SatNav Chapter 2 A

Sandra was in bed; all tucked up, with a mountain of pillows and a cup of tea. Her mother was busying herself downstairs; the sound of cups clinking in the sink was oddly reassuring. It sent Sandra back to her childhood and made everything seem better. Mothers were a marvel really.
It had been barely twenty four hours since Sam had gone missing and she was still worried, but underneath the worry anger was growing.
Her mother had carried out all the necessary checking of hospitals and police stations and, so far there were no reports to suggest anything other than he had left. He often had to go out of town on business so it was not unusual for him to keep an overnight bag in his car.
The police had suggested contacting his friends and waiting. It didn’t seem very important to them and she had lost her temper with the desk sergeant at her local police station, this morning. She had shouted and banged on the desk, people had stared, and her mother had looked. It was the look that had stopped her in the end. Since she had been a child, that look had stopped her tantrums. It promised worse and much worse to come, if calm was not forthcoming.
Her mother had led her away and taken her home, and now she must wait. She could wait, she was good at waiting and in the end he would be back. She was convinced he would be back and when he was... well she wasn’t sure what she would do yet, it depended on too many things she did not want to think about at the moment, but he would have some explaining to do.
She sipped her tea; it was hot and sweet and burned her lips.  The phone rang and she grabbed at it sloshing the hot tea on her hand as she hastily placed it on the bedside table.
“Hello!” She almost shrieked, waving her burned hand in the air to cool it.
“Is Sam there please?”
“No, Sam is not here and I have no idea where he is. Who is that?” She was blowing on her hand now, it wasn’t helping much.
“I’m a friend of Sam but you won’t know me. It doesn’t matter I can call another time.”
“Sam is missing”
“Missing? Since when” The other voice sounded suddenly worried, and it occurred to Sandra for the first time that this was a woman’s voice.
“What is Sam to you?” she asked suspiciously.
“We used to work together; I must go I’m sorry to disturb you.”
“No wait! Who are you?” The line went dead.
Sandra put the phone down and leant back into her pillows. She had not been expecting this. She trusted Sam implicitly so why was she now feeling this way. Just because he knew someone that she didn’t. A female someone that she didn’t.
Sandra threw back the covers and leaped towards the bathroom. Her hand needed cold water, it was really hurting now.
As she passed the top of the stairs her mother called up to her.
“Sandra, who was on the phone? Is there any news?”
Sandra turned on the tap before replying, and then had to shout over the noise of the running water.
“No news, just some woman asking for Sam.” She tried to keep her voice neutral but knew she had failed.
Her mother’s silence was clue enough. There would be a discussion coming. A discussion about whether Sam was as innocent as they had all thought. Not to mention, if this woman was a part of his life, a secret part, why was she as worried as they were. Why wasn’t he with her and where the hell was he?

By the time Sandra was out of the bathroom, she could hear her mother on the telephone. Her heart skipped a beat and she ran headlong down the stairs at a pace so reckless she missed the last step all together and stumbled into the coat rack in the hall.
It fell over with a crash spilling coats all over the floor and tripping her. She landed awkwardly, feeling something in her ankle crack. A wave of nausea hit her as she realised that she had just broken her ankle.
“Oh my god!” she groaned. Looking up just as her mother emerged from the kitchen.
The look on her mother’s face convinced her not to look at the ankle, which was now hurting so much it eclipsed all her worries.
“Don’t move Sandra, I will call an ambulance.”
“I will talk to you again later!” she said to the telephone, before hanging up on whoever she had been talking to and redialling.
“Ambulance please. My daughter has fallen and I think her ankle is broken.”