The Choice. Alex Lake

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СКАЧАТЬ it – which meant it had rolled away – hard to imagine on a flat road, and even harder to imagine it had rolled out of sight – or it had been pushed away.

      His kids couldn’t have done that, so someone else would have had to do it.

      And how far could you push a car in a few minutes? Maybe around a corner, but not much further than that.

      A wave of relief broke over him. This was a prank. One of his friends, or more likely a few of them, after a beer or two – had seen the kids in the car and moved it to give him a scare. He pictured them, laughing as they released the handbrake and pushed the car down the street. There was a side street about thirty yards away, on the right. That’s where they would have taken it.

      That’s where he would find them, standing by the car, laughing.

      He would not be laughing with them. This was not funny at all.

      He jogged towards the side street. Banner Road. He’d never noticed the name before; he’d remember it now. He slowed at the corner and turned.

      There was a skip on the right and a white van parked on the left, but other than that the side street was empty.

      The fear roared back and rose into a full-on panic. Where the fuck was his car? Where could it be?

      He sprinted out onto the main road and looked up and down, once, twice, a third time.

      Still nothing.

      He ran back to the shop – to the last place the car had been – and stood outside the window, breathing heavily. His car was gone. His children were gone.

      The shop door opened.

      ‘You OK, mate?’

      He turned around. The man from the shop – the owner, maybe – was standing on the threshold, arms folded, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

      ‘It’s my car. It’s gone.’

      ‘What do you mean?’

      ‘I left it here, but it’s nowhere to be seen.’

      ‘You sure it was here?’

      ‘Yes.’ He paused. Was it possible he had parked somewhere further away and walked to the shop? Had he misremembered looking at the church? No – he also remembered thinking he was only using the shop because it was more convenient than a detour to the supermarket, which would hardly have been the case if he had parked a walk away. Besides, he had checked on the kids when he got out.

      ‘Yes. It was here.’

      ‘What is it?’

      ‘Discovery. Land Rover.’

      The man stuck out his bottom lip. ‘Nice vehicle. Maybe someone nicked it. Was it locked?’

      ‘No, but—’

      ‘Mate, you should lock your car.’

      ‘I know, but—’

      ‘I mean, it’s easy to nick ’em if you can get in. Just plug a laptop into the data port and boom, job done. I heard it takes about fifteen seconds. You can’t leave a car unlocked.’

      ‘I only left it unlocked because—’

      ‘There’s no excuse, mate. You—’

      ‘Listen to me!’ Matt shouted. ‘I left it unlocked because my kids were in there.’

      There was a long silence.

      ‘Fuck me,’ the man said. ‘You need to call the filth. Get the cops on this as soon as.’

      ‘I know.’ Matt took his phone from his pocket and unlocked the screen.

      He was about to dial 999 when the phone buzzed. A message appeared.

      Do not call the police.

      He stared at it, his eyes wide. Dots scrolled under the message, and another appeared.

      I repeat: tell no one and do not inform the authorities. I will know if you do and you will never see your children again.

      More dots scrolled, then another message appeared.

      My instructions will follow. Await them.

      3

      Matt stared at his phone. The man from the shop walked over to his side.

      ‘What is it?’ he said.

      Matt did not want to answer. ‘It’s OK. I’m fine.’

      The man tilted his head and looked at him sideways. ‘You don’t seem fine.’

      ‘I am. It’s just – I’m fine.’

      ‘Someone took your car with your kids in it, and you’re fine?’ He nodded at the phone. ‘What was that?’

      Matt had no intention of telling him, because if he told him the man might take it upon himself to call the police, which Matt was not yet ready to do – he might be, soon, but he needed to think this through.

      Which meant being alone.

      ‘Look,’ he said. ‘I appreciate the concern, but I promise. It’s all OK. That was their mum. She has them.’

      The man shrugged. It was clear from his expression that he didn’t believe a word Matt was saying, but Matt didn’t care.

      ‘OK, mate,’ he said. ‘Whatever you say.’

      He turned and walked back into the shop. Matt headed for a bus shelter a few yards up the road and sat on the bench.

      He read the messages again.

      Do not call the police.

      I repeat: tell no one and do not inform the authorities. I will know if you do and you will never see your children again.

      My instructions will follow. Await them.

      He tried to think through what all this meant. If the car wasn’t nearby then it wasn’t a prank – none of his friends would have gone this far, and besides, none of them knew how to steal a car. What had the man said? Fifteen seconds with a laptop plugged into a data port in the car? Sounded simple but so did loads of computer things, yet they were still way beyond the capabilities of him and his friends.

      So someone had come to the car while he was in the shop, climbed in, started it somehow, and driven away.

      With his children in the back seat. His stomach clenched and a cold sweat broke out on his head and neck.

      It was crazy – the one time he had left his kids in the car and some random car thief had chosen that moment to steal it.

      And then text СКАЧАТЬ