Chapter 18

Chrissy, Genja, Jane, Fiona and Beth had all felt it at the same time. Something was wrong with Claire. They all dropped what they were doing and went running in the direction of the sports store Claire had been heading too. Sara was following along a little confused, not sure as to what was happening.

Jon was working on his idea for Danny’s issue with his data when he had very queasy feeling, something was wrong but he didn’t know what.

“Rita, call Jane please!” He shouted nervously.

Tommy had been in the kitchen, working on some meal plan ideas. “Hey what’s wrong man?” he asked Jon.

“I’m not sure yet, but something isn’t right!”

The sound of a phone ringing could be heard, Jane answered on the third ring. “Did you feel it as well?” She said without any formal welcome. “It has to be Claire, the rest of us are together and are fine. We’re running to where she was going. I can’t run and talk so I will call you back when I know what the problem is. Love you!” the call ended without Jon having the chance to reply.

“So, how did you know something was wrong?” Danny asked.

“Simple, I suddenly had a sickly feeling from nowhere! I still do, it’s hard to explain.” He said as casually as I could. Truth was, my stomach was doing somersaults and I was feeling very tense. Knowing there was not much he could do until he heard back from Jane, they went back to the issue at hand.

Sasha & Kym were in the shop. “Where’s Claire?” their mom asked them.

“I don’t know, she should be here somewhere.” Kym answered

“We’ve just walked in a minute ago, we went to DSW first. Claire said she would meet us here!”

The rest of the girls were searching around the store, it was obvious that she wasn’t there, one of the staff commented that they were the first customers that had entered for 30 minutes.

Seeing a Mall Security guy walking up outside the store, Jane went running out.

“Excuse me sir,” Jane called out.

“Oh hi miss, can I help?” His badge said his name was Steve Connell.

“Have you seen a girl on her own walking down here, early twenties, about five foot one, sandy blonde hair?”

“I can’t say that I have, I’m sure I wouldn’t of missed someone like that!” Steve answered.

“OK thanks.” Jane was starting to get a very bad feeling. She reached into her bag, took out her phone and dialled.

Ten minutes earlier, Claire had been just about to enter Athleta when a security guy had stopped her.

“Excuse me miss, could I please have a word with you in private” Steve had asked her.

“Yes, of course, can you tell me what this is about?” Claire asked a little nervously.

Steve was leading her to a small area out of sight from the rest of the main mall area.

“We had a report that someone with your description had been seen removing some earrings from the Jewellery store. If you don’t mind I would like to do a search of your person, to check that you’re not in possession of them.” Steve said very smoothly and efficiently.

“Hang on, I haven’t stolen anything!” Claire protested but it was a little late, as Steve had taken her to the area that had been agreed with his brother earlier. Claire knew who he was immediately and went to bolt back to where they had come from, Steve was right behind her and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back towards his brother.

“Well hello Claire,” Sean Conlon said in a confident well cultured voice that was totally the opposite of the guy Claire knew.

“What the hell do you want Sean!” Claire sneered back.

“You didn’t turn up for our date on Friday, even after I went to all the trouble of providing transport to collect you!” He carried on in the obnoxious tone. “Well, you will be pleased to know that I have been able to clear my diary for today.”

“We didn’t have any date, from what I understand you bought a date with Jimmy! Not me, you piece of shit.” She spat out at him.

Sean just sighed at her, turning to his brother, “Thanks bro, I owe you one!” He said as the pair pumped fists.

He grabbed her arm and, as his brother opened the door, he pushed the tiny blonde into the back seat next to where one of his crew was. She went to scramble across to get out of the door, but was held back.

Sean got in the driver seat, “Get comfortable Claire, this is one date you won’t be breaking!” he said as he drove towards the exit. Claire started to sob, scared of what was going to happen.

“What do you mean, Claire’s gone?”

“She isn’t here Jon, we’ve looked everywhere. She just isn’t here!”

“Shit! OK leave it with me, I’ve got an idea. I’ll call you back in a minute.”

Turning to Danny, “Sorry Danny, I need you to go to the clubhouse and help get things ready for when your dad gets back. I need to do some things here that you can’t be part off.” Danny saw the look on Jon’s face and didn’t argue. He just got up and left.

Jon then addressed Tommy, “I’m just about to do something that will break so many laws, it’s possible they might forget the key if they find out! I would prefer if you left because if you don’t you become an accomplice, but I’m not going to force you. If you stay, I don’t want anyone else to know about what I’m just about to do!”

“This is about Claire! I’m going nowhere!” Tommy confirmed with force.

“Rita, link into the Mall cameras and then do a recognition check on Claire Saunter. Project the results onto the screen.”

Within a minute multiple feeds were playing on the screens in front of Jon & Tommy. In most of them, Claire was happily talking with the other girls or she was in the shops, but at least one of the others were with her. Then they saw the one of her talking to the security guard.

“What’s he doing? He’s leading her out of camera shot!” Jon exclaimed angry at what he was watching.

“That’s Steve Conlon! I’ve known him for years, a bit quiet but a good guy all in all. However his brother, Sean, is a total waste of space! Jimmy and Sean go way back.” Tommy answered staring at the feed showing an empty space.

Two minutes later Steve came back into view alone, he can then be seen talking to Jane before walking out of sight.

“I bet this has something to do with that business on Friday, and his brother! Shit!” Jon was angry, “Rita, is Claire’s mobile active?”

“Yes, but she hasn’t responded to multiple calls I’ve sent. I am presently tracking her ssid in her phone”

“Show me the location and give a map on the screen! Why didn’t I think of that earlier?”

In seconds a map of Little Rock was being shown with a little red marker that was moving in the direction of the south of the city.

“The’re heading to Sean’s place, he lives in West Baseline.” Tommy stated.

“Rita, I want a visual of the vehicle Claire’s in, can you link into the Traffic Cam’s and any CCTV cameras! And can you connect me to Silent Security please!”

Simultaneously, half of the screens changed to show a silver BMW 316, maybe 4-5 years old. The Driver could clearly be seen in multiple shots but due to rear windows being tinted, no one else could be seen. The sound of telephone dialling tone could also be heard.

“Yep, that’s Sean’s car and that’s him driving!” Tommy said clenching his fists.

The phone got answered on the second ring, “Hello Mr Barker, how can we help you!”

“A friend of mine has been taken against her will and is presently in a car going past Colonel Glenn interchange on route 430!”

“Mr Barker, how sure are you that she didn’t leave voluntarily. This is usually just a misunderstanding, Sir.” The operator replied calmly.

“Because the driver did a deal with her Ex-boyfriend to pay off a debt using her ... You gave that same guy a visit on SATURDAY MORNING, for fucks sake!”

“Wait a moment Mr Barker,” the operator said before putting the call on hold.

“Mr Barker, this is ‘Mr Smith’, I’m in charge here. How do you know where the vehicle is?” A new voice asked coming into the conversation.

“Because I’m watching them! Just a moment.” Jon was losing his cool. “Rita, send feed to the IP address closest to this caller, also send the last footage of Claire at the Mall!”