Knock! Knock! The door opened. “Detective, can you come out for a moment?” An Officer peeked inside. “Ah.. Okay..” Detective Benjamin Jones stood up. “Well, I guess I’m needed. I’ll be back.. Ah.. I’ll have someone bring you some more water.” Ace nodded. “Thanks.” The detective smiled and left him in the room. “What is it?” Detective Jones asked. “It’s this case–” The Officer handed him a folder. Detective Jones opened it and saw that it’s about his other case, unrelated to Ace and the Lovell family. He followed the Officer and joined him in investigating that case. Meanwhile, in the other room, Ernest and Lillian were on tenterhooks as they waited for the results. “What do you think the result would be?” Ernest asked. “I swear it’s really him.” Lillian said. “But the algorithm could have made mistakes..” “You think that the algorithm you made would be defective?” Lillian raised a brow as she looked at her husband. “Well–no.. But with technology, sometimes that happens.
Soon, Emma, Hugh, Priscilla and Leroy with their drivers and bodyguards flew over. They opted to not bring maids since they were staying at the hotel anyway.Their food would be taken care of. As for their clothes and essentials, it was already well-packed by their maids earlier.At this time, Ernest and Lillian have not returned to the hotel yet.They were still waiting for the results.But they have already been informed by Emma that they’re heading to Westbury City to join them.“Leroy must have seen the report today.” Ernest said.Lillian nodded. “Mn.”They knew that Leroy checks on it everyday so they were not surprised to hear that they were heading to them because of this.They were the ones who asked Leroy to do this.But Ernest had direct contact with the police departments nationwide though. Since they have worked with him for years now as they use his software program.Two hours have passed.Emma and the rest have arrived in Millpoint City and were on their way to Westbury
“Hello.. I’m here again..” Doctor Lawrence Murray said to Ace.The latter was startled at his change in attitude.His brows pulled together slightly.“Hello..” He echoed his greeting, nodding at him.“Doctor Lawrence Murray is here to explain to you the test we did earlier.” Detective Jones said.Ace looked confused as he looked between Detective Jones and Doctor Murray.“The swab we did earlier was for DNA testing.” Doctor Murray began.“DNA testing–right.. Right..” He nodded.Detective Jones however could see from Ace’s face that he didn’t really understand what it was for.‘Why does he seem clueless about it? Surely, any one who has access to information would know what DNA testing is..’“And–I now have the result.” Doctor Murray took out the papers from the yellow envelope he brought.Ace was rocking his leg up and down under the table.He was increasingly becoming anxious.‘What are they doing? It’s taking too long! I need to go back to her now.’ His eyes darted to the door sever
“I see.. Tell you what, I’ll see what I can do.”Ace furrowed his brows. “Are you going to look for them?”“If you want to–” Detective Jones smiled.Ace nodded. “Of course I want to! But how? You don’t know where they live..”“You don’t have any recollection of where you have grown up before you were taken?”Ace shook his head. “I had not memorized that part yet before I was taken.”Detective Jones understood this.At 5 years old, children are still being taught the alphabet, rhymes and numbers.These days, parents and teachers are encouraged to teach the young children to memorize their names, birthday, parents’ name, parents’ phone numbers, home address and are even taught how to dial the police station.It was already good that Ace mentioned that he at least could remember his own name, birthday and nicknames of his family members. And though it sounded unclear, it seemed that he remembered that his last name is Lovell.“Then–if you can find them. Please–” He avoided Detective Jone
“Can you show me the results?” Priscilla asked.“Yes. Here it is..” Detective Jones quickly handed the yellow folder to her. He had left earlier to take the sketch artist to the room where Adrian was, then came back to bring the folder to Ernest and Lillian.Priscilla opened it and took out the papers inside.She looked over the contents and proceeded to check for the Probability of Paternity.There it was.“99.9999%” She read.“It’s really him!” Emma gasped.There was another page as well. It tested whether Lillian was the mother.It produced the same result.Priscilla teared up as her hands shook.Leroy pulled his wife into his arms.“We’ve found him. We’ve really found him..” Her voice shook.It was like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest.It was the same for Emma.The two had been carrying this emotional burden for as long as they could remember.And now, they would finally be reunited with their youngest brother, Adrian.“Where is he now?” Emma asked the Chief and the De
Adrian could not believe it right away.“Yes.. There’s no doubt about it.” Detective Jones nodded, a smile appeared on his face. “Would you like to see them?”Adrian just looked at him with a dumbfounded look.“Adrian? Would you like to see your family?” Detective Jones repeated.The other blinked up at him. He evaded his eyes.“Can I ask what’s on your mind?” Detective Jones said.At this moment, the Chief had brought Adrian’s family to the other room where they could see and listen to Adrian.The other Officers were startled upon their entrance in the room, but otherwise remained silent and respectful.As for Adrian’s parents and sisters, their hearts were beating fast as soon as they heard Detective Jones’s question and saw that Adrian seemed to be hesitating.Lillian held Ernest’s hand tighter, clinging on his support.She was afraid that Adrian would not want to meet them.After all, it had been years.‘Does he resent us? I wouldn’t even put it past him if he does. It was our neg
It took about 20 minutes for Ernest’s driver, John Garcia, to come back from the hotel which was more or less ten minutes away.The maid, Wendy Webb, was waiting for him in the lobby of the hotel and came out when John called that he had arrived.Wendy then gave him the bag which contained the things Ernest had asked for.John then quickly drove away as soon as Wendy entered the hotel again.Hugh’s bodyguard, Hoyt Cole then came out to get the bag from him while John parked the car.Per routine, the bag came through a security check before it was allowed inside.Hoyt then brought the bag to the room where Ernest was.“Here are the things, Detective..” Ernest handed him the bag.“Thank you.. I’ll take these to him now.” Detective Jones soon moved to the other room, bringing the bag with him.“Hey.. Sorry it took a while.. So, I got a set of clothes here and some hygiene stuff.” He said.“Mn. Thanks..” He nodded.“Come with me.. There’s a shower room you could use.” He said.“Okay.”Adr
Adrian stood frozen.His heart was beating so fast.As the elderly man and woman approached him, he told himself that they were his parents. They looked nothing like how they used to before.To his last memory of them, Lillian still had jet black hair. She would style it with big curls. Her eyes were brighter and she of course barely had any wrinkles.Ernest too had fuller hair, barely any wrinkles and he also liked to keep a beard before.Now the two looked evidently older, and looked like they have worried so much all these years.“Adrian.. I’m sorry.. I’m sorry..” Lillian pulled him into a hug.Her warmth engulfed Adrian.He had not felt a warm embrace in years. He had already forgotten it.He felt his arm get wet with her tears.Adrian’s hand raised and patted her back instinctively.Then he felt Ernest’s hand on his shoulder, squeezing him, as if reassuring himself that his son was really there.“It has been too long.” Ernest had a lot of feelings in his heart that he thought it
Lillian, Ernest and the rest arrived at the airport and were quickly assisted through the process. They were able to leave the airport and head to their residence easily. Adrian looked around and saw that everything seemed strange in his eyes. Nothing was familiar to him. It was when they were finally close to the mansion when he recognized the structure. He had dreamt of this place so many times. It had become hazy at some point. But now, he could see that this was more or less the place he lived in before he was taken. It had some new additions along with other changes such as the paint and the landscape design. But the overall structure was the same. As they entered the gates, he saw that there were a lot of people outside of the house. They were lined up even in this cold weather. Most of them seemed to be wearing uniforms under their black coats. The only ones who looked different than the others were the three couples and two young men. “Ah.. Everyone’s here.” Emma smiled
Adrian and Violet were apprehensive when they saw the big plane that they were going to ride on.Fortunately for them, they were flying through the private plane of the Lovell family, else, they would be even more embarrassed by the way they were acting.To their memory, this was their first time being on any plane.That simply was not true for Adrian, as the family had gone on vacations before that needed the plane. It’s just that this memory may have been forgotten by Adrian already.As for Violet, this was her first ever flight.They at least knew what a plane was.They were only anxious as to how they would feel once they’re already up in the air.Lillian and the rest tried to distract them from these thoughts.Hugh and Leroy offered them some wine and snacks.Emma and Priscilla showed them the movies they could watch on the screen in front of their seat.Lillian especially made sure they felt warm and comfortable, giving them blankets and pillows, showing them how to recline thei
“Yes, Dad. Alright–Mn..Goodnight.” Lucas said to Hugh on the phone.Hugh had called him to let him know that they would be heading back in the morning with Adrian and his friend, Violet.Hugh and Leroy’s secretaries have received updates regarding a background check on Violet’s family.They’ve decided to let Violet stay with the Lovell family as a guest.In the residence, there’s usually only the elders living with their staff. Usually, it would be busier during holidays and if there are any special occasions. In those times, everyone would gather in the residence and stay in their rooms reserved for them.Lillian and Ernest have held out hope that Adrian would return to them so they never thought of letting anybody else use it.Lillian would personally clean it and it was only in the later years that she let her staff help her.She wanted to preserve whatever remaining scent Adrian had left.There were times when she would burst out in tears, realizing that she could no longer recall
Soon, the driver, John Garcia, pulled up outside of the hotel where Lillian and the rest were staying.Adrian was no longer as anxious as he was half an hour ago, still he could still remember the bullets trying to penetrate through the car and the explosion after those goons’ cars had collided.Detective Jones glanced at him, noticing how pale Adrian was.Still, he commended him for not breaking down and not getting in their way.And also, because of him, they were able to rescue so many people who have been missing for years.Perhaps the Mayor might even think of rewarding Adrian because of his contribution.At the moment though, it was inappropriate to bring it up, given what the man had just experienced.So after escorting them to the hotel, Detective Jones left them, joining the other Officers with the rescued people.It was a field day for the reporters, gathering outside the police department.On the televisions of most households, they showed several people with their heads lo
As John Garcia was driving the car forward, everyone in the car held their breaths.They already knew that those people were Mortimer’s men. They could only play along for now, hoping for them to think that Adrian was in the other cars.But then–that possibility is very low.The black car they’re in was far from ordinary upon close inspection.And like clockwork, shots rang.Adrian ducked, covering his head with his arms.John Garcia gripped the steering wheel while Howard Dawson and Detective Jones cocked their guns.A voice of one of the policemen came on the comms. “Keep going. Follow the second group!”No matter what, they couldn’t let Adrian and the people who had just been rescued be in Mortimer’s hands again.John Garcia didn’t hesitate and quickly sped on.Mortimer’s men have picked the road where there’s only farm crops on each side, the road only leading one way.The city was still quite far so blending in or hiding in some alleyway would still be impossible.For now, they s
The drive was calm, with John Garcia, the driver not making any stops if he could help it.The car could drive even without gas as it can run on solar power.It could be recharged at a charging station, could store gas and could be powered through solar. This is all thanks to the upgrades done by the Lovell Technologies.With the drive being calm, Adrian fell to sleep.Even Detective Jones dozed off as well, his head hitting the window a couple of times.An hour into the drive, the car suddenly beeped in alarm.Adrian and Detective Jones groaned, having been woken up by the alarm.“What is it? What’s happening?” Detective Jones asked.“There seems to be an accident up ahead.” John Garcia answered, pointing at the GPS shown on the screen in front of him.“Is there another road we can take?” The bodyguard, Hoyt Cole asked.“This is the only road back to Westbury..” John Garcia answered.“Maybe the road is not totally blocked–” Detective Jones said.“Alright then–we’ll keep going..”“Sta
After canvassing the full layout of the building and accounting the number of people inside, Detective Jones and the other Officers made their strategic plan.An hour later, they made their move.Adrian was made to stay in the car while he viewed their perspective from the tablet device.He was given eyes for different cameras. Two more Officers were also monitoring it from their tablet devices.They compared every person found to the sketches from Adrian’s description of the people held captive. And also of the ones Adrian said were the people who ordered them around.Adrian watched as the trained Officers infiltrated the area covertly.CCTV cameras were hacked and made to play the same view over and over again.They knocked out the guards with tranquilizers, making sure they wouldn’t be waking up so soon.They were separated into groups. One made way to the sleeping quarters of the captives, another entered the main building, and another surrounded all possible exits.There were onl
Adrian held her hand, squeezing it.At that moment, Hugh returned to the room and was startled by the silence.“What happened?” He asked. His eyes wandered to Violet who now had her head lowered, her hand covering her eyes and her shoulders shaking.‘Is she crying?’ His brows furrowed.“Violet just remembered what happened that time when she was taken away.” Emma summarized it for him.He nodded. “By the way–I’ve just received information just now. Violet–it has something to do with you. If this is not a good time, I won’t say it.”She looked up, quickly wiping her tears with the cloth napkin.“No, please, I want to hear it.”Hugh nodded.“What is it, Hugh?” Emma asked.“It’s about her family.”They all glanced at Violet, gauging her reaction.“I remember–my mother died that time.” She said.Hugh nodded, confirming what she had remembered.Her heart fell. Deep inside, she was hoping that she was wrong. That she remembered it wrongly.Tears continued to fall down her cheeks. The napkin
Knock. Knock.“I’ll go get it..” Emma said.She opened the door and saw her younger brother, Adrian.“Ah.. Adrian.. What is it?”Adrian was startled.He stepped back to check if he knocked on the correct room or not.“You have something you need from Violet?” She smiled.His brows shot up. “Oh. Um–I was going to bring her to the dining room.”“Ah.. I see. Well, just in time. We’re done here as well.” Emma smiled. She turned her head and called over. “Come on you two..”“Okay!” Priscilla said. “Let’s go Violet..”Priscilla brought Violet over.Adrian was struck for a moment when he saw Violet.He had never seen her so dolled up.Her hair was beautiful and so is her overall look. Her face was even more beautiful than usual.Violet’s head hung as her cheeks blushed bright red.Adrian cleared his throat.“Let’s go..” Adrian tilted his head.“Mn.” Violet nodded.