Chapter Fourteen

The sun hung low in the sky as Lincoln rose early on Monday morning. Lincoln had woken up before Connor which must have been a first. The whole house was quiet and you could have heard a pin drop. Lincoln sat on the edge of his bed gazing out on the beautiful morning scene. There were some benefits to living out in the sticks.

He looked to Connor; the rise and fall of his chest as he slept. He found it strange now that he had never known his brothers and sisters before. Strange that they had been living this life in parallel with his but that they had never known each other. They would have passed each other in the street and not recognised one another. There were some similarities between Connor and Lincoln, in that they both had features of their fathers, though Connor had the fair colouring of his mother.

When he had been growing up, his mother had told him that he had a father and twin siblings. She would always say that they lived too far away and that was why he could not see them. As he got older and realised there was no excuse, she became more reluctant to talk about it. One night when she had been drunk, she had told him everything. He was the result of an affair. A true bastard. His mum had been working as an administrator at the Architects firm where Sam was a junior architect. They had had an affair for almost a year before Debs had found out. The twins were only a few months old and she had thrown Sam out. At the same time, Sophia found out she was pregnant. Sam moved in with Sophia but ended up going back and forth between the two women, finally leaving Sophia and moving permanently back in with his wife when Lincoln was six months old. He had seen Lincoln every now and then for a few years before they moved out of London and back to his home town of Hartley. After that communication was only one letter a year at Christmas. Lincoln had been burning the letters without opening them every since he found out. He had hated his father. What kind of man cheats on his pregnant wife and then gets another woman pregnant and abandons her? What kind of father can't be bothered to see his own child?

Debs has been very kind to him since he arrived but he did find her looking at him strangely sometimes. He must be a reminder of what happened. Of what Sam was capable of. A reminder of Sophia. He wondered how long her Good Samaritan act would last. She couldn't really want him here.

Lincoln's thoughts were interrupted by a yawn from Connor.

"Morning Bro" said Linc, grinning "You are up late"

Connor glanced at the clock. "It is only five to 7. What the hell are you doing up now? It is a mission to get you out of bed by 8!"

Linc threw a pillow at him. "Ha ha"

Lincoln turned his attention back to the fields outside. The sun was beginning to peek through the fluffy clouds. Surely a day like today can only be good, thought Lincoln. He could never be more wrong.

The last bell of the day rang loud and clear. The students of Hartley Comp breathed a sigh of relief as they filled the hallways and headed out of the school. Half an hour later, Lincoln strolled out of the school gates by himself. On the school steps, he stopped to light a cigarette. The day had gone quite well, with only a short detention that he had earned last week. He started walking. He was meeting Dale at the woodland.

Lincoln turned the corner and walked towards town. The sun had fought its way out of the earlier clouds and now shone brightly as he walked past the fountain. He didn't notice the police car slowly pull out ten yards behind him. He turned down the walkway and came to the bench but there was no Dale. He sat down and dropped his bag on the bench next to him.

"Hello Lincoln"

He looked up to see Sergeant Kramer. He had a smile on his face.

"Yeah Kramer?" said Lincoln, taking a final drag of his cigarette and stubbing it out.

Kramer opened his mouth to talk but was interrupted.

Dale came jogging from deep in the woodland. "Linc, I was just taking a wiz and I..."

He stopped mid-sentence when he saw his father.

Kramer looked shocked.

"Dale?"

"Hey Dad" he said quietly, holding a hand up pointlessly.

"What are you doing here, with him?" said Kramer pointing at Lincoln.

"Dad, he is my friend" said Dale, even quieter.

Kramer looked like he was going to explode. "Go home and get in your room. I'll talk to you later"

Dale looked at the floor in silence and slowly walked past them, back out to the road.

Kramer turned his attention back to Lincoln.

"What do you know about any stolen cigarettes?"

Lincoln kept his cool.

"I don't know anything about any cigarettes" he said, glaring at Kramer.

"Oh really?" said Kramer, pulling a small cassette out of his pocket. "Well I have a security video that tells me otherwise."

Lincoln bolted. He sped at full speed down the walkway, passing Dale as he did.

As he came to the roadside, he saw one way blocked by a police car. He turned the other way to see a big police officer, blocking his path.

He hesitated a second too long and as he began to climb over the bonnet, Kramer grabbed him and knocked him down onto the hood. Lincoln banged his face on the car with a thud.

"Dad!" he heard Dale shout.

Kramer ignored him as he handcuffed Lincoln and pulled him up.

Blood dripped from a cut on his face. Lincoln gave up resisting and smiled sadly at Dale as they put him into the car.

The old police station stood in full, three storeys in height. It being a small town, the station was not very big, nor very busy. Lincoln's local station back home was much bigger and always crammed, regardless of the time of day.

Kramer and the other officer got Lincoln roughly out of the car and took him in.

After he was booked in and searched, Kramer took him to a cell.

"I will call your father now, before we interview you. But then I suppose you know police procedure pretty well by now." Kramer smiled.

Lincoln smiled sarcastically back. "Yeah, whatever"

Kramer shut the door with a slam and turned the key. "Have fun Lincoln."

Lincoln sank to the floor and closed his eyes.

Sam was with a client when the call from Sergeant Kramer came through. Sam was now a successful Architect with his own firm. He had designed everything from now well known landmarks, to residential mansions and Government buildings.

The intercom buzzed and he was irritated by the interruption. He smiled politely at the client.

"Please excuse me."

"Nina, I'm with Mrs Appleby at the moment"

"Yes sir, sorry, but there is a phone call for you."

He cut her off. "Tell them I will call them back"

It was her turn to cut him off. "No sir, it is someone calling about your son."

Sam covered the receiver and turned to the client.

"I am ever so sorry, would you mind very much if I took this call?"

The client said it was fine.

"Put them through please Nina"

The line went quiet and he cleared his throat.

"This is Sam Taylor."

"Hi Sam, it is Sergeant Kramer here. I am afraid we have a bit of a situation down here. Lincoln has been caught shoplifting."

"He what?!" Sam exploded, causing Mrs Appleby to jump.

"We need you to come down to the station as soon as possible" said Kramer.

"Yes, yes of course" said Sam.

The door of the cell opened and Lincoln looked up from his position on the floor.

"Your father is here" said Kramer. "Up you get."

Kramer led him down the corridor, opened a door and pushed him in. It was a small interview room.

"Take a seat" said Kramer. He leant over to a tall officer on his right and whispered to him.

The officer immediately walked out, leaving them alone.

Lincoln ignored Kramer and studied the room. He was sat facing Kramer and between them was a small table. A tape recorder was on top of it. There was a small TV and VCR in one corner of the room, opposite the blind-less window.

Lincoln's observations were interrupted by the return of the tall officer - and Sam. Sam looked disorientated and Lincoln guessed this was his first formal visit to a police station. The officer told Sam where to sit and he took his place giving Lincoln an angry look.

Kramer ended the silence.

"Right, let us begin" he said, flipping a switch on the tape recorder. He gave the date and time and other formalities.

"Lincoln Taylor has been arrested for stealing four packets of cigarettes from Cassidy's Store in Hartley."

There was a pause.

"Did you take the cigarettes Lincoln?" he asked.

Lincoln said nothing but folded his arms.

"Answer him" snapped Sam, speaking for the first time.

Lincoln remained silent.

Kramer turned to the officer and nodded.

He got up and turned on the TV. He pressed play and the screen came on showing Lincoln in the shop. It showed him asking for the cigarettes, then the back copy of the magazine and his jumping over the counter and taking the packets. Finally it showed his polite goodbye. As the police officer switched off the tape, Sam groaned.

"I have just showed Lincoln the security camera from Cassidy's Store" said Kramer, for the purposes of the tape. "I will now repeat my question. Did you take the cigarettes?"

Lincoln looked at the smug grin on Kramer's face. He had been waiting to take Lincoln down for weeks. Lincoln knew he was caught and so did Kramer.

"I guess so" said Lincoln reluctantly.

"Can I take that as a yes?" said Kramer.

"Yes" said Lincoln.

"Do you have anything to say in your defence?"

"Sure. As you can see I was quite prepared to pay for the cigarettes but he wouldn't let me buy them. What can I say? I'm addicted" said Lincoln, smiling as he said the last few words.

Kramer smiled smugly back.

"Interview terminated." He flipped the switch.

"We'll take him back to the cells now, while we talk to Mr Cassidy" said Kramer to Sam. "Can you wait for a bit?"

Sam nodded.

"There is a coffee machine in the waiting room" said Kramer.

"Take him back" said Kramer to the other officer.

Lincoln stood up and was face to face with Sam for a moment. Sam reached for his face and he flinched.

"What happened to your face?" he asked Lincoln, concerned. The bleeding had stopped but Lincoln could feel his cheekbone was swollen.

Kramer answered for him. "Resisting arrest"

Sam looked ashen and dropped his hand. He watched as Lincoln was led away.

Sam walked along the hallway and into the waiting room. He came face to face with Mr Cassidy.

"Sam" said Mr Cassidy.

"George. I am so sorry. I don't know what to say. I am so ashamed." said Sam.

"Sam, hey, you didn't do this. It is not your fault."

"But he's my son. I don't know if he has done this for attention because he is unhappy here or because he misses his mother. I just don't know him. Except I know now my own son is a thief."

"Sam, really it is ok. It is not the first time I have been stolen from, and I doubt it will be the last." said Mr Cassidy, patting him on the shoulder.

Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "What can I give you to cover the costs?" Sam held out a wad of notes.

"I can't take your money Sam. That is just not right" said Mr Cassidy, sharply.

"If there is anything I can do or give you that means we can end this without further involving the police, I would be very grateful."

Mr Cassidy paused in thought.

"I don't know. I mean will he learn his lesson if he is let off?"

"I will teach him, don't worry" said Sam, angrily. "I am seriously considering leaving him in the cells overnight to teach him a real lesson."

"Well I am glad you are taking this so seriously Sam. I tell you what. I'll make a deal with you. I'll agree to drop the charges if Lincoln comes to work for me at the shop. If anything goes missing or wrong then I won't hesitate to call Sergeant Kramer" said Mr Cassidy.

"Really, you would do that? Thanks, thanks a lot George. You won't regret this."

"Won't regret what?" The two men turned to see Sergeant Kramer standing in the doorway. "What?"