Swell (Complete)

Chapter Fourteen (Part Two)

"There's not a lot of things I regret,
But I'm doing my best just not to remember them."

....

Will picked up a piece of toast and frowned as he walked to the front door.
Who was knocking on the front door this early on a Monday morning?
It wasn't even half past seven.
The knocks came again, more insistent this time and he stepped quicker.
"Coming." He opened the door and stood back in surprise at the two uniformed police officers standing on the front step.
"Good morning, are you Thomas Taylor?" The short, plump female was straight to the point and with a mouthful of toast, Will shook his head.
He swallowed the toast, the spread on it suddenly feeling as dry as a mouthful of sand. "No, I'm Will. Tom's in the shower. Is this about his car?"
He looked from the stern female to the lanky male officer. He barely looked out of high school. His face was acne scarred and his figure was skinnier than Will would have ever imagined for a police officer. It was almost comical the opposing size of the officers standing before him.
"Yes. May we come in?" The woman's stern face broke with a tight smile.
"Uh, yea, sure." Will opened the door more and stepped aside. "I'll go and let Tom know to hurry up." He led them to the lounge room. "Erm, have a seat."
Will didn't wait around to see if they sat on the plush couch. He headed down the hallway, his toast now cold in his hand.

The bathroom door was open and steam was floating into the hall. Tom's bedroom door was closed. Will tried to push the anxious feeling growing in his stomach down as he knocked on his brother's door.
"Um, Tom, there's some police officers waiting for you in the lounge. I think they've found your car." He said through the door.
"Yes!" Tom's voice was loud and excited and he pulled open his door with a broad smile. He was only half dressed as he walked down the hall towards the lounge room, drying his hair with the towel. Will looked down at the half eaten piece of toast in his hand and went via the kitchen to throw the toast into the bin before he joined his brother in the lounge.
"Where is it?"
He'd walked in after Tom had greeted the officers. The young male officer was sitting, the older female was standing looking at the family photos.
"It was spotted stuck on the rocks near the cliffs of Captain's Cove." The female turned around and faced them both. Will frowned.
"Wait, what?" Tom lowered his arm and the towel from his hair.
"Identical twins. Excuse me for staring, I've not actually met any twins before." She added, looking at them both in turn before continuing. "The car was found at the bottom of the cliffs; there's wheel marks heading off the cliff leading us to believe it was pushed off. There's nobody inside, thankfully, but some suspicious damage."
"What do you mean suspicious damage? Who would push my car off a cliff?" Tom's confusion was making his voice slightly higher than normal and Will leaned back against the doorframe.
So someone had stolen the Lancer and pushed it off a cliff?
He looked at his brother and tried to figure out why someone would do that in a town like this. Nobody had mentioned any joy riders living in town, and surely in one as small as Wheeler Falls if any existed everyone would know them.
"The car is being lifted out now so it can be taken to be examined."
"Examined for what?" Tom asked, his tone now indignant as if the police woman was attacking him personally.
"Mr Taylor, we have to ask you to come to the station with us." The male officer stood up, and his deep voice commanded attention.
Will looked from the police officers to his brother. "Why?" He asked.
"It's just standard questioning about the car being stolen, nothing to worry about." The female smiled.
The churning from earlier suddenly grew nauseating in his stomach as he felt suspicion thickening the atmosphere.
Tom leaned back and shook his head. "I reported it yesterday when I couldn't find it, why do I need to be questioned?"
"We just want to go over your report now we have found the car and are getting information from the scene. It won't take long, and we can drop you off at school afterwards. Please go and finish getting dressed." The male spoke.
Tom made an annoyed sound and shook his head as he walked back down the hallway to his bedroom.