were the exact same pair used for Nancy previously, judging by the curly blonde hairs on the top. As she was plugged in, the men laughed. ‘See you in an hour little Frankie.’ They then placed the headphones on, and the white noise transmitted into her brain while she stared dead ahead.

 

In the square

 

Linda had another knock on the door. As she answered, a woman in her mid 20s with lustrous black hair stood. ‘Alexa, I didn’t know you were coming.’ ‘I’ve received notice that Frankie is with them. How’s it coming along here?’ Linda invited her in, and shut the door. She then showed the mysterious Alexa to the living room, where Nancy was sat. ‘I’ve been telling her exactly what I want her to know. Haven’t I Nancy? Go on, tell her what you’ve been told.’

 

She looked around and immediately recanted. ‘Mick Carter is a terrible father, a terrible husband and an evil man. He’s made a misery of everybody’s lives and I am not to ever consider him anything more than a failure.’ ‘Very good. Now about that conversation we had the other day…’ ‘I told you my stance. Once a week, and I have to have a 50% cut of the profits.’ ‘What about lover boy?’

 

‘He’s completely expendable. She’s not marrying some random bloke she met at the pub, she’s going to find someone rich.’ ‘How are you getting rid of him then?’ ‘Simple - once Nancy’s ready, we’re moving away from here, and using my maiden name. Then I’m going to get him arrested, he’ll take the rap for all of this. By the time he comes up we’ll be gone without a trace.’ ‘Well then we should have them both present for this then.’

 

‘What - her going out, now?’ ‘We can take pictures, make it look like he’s responsible for it all.’ Linda seemed to like this evil idea. ‘Nancy dear.’ She looked at her with a blank expression. ‘Alexa here wants you to go and expose Mick. Go on.’ She stood up, and left silently. Shortly afterwards, Zack also walked out, leaving Linda to hand a bundle of cash to Alexa, who counted it up. ‘It’s in British pounds, but I’ve done the calculations and it’s just over 20,000, just what I promised.’ ‘Pleasure doing business with you.’

 

The gang returned to Frankie nearly an hour later, with a brainwashed Nancy with them. Linda’s poison had seeped in to the point that Nancy no longer recognised Frankie nor Mick. The older man started to kiss Frankie on the neck, and she didn’t respond. It was only when he tried to undress her that he got a shock, as she quietly said ‘I’m deaf you creep.’

 

She then elbowed him, and started trying to fight the gang away, until Jack arrived to break it up. ‘DI Jack Branning.’ The promise of the police was enough to make them all flee, but Zack was tripped by Frankie, allowing Jack to catch and cuff him. ‘You with me, now.’ He then dragged Zack to the Vic, while Frankie took Nancy there.

 

At the Vic

 

In the pub, Zak was handcuffed to a chair, and then interrogated by Mick. ‘What have you done to my daughter?’ ‘No idea what you’re talking about.’ ‘Nah nah, I don’t think you were quite listening. You see, when I ask you what you’ve done to my daughter, what you do is you tell me exactly what you’ve done. So let me try this again - what have you done to my daughter?’ Zack got right in Mick’s face to reply. ‘I have done NOTHING.’

 

Hearing this was enough to tip Mick over the edge, and he delivered a thunderous slap across his face. ‘Stop lying to me. What have you done to my daughter?’ Remaining resolute, Zack’s failure to answer earned him a second slap. Time and again, Mick would demand an answer, and Zack would fail to deliver it. Until eventually, Frankie had seen enough, and with Zack bleeding from the mouth, intervened. ‘I think I know how to get through to him.’

 

Frankie then pulled up a chair, sat in front of him, and crossed her legs. ‘Go on then.’ ‘Go on what?’ What she said next shocked everybody. ‘We all know it wasn’t you. We all know that it was Linda. Go on, it’s not like you can protect her either way now.’ Mick couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘No, she can’t, it just doesn’t make any sense.’ Shirley though had seen the light. ‘It makes perfect sense Mick. She has been hell bent on revenge ever since you two broke up.’ She then got in Zack’s face. ‘You’ve got a simple choice. Tell us what’s going on, or you and Linda can both be arrested. If you tell us, we’ll let you off.’

 

Before she could say anything else, Zack decided to come clean. ‘If you already know I ain’t got nothing to hide. Linda contacted me the day before the trip and told me that she wanted me to take Nancy on holiday to Austria, she had some contacts there who were going to make her want me. And I mean properly want me. She made me realise that the only way Nancy would ever fancy me is if I made her, and I couldn’t bear the idea of not being with her. So she paid me £40,000 do this, and then she was going to have me and Nancy move far away.’

 

‘Or at least that was the plan until I heard her talking about making me take the fall for all of this.’ ‘So you decided to kidnap me.’ ‘That wasn’t me, I was at Sharon’s the entire time until you saw me. I knew what they were doing wouldn’t work, and was hoping to sneak off when they were distracted. Obviously didn’t work out though did it? She’ll start getting back to normal within a couple of weeks anyway.’

 

As he said this, he voluntarily handed Shirley a phone. ‘It’s in the texts with Linda.’ Shirley looked through the texts, and quickly found what she was looking for. ‘He’s telling the truth, says 2.5 weeks.’ ‘How did they do it though - what did they do?’ Zack just shrugged. ‘I wasn’t there, I was specifically told to leave her by the side of the road. I’m just the monkey and she was always planning on setting me up.’

 

Frankie then walked back over, and released the handcuffs from the chair, alarming Jack. ‘What are you doing?’ ‘If he tries to run away right now, how far do you think he gets before the Police catch him?’ ‘Good point. So what do we do about this? We need a confession to get anywhere.’ This triggered something in her mind, and she whispered a plan to Jack, who nodded to her. ‘Mick, we need your help.’

 

20 minutes later

 

Linda arrived at the pub having received a text from Zack’s phone. When she arrived though, Mick was stood there with Nancy. ‘What’s this then?’ ‘I know what you did to her. Some mother you are.’ ‘How dare you question my parenting! What gives you the right to question my parenting when you’re the one running off with a golddigger?’ ‘You know full well there’s nothing going on. So what was it? Could you not stand Nancy having two parents?’

 

‘You’re no parent.’ ‘At least I didn’t arrange for my daughter to be kidnapped in a foreign country!’ ‘She’ll feel better for it. Nancy would never listen to me as long as she had you in her ear, so I did what I had to to make sure that she knew the truth about you. Being in a foreign country was just to keep you from interfering.’ ‘You see, that’s the bit I don’t get at all. You spend all this money on drinking your life away, but we never made much money here. So where do you get this money from?’

 

Linda then started to get more arrogant. ‘How stupid are you Mick? Did you not think it was a bit weird that we were always full and never made a decent profit? Did you not think it was a bit strange that I was so insistent about not getting an accountant? I always took the profits because you could never be trusted with it, you’d just have used it to set up another place that would fail. Because that’s what you are Michael Carter - you are a failure!’ She then grabbed Nancy by the hand. ‘Nancy, we’re going.’

 

Linda stormed out of the pub, making sure to slam the door behind her, and turned around to find armed police aiming at her, causing her to immediately drop Nancy’s hand and hold hers up. Jack then put handcuffs on her. ‘What’s going on here?’ Mick then walked out, and played back their conversation with the help of a listening device Jack had installed on him. ‘Linda Carter, you are under arrest on suspicion of Conspiracy to Kidnap and Embezzlement. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you don’t mention something which you later rely on in court, anything you do say may be given in evidence.’

 

She just looked over at Mick, Shirley, Frankie, and Zack stood together with Nancy. ‘How… could you?’ Zack didn’t say anything, but Frankie made a point of flipping the bird at Linda, as she was taken away to a Police van. As she was driven away, Jack came over to Zack, who held his hand out, expecting to be arrested. ‘Not this time big boy. If it goes to court, I can set up a bargain. We’ll let you off for free as an accessory, but in exchange, we need you to testify against Linda, explaining what you told us here.’ ‘Absolutely.’

 

‘What are you doing in the meantime?’ ‘I was going to ask this lot back indoors, but I’m thinking of taking Nancy to Austria on a proper holiday, try and get her back to her old self.’ He then passed his fake documents to Frankie. ‘If I’m not back in a month, by all means hand these in to the Police.’ She just looked and smiled to him. ‘You’re a good man Zack. Don’t forget that.’ Mick then had an announcement.

 

‘Mother, I need to tell you all something.’ ‘We’re listening.’ ‘I’ve… decided to leave this pub.’ ‘What?’ ‘Especially after what’s gone on with L, and with Janine, I just need to get away from here. An old geezer who I knew once, he’s opening a bar in Dublin and asked me to come and help run it. So, I wanted to ask you and Frankie if you would fancy running the pub for me?’ Frankie looked delighted at the thought. ‘I’d love to.’ Shirley smiled hearing this. ‘We’ll sort this place out good and proper. And when Zack and Nancy return, they can help out as well.’ Frankie then had one more thought. ‘Oh, if you don’t mind, we’re thinking of telling Janine she can stay… if she likes.’ ‘That’s good of you. You’re a good kid Frankie.’ ‘Thanks.’ With that, they all hugged, and Zack and Nancy left to take a well earned break in the Alps.

 

FINI