Page 16

FIFTEEN

Gina woke up gasping. In her dream, several men in masks had thrown her into some sort of dungeon. Some had been tapping away on their computers, others filming her while their friends defiled her. Breathing in and out, she gripped her quilt. She was home, she was safe, her house was alarmed and she had cameras pointed at her front drive and the back garden. Had anyone tried to come for her, she’d have got an alert on her phone. She quickly checked them. The one on the back door had gone offline again. As soon as the case was over, she needed to get it replaced.

She pulled her quilt off her, then Ebony jumped on her bed meowing for food. Cuddling Ebony was helping to calm her heart rate. She kissed the back of her furry head, never more grateful to see her little friend.

Her laptop was still open at the end of the empty side of her bed. The constant monitoring of Men-R-Takin-It-Back was really getting under her skin. The photo she’d been sent had barely gained any traction, thank goodness. But she was definitely a target, and the messages had continued. What disturbed her more, however, was how these sickos relayed their fantasies online.

How to make women uncomfortable while walking out at night. If they cross the road, cross too, catch up and match their pace, make them feel your presence, make them know you’re the man.

It was all a misogynistic game to them.

She shuddered at what she’d been reading. These were the type of men who were sending emails to her, and very soon they’d be phoning her or even turning up at her door.

She hadn’t seen any sign of Stephen back in the area, but he had to be.

She thought of how he might look now, his face and neck gnarly from the burns he’d suffered in the past after the fire ravaged him. She remembered that case well. Stephen had been central to it. She thought he’d have learnt from his past and stayed away from his misogynistic ways, but no, he was back at it again.

He’d stand out.

She read another post on the forum.

They can’t prosecute you for crossing a road or staring, but that bitch will remember how uncomfortable she felt for life. Maybe she should have stopped being a whore and going out all night, teasing pricks. If you have the power, don’t let those bitches get the jobs. Keep them where they belong. We can take our rightful position back. We have nothing. They’ve taken it all from us. Our masculinity, our careers, our children – everything. They don’t fight wars. We die earlier or we kill ourselves, and they get it all. That’s why Men are Taking it Back. Real men!

She stretched and Ebony jumped down. She picked up the new laptop she only used for browsing, hoping that the VPN would keep her identity safe. There was someone she needed to contact: slimy journalist, Pete Bloxwich. She’d do that later.

As the previous owner of BoyzRTakinItBack, she wondered if he was behind this site, and she still had the leverage she needed to bring him down. Had he resurfaced and changed the word Boyz to Men on the new website? She and Pete had a deal. She kept the fact that he was behind that horrible website a secret, in exchange for him leaving her alone.

Her buzzing phone made her flinch. ‘Hello.’

‘That was fast. I’m gathering I didn’t wake you?’ Briggs asked.

‘No, I was just getting up.’

‘There’s been an attempted kidnapping outside the back of Cleevesford High. A man in a ski mask tried to force a woman on her way to a cleaning shift into a van. She’s very shaken up and forensics are on their way. Can you head over now?’

John Doe had a white van that he used to collect furniture for Calvin Harris. It might be a coincidence, but given the photos of the girl and the fact that a woman was nearly kidnapped, she doubted it. She had to consider that John Doe wasn’t working alone.