Little Tom gets kidnapped

Little Tom's muffled screams were audible outside the van that was taking him away. Amarnath was a strong and able business man, and for the first time in his career, a tiff at work lead to interference in his personal life. His arch rival had hired goons to kidnap his son, take him to his farm house in Nellore, and demand ransom.

Tommy was frightened, even more than when his playschool teacher threatened to hit him with a long, iron scale. This was the scariest time of his life. The big men around him weren't treating him nicely at all, and he was doing all that he could; screaming with all his might, even though his mouth was covered by someone's hand. The hand was partly suffocating him. He couldn't stop squirming around, which annoyed the goons even more.

Tommy wasn't too worried, though. He'd seen his father's car following them, a little while ago, in the distance. Daddy was out to get these bad men, and when he did, they would all be pulverized to death.

...

A little behind the van was Amarnath, driving his car, with a high rank police officer sitting next to him. The police van was on it's way, but further behind.

"Did we lose them?" The officer asked.

"Oh no, don't say that," Amarnath said, frowning. But he was right; there was no car ahead of them. Nevertheless, he kept driving on the straight road.

Amarnath did know that Srinath, his rival had a farm house in Nellore, one that he was rumoured to carry out illegal businesses. He was rumoured to be guilty of six kidnaps and four murders since the start of his career, and those numbers were the reason for Amarnath's worry.

...

"Get out," the leader of the gang ordered his subordinate. "Get out and flip that boards."

They were at crossroads. There was a pole placed at the center, with arrows that directed travellers to their destination. Nellore was to the right, and Badvel to the left; the leader's idea was to reverse the directions and mislead Amarnath and the police.

One of the goons in the backseat got out, and managed to dig up, reverse the pole, and bury it back in the mud, leaving it looking like it hadn't ever been touched.

"Let's drink chai," the gang leader said, in the van. "Let's celebrate!" He laughed, proud of his idea to mislead the police. Now they didn't have to hurry.

...

"Damn it," Amaranth cursed. Poor Tommy must be so scared, he thought.

They approached a junction.

"To the left," the policeman said.

"Are you sure?" Amarnath asked.

"Yeah, look there," he said pointing at the signboard. "It says Nellore to the left."

"My navigation says Nellore to the right," Amarnath frowned, pointing at the small screen in his car.

"Okay I guess that's more reliable," the police officer agreed. They took a right, and continued searching for the van.

They found it parked outside a small dhaba. Soon enough, the police van behind them caught up as well. The police arrested the goons and Amarnath went to the Van to hug his son.

 "Daddy! I knew you would come," Tommy said, running into his father's arms.

"Yes, son. I am your saviour, and Navigation is mine. Thank god we have inbuilt navigation in our Tata Zica!"

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.