Page 72 of A Merry Little Christmas
‘I sent you a text,’ said Penny.
‘Right.’ Caleb fumbled for his phone and handed it to me, and I found the text and read out the registration.
I nodded at Caleb. ‘Penny, it’s a match. We’ve got the right car. We’ll get Will back, I promise you.’
‘Keep me posted,’ she called, sounding far away.
‘We will. I guess we know where we’re heading now, then,’ said Caleb. ‘Hove.’
‘Yes. But please be careful? You don’t know who you’re dealing with. They could have knives or anything.’
I swallowed hard. She was right, of course. We had no idea who was driving the car. What would we do when the car finally stopped? Were we equipped to challenge the kidnappers?
When the call from Penny ended, I cast a worried glance at Caleb. ‘What if the local police get to the address before us? The presence of the police would alert the kidnappers. They’d know we were onto them.’
He nodded. ‘I was thinking about that. But hopefully we can get there first.’
With renewed determination, he stepped on the accelerator and we drove on, keeping the BMW in our sights.
But I had a horrible panicky feeling in the pit of my stomach and so many questions running around inside my head.
It would be dark soon, which would make it more difficult to keep the black car in our sights. What if we lost it at a roundabout and weren’t able to follow it to its destination and find Will?
What if the kidnappers realised the police were onto them? What would they do with Will then?
An iron fist gripped my insides and squeezed.
I really didn’t want to think about that...
*****
It was starting to get dark as we approached Hove and began seeing signs for the town centre.
At a roundabout, the BMW pulled away ahead of us, so that by the time we stopped at a set of traffic lights, the kidnap vehicle was three cars in front.
Caleb was anxiously tapping the steering wheel as we waited for the lights to change, and I saw him glance sideways at his door. Instantly, I knew what he was thinking.
‘No, Caleb.’ I looked at him in a panic. ‘Stay in the car.’
He didn’t reply.
A muscle was working in his cheek as he stared straight ahead, and I watched him nervously out of the corner of my eye.
He wouldn’t get out, surely? It was too risky. He wouldn’t do it.
But then suddenly he made a dive for it, wrenching open his door and almost tumbling out. I stared in horror as he started sprinting towards the BMW – just as the lights were changing to green.
‘Oh, my God! Caleb!’ I whispered, my hands over my mouth in fear.
He was nearly there! Almost in reach of the car’s back door. Reaching for the handle now.
My heart was beating so fast, I thought it might burst out of my chest.
But then at the last moment, with a screech of tyres, the car roared away. And Caleb was left staring after it, hands dug into his hair in despair.
Other drivers were honking their horns for him to move out of the way. He sprinted back and slipped into his seat.
‘All right, all right!’ he muttered, waving an apology to the drivers behind us, before quickly moving off.
