Chapter 3: The Beat Up

(EIGHT WEEKS EARLIER)

It was a cold winter morning, Grace had just finished her jog and was coming up through the bushes and walking along the road to get to the motel she was staying at.  She had only come into town four days ago and each day she started her day with a run, before she embarked in morning conference calls, answering emails, reviewing and signing off proposals, resolving issues that her managers had escalated to her to do with the business, as well as tasks in relocating her Head Office from Boston to Straco City.  It was a big move going from one City to another but she had to make a clean break after nearly being discovered by that man she ran away from in Australia.  The only other big task was to go apartment hunting that she started three days ago. As she contemplated the apartments she was viewing today, she was excited at the prospect of two of the apartments being right on the beach. She couldn’t wait to move into her own apartment and turn it into her home.

As she pondered what her apartment would look like, she heard screeching of cars and then saw and heard a couple of big bangs.  There were two cars smashing into a Bentley on the road.  One of the cars from the back and the other from the side. The Bentley was very banged up in no time at all.  Grace was still away off but as she crept closer, she noticed a man getting out of each of the cars that had smashed up the Bentley. The two men pulled the driver out, gagged him, tied his hands behind his back, landed several punches and kicks all over his body and then threw him on the floor.  They then dragged out the passenger.  The passenger looked like he was between 25 and 30 years old with short, black, wavy hair.  As Grace was still slowly creeping up along the cliff wall trying not to be discovered, she saw they were kicking and punching this man.  At this point, Grace put her hood over her head and yelled out “Oi, what do you think you are doing?  Have you no shame attacking innocent men?”.  The two men looked at each other and decided that they needed to handle her.  They could not afford to have any witnesses that could identify them. They were given orders by their father to finish off Sean Harper and not leave any witnesses or evidence behind.  This man that they attacked was the Lead Lawyer Mr Sean Harper in the case against their father.  Sean had successfully won the case and their father was sentenced to 12 years behind bars.  They were there to teach all lawyers a lesson.  They were going to take Sean’s life and that included any witnesses like his driver and now this young girl.

The two men decided that they would grab Grace, gag her and give her the same fate as Sean. Afterall, they attacked Sean’s car in a quiet area so no one would see them and then identify them, so they could not let this young girl be a witness. Little did they know that Grace was exceptional in her fighting skills.  She was a Black Belt in Martial Arts and had also excelled in other self-defence and attack techniques that were quite unique, all taught to her by her grandfather.  As they confidently approached Grace, she gave the first one a powerful kick that flung him hard against the cliff wall.  The other guy lunged for her, so she grabbed his hand twisted it, crushed it and then threw a few more punches in quick succession.  As the first guy got up, she gave him some punches and broke his arm, his nose and one of his legs. Grace then ripped one of their shirts and tied them securely.  They were writhing in so much pain and trying to say something to her but they were gagged, so she couldn’t hear them.  After that, Grace attended to the passenger of the car by initially untying his hands. With his swollen eyes that had been punched and bleeding mouth, he thanked her and then asked her to attend to his driver after she had helped him.  Grace attended to the driver that was semi-conscious by first removing the gag on his mouth and untying him. She called the Police and Ambulance and then gave both Sean and his driver basic first aid. By the time the ambulance and police arrived, both Sean and his driver were unconscious.  The blows they had received by the assailants were very harsh. Grace rode in the Ambulance where she gave the paramedics a detailed account of how they had sustained their injuries, not forgetting to tell them that she had put the driver’s shoulder back into place after the thugs had dislocated it. Once she arrived at the hospital, Grace spoke to one of the police officers, a doctor and then took off.  She had no intention of being recognised as their saviour and by the looks of the passenger’s suit and car, he was definitely not a nobody. Her job was done and it would defeat her purpose of laying low.

Meanwhile over in the corner not far from the VIP area of the hospital where Sean and his driver were being admitted, a plain looking girl by the name of Claire had noticed the commotion. Claire was 24 years old, with a medium build, not slim or weighty. She had dark brown straight hair that came to her shoulders and brown eyes. Claire had been visiting her friend in hospital when she saw the most handsome man being taken into one of the VIP rooms, so she stood in the area and eavesdropped on what was going on.  Although Sean was bruised, it did not take away from his striking good looks. She could see that Sean was no ordinary person.  He was being treated in the VIP area of the hospital. As Sean’s family were away on a trip to Europe for a few weeks, they were unable to be contacted, so his assistant Leo was contacted.  He had just arrived and was with Sean.

The Police and Doctors explained that a young lady saved him against the two assailants and contacted the Ambulance and Police. “Where is this young Lady, is she still here?”, asked Leo. “I cannot remember what she looked like as everything happened quickly but I do remember that she wore shorts and a hoodie”, answered one of the Police Officers.  At that very moment in time, Claire decided this was her time, she stepped into the room and said, “I am his saviour.  I saved his life. I called the Police and Ambulance.  I hope he is alright.  “Weren’t you wearing hoodie and exercise shorts?” asked the Police officer. “Yes, I was but I just changed myself as they had a lot of blood from the attack”.  “Oh, that makes sense”, stated the Police Officer.  He was not the one that took down her statement at the scene, it was one of his fellow Police Officers, so he had not talked to her at all but had seen the back of her at the hospital.

“Do you want me to check you for any injuries?” asked Dr Mavis whom was the Dr on duty attending to both Sean and his driver.  “um, err, no need.  I’m fine, I only have a few bruises.  Um, ah, best to look after the two people I saved.  That is where your attention should be”, she stuttered.

(END OF FLASHABCK - BACK AT THE CAFÉ)

Whilst this group of friends were chatting as they left the Café to go to their respective workplaces, Sean’s phone rang.  He looked at the Caller ID and saw that it was Claire calling for the second time today.  With an exasperated sigh, he answered the phone. “What’s up Claire?”.  “Sean, what are you doing? Have you eaten breakfast?”, Claire asked him.  “Yes, I just finished up now” he responded.  “What about lunch, can we have lunch together?” She asked. Claire, don’t worry about me, I’ll be in Court before lunch today so I won’t have time for lunch, just take care of yourself.  I have to go now, bye” and with that he hung up on her.  “Is she still calling you every day and pestering you?” Sebastian asked him.  Sean sighed in exasperation, “I do not know what to do, she calls me at least 2-4 times a day and that doesn’t include the numerous texts she sends me throughout the day.  Bro, I feel guilty for being annoyed at her calling and texting me all the time but I owe her, she saved my life. If it wasn’t for her, the Cass brothers would have killed me that day.  She managed to somehow bring them down and save both me and my driver”.  Carter could see Sean being torn over his guilt.  “Sean, I’m glad she saved your life but you’ve already bought her a house, a Ferrari and you give her a $20,000 monthly allowance.  The girl is 23 years old and doesn’t have to work at all because she is a kept woman.  I think she has the hots for you.  I think you need to be very careful so as not to give her any hope”, Carter pointed out. “I don’t feel anything towards her but gratitude. I’ve already made it clear to her and want to make sure we live our lives separately; I am just paying back a debt I owe her” he stated.  With that, Sean looked at his watch and then headed off to work as he was due in Court in 2 hours, so he needed to prep for it.  They all then left to their respective workplaces.

A few days later, Sean, Carter and Sebastian were in Carter’s office discussing their latest investment that the three of them were collaborating on together.  As their discussions on their collaboration came to an end, Sebastian asked Sean, “Hey Sean, how’s the shoulder and other injuries you sustained during the ambush a few months ago healing?  I know you’ve been going to Physio and been seeing Doctors regularly but is everything ok?” Although Sean was very fit and healthy, the assault from the two assailants had taken him by surprise and although most of his injuries had healed and the back aches were getting better, his headaches were very persistent and interfered with his day-to-day life.  “I’m healing well, although I’ve had persistent headaches almost daily to the point that they sometimes turn into migraines and I also have lower back pains a few times a week.  The Doctor tells me that it might be something I may need to live with because of the impact of the car accident and the beating I received before Claire came to save me,” Sean answered.  “I’m sorry to hear that Sean and please let us know if there is anything we can do for you.  I do recommend seeing an Acupuncturist.  Dad had some acupuncture carried out on his foot when he was attacked four weeks ago and it made a difference to the pain almost immediately at that time, although he hasn’t followed up with another acupuncturist since that day”, responded Carter.

“Yeah, I’m going to have to look at alternative therapies because it makes it hard to appear in court and prepare for court when I’ve got a severe headache and even back pain.  While we are on the subject of injuries, Carter, I’ve been meaning to ask how your dad is.  How’s his foot healing?”  Being head of one of the richest families in Straco City, Carter’s dad Connor Watson always went out with a Bodyguard.  In Straco City as in every other City, there were always undesirables where those that were well-off tended to be targets for kidnap and extortion of money.  Although Carter is the CEO of Watson Corporation, Connor still attends the Board meetings, merely to just get out of the house and mingle with some of the board members.  He handed over the reins of Watson Corporation to Carter when Carter turned 22 years old and since then Carter has expanded the company by at least 25% in terms of Net Worth.  He has also expanded into Marketing and Advertising so that they are not solely relying on investments that Connor had been involved in.

(FOUR WEEKS AGO)

Four weeks ago, Connor was leaving a Board Meeting at ‘Watson Corporation’ with one of his Bodyguards.  He crossed the Road with his bodyguard heading to where the car was parked.  Just as he was about to get to the car, Connor was forcefully grabbed. At that time, Grace was coming out of the café next door when this situation unfolded in front of her.  Grace ran over swung on the horizontal bar just under the roof outside the cafe and swung both of her feet into one of the kidnapper’s faces that knocked him onto the ground.  She then stepped on his leg and the sound of a ‘crack’ indicated she had broken his leg.  The other kidnapper shoved Connor aside to deal with Grace.  He came charging with a menacing face towards Grace and was about to punch her when Grace leapt into the air landing an almighty side kick into his face which landed him onto the floor.  She then yelled at Connor’s bodyguard, “What use are you as a bodyguard when you can’t even protect your boss? You certainly could do with more intensive training. Tie them up, call the police and an ambulance while I check on your boss”. 

Grace approached Connor.  Connor had black, silvery hair, big brown eyes and was very handsome. She helped him up so that he was leaning against the car and then she softly spoke to him. “Sir, can I have your name and do you give me permission to check you?” Connor looked at Grace with pain in his eyes “You can call me Connor.  Yes, you can check me but only if it is no trouble to you. My foot is very sore, so I won’t be able to walk on it.  I just hope it is not broken”, he said to her in a hoarse voice as he was wincing in pain.  “Mr Connor, I just want to put it out there that I am not a doctor but a natural therapist.  You are indeed not troubling me in the slightest and I do not think it is broken but rather sprained, however once you get to the hospital the scans will tell you for sure whether it is broken or sprained,” she answered him in a very gentle manner as she smiled at him.  There was a small crowd of people surrounding them. The owner of the café asked if she needed anything, so Grace asked for an ice pack.  By the time the ice pack was brought over, Connor’s bodyguard had finished tying up the assailants and called both the police and ambulance and Grace had placed her jacket under his foot so that it was slightly elevated.

Grace then took her water bottle out of her back pack, gave him some which he gladly took and then checked his foot further. There was swelling, redness and no doubt over the next few hours, the bruising would become apparent. “Let’s hope that as per my initial assessment that it is sprained rather than broken. Let’s apply the ice pack temporarily and keep it elevated with the jacket I’ve placed underneath it.  Once you get to the hospital, the Doctors will triage you and treat you accordingly.  I’d also like to put some acupuncture needles on your foot to help take the edge off that throbbing pain, do you give me permission?”, she asked Connor.  “I’ve never had anything done like that before but the pain is unbearable, so I’m happy for you to give it a try as I am desperate,” he answered whilst wincing in pain. Grace reached into her backpack and took out a little purse with an assorted of needles in there.  “You will only feel a slight prick and it will not hurt”, she told him as she inserted three of them around his foot.

A few minutes later, Connor’s bodyguard approached Grace and told her that the boss’s son worked in the building across the road and he was on his way.  After a few minutes, Grace removed the acupuncture needles.  Connor reached out and grabbed Grace’s hands and then said to her, “The pain has subsided substantially, thank you so much.  The throbbing pain is gone and the sharp pains have dulled down a little.  I’d like you to leave your details so that my family can thank you”.  Grace smiled at Connor and said, “No need Mr Connor, I am just happy that these goons were not successful in their plans for you. The ambulance and police have arrived, so I will leave you in their capable hands after I have a word to one of the paramedics.  Good day and it was a pleasure meeting you Mr Connor”.  Grace had a word to one of the paramedics as the other one came to treat Connor and then left.  Connor realised that he didn’t even ask his angelic saviour with the Ocean Blue eyes what her name was, but Grace had already gone.