سایه‌ی آدم‌ربا

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Kidnapper’s Shadow

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Claire. Jack’s our friend!’ laughed Amy, nervously. But before she looked at the photo again she knew that Claire was right. Amy felt sick. Lisa liked Jack. She trusted him.

They all thought he was nice.

‘Look, he’s coming out of the newsagent’s now,’ said Claire. ‘I’m going to kill him’ said Amy. She wanted to run over to him. But Claire stopped her.

‘No, don’t be stupid. If you do that, we’ll never find out where Lisa is. Let’s follow him instead.’

‘We should phone the police, though,’ said Amy, taking her mobile phone out of her bag.

‘There’s no time,’ said Claire. ‘Come on.’

They started to follow him south, through Hyde Park and then east, down Oxford Street.

He was walking fast and it was difficult not to lose sight of him in the busy street. It was still a public holiday and a lot of people were out, enjoying the early evening sun and eating ice creams in the many bars of this lively neighborhood.

‘Oh no’ said Claire.

‘What’s the matter’ asked Amy. She was staring at the back of Jack’s head as he crossed the road a few steps in front of them.

‘The traffic lights.’

‘What traffic lights’ said Amy, confused. A tall woman with long, brown hair stopped suddenly in front of her, obstructing her view. Amy wanted to push her out of the way.

‘They’re red, he’s going to get away,’ said Amy.

Forced to stand still and wait, they watched Jack disappear into the crowd.

It felt like an hour before the cars stopped and they could walk across the road.

‘It’s useless’ shouted Amy. ‘We’ll never find Lisa!’

‘We can’t give up now,’ said Claire.

‘I’m going to the police station,’ said Amy, refusing to go any further.

But then, as she turned to go, she saw him again.