Chapter 13: lost (D)

It happened so fast. One moment Mort and her sister were there talking, the next they were gone, and a van was speeding off into the distance. I tried to run after them but they were too quick. I franticly wrote down the van's number plate, only just getting it before it vanished from sight. I wasn't sure what to do next, so I called mum. By this point, I was in a bit of a panic.

"Mum! Mort has been kidnapped! She was with her sister, then a van got them both. I couldn't do anything," I shouted into the phone.

"What? Dorothy, calm down! Tell me what happened,"

I took a deep breath, I wasn't going to be much good to Mort if I was hysterical. I tried again.

"We meet up with Mort's sister, and everything was going well. I backed off to give them some space to talk, then this van pulled up and these masked men grabbed the two of them, and then the van sped off. I tried to chase them but I couldn't do much on foot. I managed to get the number plate though," I said.

"Oh my, do you think that her sister planned this?" Mum asked

"I don't think so. She was struggling just as hard as Mort. Someone must have followed her, and been prepared to risk snatching them in broad daylight." I said. "What are we going to do?"

"OK we need to get some professional help. You mentioned that a police officer took a statement from Mort just in case something happened. It might be worth contacting her to see if she can help. At the very least, she will know who to talk to in a situation like this. I will see if Sarah can do anything, She has a lot of contacts who may be able to help."

I gave her the number of the van, then went about tracking down officer Williams. After some negotiation with the police operator, I got through to the police woman we had met a few weeks ago. "Bobbie Williams" she said.

"Hello officer Williams, this is Dorothy Newman here. I don't know if you remember me, we met a few weeks ago when you were called out to scan my friend Mort, who was being accused of attacking this girl in a shopping centre."

"Oh yes she was the one who inadvertently gave me a brief history of her life. How could I forget." she said.

"Well she was just grabbed off the street by some masked men in a van, and I'm not sure what to do." I said.

"She was grabbed!?!?" she was obviously quite surprised.

I recapped the van incident again, and the officer took down the number plate. She told me to head home while she looked into it for me. I only hoped that Mort would be OK till the officer could do something to help her. I made my way home, all I could do now was wait, and hope Mort was OK.