The First Rule Of Survival Read Online Free

mean, “confined”, Doctor?’
    De Vries smiles to himself, glances at his Warrant Officer: rarely speaks, but misses nothing.
    Kleinman turns to Don. ‘You’re quite right; that was conjecture. It seems to me that these boys have been confined together, probably without proper exercise, possibly for a long period of time. They have been subject to similar routines and, at least recently, a similar diet. This suggests to me a prison – a children’s correctional centre? An overbearing, perhaps abusive family, where both, though unrelated, are living?’
    In the silence that follows, de Vries begins to hear his heart pumping inside his head, deep and sickly.
    He stutters, ‘Show me a picture of the other boy, Body A.’
    Kleinman gestures at his assistant, who passes him a file.
    ‘Just the face. I only need to see the face.’ De Vries is very pale. He feels a fever hit his groin, his stomach, begin to move its way upwards through his body. His legs feel wet with sweat. He grits his teeth and wills these sensations away.
    Kleinman pins a picture of the face of Body A to the illuminated board. De Vries looks at it and shuts his eyes. Then he opens them and studies it more closely. He looks up, tries to swallow away the bile that is rising in his throat. His eyes dart from side to side.
    Kleinman puts his hand on Vaughn’s shoulder.
    ‘What is it, man? You know this victim?’
    ‘It’s worse than you can possibly imagine.’
    ‘Who is it then?’ Kleinman stares at de Vries, uncomprehending.
    ‘Those boys,’ de Vries murmurs. ‘All these years, I thought they were dead.’
    2007
    The Area squad room is packed with detectives, uniformed police officers, now even off-duty officers, chattering in low voices. Expectation is rife. Vaughn de Vries watches the men stand loosely to attention as Senior Superintendent Henrik du Toit weaves through the room towards De Vries’ office.
    De Vries waits at his door, shakes hands and ushers his commanding officer to his desk. He then turns back to the squad room, announcing: ‘Inspector Russell will brief you on the background, so that everyone knows exactly where we are. Then we will assess our reaction and assign officers. It’s going to be a long night, so make your excuses to your families, grab a pie and get ready.’
    He goes back inside his office, hides his disconcertment that Du Toit is sitting in his chair behind his desk, sits opposite him in one of his deliberately uncomfortable guest chairs.
    ‘There’s discontent brewing, Vaughn,’ Superintendent du Toit starts, loudly as ever, ‘that you weren’t at the Annual Family Day.’
    De Vries sits up, immediately indignant. ‘I have a possible double abduction, and they think I should be braiing with the wives?’
    ‘No, I meant that you weren’t at the scene immediately.’ Du Toit shakes his head despairingly. ‘Anyway, relax Vaughn, I put them straight. But you must understand, if Toby Henderson is really missing – if he doesn’t turn up somewhere, really soon – then this could be the third. Three in three days – a serial abduction case. The moment the media get hold of this, that will be it: the floodgates will open. So we need to move fast, and get results. Bring me up to speed with the first two.’
    De Vries is downcast.
    ‘There’s fuck-all, frankly. Steven Lawson, aged seven years four months, presumed abducted from Rondebosch Common area, Thursday the eighth between 1500 and 1530 hours, walking home from Rondebosch Boys’ Prep School to Peacock Lane. Ten-minute walk; safe area. We believe he was seen crossing Campground Road, heading towards the common. He’s usually accompanied by a neighbour’s son who, that day, was absent from school due to emergency dental work. We’ve stuck signage in the locale, stopping school-run cars yesterday. We’ve knocked on everyone’s doors: nothing. Absolute blanks.’
    Du Toit shakes his head again. De Vries wishes he would stop. He clears his