Taken (2)
Every one of us looked at her in complete surprise. Mr. Nibble suddenly jumped up from his seat, almost making the chair fall and held Mrs. Tyler's shoulder tightly and asked in a harsh urgent tone, totally unlike his previous lazy croaking voice,
"Mrs. Tyler, do you happen to remember Mrs. Miranda's car number?"
Mrs. Tyler's stern face turned even more stern as she moved Mr. Nibble's hands from her shoulder and said in a steely voice, "Of course not. I rode her car once when my car wheels got busted. At that time, I saw that it was a gray hatchback. That's why I was surprised to see a silver hatchback. She is the only one who's got a gray car here."
Mr. Nibble looked at her in a slight resentful manner, and quickly pointed at the gate guard and said, "Go fetch the guard of the back gate and Maria," he said pointing to the girl in blue, "get me the recordings of the parking and the details of today's ID card scans."
Both of them nodded and left immediately. Once they left, I quickly came face to face with Mr. Nibble and spoke in a fearful tone, "You can't be thinking that Mrs. Miranda abducted my son?"
Mr. Nibble gave me a scared but sympathetic look as he said, "Mr. Hawker, I don't think it is Mrs. Miranda, but rather I think someone sneaked in assuming Mrs. Miranda's Identity. In that case, I am afraid that maybe your son is abducted."
I felt my legs go numb, and my expression froze.
No.
This can't be true.
Why would anyone kidnap Twen?
He isn't from a renowned family, neither am I. There is nothing to gain. This is all just a big lie!
Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard Sam's tensed voice say, "But how is that possible? Wouldn't you guys have noticed?"
Three of them looked at each other with strange blank faces. Miss Keyla broke the silence, "I didn't see Mrs. Miranda today. Since I had morning classes."
"Neither have I," Mrs. Tyler said, "I came in late. By that time, classes had started, and Mrs. Miranda was not in the faculty room."
Now, all of our eyes turned to Mr. Nibble, who suddenly turned a little red and started sweating. He took out a kerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead with his hands trembling slightly. Seeing his suspicious behavior, I immediately reached for his arm and grabbed it, asking in a sharp tone,
"Did you see that woman?"
Mr. Nibble spoke nervously, "I saw her as she was leaving in the evening. I called her, but she said she was in a hurry. I didn't doubt anything. I just thought that her voice sounded a little different."
"Did you see the woman's face?" Sam asked.
"I-I didn't," Mr. Nibble said, sweating even more.
"Then, how did you know?" I almost screamed, tightening my grip on his hand.
He winced as he answered, "Blond, tall and her figure."
My hand only got tighter around his wrist, making Mr. Nibble hiss in pain. My fear for Twen's life was making me feel a little crazy, "That's why... that's why you knew she left, and that's why you got hyper when Mrs. Tyler spoke of her suspicion, isn't it?"
"Mr. Hawker, please let go of his hand," Miss Keyla said, putting her hand over my shoulder, "I understand that you are anxious, but right now, we have no proof if someone really did sneak in. We were not the only ones at school. So, if a suspicious person were seen, they would have definitely reported."
Right now, I would like to believe anything that would deflect the possibility of Twen being abducted. I looked at her concerned face and let go of his hand. I forced myself to believe that this was all a big misunderstanding. Twen must be lost somewhere and waiting for me to come.
After some time, the gate guard returned with another lanky, watery-eyed fellow. He walked in and was about to greet when Miss Keyla interrupted and asked him in a soft, firm tone, "Did you see Mrs. Miranda come today?"
The guard looked surprised by the question and spoke in a confused tone, "Not really! She had her car windows up to her eyes!"
I grabbed on to Sam, I started to feel dizzy. Mr. Nibble suddenly questioned the guard pointing at the laptop screen, "Is this the car she came in?"
The guard blinked, looking muddled, and moved closer to the screen. There was a long pause before he said, "Yes. She is the only one who owns a gray hatchback."
"That's not gray, you witless dumbo! It is silver!! Are you colourblind?" Mrs. Tyler said rudely.
The man was very shocked. He looked around the room where everyone was eyeing him sourly.
"I-I am sorry. They both looked pretty much the same," he said, in a scared tone, his already watery eyes turning waterier.
"You-" Mrs. Tyler was just about to rage when the light footsteps of a lithe, long-faced girl in blue interrupted.
Mr. Nibble and Miss Keyla didn't bother with the guard any longer. They both went straight to her. Keyla quickly snatched the USB drive from her while Mr. Nibble almost snatched the A4 sheet.
Miss Keyla started playing the parking lot's recording. Sam and I went to stand behind her. Mr. Nibble came after a minute and said, slamming the sheet on the table beside the laptop,
"11:34 am, she scanned in, and at 3:37 pm, she scanned out. There is no other record of her today."
Miss Keyla quickly forwarded the video according to the timing. We all saw the silver hatchback enter the parking lot, but then it went out of frame. Miss Keyla looked at the other recording, but the car seemed to have been parked in a blindspot. Was this just a coincidence?
The recording showed her leaving the car. It did not show her face. It only showed her tall, proportionate body and blond hair. Yet that was not the most shocking part. It was when she left. The video went blank for ten whole minutes. Miss Keyla and Mr. Nibble both looked back at us and then at Maria and John. John immediately started speaking, explaining the matter,
"My apologies, sir. Our CCTVs have been malfunctioning for a week. Its power has been turning on and off at times. It was just one of those times. It suddenly had a power outage and blacked out."
My head completely stopped working. I couldn't hear the conversation between the teachers, Sam, and the security any longer. My Twen! He was kidnapped. He was taken away. I don't know where and by who. I don't know how he is. I don't know what they have done to him. In my panic, I didn't even realize I had fallen to the floor. I heard a multitude of voices around me/ I felt someone calling me, but I didn't know who it was. I saw everything in a blur. I felt very depleted and weak. Sam suddenly appeared before me and said,
"Tony? Are you okay? Tony? TONY!!?"
His loud call brought me to my senses. I looked at him and saw his worried face. I caught hold of his collar and started blabbering in my horror and fear,
"Twen, Sam, my Twen is taken away. He is kidnapped. Why? Why would they take my Twen? He has done nothing wrong! What should I do? What if they hurt him? What if they ki-"
"TONY!!" Sam shouted, shaking me by the shoulder, "You can't lose your mind right now. If you lose it, then who will save Twen? Pull yourself together!!" Sam scolded me.
I felt tears forming in the corner of my eyes. I was scared, anxious, worried, and panicked. Sam gripped my upper arm tightly, pulling me up on my feet. Though I felt wobbly, like I had forgotten the use of my legs, I still stood up.
"Pull yourself together, Tony. You are Twen's mother. You can't lose your head like this,'' Sam spoke in a stern, domineering voice.
I looked at his eyes, which were always kind and gentle, were now firm. He spoke with a dominant tone which he always used on his subordinates,
"Twen will be a lost cause if you give up. You are Twen's only hope. Don't you dare give up!"
I looked at Sam's fiery eyes as his words slowly entered my head. I suddenly gained the ability to use my legs again and stood straight. I wiped the tears off my eyes and nodded to Sam.
"You are right! I can't give up like this!" I said, clutching my fist tightly.
"That's more like it," Sam smiled, "I'll call the cops-"
No sooner had Sam mentioned 'cops' all three teachers started speaking at the same time,
"Mister, you can't call cops on schoo-"
"The school's reputation will be shat-"
"The parents will mistrust-"
Samuel turned to them, and I don't know what they saw, but the three of them instantly went quiet. Sam spoke in a cold dominant voice,
"Your lax security, malfunctioning devices, irresponsible guards as well as teachers are the reason a child has been kidnapped, and you're still worried about your school reputation? You should be thankful that I haven't decided to sue the school yet. It would be better if you shut up!"
This was not the casual, caring, and gentle Sam, but rather, he was the Executive Chef Samuel Dumas. The pressure he exuded was unbelievably strong. The teachers didn't dare to open their mouths any longer.
Sam turned to me and said in a milder tone, "We don't have time to waste. Tony, you need to inform Mr. Walker about it right now!"