A Winter's Tale

Chapter 3

Thomas checked the time in his car. He was only 5 minutes from the Apple office. He would be slightly early for work. As he turned into Jobs Drive, he noticed a police car trailing behind him. He remembered seeing it earlier. He'd guessed that it was just taking his route and would turn off soon, but it had been following for a while now. Thomas decided to just double-check all his monitors: his speed, the speed limit of the road....

The police car eventually overtook Thomas. Whew! He wiped off the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. As he took the final right onto Cook Close, he noticed another cop car trailing behind...no it was the same one as before! This time it swiftly overtook Thomas, before pulling him over on the junction.

"Sir, could we please see ID?"

Thomas sighed as he took out his driving licence from his wallet. Now he'd be late for work, no doubt, and Matt Brentford already had it in for him. For some reason, his boss had it in for him from day one.

"Officer, would it be possible to know at this point in time why I was pulled over?" Thomas attempted to politely ask.

"You'll find out soon enough," the stern – looking lady snapped.

The guy next to her looked quite nervous, as if he were about to do something he would later regret. Thomas slightly recognised the nose which matched with the eyes of the officer. But he couldn't put a name to it as of now.

"Right. You are to come with me. You were pulled over for speeding..."

She put a hand up to stop Thomas butting in.

She continued speaking.

"You do not have to speak or say anything. Anything you do say can be used as evidence against you..."

Thomas pondered as he was led to the police car, and he was informed of his rights. He was pretty sure that he had not been over the limit, and something seemed a dodgy here.

Thomas, stop being paranoid! He bit his lip to come back into reality. He'd obviously been unaware of his speeding, but he didn't need to worry; he could get a good lawyer who would defend him and stop any points being added to his licence.

Through all his thoughts, something still didn't quite add up...

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Thomas and Lily faced each other with pain etched across their faces. Since they'd been held captive, their captors had been extremely thorough – too thorough. First, they'd wrenched the Majors' hands behind their backs, then dragged the resisting arms to the van. Then they had been patted down for phones, weapons; anything which could be used against thugs. Afterwards, the thugs had enjoyed time with the kids alone; they stood in a line with Thomas and Lily at the front. Each of the 3 guys had taken their time punching, kicking and generally making sure the kids ached at the end of it. By the end, Lily had tears streaming down her face, whilst Thomas had his head hung with embarrassment. He should have done more to protect his sibling: Lily was only 9 and she had been the subject of so much pain already – first emotionally, and now physically. He could have at least done something to ensure both of his sisters got away safely. He'd never forgive himself. But now, it was enough self-pity.

Two men were holding rags, which looked like they'd seen their better days, decades ago.

"Don't try and resist," one of the men warned. Before Thomas could ask what was happening now, the rags had been stuffed into his and her sister's mouths. He should've guessed. A typical kidnapper stereotype: they wouldn't want the kids screaming for help, so of course, they would have gags. Something else to be annoyed about.

Finally, they'd been bundled into the back of a van, which allowed no heating to reach it. The Majors' had managed to turn round to face each other, but they were still shivering from the British winter weather. Thomas couldn't bear to see Lily's face; it was covered in cuts, scratches, grazes, bruises.... He noticed his sister looking at him with the same expression he was looking at her.

Lily was exhausted. She'd been looking forward to seeing her friends at school after a tedious weekend at home – but that seemed to now be out of the question. She should've run faster, not stand there gawping at the men who'd obviously been thugs. Lily considered herself smarter than her siblings, yet she hadn't managed to find out about this until it was too late, and the kidnappers didn't seem to mind if her and her brother died. Lily remembered what her mother had always said to her once she noticed things lately: too little, too late. She smiled as the memory of her mother brought her comfort.