Shame Of Maastricht: The Revelation of Misery by Marie N. Hallen (books to improve english .TXT) 📕

“Wow. You… You’re scaring me...”

“Why? Their daughter got killed. A loss hard to bear. They could… You know, I wouldn’t be surprised at all… But we do need to check.”

Kate froze, completely astonished. It never came to her mind that such a thing could happen. She would never suspect anyone from that side, although what Sterre said sounded very obvious. It was on the surface. You can’t accuse anyone whose guilt is not proven, but Sterre’s words made her suspicious.

“Sterre, you are a genius. I don’t even know what to say. If it wasn’t so late, I would run there right now...”

“It’s just a suggestion, of course. I’m not blaming anyone, but I would check this version. But I wonder if the police have the same course of thought and if they checked something. Of course her parent’s could move, but not to Germany. They could move to another street, district or town. Do you know where they lived?”

“No, we can ask Stijn.”

“Can you show me Lotte’s grave?”

“Yes, I can. But I don’t think she resurrected.”

“Well, even if she did, this revenge would be even more logical as she knew better what happened then. Her parents weren’t present. No, really, I’m starting to believe in this version more and more. If your Luuk was so nice and didn’t deal with other drug addicts… If he is really innocent… This version is more realistic than some gang of crazy criminals or mafia, who terrorize Maastricht. Why would they come to your house then, and not grab him somewhere in the street?”

“Sounds quite logical, Sterre. I think you have chosen the wrong job. A role at the police department would fit you better. So why do you want to visit her grave?”

“This is a poor idea, but if they attend it, we could spot them there and… find out where they live? But it’s stupid. No one will sit there in the ambush and wait for days.”

“Let’s check their house. Maybe they also had a cottage in some other place. I don’t know if Luuk ever attended it. I will call Stijn right in the morning.”

Kate called Stijn. He didn’t reply for a long time but finally picked up the phone. She apologized for disturbing him and explained her suggestions.

“I would never imagine they could do something like this.” Stijn said, “But I haven’t seen them after Lotte’s funeral. We can go and check the house for sure.”

“Do you know their neighbors?”

“I don’t know anyone, but we can ask. Maybe this can be even more helpful.”

They decided not to waste time any more. Right in an hour Stijn, Kate and Sterre arrived at the old house of Mr. and Mrs. Dijkstra and started checking everything around.

“There is nothing that could help,” stated Stijn after they checked the site. “But I can see the plants on the windowsill. Look how fresh they are. No jokes, but it seems to me someone takes care of them.”

“This could be neighbours they trust,” commented Sterre. “But we need to make sure we aren’t suspecting wrong people. No tire traces?”

“Can you see any? I personally can’t. Flowers - yes. But I can’t get closer.”

“The territory around the house looks pretty neat as if someone takes care of it.” said Kate, trying to peer into the dark windows of the house of Dijkstra. “Nothing…”

“Let’s take a look at their garage.”

“They have no garage at all. They had one but sold it last year. And the garage was over there”, Stijn pointed somewhere on the opposite side of the street. Girls didn’t see anything but realized there was no clue to find other signs of someone’s presence near the house.

“Did they have a summer house anywhere?”

“They had one in Germany. They did have it. Maybe they weren’t lying about going to Germany after all.”

“I wonder if it’s neighbours who take care of their house. Can we ask them?”

“I’ve known Dijkstra for a long time but I don’t know anyone from their neighbourhood. I don’t even know if it could be a good idea to approach someone around. Like hey, have you seen these two oldies and was it you guys who help them around the house?”

“I guess this is the only option that could work now.” Kate said. “I know I’m desperate, but what are we losing? I can see a gentleman behind the fence over there. I will just ask him. Nothing worse will happen”.

“Hey there” Kate approached the fence and waved at the neighbour who was watering the flowers in his garden. The old gentleman waived back and stepped towards the entrance.

“Just a question… I’m a niece of Mr. Dijkstra” She decided to begin with the lies to make a conversation more efficient. “Can’t get through him, he doesn’t reply. Has he moved?”

“Hey!” the neighbor replied. “Sorry, I haven’t seen them for a long time. At this point it’s not something I could help you with.”

“When was the last time you saw them?” Kate didn’t give up.

“A few months ago, I believe. But I never talk to them. You should take care of your relatives and not lose contact for such a long time. Who knows what can happen…”

“I know, I know, but our relations are far from being brilliant, I must confess.”

“I get that, everyone has family issues. Oh wait, I have heard someone drive by this week. Someone pulled up near their house but I didn’t see because I was staying at home. I just heard someone.”

“Was it in the evening or?...”

“Yea, it was quite late, I didn’t even pay attention.”

“Looks like my uncle and aunt are still mad at me” Kate sighed and stepped away from the fence. The neighbour got back to his garden job.

“Have a nice day!” he replied and disappeared.

They got into the car.

“So where are we going?” Stijn asked.

“I don’t know anymore. I’m thinking of contacting the police and asking them to pay attention to Lotte’s parents. I don’t know how, I just want to change their investigation course. You know what I mean.”

“I never had any feedback. I’m sure they don’t even have a clue, it’s obvious. Not trying to blame anyone, but since there is no result, we might help them in one way or another.” Stijn replied with a note of despair in his voice. “I would contact them of course.”

“Let’s go to our house first,” Kate suggested. “Then we see.”

While discussing where they should go first, they failed to notice a blue car which appeared from nowhere and blocked their way.

“Goddamn!” Stijn exclaimed and tried to signal a few times but the car didn’t move. They couldn’t see the driver, but no one went out. At this moment they heard some noise behind and felt their own car being lifted up and towed away by a tow truck that appeared behind them. It happened so quickly that they didn’t even have time to open the door and jumped out of the car. Now it was too late as their car was being carried away at pretty high speed.

“Did we break some rules, guys?” Stijn wondered. He signaled a few times but nothing happened.

“Call the police immediately, Stijn!” Sterre shouted all nervous. “This doesn’t look like legal towing at all!”

“Relax, I even know who did it.” Kate replied. “I’m calling the police right now.”

She dialed the emergency number but got a response informing that all operators were busy at the moment.

“Shit! We are abducted! Jump out!”

They tried to open the car doors but realized it was too late as the tow truck was running at the highest possible speed down the highway, crossing the forest and the fields. The town remained behind and it became clear that it was nothing else but a real abduction in which only certain people could be interested in. And they all knew who these people were.

“I’ve tried to call the police several times,” Kate cried in despair. “I can’t get through them! Mother doesn’t reply either!”

“I can’t believe my eyes,” Stijn said. “We are abducted, we have phones and we can’t have the police answer our emergency call!”

“Try to call someone else!” Sterre said. Both Kate and Sterre were desperately trying to call the police or their relatives. They grabbed Stijn’s phone to call his wife but there was no service.

“Too late! No service at all. I can’t even send a message.”

The truck was driving through the forest and the service was gone. All three immediately lost contact with the outer world.

“I’ve only managed to message my parents, my internet doesn’t work,” Sterre said. “Let’s hope someone will react sooner or later.”

“I think I know where we are going. Maybe it’s better not to push things at this point. maybe we will become one step closer to Luuk. If this doesn’t work, then I don’t know. If we called the police, there would be a chance we would only make things worse.”

“So you suggest submitting?” Sterre wondered. “You have no weapons or whatever. In fact, we can’t even make phone calls or message someone. Even if you end up in the same place where they detain Luuk, you won’t be able to do anything.”

“Goddamn, I don’t know what else we can do! You can’t even jump out of this damn car!”

“Let’s keep trying to call someone! Anyone...”

Finally Kate managed to get through the police and inform them about the incident. She didn’t know their current location, but told them about the blue car which blocked their way, the number of the car they were sitting in and Mr.Dijkstra’s home address.”

“Do not hang up!” the police officer instructed her. “We will try to spot your current location and send our forces there. Hide your phone before you face the abductors.”

“Stupid instructions,” Sterre whispered. She tried to call her parents, but her battery was low and the phone turned off. Stijn also managed to get through his wife and let her know all the details.

The truck arrived at the forlorn industrial site and pulled up by a low beton building which looked like a warehouse. All three rushed out of the car only to face three tall men wearing black masks and armed with guns.

“Hands up!” one of them commanded. They had to obey silently.

“Don’t move, or I will shoot you right here. Give me your phones. I know all of you have phones,” the second one chimed in and approached them.

“My phone is in the car.” Sterre replied.

The third man rushed to the car and started searching for Sterre’s phone. Failing to find it, he came back to the captives and checked their bags and pockets. All the phones have been taken from them.

“Don’t move!” the first man repeated as Kate tried to step away. “We came to pick you up and lead you to a specially designated place.”

“Designated by whom?” Kate asked. She tried to behave calmly to avoid invoking aggression in the abductors. She knew that being extra nervous only worsens the situation. Never tease your enemies if they have already overpowered you.

“You were brought here because we were told to do it. So shut up and follow us.”

The three men pulled their guns at Kate, Sterre and Stijn and they had to obey and walked to the building they supposed to be a warehouse.

“If some of you tries to run away or just make a step towards the exit, all of you will be shot,” one of the group members warned them.

“I wonder if we die today,” Sterre laughed. None of the captives seemed to be shocked or scared. No one tried to run away, fight back or cry.

“Depends on us.” Kate whispered as they entered the building. They ended up in a dark hall when someone turned on the light.

“Stay here,” one of the men commanded. He picked up a long chain from the floor and fixed around their feet so that they all walked in line one by one and couldn’t get away.

“Just obey,” Stijn whispered to girls.

Another man