Finding 01 Finding Kaden

by Jean Reinhardt

  Estelle couldn’t live with the bickering anymore and was going to move into an apartment in the city, at least for a while. She knew it would be bad for her husband’s public image, but her family was far more important to Estelle than the public, or her husband’s career. It had taken that blazing row between her son and his father to convince her that something had to be done, and soon.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Having stuffed Kaden’s jacket and shoes into a backpack, Tuck and his friend Milo decided to spend the night at the Soup n Sleep. The weather had turned bad.

  “Do you think that guy we beat up came round, Milo?” Tuck’s conscience was bothering him.

  “Don’t go all soft on me now, big guy. We haven’t killed anyone yet, have we? He’s probably home in bed and Mommy’s nursing his bruises and fretting over him. Let’s go have a nice bowl of soup and get ourselves a bed for the night,” said Milo, throwing Kaden’s empty wallet to the ground on the river bank.

  They had taken a slim phone out of the wallet but it was of no use to them. Phones had changed a lot over the years and were activated by fingerprint so that only the owner could use it. They were so cheap to buy it was hard for anyone to imagine people getting mugged for their phones in the past.

  “No point holding onto a phone if you don’t have the finger to go with it, is there?” laughed Tuck as he aimed it at a buoy in the river, before heading towards their shelter for the night.

  The route took them near the alley where they had left Kaden, and Tuck wanted to make sure he wasn’t still lying there.

  “You go on, I won’t be long. I’ll meet up with you at the shelter,” he said, turning into a side street.

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” Milo shouted after him.

  Relieved to find alleyway empty, Tuck headed towards the Soup n Sleep. The harder the rain fell the faster he went so he was only about fifteen minutes behind his friend, Milo. Considering how difficult it was living on the streets, Tuck was in good shape. Making the most of the free food at the shelter had made him stronger and healthier. He only slept over when the weather was bad. Milo was waiting just inside the door for him when he got there.

  The two young men were dripping all over the floor, so the security guard let them shower first. He said he would make sure there was enough soup left for them when they returned. They were brought down a corridor to the wash rooms and told where to look for dry clothes and shoes.

  “Use those two lockers over there for your stuff,” he said handing them each a key.

  Tuck and Milo didn’t take long to warm up under the hot water. Soup n Sleep used to be a women’s shelter and each shower was enclosed in a separate cubicle. It felt luxurious to the boys to have the privacy that so many took for granted.

  “I’m starving Tuck, you nearly ready to go?”

  Milo was getting into some clean clothes he had taken from a bag left in the locker room, left there for anyone to use.

  “Just drying off now, hang on.”

  A few minutes later both of them were heading towards the kitchen. They each got some bread and a large bowl of soup and made their way to a long table. Looking at the crowd gathered around them, Milo wondered how many would be staying the night. He spotted someone coming out from the room beside the kitchen, carrying two.

  “Oh, Oh. That little creep Jasper is here. Maybe he’s staying the night, Tuck. Make sure you hold onto your key or he’ll be in your locker before you know it,” said Milo.

  “He wouldn’t dare touch our stuff, he’s scared stiff of us.” Tuck felt the key in his pocket just to make sure it was still there.

  Jasper returned from the kitchen, where he had left the empty bowls. He had kept his head down in case anyone recognised him. There were a few people he would rather not bump into.

  “Do you remember who you are yet?” he asked Kaden.

  The blank stare that came back at him answered his question. Jasper felt sure a good night’s sleep would restore his new friend’s memory.

  “Come on, let’s hit the showers,” he said. “And don’t forget your ointment and painkillers.”

  Kaden followed Jasper through the corridor that led to the washrooms.

  As they were already booked in for a bed that night, they were given locker keys. Jasper was relieved to see they were the first to hit the showers. Kaden was in the cubicle next to his, gasping as the hot water stung his cuts and grazes.

  When they dried off and put on some clean clothes they went to the dorms to find their beds. Each one was numbered 1 to 30. They were in beds 15 and 16. Jasper had asked for one near his friend because he wasn’t in great shape and might need help during the night. Kaden was exhausted and lay down straight away.

  “Pull the cover up over your head so no one can see you, that’s the safest way to sleep in here,” said Jasper as he yanked the blanket out from under his friend.

  Kaden wrapped himself up and was asleep almost immediately. As he settled into his own bed, Jasper silently promised to do the right thing next day and bring the poor guy to the police. He would leave him outside the door and make him go in on his own. That was not the kind of place a street kid would enter voluntarily.

  Tuck and Milo found their beds, numbers 8 and 11, and didn’t waste any time wrapping themselves up in the soft blankets. They had noticed that only two other beds in the room were occupied, but reckoned the rest of them would fill up soon enough. Better to get off to sleep while it was quiet, before the snoring and coughing started. Not long afterwards, the rest of the beds began to fill up until twenty-six of them were taken.

  The two security guards looked around the sleeping young men and smiled. It had been a long time since the place was that full. There would be a big bonus for them and their boss would be pleased to get a batch of such healthy stock in one go. Quietly, they made their way around the dorm, spraying the mouths of the boys who had been discreetly selected earlier. Even though most of them covered their heads with blankets, the two men knew by the numbers on the beds which ones they wanted.

  Once the job was done, the guards returned to the staff room to watch a movie. Nothing much happened on the night shift. Thankful for a warm, dry bed most of the kids fell into a deep sleep. In fact, it was always difficult to get them to wake up in the mornings, even the ones that were not drugged. The two men took turns dozing off themselves.

  Jasper woke up with a start when the alarms went off next morning. He knew they would have to leave by ten am. He seemed to be the only one making any attempt at getting out of bed, and he shook Kaden to wake him up. The young man was out cold. Jasper knew that if they got down to the kitchen before the rest, they might even get some toast with their coffee. After a last futile attempt to wake up Kaden, Jasper left the dorm.

  Milo yawned, stretched and forced himself to getout of the warm bed. Others were beginning to stir and, like Jasper, he thought that it might be a good idea to get to the kitchen first in the hope of more than just coffee for breakfast.

  “Hey, sleeping beauty” he yelled as he threw his pillow at bed number 11. Tuck didn’t move a muscle. Milo knew he was a heavy sleeper but that alarm had been loud enough to wake the dead.

  “Are you deaf as well as stupid, Tuck? If we don’t get to the kitchen before this lot there won’t even be any coffee left, never mind toast.”

  He pulled the blanket from his friend’s face and shook him. Tuck’s head rolled to the side. Milo wasn’t sure if he was messing or in a deep sleep, so he threw the cover back over his face.

  “Enjoy your nap. I’m off to get some breakfast.”

  Jasper was carrying a tray carefully through the gathering crowd when he bumped into Milo. Some of his coffee slopped onto the floor.

  “Well if it isn’t my old pal, the smallest pickpocket on the Continent,” said Milo, automatically checking the locker key in his pocket, “We’ll have to spend more time together, catch up and all that. What do you say?”

  The young boy quickly scanned the r
oom, knowing that wherever Milo was, Tuck was never far behind.

  “Sure, why not? I just gotta check my calendar to see what dates I have available - very busy these days, you know,” said Jasper.

  Before Milo could respond one of the security men came in.

  “Okay everyone, get your stuff out of your lockers and vacate the building. We have to kick you out earlier than usual this morning.”

  He steered them down the hall to the lockers and waited till the last one was out on the street.

  “Aw man, Tuck is still ‘tucked’ up in bed, I bet they won’t let us back in. It’s still raining too,” Milo said to Jasper as they stood on the street. “I’m not staying here to get wet, see you around, squirt.”

  Jasper took a waterproof cape from his backpack to hold over his head. He was annoyed that he hadn’t even taken a sip of his coffee and crossed the street to shelter in a doorway while he decided on what to do next. Soup n Sleep was closed and everyone had disappeared because of the rain. He went over and knocked on the door. It was opened by one of the guards.

  “You’ll have to come back this evening, we don’t do lunches kid” he said laughing down at Jasper.

  “My friend is still in there. We both stayed last night and I couldn’t wake him this morning so I went on ahead to get some breakfast. I was supposed to go back for him.”

  “Don’t worry, he’s probably with the lot that had to leave by the back exit. Go round the block and you should bump into him,” with that the guard slammed the door shut in Jasper’s face.

  Still holding the cape over his head, the boy ran to the corner of the building and down the next street. Worried that Tuck had recognized the young man from the day before and may have beaten him up again, Jasper circled the block, checking every alley that might lead to the back of the building he had spent the night in. He came across some large gates that looked like they could belong to the shelter but they were locked. If anyone had come through, they were long gone.

  After an hour of futile searching, Jasper gave up. Returning to the Soup n Sleep he knocked again on the locked door. Nobody answered this time so all he could do was head back to his hideout and get out of the rain.

  An image of a young teenager walking away from the door of the shelter was relayed by a security camera to a screen in an office. One of the guards had been looking at it and turned to speak to his colleague.

  “Stubborn little pest, that one. Thought he’d never give up. Are you ready to finish the job now?” he asked.

  “Yes. Come on, let’s get them checked and shipped out.”

  They collected a small scanning machine on their way to the dorm. There were six boys still asleep in their beds. All had been drugged by the spray the night before and it would be another ten or twelve hours before any of them would come round.

  One of the guards ran the scanner over each of the sleeping forms and called out the readings. The other man, who was recording the information, pointed across the dorm at one of the beds.

  “The guy in number 16 looks in a bad way, maybe we shouldn’t put him through.”

  The guard who was scanning them ran the machine over Kaden once more.

  “His readings are perfect, no broken bones. It’s just bruising and swelling. He does have some bad cuts on his face that tube of ointment in his pocket will sort him out. Leave the pain killers with him too. He’s a good specimen. So is the one in bed 11. We are definitely getting a bonus for this lot.”

  It took the guards half an hour to get all six boys loaded into a dark blue van parked in a yard at the back of the building. When they were finished they held open two large gates while the van made its way onto the street. Coming to a stop, the driver opened his window and leaned out.

  “It’s not a good idea to take too many in one go. Better keep it to a maximum of four in future, we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves, do we?” he said.

  The guards looked at each other for a few seconds and then nodded at the man in the van.

  “Don’t worry” one of them reassured the driver, “It’s not unusual for a handful of street kids to disappear, but we’ll keep it to four from now on.”

  “Best leave it a while before you take any more. The Boss will understand. He doesn’t like to take risks.”

  With those words of advice, the driver closed the window and inched the van forward into a line of slow moving traffic.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Amelia’s sleep was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. She held her thumb over the small square section on the bottom of the screen, unlocking it to answer the call. It was her mother inquiring if she had been in touch with Ethan.

  “Not yet Mom, I only just woke up. The guys will still be asleep, so I’ll jump in the shower first. Don’t worry, as soon as I’ve spoken to Ethan or Kaden I’ll get back to you. Are you on your way to the airport now?”

  Estelle Seager pulled the front door of the house closed behind her.

  “Yes hun. I’m just leaving home now. Your father’s plane will be landing in an hour, so we should be back about 11.30.”

  “Okay Mom, talk later. Love you.”

  When she came out of her friend’s en suite Amelia found Megan pulling some fresh clothes from the wardrobe.

  “Here you go, you can borrow these” she said throwing them across the room, “I’ll have a quick shower and join you in the kitchen for breakfast, stick some toast on for me too, please.”

  Amelia held up a pair of jeans.

  “What do you mean borrow? These are mine. I loaned you them last week when you stayed at ours. What a cheek,” she laughed.

  When she had finished getting dressed Amelia headed downstairs to the kitchen. While preparing breakfast she thought about Kaden. She decided to wait until she was sure he was awake. If he was still stewing over his father it would not be a good idea to disturb him. He may have stayed up half the night with Ethan anyway, so would need a lie on. Another hour wouldn’t do any harm, she reasoned.

  ******

  The traffic was pretty light so Estelle arrived at the airport in good time. She stayed in the car and waited for a call from her husband letting her know that his plane had landed. She was beginning to feel overwhelmed by everything that was running through her mind. It was important that she spoke to Lloyd in a calm and quiet manner. He never listened to what he called “hysterical” talk. Her phone rang and she answered it telling her husband where she was parked. Estelle took a deep breath and tried to relax.

  Soon a tall dark haired man in his mid-forties approached the car. He smiled and leaned over to kiss her as he sat into the passenger seat.

  “It’s good to be home. I know this was only an overnight trip but we were thrashing things out for twelve hours at the meeting last night. All I could think about was the row with Kaden and how badly I handled it - as usual. Has he calmed down yet?”

  Estelle looked at the man she had shared so much of her life with and realized she didn’t really know him that well. Expecting another lecture about how she had spoiled their son and turned him into a softy, it took her totally by surprise to hear Lloyd blame himself for the argument with Kaden.

  “He spent the night at his friend’s place,” she said, “You know how he likes to cool off there. Ethan seems to know the right thing to say and he’s a good listener. Amelia is at Megan’s and is going to call Ethan about going over there later. I might meet up with her for lunch.”

  Estelle held her breath, waiting for a response, hoping Lloyd was too tired to ask if he could join them.

  “You do that, Estelle. I’ll just have something light to eat and try to catch up on some sleep.”

  He lay his head back and closed his eyes. It wasn’t long before the car pulled up outside the large, two storey house they had been living in for almost ten years.

  ******

  Amelia selected a number on her phone and felt a familiar flutter as she waited for Ethan to answer.

  cover”Hi Amel
ia, what’s new” he said, stretching and yawning.

  “You sound sleepy, did Kaden keep you up all night moaning about Dad?” Amelia smiled at the thought of Ethan struggling to stay awake while her brother ranted on.

  “What do mean keep me awake, Kaden’s not here. Did they have another row about college?”

  “Yeah, they sure did, and Kaden stormed out before he totally lost it. I was sure he would end up at yours. Where do you think he stayed last night?”

  “I don’t know, Amelia. He would normally have come here. We are supposed to meet up later today in the city. Did he take his pick-up?”

  “It’s not outside the house. He hasn’t been home since the row. I can’t think of anywhere else he would have gone, Ethan.” Amelia was beginning to feel uneasy.

  “Maybe he slept in his truck, somewhere away from everyone. Remember that time a few months ago when he stayed over at the park? I can go check it out in about an hour.” Ethan reassured her.

  “That would be great. You’re probably right, I won’t tell Mom that he didn’t stay with you, not just yet. She’ll worry too much. Please let me know the minute you find him, Ethan.”

  Knowing the kind of mood his friend would be in, Ethan decided the sooner he found him, the better. He drove through town, keeping an eye out for the red pick-up. He was with them when Lloyd Seager bought it for Kaden on his sixteenth birthday and even then they had a row over which vehicle to get. Ethan thought it strange how Kaden’s sister could choose a motorbike without any hassle from her father yet her brother got such flack for not wanting a car. In the end they both got what they wanted bought for them.

  “If my parents could afford to buy me some transport they could pick the car out and I’d be happy to drive whatever it was - within reason,” thought Ethan as he turned onto the street that led to the park. Having circled the area three times without finding the pick-up, he stopped the car and called Amelia.

  “Anywhere else you think he might have gone? There’s no sign of him at the park.”

  Ethan was hoping she would have a few places in mind.

  “No, I’m running out of ideas. I’ve made lots of calls and nobody has seen him or knows where he might be. Some of them suggested the park as well.”