Jake's investigation starts and the first big clue. Enjoy the chapter. Sarah appears in a flashback next chapter. Please review.
Chapter 7
It was snowing when Jake walked back outside with Miles, Charlie, Kate, and Henry. Jake shivered and zipped up his jacket.
"Where ever Sarah is I hope she's warm," exclaimed Jake as he followed his family through the parking lot. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Carla Freeman and two of her friends getting out of a van. What were they doing here?
"She has some nerve coming here," growled Jake. Carla didn't see him and disappeared into city hall with her friends and a woman Jake assumed was her mother.
"Maybe she's here to help," offered Henry, shrugging. Jake blew air out from between his lips in contempt.
"Doubtful," he muttered. "Carla hates Sarah with a passion."
"Do you really think she would kidnap Sarah?" asked Miles with a sigh. Jake shrugged.
"I don't know. I think she would try to hurt her, go too far, and hide what she did," replied Jake. Miles' eyes widened.
"Are you suggesting Carla killed Sarah?" asked Miles. Jake shrugged.
"Everyone's a suspect," replied Jake as they got in the car. But out of all the suspects Jake had in his mind, Carla was at the top of the list.
………………
When David and Jim arrived at the station, a deputy rushed up to Jim, panting.
"We have a witness," exclaimed Otis Freemont, the deputy.
"Holy shit. Who?" asked Jim, following Otis back to the interview rooms, David right behind him.
"A woman leaving the parking lot to go out of town. She would have come forward sooner but she didn't know about the kidnapping until today," replied Otis. He led the way into a room where a nervous looking woman with long brown hair tied in a ponytail was sitting behind a table.
"Jim, this Irene Lawton," introduced Otis as everyone took a seat.
"I'm so sorry I didn't call in yesterday. I went out of town for the day to visit some friends," began Irene. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with a tissue.
"It's OK. Just tell us what you saw," replied Jim. Irene took a deep breath and nodded.
"I had just dropped my daughter Rachel and my son Alex off so they're father could pick them up. Rachel was dancing that night. I was hurrying to get on the road and wasn't really paying attention to anything. I was nearly run down by a light colored van peeling out of the parking lot. I didn't think anything of it at first. I just thought that someone else was in a hurry. Oh God, if only I'd known." Irene started to openly cry. Otis pushed the box of tissues towards her. David leaned forward.
"Did you get a look at the driver?" Irene thought for a second.
"Briefly. It was some guy wearing a baseball cap. I shook my fist at him and he gave me the finger. Rude jerk."
"License plate?" asked Jim. Irene thought for a second.
"Sorry. I can't really remember. There might have been a two and an L in there."
"A two and an L?"
"Like I said there might have been. Oh I'm, sorry I'm not more of a help."
"Don't worry about it. You did great. This will really help. Thank you," replied Jim. Irene managed a weak smile. Jim and David left Irene in Otis' care and went to Jim's office.
"Now we know she was taken by car," exclaimed David as he sat down.
"Finding that van will be like finding one needle in a pile of needles," muttered Jim with a sigh.
"It's something to go on. Maybe someone else saw the van too," offered David. Jim nodded. He just hoped it would be enough.
…………..
Jake tracked down Emma at a popular school hang out. A lot of Sarah's friends were using it as their own base of operations to put up fliers and posters and to offer food and drink to the search party that was trudging through the urban and natural areas of Evanston. Emma waved to Jake as he walked over.
"I need to talk to you," explained Jake.
"About what?" asked Emma.
"Carla Freeman." Emma made a face.
"What'd she do now?"
"I'm suspicious of her."
"Jake, Carla is a bitch but she wouldn't kidnap Sarah."
"No just hurt her severely and try to hide it."
"What are you talking about?"
"Did you see her there?"
"Yeah. One of her friends dances with us."
"Did she ever go back to the locker room?"
"I don't know. Jake, you should probably cool it. Carla might hire Quinn and Cooper to shove your belly button into a bottle again."
"Her favorite thing to do to Sarah." Emma sighed. Jake's mind wandered.
Flashback
Jake kicked at Quinn as Cooper held his arms back. Jake whimpered as he was punched in the stomach and thrown to the ground.
"You got Carla detention," sneered Cooper as he held Jake down. They had punched Jake several times to take the fight out of him. Cooper shoved a rolled up sock in Jake's mouth as Quinn held up Jake's shirt. Jake screamed as his belly button was forced into the water bottle. Sarah had felt this same thing two weeks earlier. Quinn and Cooper fled and Jake took the sock out of his mouth. He cried and whimpered as he pulled at the bottle but eventually he managed to slide it off. He was bleeding a little but other then that he was fine. He stood up and ran off before Carla decided more revenge was necessary.
Present day:
Jake snapped back to reality.
"I'm going to hand out fliers. Let me know if you think of anything," exclaimed Jake. Emma nodded. She sighed as she watched Jake go and then went back to making hot chocolate. Outside the snow was coming down harder.