The Search

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

I stood in the shadow of the porch and watched Derek struggling with his balaclava. He was twisting it so he would be able to see out of it. I wiped my sweaty palms down the side of my dark jeans. I gave Derek a glare to tell him to hurry up. The tension and excitement in the air was thrilling.

Derek knelt down at the door and started fiddling with one of my hair glides at the lock. He worked at it for about five minutes and with every minute passing by I became more and more nervous. I wanted to back down and give up but this was for Peter. I began to think about Peter and how if he was here now he would hold me and tell me I am brave.

“This is easy enough,” Derek smirked.

I rolled my eyes. Derek was always so sure of himself.

Suddenly the door jolted and it slowly creaked open. We tiptoed into the hallway that had once felt so much like home but was now dark and empty with boxes piled high. I recollected the bright wallpaper and family pictures that once hung on the wall and echoed friendliness to all who entered.

“There’s somebody in there, a man.”

Derek peered from the living room. I quickly shuffled in and saw the removal man snoring on the sofa.

“Let’s just get the job done, quickly.” I hissed.

We went back to the hallway and I revealed the penknife I had safely tucked inside my boot. I watched Derek stab open one of the cardboard boxes.

“Only ornaments in here Lowie.”

I nodded and resumed to quietly tearing open the box to reveal picture frames. I carefully lifted one of the photos and stood in shock.

“You okay?”

I stood still trying to understand what I was holding in my hand. In the picture stood three people, a man, Marcia and an eleven year old boy.  The man was not Marcia’s husband as Peter had told me he died when Peter was just two years old and he had shown me photos of his father, George, on many occasions. I then looked to the picture of the small boy. My heart swelled, he was extremely similar to Peter but I knew it wasn’t him. Peter’s smile was bigger, warmer and Peter’s signature dimples were not present on this boy’s face. Did Marcia have another family? Was she married before? But this was not possible, Peter had never mentioned having any brothers or sisters. I began to doubt again if he had told me everything about himself. He had told me I was his best friend and that he would never hide anything from me. I believed this because his eyes spoke truth. I looked deeper into the eyes of the little boy in the photo and realised his eyes were a shining blue, not sparkly brown like Peter’s.

Derek took the picture from my hand and flipped it over. 1996. Peter would have only been three or four at this stage so I really believed this couldn’t have been him. But why was Marcia in the picture?

We heard a stirring from the other room.

“Derek, that man was wearing some type of uniform. You have to go back and see what it is. I’m pretty sure he’s not the removal guy. They definitely don’t pay them enough to sleepover anyway!”

“It’s too risky.”

“Derek! Please.”

Derek sighed and looked at me intently. He then turned and went back into the living room while I ripped the picture out of the frame and folded it neatly into my back pocket.

“Hey! Who are you?”

I heard a gruff voice shout from the other room. Fear gripped my body and my eyes darted towards the door. No, I wasn’t leaving without Derek. Rumbling came from upstairs and I heard Marcia’s voice.

“Evan, is everything okay down there?”

“Lauren there’s someone here.”

I then saw Derek sneak round the side of the door. He grabbed my hand and threw the door open. He looked at me from the side of his eye and gave me a boyish grin. I heard heavy footsteps running towards us. We started running. The adrenaline was pumping through my body and we ran as fast as our legs could run. My pulse was quickening as we tore down the path and the flowers gloated. Derek let go of my hand and threw open the door of the car and jumped inside. I realised I hadn’t been breathing and let out a long breath as the car felt safe. I saw the huge mans shadow in the distance. Derek revved the car off the side of the road but not before I heard Evan shout,

 “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into Willow Davies.”

I looked at Derek in pure fear.

“Lowie, maybe it’s time to just give up.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“But Willow,” I froze. Derek’s tone was serious and his brow deepened.

“That man, he’s in the CIA.”