Chapter 42
As Octavia drove her little red car through the winding streets of Boston, Manny had the feeling she didn’t quite trust his story about the kidnapping. His guess was that she was more interested in catching a glimpse of the famous André Vaz. Then, she parked her car. It was well past midnight after all. Most people would have just dropped him at the curb.
She led him inside the enormous building, where people clomped across the tiles, their footsteps echoing off the tall ceiling. Some of them stopped at ticket counters while others stared at large computer screens that showed the scheduled arrivals and departures. A woman’s voice came over the loudspeaker, announcing the departure of a train.
He saw no sign of André.
Octavia pointed to the schedule above them. “There’s a train heading for North Carolina that departs in a few minutes.”
She took off toward the other end of the station, and he followed her as they passed people sitting on benches. He scanned the rows of seats for a man of André’s height, a baby carrier, perhaps a stroller. He listened for Benjamin’s cry.
They entered a large tunnel that surrounded a train track. Rows of windows above the tracks opened to the sky, and rows of shops stood beside them. Weaving around groups of people, he ran behind Octavia.
“We just need to go one gate over to get to the train heading South,” Octavia said.
In the distance, he caught sight of a man in a red hoodie and jeans. He had dark skin and wore glasses, and he carried a large box. “I think I see him,” Manny shouted, sprinting forward through the crowd. “Stop that guy!” he shouted.
A few people turned their heads to look at Manny as the man disappeared into the train. No one did anything to stop him.
“That was him!” he shouted to Octavia.
She was right behind him, her voice straining with exertion. “We better hustle, then.”
They reached the gate within seconds, but it was fenced off. “Here in Boston, they lock the gates before people board the trains.” She waved her arms to the conductor, who stood at the front of the line, checking everyone’s ticket. “Hey, can you help us?”
The conductor didn’t seem to notice, but Octavia kept yelling, so after checking in the last few passengers, he approached them. “What’s this now?”
“My son’s been kidnapped,” Manny explained, showing him the picture of André. “I saw him board this train.”
“This is your son?”
“No, that is the kidnapper.” Manny slid his thumb across the screen to show him Benjamin’s picture. “This is my son.” Just looking at the little face on the screen, Manny almost leaped over the gate. He couldn’t let André get away.
The conductor barely looked at the picture before shaking his head. “No babies came on board. I would have noticed.” He turned to get on the train.
Manny could easily leap over the gate and follow him on board. He had never been on a train, but he’d seen people riding them on movies. It didn’t look that different from a bus. He could figure it out.
He was backing up, about to hurtle the gate, when Octavia grabbed his arm, digging in her fingernails. “The security guard’s got his eye on you. The last thing you need is to get hauled off to the police station.”
“But—” He groaned. She was right. He would have to try something else, and there wasn’t much time. The conductor had already reached the train’s door. “Please, sir,” he yelled. “Don’t let him get away. He could have hidden the baby in a box.” As he said it, the door to the train began to shut. “I saw him with a box,” he yelled at the conductor as he disappeared inside. What kind of person would put a baby in a box? Manny kicked the gate. Benjamin could be smothering to death.
André was so close—within a soccer field’s length—yet he couldn’t reach him.
He felt as if they had put him in a cage like an animal. He had no other option than to jump over. It was better to get hauled off to the police station than do nothing.
Just as he was about to hurl himself over it, Octavia grabbed his arm. “We can tell the police what you saw. They’ll help us.”
That was right. The police could meet the train at the next station. He reached for his phone, but as he did, his phone emitted a high-pitched alarm that seemed to echo all around the station.
“That’s the Amber Alert,” Octavia said, pulling her phone from her pocket and reading from the screen. “AMBER ALERT, Benjamin Montrond Age: two-months, Weight: 12 pounds, Hair color: brown, Eye color: brown, Missing from Brockton, MA. Last seen with André Vaz.” She shook her head.
The train door opened and the conductor reappeared, staring down at his phone.
“This alert is about my son,” Manny yelled. “Benjamin Montrond is my son, and André Vaz is the man I saw getting on this train.”
After a long pause, the conductor walked to the gate, motioning for the security guard to come along. He ushered Manny and Octavia through the gate and onto the train. “Let me see that picture again. I’ll see if I can help you find him.”
Octavia squeezed herself in front of Manny. “I know what André looks like, so I’ll go first. We don’t want Manny to spook him.”
They walked down a narrow aisle in between rows of seats. His heartbeat thudding in his ears, Manny took his time, letting the conductor and Octavia walk ahead. His gaze moved over each face—old, young, black, white, Latino, Asian. He checked each row to make sure no one was hunched down, hiding. He looked for boxes too and listened for muffled cries.
Nothing.
They moved to the next car, and then the next.
Finally, he spied a flash of red at the back of the car. The hoodie. André’s face was hidden, though, behind someone else’s head.
Manny rushed past Octavia and the conductor, his fists ready. First, he’d stun him with the punch. Then he’d open up the box. This time, he wouldn’t fail. He would stay in the fight no matter how much it hurt. He would get the baby.
But as he moved down the aisle, the face staring back at him wasn’t André’s. Manny stopped, bumping up against the back of a seat. It was a different man. The wrong man.