AllFreeNovel
Share Us
chapter 37
alex
The sudden deceleration when I pull the emergency lever flings people against each other. Shouts and cries of alarm echo up and down the carriage.
‘What the fuck?’ Jack exclaims.
The train screeches to a halt, half in and half out of the tunnel, leaving our carriage outside, still alongside the platform. I hammer on the train doors as people on the platform outside rush towards the exits, no doubt fearing a terrorist attack.
‘Open the doors!’ I shout. ‘Open the doors!’
‘Alex, what the hell?’
‘I just saw Lottie on the other train!’
‘Are you sure?’
‘It was her, Jack!’
He doesn’t waste time questioning me any further. He already has his phone out to call for help, and then curses as he realises he has no signal.
A female Tube employee stares at us from the platform, frozen in apparent indecision. Jack raps sharply on the glass, and flashes his House of Commons ID.
‘Open the doors!’ he demands.
The woman backs away. An alarm is sounding, an air-raid-style blaring. It contributes to the rising sense of panic aroundus. A group of young men barge their way through from the next carriage, which is in the tunnel, and barrel down the compartment towards us, shoving people out of the way. Voices are raised in protest, and a baby starts to cry.
‘There must be an emergency release for the doors,’ I cry, hitting every button I can see. ‘What if there was a fire?’
One of the young men grabs my arm. ‘What the fuck did you pull that alarm for, you stupid bitch?’
‘Give it a rest, mate,’ Jack says. His tone is light, but his voice carries an unmistakable air of menace.
‘Yeah, well,’ the yob mutters, releasing me. ‘Some of us got places to be.’
I don’t care that people are shouting at me, or that I’m being filmed on several mobile phones. My daughter is slipping through my fingers.
In three minutes, Lottie will be at the next Tube station. In six, she could be on a bus or in a taxi; in ten, who knows where. The ripple of possibilities is widening with every second that passes.
Panic chokes me:not again. I’m back on that beach in Florida and no matter how hard I try to run after my daughter, I’m caught in quicksand, my legs moving in slow motion.
My baby was here and now I’m losing her again.
A public announcement cuts through the hubbub. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like there may be a short delay,’ the announcer says. ‘We’re doing our best to get you on your way as soon as possible. Please move down through the carriages and exit the train via the platform. If the person who pulled the emergency alarm could make themselves known to a member of staff, we’ll do our best to assist you.’
The female Tube employee is talking to two armed British Transport Police officers. There’s a sudden hiss and the doors to the carriages still outside the tunnel open.
People spill out of the train, surging towards the exits. Frustration wraps itself around my lungs, my panic mounting. Lottie was almost close enough for me to touch.
I have to catch her, before it’s too late—
Jack puts a gently detaining hand on my elbow. ‘No point trying to chase her ourselves, Alex,’ he says. ‘We need to let the police handle this.’
I can’t bear it, the idea of waiting, yet again, for someone else to find my child. The urge to run after Lottie is almost overwhelming. But he’s right. We need the other train stopped and searched, the stations along the District and Circle Line locked down. It may already be too late. They may have changed lines, or exited the Tube system altogether.
Jack flashes his ID again and the police listen to him when he explains who I am and what we need.
We’re escorted to a control room somewhere in the bowels of Victoria station, and I’m asked the same questions again by a more senior officer:
