Chapter - That's them

	Chapter - That's them
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The air was hot and still in the cul de sac, surrounded on three sides by four story brick apartment buildings.

Warren spoke impatiently. "We can't wait any longer." He paid the two couriers and sent them off. They walked toward the street entrance of the cul de sac. The guard started the car.

As Warren got in the guard stiffened. "The traffic." He pointed at the street. "That's the first time I've seen it stopped both ways, and there're no cars visible at all."

"Right," snapped Warren. "The cops have caught up to us. Get ready to drive out with one kid in the back. I'll take the other one. You're just a diversion for 30 seconds or so, don't make them shoot you."

He propped Rodney up in the back seat, yanked Fred out, and slung the back pack over his shoulder. He slammed the door and carried Fred at a run to an apartment building. The guard accelerated to the street entrance. As he reached it, a loud voice roared "Stop! Police!" He slid the car to a stop, hands firmly on the steering wheel, as police constables dashed up to cover him from both sides of the car. Constable Robertson and another policeman dashed into the cul de sac, guns ready, in time to hear the door slam behind Warren and Fred, but they hadn't seen where they went.

Robertson's cell phone rang. John spoke, "Last door in the building on your right. I can see from the park across the street."

"Thanks."

Click

"That way." The two policemen dashed to the apartment. Sirens wailed in the distance, getting louder as the police approached. A car started not far away, behind the building where Warren and Fred had disappeared. The door opened as they approached.

"Police! Did you see a man with a gun and a teenager?"

"Yuh - yes. The teenager was taped up so he couldn't speak and couldn't move. They took my car keys and my car."

"What kind of car?"

"Ford Focus, 1 year old, silver. License number NPPA..."

The other constable grabbed his portable police radio. "Unit 35."

"Go ahead, 35."

""Suspect left the scene with one hostage in a ..."

Two police in a car a few blocks away heard "... in a 2 door Ford Focus, gray, recent model ..."

One pointed across a confectionery parking lot to where a man with a gun and a backpack dragged a tape-tied teen from a Ford Focus into an adjacent mini van, while a woman backed away toward the confectionery.

"That's them."

The police car squealed as it entered the parking lot and pulled across to block the van from behind. The van briefly hid the kidnapper from the policemen. As the policemen leaped out of the car they entered a rising cloud of tear gas.

"What does your RDF say now?"

"Out of range, Constable Robertson. It's only good for a couple of blocks. When we found them before, we knew they were likely going to Toronto, on the 401. We just drove fast until we caught up."

"I think we have a lead. A woman reported a boat stolen about 20 minutes ago, from her back alley, and a neighbor saw a van about then. The owner of the stolen van confirms that it has a trailer hitch."

"So now we look for a van with a boat behind. In the summer, that's not much better than a van alone."

"Yes it is. The trailer has an expired Manitoba license plate, and the boat has large cartoons of a mouse on both sides of the bow and the stern, over the words "Water mouse" in large black letters.

Fred managed to get the key out of his pants pocket. He ripped at the duct tape on his ankles, leaving the tape still connected, but weak. He tried to do the same for the tape on his hands but wasn't making much progress when Warren turned on to a side street, then into a parking lot, and backed the trailer down a ramp.

Fred couldn't see where they were from the floor of the van, but when Warren turned off the motor, he thought he heard the sounds of a river. Were they back near home? Launching a boat? That didn't make sense. What other large rivers were there in Southern Ontario? The Grand River? From the mouth of the Grand, Warren could cross Lake Erie to the States, but it would be faster to cross at Niagara. The Niagara River! It must be! With Niagara Falls just downstream! Fred knew what would happen if Warren dumped him out of a boat here.

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