Capítulo 73: Taken (1)
I slammed the breaks right outside Grey Mount School. No sooner had the car stopped did I come running to the school gate where a nervous-looking Sam was talking to the guards brandishing something on his cell phone. On getting closer I saw Sam holding Twen's picture in front of the guard and asking him something. I held Sam's arm and almost cried out the words,
"Where is he? Where did he go?"
Instead of Sam, the guard answered, looking at me apologetically, "I apologize, sir, but I am not aware where your son is. Several kids came and went. I can't keep an eye on everyone."
I glared at the security. What do you mean you can't keep an eye on everyone? That's precisely your job!! I said, trying to keep my temper in check, "My son wouldn't have left the gates if Sam hadn't come to pick him up. I am sure of it. I hope you don't hand kids over to just about anyone!!"
"Tony, calm down. Blaming the security won't solve anything. Let's check the security cameras near the school gates. We might stumble upon some clue!" Sam said, holding me by the shoulder.
Though I wanted to yell a bit more at the guard for being so careless with the kids, but right now, searching for Twen is more important, so I nodded to Sam, and we made our way to the faculty office.
"Let me talk, Tony. You are way too hyper right now!" Sam said just before we entered.
How can I not be?
Twen disappeared, and he could be in danger.
We entered the faculty room to find only three people there. Two women; one dark, curvy with curly black hair, another bespectacled, skinny, and stern-looking; and one middle-aged man, overweight, sharp eyes, and bald. They looked at us blankly as we barged in. The skinny woman frowned and asked in a dry papery voice,
"Is there something we can help you with, Mister?"
Samuel held me by the arm and spoke before I could utter a word, "Miss, my friend's son is missing. We asked the guard at the gate about him, but he seemed to have no idea. Could you show us the security camera near the gates so that we can check?"
All three of them frowned at the words. The dark woman got up from her seat and asked in a concerned voice, "When did all this happen?"
Sam answered again, "I am sorry, but I have no idea!"
The skinny woman came forward and asked urgently, "Mister, are you sure he attended the class today?"
"I am absolutely sure, Miss. I saw him going inside the school," I said, my voice trembling.
The skinny woman frowned deeply and turned towards the other two. The middle-aged man spoke in a croaky voice, looking at the dark woman, "Miss Keyla, we should call the security and ask them to bring today's gate camera recordings."
"Yes, Mr. Nibble, I am on it," she said as I saw her hand slip inside her bag and bring out her cell phone.
"I think I'll talk to the gate guard," the skinny woman said, turning towards the door where we both were standing.
"We already spoke to him. He said he has no idea," Samuel said, stopping the woman from leaving.
"Che! How utterly useless!" she said, looking angry and gloomy.
"Mrs. Tyler, we cannot be irritated. A kid has gone missing," Miss Keyla said placatingly, then looked at us and nodded assuring, "The security will be here in a few minutes. Misters, please come in and have a seat," Miss Keyla gestured us towards the seat.
I was too hyper to sit down after entering, I kept walking to and fro to keep myself calm while Sam sat and answered Mr. Nibble's questions.,
"May I know your son's and his class teacher's name?"
"He is my friend's son. His name is Twen Hawker and his class teacher-" Sam dragged, looking at me.
I stopped and looked at them, "Mrs. Miranda is Twen's class teacher."
Mr. Nibble creased his brow, "She left for today, and of course, her locker can't be invaded," he said more to himself than us, "Don't you think Twen might have just ventured around and got lost?"
"He would ne-" I started agitated when Samuel held out a hand to stop me and said patiently,
"Twen is a smart and obedient boy. He would never leave the gate until Tony or I arrived. However, just as a precaution, I looked around the radius of half a mile. But neither anyone has seen him nor could I find him."
"Did you check around the school grounds?' Mr. Nibble continued questioning.
Samuel remained silent. I stopped walking and looked at him, "Sam?"
"I was about to ask the guard to search round the school when Tony arrived," Samuel answered with a sigh.
"That means there is a possibility that he is on the school grounds," Mr. Nibble said, then turned to look at Mrs. Tyler, who nodded, and went out of the room.
"I can only hope that you are right," Sam said while I silently prayed that he was found on the school grounds.
After around another ten minutes, one man and a woman, both in a sort of blue uniform, entered the room, followed by Mrs. Tyler and the gate guard. The man was holding something in his hand which looked like a USB drive.
Mrs. Tyler spoke first, "Mr. Nibble, we looked around the school, playground, running tracks, washroom, and cafeteria, we didn't find the boy."
My heartbeat started getting faster. I am having a very bad feeling about this. Where are you, Twen? Where did you go? I hope you are not in trouble and have just gone loitering around. Just be safe. My mind automatically started praying for his safety. Meanwhile, the man in blue came forward towards Miss Keyla and handed her the USB drive saying,
"Here is a recording of the main and back gates of the school from morning till now."
"Thank you, John," Miss Keyla said as she took out her laptop from her bag and quickly inserted it. I, Samuel, Mrs. Tyler, Mr. Nibble, and John gathered around her. Only the woman in blue and the gate guard remained standing near the door.
Miss Keyla started the clip of the main gate and put it on fast forward. We all bent down, looking at it intently. Many kids were entering the school, some waving at their guardians, some running inside without bothering to look back, and some spotted their friends immediately and got together with them. Several cars were coming and leaving, and I waited for my car to arrive. I spotted my car after a while and immediately pointed it out,
"There...that is my car...and see that's Twen. He is entering the school," I said. Miss Keyla brought the video to normal speed and everyone focussed on Twen as he walked inside the school till he left the frame.
Click!
Miss Keyla stopped the video and said, "So, he definitely came to the school. Now, let's fast-forward a bit more to see if he left in between or after the school was over."
She played and fast-forwarded it. There was basically no activity near the main gate. Only a little girl whose leg seemed injured left with her parents. Other than that, there was no activity until classes were over. Miss Keyla brought the video back to normal speed once the last bell of the day rang. There were herds of students going out. Some met their guardians; some took the school bus, and some were picked up by cars. I couldn't see Twen anywhere. I looked through the video till the end, but Twen was nowhere to be seen.
Where on earth did he go? We looked through the video three more times, but there was nothing.
Miss Keyla then started playing the back gate video which was reserved exclusively for the teacher's entry. So, all we saw were the teachers' cars arriving and leaving the parking area. The video was fast-forwarded. Around ten to twelve cars came, two left during the afternoon, one left before the school ended and three more left after the school ended. There was nothing! No suspicious activity. No kid loitering around. No one carrying a kid with them. It is completely clean. I was feeling dumbstruck. What is going on? How did he disappear?
"Hang on," suddenly Mrs. Tyler spoke, looking at the back gate video with a strange look.
We all turned to look at her. My heart was beating in my mouth.
"What?" Mr. Nibble asked, gesturing for Miss Keyla to stop the video looking at Mrs. Tyler with a frown.
"If I am not wrong, Miranda has a gray hatchback!" she said, eyeing the car on the screen.
"So?" Sam asked blankly.
"The car on the screen is a silver hatchback, isn't it?"
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