Betrayed by Carol Thompson Read Free Book Online Page B

her break. She blocked the parking bay next to my car so that the Captain wouldn’t have any problems find ing parking. Relieved that Glen was unharmed but rendered silly by the after-effects of shock, we joked around and the air was filled with a sense of false gaiety, the kind of hysteria that prompts you to laugh when you really want to cry.
    Captain Kotze rang to say he was delayed, suggesting that we should all go home and he would meet me later. Having got so close, I didn’t want to let him slip through my fingers now, so I insisted that we would wait.
    â€œI want you to watch the surveillance film,” I told him. “I’ve check ed with building security and they’ve confirmed that they’ll let the police watch the video. I also want you to find and interview the man who accosted my son in case he really does know something.”
    And so we waited. Late morning dragged into afternoon with not a sign, not a word from Captain Kotze. Mid-afternoon, we heard police helicopters buzzing overhead and saw heavily armed police officers crawling through the car park, checking the cars. We’d heard gun shots earlier so we figured there had been an armed robbery and the hunt was now on for the criminals.
    I became aware of an armed officer moving up behind Linda, but she didn’t notice him. Then, when his rifle was pointing directly at Glen as he checked my car, she turned and saw him. She screamed and did a little on-the-spot jig with fright, bringing some light relief from the tension. Still laughing at her reaction, we all jumped when my cell phone rang. It was Captain Kotze to say he had been held up, but would be with us soon. This brought us back to reality with a resounding bump.
    It was three in the afternoon when he arrived. We had been wait ing for him for five hours. He wasn’t interested in seeing the surveil lance video; he wasn’t interested in following up on the stranger who had accosted my son.
    â€œPhttt,” he scoffed. “It wouldn’t be any use, just a waste of time.”
    The police didn’t follow up or try to find the man and we never heard from him again. I believe now that it was probably a hoax from this strange man, but at the time it was the only information we had. People who knew him said he was harmless but not very coherent. Had he noticed the poster in the window of Glen’s car and seen an o p portunity to get some attention? Or did he really know something? His motives were unclear.
    We gave the Captain some of the items we had found in Tracey’s car, with a brief explanation about each of them. His lack of enthusiasm was obvious. He tossed some of the bits of paper on the ground.
    â€œThese aren’t important,” he said.
    I picked them up and put them back in a plastic bag. I still thought that the dated till slips from the day she had last been seen might provide some clues about her movements on that terrible day.
    Best on the East Rand or not, I felt very little confidence in the of ficer who had been assigned to the case. Yet I had no choice but to trust him. He was all we had, our only hope. Telling myself to have faith that Captain Kotze was more effective than he seemed, I drop ped Linda back at work. By now Glen was as white as a ghost and had broken out in a cold sweat and started to shake. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. Worried that he was in shock, I took him to the doctor, then back to his cottage. He took the medication the doctor had prescribed and lay down on the couch, where he was soon in a restless sleep.
    When I got home, I lay down with the world on my shoulders, stones in the pit of my stomach. Too tired and emotionally drained to form a single constructive thought. In a place beyond grief and ex haustion, time no longer seemed to stir and my misery no longer seemed entirely my own. It was as though I was watching myself act out a role in some badly produced B-grade movie.
    I know a lot of