Jake's POV "Jake," she murmured as she sat up, leaning against my chest but looking straight into my eyes. "Hmm?" I replied, my fingers tracing lazy patterns on her back. "There's something I need to show you. Can you please give me my phone back? " She asked looking back at the dashboard. I frowned, sitting up as well. "What is it?" "Just trust me," she said with a small smile. Once she switched on her phone, she scrolled through the gallery and handed it to me, displaying a picture of a little boy. It was the most beautiful baby thatI had ever seen, perfect in every way. My breath caught in my throat. "Who's this?" I asked, my voice thick with emotion as I took in the image of the child. I knew it right away that it was Lea'skid but I didn't want to admit. I was jealous. A strange poison was corrupting the calm that had descended on me, moments ago. His eyes were bright, his smile infectious."His name is Kai," she said softly. "He's three years old." I almost choked wi
All hell broke loose when Anna's words sank in. "No, no, no!" Lea cried, her voice breaking as she clutched the phone to her chest. "He can't be missing! Not my Kai!Where the hell did you lose him? " "He was in the backyard playing, and then we couldn't find him. We've been looking everywhere." Lea's face went pale as soon as Anna finished talking, her grip on the phone tightening. "Anna, find him. At any cost. We’re on our way." She said, about to hang up. Jake stood frozen, his face ashen. " How could you let this happen?" he demanded coming close to the screen, his voice trembling with fury and fear. "How did you lose him?" Anna looked equally distraught but tried to calm everyone down. "I'm so sorry! Maybe he's just playing hide and seek. He loves that game!" "Are you kidding me?" Lea snapped, her eyes blazing. "This is not a game! Call the police right now! We need to find him!" Lea’s fingers flew across her phone screen as she navigated through the security cameras in
Phill's POVI rarely slept at work. I had no idea when I had dozed off over my desk. The vibration from my phone woke me up. I rubbed my eyes as I stared at the screen. Not one, not two but fifteen missed calls from Mercy. I immediately called her back. She answered at the first ring. " Thank goodness you are alive. I thought I would have to send someone to check after you as well. Where the hell were you, Phill? " I rubbed my eyes and strained to look at the clock. It was almost twelve. It would be early morning in Paris. Why was Mercy yelling at me early in the morning? " What's up, Mercy? Is everything alright in Paris? " I heard her heaving a deep sigh. " Everything is fine here but nothing is alright back home. You need to head over to Lea's place immediately. Her son is missing! " " Wait! What? " I almost fell from my chair. " Yes! Our nephew went missing about an hour or two ago. Lea said she saw a hooded figure or something like that around her garage.In her camera feed
Somewhere in a dark corner -Little Kai finally opened his eyes. He blinked a couple of times trying to make sense of his surroundings. But all he could see was darkness. It was pitch black and then his head started throbbing at the back. His closed his eyes shut trying to contain himself but the pain was too much. The poor kid started whimpering. And then he realised the pain wasn't coming only from his head. His hands and legs were tied as well. And they were tied too hard. The ropes were cutting into his flesh and he could feel it was bleeding as well. " Mommy! " He tried to cry out instinctively but his voice failed him. He was gagged. The cloth made his throat dry and soar and he started crying harder. He was in a nightmare too beyond his comprehension. One moment he was playing in his backyard and the next moment he was in here. Suddenly, there was this gruff voice of a man nearby. "Shut the f*ck up, kid, or I'll kill you right here," the man growled, his voice dripping wi
Jake threw another punch, barely missing the officer's jaw. "You don't get it! My kid is missing! I need to get back home!I need to see him.I didn't even get to hold him... " "Sir, calm down!" The officer, struggling to hold Jake back, shouted. "We need you to cooperate!" "I am cooperating! But you people are wasting time! Every second counts!" Jake's voice was raw with desperation,breaking,cracking,squeaking.Lea stepped forward.Her eyes were wide with fear as she tried to intervene, "Please, he's telling the truth! Our son is out there, we need to find him!" She tried to reason with another officer, her voice shaking. "He's only three!He must be so scared. " "Ma'am, we need both of you to come to the station. We'll sort this out there," the officer said firmly, grabbing her arm. Lea yanked her arm back. "You're not listening! If anything happens to Kai, it'll be on you!" She was fuming but it was no use. They were on foreign soil and they had broken their rule. Jake was being
The jet shuddered through the storm as the four of them sat in complete silence. Jake and Lea sat on the far ends of the cabin. Both staring out through the window on either end. Mercy was seated towards the front but she excused herself to take the call as her phone rang aloud. "Yeah, Phill, we're just trying to make it through this storm. What's the update?" Mercy's eyes flicked towards Lea. " It's not good. We found a bloodied rod. It was probably used to strike the child. Don't tell Lea right away. They have sent it for investigation. I will give you an update as soon as I have one. " Mercy shook her head accompanied with a subtle " Hhmmm! " " Oh, there is one more thing that you must know. " Phill continued. Mercy glanced nervously at Lea, trying to shield her from hearing the conversation. "Go on," she whispered moving further away. "We can be somewhat sure that the boy was kidnapped. And from what the detectives have gathered, someone inside Lea's household had to be
It was way beyond 24 hours and there were still no signs of any call from the kidnappers. The reports confirmed that the blood on the rod was Kai's and from the amount of blood that they had found, the child had a serious injury. The cops weren't ruling out a murder angle to the situation but only Phill and Mercy knew about it. They didn't have the guts to tell Lea and Jake the about the development. " We will be looking out for unidentified bodies of toddlers, Kai's age. I know it's difficult but we have seen worst in our career! " Phill grabbed the collar of the officer who was briefing him but let go immediately. The officer patted his back understandingly. " I hope and I pray with all my heart that we are wrong and that the kids is safe. Rest assured to are juggling all possibilities here. We will not rest until we get his whereabouts. " Lea paced the hall looking repeatedly at the phones.She was still waiting for the kidnappers to call. It was already night, the next day and
Phill's POV When Mercy and I walked back inside, we couldn't find Jake or Lea in the living space. Lea had dismissed all her staff except for Anna who had insisted on being there till Kai returned. There was a new line up for security and an old housemaid, Lions stayed back. But neither of them had seen the two of them. They were definitely somewhere inside but they were too sensitive at the moment to be left alone . " Maybe they just went to get some sleep! " Mercy suggested, " I will go check the bedrooms. " I nodded before heading upstairs. Something told me, I ought to go check on the roof.I took the stairs instead of the elevator. Lea's place was only four storeyed , with a lush green surrounding, a gigantic pool and a couple of rabbits beside the garage door. It was tiny but elegant and screamed of her unique personality all the way. My intuitions were correct. I could hear Lea's voice coming in rapid succession. " Do you have any idea what it felt like to go into labo