| "What are we gonna do when we get out?!" Amy questioned. "Run for it. And don't let anyone out of your sight," Ike ordered. We nodded. Ike swerved around the right turn, then the left. "Ok, there's the oval!" Taylor exclaimed. "Ok, get ready," Ike warned, driving alongside it. "Where are you going, the creek?" I asked. "Yep," he replied. We got ready. I was taking only my mobile and wallet. The other three only took their wallets. Then Ike began to drive up onto the grass. We had our seatbelts off, ready to go. Then he began to drive alongside the creek. "Cross the creek so the cars can't follow. Now... GO!" Ike yelled. We all opened our doors and jumped. The car came to a halt as we jumped into the creek and scrambled up the other side. The police cars were a few seconds behind. When we got up the other side, we ran. We came to the end of the street and turned left. Then stopped. The sedan was in the middle of the road, with the four men standing around it. "Oh God no," Taylor murmured. Then we heard a police car behind us. We decided not to give them a chance to get us. We doubled back, and into someone's front yard. The yard was overrun with dead weeds and grey sand. It had a long driveway, lined with palm trees. There wasn't a gate leading into the backyard - the whole place was open. There was a man standing in the garden. We ran straight past, not looking back. "Oi!" we heard him yell after us. We made it to the back of the large property and jumped over the small brick wall onto another road. We stopped for a second. "Where... are we going?" Amy panted. Taylor caught sight of a Ute on the other side of the road. "I've got an idea," he panted, then began towards it. We followed, thankful for the cover of trees. "You can drive, can't you?" he looked at me and Amy. "Duh," I replied. "Good. Amy, get in there and put this cap on," he picked one out from the back, "we'll have to hide in the back. The keys are there." Amy took the cap from him and got in. Ike, Taylor and I jumped in the back and pulled the cover over ourselves. Amy started the car, then took off. She probably didn't really know where she was, but we knew if she made it back to the highway she'd be fine. "Quick thinking. The cops would ID the numberplate on the car," I complimented. "Exactly. They'd be looking for both of us," Taylor replied. "What are we gonna do when we get back? We're on the run now," I asked. "The cops and those guys... brings back memories, doesn't it?" Taylor sighed. "We might be able to hide out at home for a while," Ike suggested. Meanwhile, I was ringing Zac again. "Hey, what happened to us? Nah, we're ok. Where's the police?... Ok, I'm not sure where we are, Amy's driving. I dunno when we'll be back, sometime soon I think. Watch out for us, ok? Ok, see ya." I hung up. "What did he say?" Taylor asked. "Ah, I think the cops have lost track of us. He says they lost us when we dumped the car. And the bad news, is that they have identified Ike as the driver," I replied. "We knew it would happen," Ike sighed. "I bet those guys planned it. I bet they wanted us to be running from the cops and them to keep us worried. Bastards," Taylor slammed his fist down onto the car. We hesitated. "Greg's style," I said. Around half an hour later, we pulled into a driveway. "Home," Ike said, "well, one of them." The Ute came to a halt, then someone threw the covers off us. "Jeez guys, I was worried as hell!" Zac exclaimed as we got out. Amy shut the door and threw the cap in the window. "Well, we've gotta get rid of this car," Ike said. "What is it with you and dumping cars today?" I joked. "Umm, Amy, can you drive it again? I'll follow you out to the bush with my car, then I'll bring you back," Taylor suggested. She shrugged, "fine". Taylor fetched his keys form inside, then they left. "Zac, we have to tell our parents, we can't keep secrets this time," Ike turned to him. "Yeah I know," Zac nodded, "actually, everyone already knows. I mean I had to tell them something - they was no way they believed you ran a robbery." Then he chuckled as we went inside. Taylor and Amy were back just under an hour later. "So, now what do we do?" I asked, as the five of us sat in the livingroom. "Good question, anyone got an answer?" Taylor asked. No one replied. "The police came around here just after you went missing, we told them we didn't know anything," Zac informed us. "Thanks," Ike replied. He shrugged. We sat silently for a second. "Why don't we just get in touch with the police and explain, you know... what Nathan said, and the guys that were after us and everything?" Amy suggested. "Like they'd believe us," Zac replied. "Well, they'd know that this has happened to us before," Taylor suggested, seeing sense in what Amy said, "and that would even the score - if the cops were back on our side." He leant forward and raised his eyebrows. "We could try," he suggested. "You'll have to ring from a mobile, otherwise they'll track the call," Zac warned. Ike hesitated. "Ok then, who's doing it?" he sat back. No one replied. "Great," he murmured. A few minutes later, he was on the phone to the station, waiting for someone to pick up the line. "Hello, ah... I'm just calling to say that I was not involved in any robbery today... This is Isaac Hanson. No! No! Don't do that! I just wanted to confirm that... Can I talk to an officer involved please?" We watched as he waited, holding our breath. "Ah, Constable...? Sorry, Sergeant. Umm, I wanted to let you know that I wasn't involved in that robbery... What? Nah, nah, they couldn't have! What do you mean 'why not?', because we weren't there! I can't say... But we weren't running from the law! We were running from someone... Sergeant, I am sure that you're aware tha I and a few others were involved in numerous kidnappings not long ago. But we weren't doing that!... Yes I would. No I wouldn't, but I could send someone on my behalf... Tonight? Ok. Thankyou." He hung up, then shook his head. "What?" Taylor asked. "He's not sure if he believes me or not. Apparently someone that works at the place we supposedly 'robbed' identified my car," he began. "But that's impossible! We weren't even there!" Taylor exclaimed. "You know what this means then," I cut in, "they set us up. They must have." Ike nodded. "They wanted you to be caught by the police," Zac thought. "Yeah... the Sergeant wanted me to meet him somewhere private, but I said I'd send someone on my - or 'our' behalf," he added. "Who do you have in mind?" Zac asked. Ike just looked at him. |
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| Chapter 4 - Identification |
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