Page 120 of Little Children

She sensed that each had gone to either side of the vehicle, while Lewis stayed in front of her, shielding her from their view. She considered speaking to the other boys but couldn’t risk their reactions giving her away.

Under the cover of both her coat and the blanket, she took out her phone. The screen illuminated. She sent a text to Bryant telling him they were off and then held the phone tightly as two people got into the cab of the van.

‘Well, that was a fucking shitshow,’ said the female voice as the engine started. ‘The boss ain’t gonna be pleased.’

‘There was forty grand on Lewis,’ the male voice replied.

‘Three losses in one night. We are in the shit,’ she said.

Kim listened keenly as the van reversed.

The woman sighed heavily. ‘Lewis is done. Hang him up when we get back.’

Kim’s stomach turned, knowing exactly what that meant. The little boy who had cried in her arms was going to be turned into a punching bag.

She closed her eyes and prayed that everyone had followed instructions and were already in place.

She pictured what she knew of the journey and felt the van turn left at the end of the dirt track. A half mile later, it turned right and headed towards the main road where Bryant should be waiting. Occasional moans and groans sounded from the boys as the vehicle swung around corners or drove over potholes.

The people in the cab fell into silence, and Kim focussed on trying to keep still and hidden behind Lewis, her phone clutched in her hand.

She guessed they’d been travelling ten to twelve minutes when the male voice spoke again.

‘Hey, see that car behind. It’s been…’

Kim needed nothing further. She lit up her phone and typed two words to her colleague.

The text was simple. It read:

Back off.

Seventy-Nine

‘Shit,’ Bryant said, taking a left turn and letting the grey van drive away, out of sight.

The guv’s instructions had been clear. They were to do nothing that would jeopardise her getting to the location where the boys were being held.

‘Now what?’ Penn asked, still holding Bryant’s phone.

He pulled over to the side of the road. ‘All we have is possibly a thirty-to-forty-minute drive and maybe close to a train station,’ Bryant said, referring to the clues the boss had sent.

Penn took out his own phone, but Bryant knew they were too far away to start narrowing down locations. They were only a quarter of an hour into the possible thirty to forty minutes.

‘Shit, too many,’ Penn said, looking at a map of the area.

‘How the hell are we going to?—?’

He stopped speaking as his phone lit up. It was a text message from the guv.

One word.

Left

He smiled as they pulled away. There was now space between them, and the guv was dropping them breadcrumbs as to her direction of travel. He backtracked onto the road they’d left and continued forward. Just out of sight was a left turn. He took it.

‘Left again,’ Penn said.

Bryant didn’t take the next left. That would have taken them around in a circle. He had to try and gauge the time between messages to figure out which turning she might mean.