"Thank you, Mary."
A few steps down the stairs, they saw Mark impatiently pacing at the bottom.
Catching a glimpse of her heading down, Mark ascended meeting her halfway. Nodding at Mary, he took the bag in Melissa's hand and flew down the steps with the car keys in his hand.
She didn't understand why he was in such a hurry to get to the province, but she couldn't question him. Taking huge strides, he got to the garage, and started the car, forcing Melissa to run after him.
"What go..." As soon as she put her seat belt on, he took off causing her to swallow her words.
Riding in a sports car for the first time with a driver who seemed like he had nothing to live for, Melissa held on to her seat for dear life.
Not saying a word to her, Mark drove faster than he usually did, occasionally checking his wristwatch.
Giving him a side glance, Melissa opened her mouth to complain about the way he was driving, but then shut it remembering how upset he was. Though she didn't understand his rushed decision to get to the province, she chose not to question him.
Tommy was his son, he had the right to see him whenever he wished.
Playing along, she held onto her seat with her eyes closed, afraid she would get a heart attack every time he overtook other cars on the highway.
She never thought of Tommy and her aunt being in danger. Seeing how anxious Mark was, and the things he had said about her investigation, put her on edge too.
As they neared the airport, her phone vibrated, and on seeing Lisa's name, her heart skipped a beat. Turning her gaze to Mark, she thought of all the things that could go wrong.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, she turned her attention back to the phone.
If something happened, then her aunt would call. She concluded pushing the bad thoughts to the back of her mind, then answered the almost dying call.
"Lisa!" As soon as she heard Lisa's choked voice, Melissa knew all was not well.
From the other side of the phone, Lisa gave her the news, and all Melissa could think of was that slow heartbeat she heard the first time.
Apparently at the province, they were all devastated since they couldn't find Tommy. He had gone to the park with her aunt but she lost him when she got distracted. She had called Lisa for help and when they couldn't find him around the park they had the park management call the police to help find him but it had been three hours since and no one had seen him or heard any news.
"Oh my God, no!" Tears filled her eyes as the thought of never seeing her son again closed her mind.
"What happened?" Seeing her tremble with tears in her eyes, Mark asked touching her hand briefly.
"It's..It's Tommy." She spoke trying to hold back the tears.
"What happened to him? Come on Melissa talk to me."
"Tommy, he..he is missing. Oh Mark, the,y lost him. My..my baby."
"What? Where was he? How could they lose him?" At that moment fear ran through his who body making him slow for a second.
"The call just now was..was from Lisa. She just told me they couldn't find him. Aunt took him to the park like she always does on weekends but she lost him. They have searched all over the park but he is nowhere to be found."
"Have they reported to the police?" He asked afraid what he feared had happened.
"Yes, the police are looking around the park and any other place he may have gone to but. My son is so obedient. So responsible he couldn't have left his grandmother on her own."
"It will be okay, we will find him. I'll have my contact look for him. How long has he been gone?"
"Three hours." She responded growing hysterical. "What if they took him because of my investigation? What if I don't see my little boy again?" She asked herself then turned to Mark, holding his arm almost causing him to veer off the road.
"Mark, I'm sorry. Sorry I didn't tell you about our son sooner. This is all my fault. I should have told you earlier."
"Melissa!"
"This couldn't have happened if I did. If I stayed in the province, my son would be safe. Please tell me this is not happening. I can't lose my son."
"Calm down. Stop blaming yourself. We will find him." With her sobbing uncontrollably, he wished he had brought his driver.
Afraid she would break down, he tried focusing on his driving, and at the same time consoling her.
"Will we?"
"Yes we will, just calm down."
Coming to a stop a few meters from his private plane, Mark sighed as he rushed to open the passenger door as his men rushed to meet him.
With Melissa a little calm as the plane took off, Mark contacted the chief of police and some private detectives to help find his son.
By the time they got to her aunt's house, the place was flooded with cops. Guarding the family, they set up a communication center in case the kidnappers made contact. Though there was still no information about Tommy, the cameras around the park had caught a suspicious man walking out with an ice cream cart. The same as the one Betty remembered seeing Tommy going towards before he disappeared. Giving the police a good lead.
"Lisa, any news about Tommy? Where is my aunt?" Melissa questioned as soon as she walked into the house.
There were a few men in uniform in the room but her aunt was not there. She knew how shaken her aunt would be and though Mark had assured her they will find Tommy, she was afraid of never seeing her son again.
"Oh, Melissa you're here." Lisa hugged her as they both broke into tears. "I'm sorry."
There were many kidnapping cases in the area and mostly the children are never united with their parents. Melissa couldn't stand losing him like she lost her parents.
"Lisa I can't lose Tommy. He's my life. How do I live without him?"
"Calm down Melissa, the police are doing everything they can. We will find him soon, please don't cry." Lisa consoled her trying hard to stay strong.
"My aunt, how is she? I need to see her and know what happened."
"She didn't take it well. I asked the doctor to give her some medicine to calm her down since she was shaken up, her health has not been good lately but she is resting in her room. Doing much better now. Please Melissa don't question her so hard the police have all the information. Just trust they will find Tommy and bring him home." Lisa hugged her and tried to comfort her.
They have been together since Tommy was born and she took him as her child. It was hard for her to, but she had to be strong.
Taking Melissa to the room, they found Betty awake just lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. She looked jaded and older than how she left her.
"Aunt!" Hugging her, they both started crying.
"I'm sorry I lost Tommy. One minute he was there beside me the next I couldn't find him. What do we do now? Who could have kidnapped him?"
"I don't know. Aunt, I don't know. All I know is I will die if anything bad happens to my son. Why is this happening now that I told Mark the truth? He will never forgive me if we don't find Tommy and I can't live without my son. This is so hard and not fair, I lost my parents and I might lose my only son as well."
"It's okay Melissa, aunt, the police are looking everywhere for him. They will soon find him and bring him home. Please calm down, we have to be strong and pray that he's found. We have to stay strong for Tommy."
"Lisa is right dear, Tommy is a smart boy. We will find him soon, come let's pray to the Virgin Mary for his protection that nothing bad happens to him." The three held hands and prayed for Tommy's safety.
With the many kidnapping cases in town, the police treated it like any other case, but Mark used his connections in the military to do a background check on the man seen leaving moments after Tommy went missing. He suspected that the man was working for the Mafia linked with the organization that took down Mr. White's company but he couldn't tell Melissa.
If she knew about it then he would not be able to keep her from investigating or worse, she would confront Diana and her family putting her life in grave danger.