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Chapter 4 The Clue

Author: Perfect Timing
The newsstand was stifling. Moldy newspapers filled the tiny space, and flies buzzed everywhere.

My face burned, and blood was running down my hands.

I kept telling myself to stay calm. Andrew was still in the trafficker's truck. If it got too far away, he'd disappear just like he had in my previous life.

I felt around on the floor and found a broken stapler. Its metal edges were sharp. I picked it up and swung it at the glass.

I swung at it once, but it didn't break.

Fortunately, a crack appeared when I did it again.

The third blow left my palm numb.

I slammed my shoulder against the window, and the cracked glass shattered with a crash.

Shards cut into my arms and stomach as I crawled through the opening and tumbled to the ground.

I'd barely managed to get back on my feet when Matthew came running from the alley. "Daniel!"

His face went pale when he saw me covered in blood.

I grabbed his shirt. "The truck… Harbor Fresh Foods. The right taillight's broken. License plate ends in 76. Old Eastbridge."

I was so terrified I could barely get the words out.

Matthew scooped me up and rushed toward the station office. His voice was urgent but steady. "Pull up the security footage! Call 911! Tell the police a young man has been taken by strangers and a child has been beaten and locked up!"

The station office erupted into chaos.

Someone tried to clean the blood off me, but I flung their hands away. "Find Andrew first! Don't worry about me."

The police arrived quickly.

The officer leading the team was Ashton Drake. He crouched in front of me. "Take your time, son. Did your brother get into the truck on his own, or did someone force him inside?"

I panicked. "They tricked him! That woman hit me and locked me up!"

I held out my hand. Red marks from the tape covered the back of it, and blood was still running down my arm.

Ashton's expression changed. "Get the alley footage. Track down that refrigerated truck."

My parents arrived soon afterward.

My father hadn't even taken off his hard hat. His shoes were covered in mud.

My mother was still wearing her nurse's uniform. She'd run all the way there, and her face was deathly pale.

Her eyes were filled with tears as she asked urgently, "Daniel, where's Andrew?"

I opened my mouth and answered despondently, "They took him."

My mother's knees buckled. My father caught her, his eyes bloodshot.

It didn't take long for the security footage to come through. Soon, everyone saw how Finn was talking to Andrew and leading him to the truck. Then, we all saw Andrew get into the truck before Madison dragged me into the alley.

A truck blocked part of the footage, but there was enough to show what had happened.

Ashton immediately sent officers to check the surrounding intersections.

A traffic camera in Old Eastbridge picked up the refrigerated truck. Its right taillight was broken. Its license plate ended in 76.

It disappeared at a three-way intersection. The left road led to the highway. The right road led to the docks. The middle road ran through an abandoned industrial district.

The footage ended there.

The adults in the station office started talking over one another.

"Could it have taken the highway?"

"Maybe they were heading to the docks to make a delivery?"

"What's in the abandoned industrial district?"

I stared at the screen.

Just before the truck disappeared, I spotted another vehicle at the edge of the frame. It was a cargo tricycle covered with a blue plastic tarp. A gust of wind lifted one corner.

Blue plastic. My mind went blank.

In my previous life, Andrew didn't recognize anyone after he was finally found. He would just hold his head and repeat the same few words.

The smell of fish. A blue tarp. Metal hooks. He was cold. The beeping of a reversing truck.

There was an abandoned seafood cold-storage warehouse at the end of the middle road in Old Eastbridge.

When we were little, my father used to take us past it on his motorcycle. I'd complain about the awful smell, and Andrew would laugh and call me a little bloodhound.

Everything seemed to click and sharpen into focus.

The fishy smell. The blue tarp. The freezing cold. The metal hooks.

I shot to my feet and pointed at the screen. "The cold-storage warehouse! The seafood warehouse behind Old Eastbridge!"

Everyone turned to look at me.

Tears streamed down my face as I shouted, "Andrew's there! He really is!"
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    Years later, Andrew left Ashbourne to attend college.He never used that account again, and he never wore that white shirt again, either.In the beginning, he couldn't bring himself to ride a bus by himself. His experience was so traumatizing that he would take another route whenever he saw a refrigerated truck, and the smell of fish would make him shake like a leaf.He'd freeze whenever he passed a shop with blue plastic strip curtains in the doorway, his face turning pale.My mother nearly couldn't resist telling him, "It's all in the past now."My father stopped her. "It's fine if it's not in the past for him. We'll take it one day at a time."And that was exactly what our family learned to do. My father stopped hounding him about his grades, and my mother started knocking before entering Andrew's room.They started asking him how he was feeling."Did you have a rough day? Want to talk about it? It's okay if you don't."Matthew still worked at the bus station.The old stat

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  • The Girl Who Took My Brother   Chapter 4 The Clue

    The newsstand was stifling. Moldy newspapers filled the tiny space, and flies buzzed everywhere.My face burned, and blood was running down my hands.I kept telling myself to stay calm. Andrew was still in the trafficker's truck. If it got too far away, he'd disappear just like he had in my previous life.I felt around on the floor and found a broken stapler. Its metal edges were sharp. I picked it up and swung it at the glass.I swung at it once, but it didn't break. Fortunately, a crack appeared when I did it again. The third blow left my palm numb.I slammed my shoulder against the window, and the cracked glass shattered with a crash.Shards cut into my arms and stomach as I crawled through the opening and tumbled to the ground.I'd barely managed to get back on my feet when Matthew came running from the alley. "Daniel!"His face went pale when he saw me covered in blood.I grabbed his shirt. "The truck… Harbor Fresh Foods. The right taillight's broken. License plate en

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