Page 73 of A Merry Little Christmas
I peered into the gloom, desperate for a sighting of the BMW, but it seemed to have escaped and my heart was in my mouth. Wecouldn’thave lost it at this late stage, could we?
It was entirely possible, though. We were in the outskirts of Hove now and there were dozens of streets the car could have turned into . . .
‘Hell, we’ve lost it.’ Caleb thumped the wheel in frustration and I knew he was angry at himself for having got out of the car and possibly alerted the driver to the fact that he was being tailed. His courageous attempt to rescue Will had backfired because time had been wasted, leaving the enemy to speed away into the night.
‘Well done for trying, though,’ I murmured, and he looked across at me and tried to smile.
‘What do we do now? The car could be anywhere,’ he said gloomily.
‘I guess we drive around Hove and look for it?’
He nodded and carried on in the direction of the town centre.
‘The local police might be at the address by now,’ I added. ‘Maybe they’ve already found Will.’
But a feeling of hopelessness was clinging to me now.
If onlyweknew the address . . .
‘I suppose if we see a police car, we could try following it,’ said Caleb. ‘On the basis that it might be the police called to the address.’
I nodded. ‘Good thinking.’
I’d just got the words out when I spotted an actual police car travelling towards us. I gasped and pointed. ‘We need to turn around.’
But Caleb was already on it, pulling into a petrol station and driving out of the exit so that we were now on the tail of the police car.
‘No blue lights,’ I noted anxiously. But then next second, a siren started up and the lights started flashing.
‘I really hope they’re leading us to where we need to be,’ Caleb murmured, speeding after it.
The car turned into a street we’d passed a while back, and Caleb followed.
‘There’s the black car! Wonky roof rack. On that driveway.’ I pointed ahead, just as the police car came to a stop outside the house.
Caleb pulled in behind them and switched off the engine.
‘So do we just sit here and wait?’ I murmured anxiously.
Caleb nodded, still gripping the steering wheel. He stared over at the unassuming-looking bungalow on our left, as the police – a man and a woman – walked up the path and knocked on the door. ‘What I’dliketo do is get out and hammer on that front door,’ he said in a deceptively soft voice. ‘And break in if I have to. But I guess we need to let the police do their job.’
I nodded. Then the door slowly opened and my eyes widened in surprise when I saw who was standing there: an elderly woman with pale grey hair and glasses. She looked to be in her late seventies or eighties.
The police were talking to her for a while on the doorstep, then she was inviting them in.
We watched in silence. And about five minutes later, the door opened and they came out again. I held my breath as they looked inside the car and then opened the boot.
It was clearly empty.
‘But where is he? The driver, I mean?’ I felt completely bewildered. ‘And where’s Will?’
Caleb shook his head in despair. ‘Come on. Let’s introduce ourselves.’
So we got out and spoke to the pair, explaining the situation. They were understanding and sympathetic, and the female police officer made some notes and told us that the house belonged to the woman we’d seen on the doorstep. Her name was Eileen, and she also owned the BMW. She said she’d been out to the supermarket and had just driven back.
‘Are you certain your nephew was taken?’ asked the male police officer. ‘There’s no chance that he’s just gone off with a mate and not told anyone?’
Caleb shook his head. ‘No. Will wouldn’t do that. He would know his mum would be worried.’ I could tell Caleb was having to hold onto his temper when he spoke to them, and I totally understood his frustration. He knew Will wasn’t the type to just go off without telling his mum where he was going. But of course, they didn’t.
