In this chapter Carter Banks is introduced as the main
character; he will have the main viewpoint. Chantal is his twenty-four-year-old
daughter; she will have the viewpoint several times through the novel. Dodie is
his six-year-old granddaughter; she will have the viewpoint twice.(Novel to be published soon.)
4
The Abduction/The
Son-in-law 1
Day One
Carter watched his daughter and
granddaughter walking away. About another forty feet and they would turn left,
cross the street, then walk two more blocks, turn right, and the second house
on the left on that block was their new home. They lived close by, yes, but not
like it could be out on the farm. Finishing their short vacation—Chantal had to
be back for her weekend shift—the three of them had just spent the last three
days and nights at his sister’s. He had—discretely—brought up the idea
to his sister about the three of them moving out, eventually, to join them on
the farm. His sister’s response did not surprise him: She loved the idea, and
the sooner the better. Neither even mentioned husband Mason.
The mother and daughter turned
left, crossed the street, and just before they would disappear behind the first
house they stopped. Both waved.
Carter felt his face break out in a
huge smile. Since Chantal was old enough to think for herself she had always
waved just before she wouldn’t see her daddy anymore, and now she was teaching
her daughter to do the same.
His heart swelled in fondness. How
he loved those two children. Yes, Chantal was twenty-four, but she would always
be his little girl. They kept waving and moved on, and he kept waving…then they
disappeared. His heart gave an extra little beat, as it always did, as if he
feared he wouldn’t see his children again—
He turned away to re-enter his own
house. Through peripheral vision he saw a white van pass, going down the same
street as his children, but he just saw it; his mind told him nothing,
then…brake lights? Someone Chantal knows?...Or, what?
His heart gave a second beat, a
little louder—tires squealing, as if the van had stopped quick. His heart kept
making itself known. A few more seconds passed. Another squeal, just a quick
squeal, as if the van had taken off quick.
Carter didn’t spend any more time
thinking about it. He moved quickly to the street sidewalk, then broke into a
run. He reached almost to the next street. He knew in the short amount of time
passed that Chantal and Dodie should only be about halfway down the block. He
slowed. He didn’t want his two girls to know that he had run after them for
probably no good reason. But as he got closer to that street, straining his
neck to see…he saw nobody.
What the hell?
Again he broke into a run, both
blocks, turned right, and in the second house on the left he would find his two
darling children. How could they have gotten there so quickly? Had they ran? If
so, why? He reached the sidewalk to their house. His heart was now pounding,
and not from the exertion of his run. He forced himself to walk quietly and calmly
to the door, wondering what reason he could give for chasing after them.
He reached the door. He knocked.
What reason? What reason?
Nobody came to the door. The door
was locked.
Maybe they went straight to the
back yard. He headed that way, reached the driveway, saw his son-in-law bent
over his new chariot. He didn’t even know what kind of car it was. He didn’t
care. And where had the man gotten the money to buy such an expensive-looking
vehicle? He had never liked Chantal’s choice of a man. He and his daughter had
never connected on that, and he definitely had never connected with, “…Mason…!”
He hoped that hadn’t gone out too loudly.
Mason straightened up and smiled,
but the smile sent was the biggest lie Mason had ever told, “Yeah, Carter,
what’s up?”
The man had never once called him
Mr., or Sir, not once, and not that Carter would have demanded—or even wanted—that
he should, but right from the start, the very first time Chantal brought him
home he didn’t like the man—he just didn’t like him, “Where’s Chantal
and Dodie?”
The smile disappeared and a worse
lie took its place, “I just got home from work. I thought they were visiting
you.”
“They were. They just left. They
should be here.” Carter was doing his best to stay calm.
“Well, they aren’t. And, Christ, if
they just spent yesterday and today, and…whatever, with you….” Mason didn’t
finish whatever he wanted to say. Maybe he saw the heat coming from his
father-in-law’s face and thought better of it.
Carter retained his calmness and
started for the back door, “They were with me longer than that. I’m checking
inside.”
“I haven’t unlocked yet, Carter,
and, anyway, they aren’t there.”
Carter spun, “Then where the hell are
they?”
Mason’s face lost all hint of a
smile or any kind of friendliness. The man was actually taller and heavier than
Carter’s lean forty-seven-year-old frame but he moved to the other side of his
chariot before putting out still another probable lie, “I don’t know.”
But Carter felt he did know,
but what did he know? How could he know? “I’m calling the
police.” He drew out his phone and turned away.
“Good Christ, man,” Mason said,
“Maybe they stopped at a friend’s house.”
Carter spun, “If Chantal knows even
one family locally she hasn’t told me. You kids haven’t been here long enough
to barely get moved in.”
“Well, maybe your little girl
doesn’t tell you everything.”
Carter felt rage at that
sarcasm—and he felt certain Mason knew something. How could he not?
He turned away wondering if he should have jumped in his old pickup right away
and gave chase. But his pickup was in
the closed garage, and tires squealing could mean anything, and how could he
have explained to Chantal why he came rushing after her and Dodie when nothing
had happened? But something did happen. He dialed 911.
****
In the two seconds it took for 911
to answer, Carter’s thoughts covered Chantal’s and Dodie’s lives, the good, the
questionably-bad, the beautiful, and now this—
“9-1-1 , what’s your emergency?”
“My daughter and granddaughter have
just been abducted.” He could barely believe what he had just said, but what
else could it be?
“Did you see who took them, sir?”
“No.”
“Then why do you say they’ve been
abducted?”
He spent the next minute and a half
explaining what he had heard and what he did, and all other pertinent
information.
“I’ll dispatch a detective to you,
sir.”
“A detective?! For Christ’s sake we
need a squad car, we need roadblocks, we need an Amber Alert, we—“
“Sir, if you didn’t actually see
anything—“
“A white van! I told you! It
couldn’t have gotten more than a few blocks! It’s still in the city—my god, you
have to do something!”
“I’ve sent the detective, sir.”
He hung up.
“So…?” came Mason’s voice, “What’s
up?”
Carter took two deep breaths before
he turned, “They’re sending a detective.”
Mason laughed, “And he will check
every house between here and your place to see if anybody saw something, and in
one of the houses he’ll find your little girl.”
Just the way Mason said ‘little
girl,’ just the tone of his voice, made Carter’s fists tighten. How he
would love to smash that face, just once, but there were more important things
to concern him, “We’ll see.” He turned away and walked to the edge of the
street.
End of Chapter 4
Thanks for reading
Author’s notes
(Digital
downloads $0.99-$4.99; paperbacks $10.00-$29.95)
In my fiction I do
not try to create super-heroes, but rather bring alive common and regular
people who try to find love, survive, and react to circumstances as best they
can, and, usually, try to do the right thing. The books are more than one
genre, from war to sex and violence to romance to humor to horror to
fantasy to science fiction to adventure, I write in
third-person with viewpoints by men, women, and children.
Contact
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