Snatched

Part 42

When Antoine saw his wife get pulled into the van and driven away, he froze. It was difficult to process what had just happened. He considered running after the van, but he knew that it would be much faster than him.

Antoine decided to turn around and run towards his car, which was only a few yards away. He started up the engine and drove as fast as he could. Antoine drove back towards where he'd left the van, but it was nowhere to be seen. It must have turned a corner, but he didn't know where it had gone.

Antoine pulled over, got his phone out of his pocket and dialed his wife's number. No answer. He opened up the 'find my phone' app and saw that Maddies phone was tracking at home. In all the rush, she must have not even taken it out with her. There was literally nothing he could do.

Suddenly, a man walked past the car window, blood dripping down his face.
'Excuse me! Excuse me!' Antoine shouted. The man turned around, but when he saw Antoine he begun to run in the opposite direction. Antoine turned the engine of the car back on and begun following the man. The man carried on running, with Antoine driving slowly next to him.

After a few moments of this, the man eventually slowed down. Antoine wound down the car window.
'Aren't you the guy who jumped me a few minutes ago?' the man asked.
'I would hardly call it jumped' Antoine chuckled, 'It's hardly my fault that you tripped over my foot. And anyway, you kidnapped a minor.'
'I wouldn't say kidnapped' the man rubbed his own chin, 'the lady found me walking down the street and handed him to me. She said she had to run and do something, but I should bring the boy to the corner of Avenue Montaigne.'

Antoine paused for a minute. This was hardly a crime. Odette was technically Daniels guardian and even if she had chosen to pass him to some random man, there was nothing he could do about it. But she must have had some sort of plan and Antoine needed to know what that was.
The man coughed loudly, suddenly reminding Antoine that he was still there.
'Could I please have a tissue?' the man asked. Antoine noticed that he had one hand out to catch the blood that was pouring from his face. He rummaged around in the glove compartment, found a tissue and handed it to the man.
'Thank you' the man said.
'Did she say anything else?' Antoine asked.
'Who?' the man replied, pinching his nose and holding his head back to stop the bleeding.
'The woman who gave you the child!' Antoine grumbled, impatiently.
'And what's it to you?' the man asked.
'I just need to know' Antoine said with gritted teeth, 'I feel responsible for the child'.
'What?' the man uttered, 'is he your illegitimate child?!'
Antoine laughed. 'Of course he's not! I'm just a friend of his mothers that's all'.
'And that woman isn't his mother?' the man asked.
'No' Antoine replied, under his breath. After all, that was the truth he supposed.
'I thought there was something funny going on' the man said, as he finished drying his face with the tissue and tossed it into the road. 'The woman was frantic! It was as if she'd escaped from an asylum! She was black out drunk as well, I swear!'
'Did she say where she was going?' Antoine asked.
'No, not in so many words' the man replied.
'Well what did she say then?' Antoine snapped. He was starting to get a bit angry now. The man jumped back. Clearly he was slightly frightened by Antoine after what had just happened. He trembled as he spoke.
'Jjust...sshee ssaid', the man looked at the floor, 'ththat sshe hhad tto gget awway'
'To where?' Antoine asked, being careful to steady his voice.
'Gget awway fffrom Ffrance'. Antoine glared into the mans eyes. What he said next was going to be really important.
'Did she say she was going abroad? he asked.
'Ii ddont knoww' the man replied, 'shshe jjust ssaid sshe hhad tto gget awway'.
'Ok' Antoine replied, 'thank you'. He knew what he had to do now.
Antoine leaned forward to the satnav in front of him and searched for the nearest airport.