Chapter 47

"What do you mean it's too early to file a missing person report?" Jack asked worriedly. He and Landon were in Ana's apartment. They had still been waiting, both of them worried out if their minds.

It was already 11 pm and still no sign of Ana anywhere. Both of them were stewing in their miseries. Both Jack and Landon had used hurtful words the last times both of them had spoken to her. But that was the last thing either man would admit to the other.

"You can't file a missing person report until after 48 hours," Landon explained. He was surprisingly gentle. It was almost like he was not speaking to Jack. It was like he was speaking to a victim or something, trying to reassure them.

"Why the fuck? So we are going to have to wait two days to file a report?" Jack asked, honestly outraged. He didn't see why the fuck it took so long. Like what if Ana got hurt in those forty eight hours?

"That's the plan, yes," Landon answered and Jack looked at him incredulously. Then he shook his head. He didn't understand just how this man was keeping his cool. Jack felt like he was going to explode.

"How are you so calm?" Jack asked finally, a bit curiously. It was obvious that the man loved Ana. Even a blind man could see that. But he managed to keep a cool.

"Oh trust me, I'm not calm. I'm just giving off that impression," he said and Jack looked away, suddenly disinterested. He didn't care about Landon. What mattered most was that they found Ana.

Both stayed in silence for a while. It was not a comfortable one. It was one riddled with worry and undertones of tension and animosity. Both men didn't like each other and they knew the only reason they were sitting together without the other inflicting bodily harm was because of Ana.

"Find her. You're a private detective right? You deal with these sorts of things. Find her. I'll pay you handsomely," Jack said and Landon shot him a furious look.

"You think I'd take your money for finding Ana?" he asked and Jack shrugged nonchalantly. He didn't care at this point. Whether he offended the man or not, he just wanted to find Ana so he could grovel and beg for her forgiveness.

"Look Geralds, I don't care what the fuck you want. I just need you to find Ana. Please," he added as an afterthought. For a particularly proud person like Jack, it was like torture to beg. But at this rate, he was desperate.

"You don't even need to ask. Maybe you don't realize this but I love Ana as much as you love her. Even more. So I don't need you to tell me what to do," Landon replied disdainfully.

The tension was at its peak in the room. Then Jack asked, "You love her? Is that why you kissed her? Against her will?"

Landon grew still. The look on his face was priceless and if Jack had been less worried, he would probably have savoured the taste of victory.

"She told you that?" Geralds asked, a strange note in his voice, almost like he wanted to cry.

Jack considered lying. Then changed his mind. "No," he said, "She didn't tell me anything. Someone sent me a video."

"You're having her followed? And you dare take jabs at me?" Landon asked incredulously.

"I am not having her followed!" Jack exclaimed, "If I had her followed then we would probably have had news if her by now."

Landon silently admitted that it made sense but he was never going to say as much out loud. He was not going to give Jack that satisfaction.

There was another period of silence. Then Landon broke it. "What are you going to do about your mother?" he asked, wanting to push Jack's buttons.

"My mother?" Jack asked, frowning a little.

"At this point it's no secret that she's the one who is behind what happened to Mel. And I wouldn't put it past her to be behind Ana's disappearance as well."

Jack was silent. "You have no proof of that. You are just trying to rile me up," he said feebly. He knew that his mother was volatile and quite honestly, he could see her pulling that kind of stunt.

"Proof?" Landon chuckled. "She admitted to Ana she had sent whoever placed that note here. And she more or less threatened Ana. What other proof do you want?"

Jack was outraged. But he knew it was the truth. His mother was never one to give up so easily but the day they were having dinner, she became so compliant that it was actually scary.

He stayed silent. He didn't know what to say. He knew now for sure that Ana hadn't kissed this man. He was being an emotional idiot. Ana had never shown him anything but love and trust. And had given him no reason to doubt him.

But he did. And for that he was extremely sorry. What he wouldn't give to get back to that day and just get over fucking nothing already. He sighed and looked at his wristwatch. It was already 1 am. Time had passed so quickly.

Jack stood and walked to Landon. "Man you should go home. Rest then work on finding her. We both know she's not coming back today," he said, showing a rare sympathy that Landon was surprised.

But he quickly schooled his features into a mask of indifference then told Jack, "If you want to leave, you're free to. Don't try to drag me as well cause you want your conscience blemish free."

Jack raised his brow. It had taken a lot of humility for him to do that and he had to admit he wasn't a humble person. Just for Geralds to shoot his words in his face.

"You know what? Never mind," was all Jack said, then he woke up and walked to the door. He wasn't about to waste his time arguing with this man.

All he was going to do was to find the best private investigator he could get his hand on, and he was going to make sure that Ana was found, safe and sound. Her as well as the baby.

But first thing tomorrow morning, he was going to have a couple of words with his mother. And her unwanted ability to interfere in his life however she wished. And Lord help her if she was the one responsible for Ana's disappearance. She was his mother yes. But she was not above his wrath, especially when it came to the woman he loved and his child.

***

"You did well to minimize me," was the first thing Ana heard. The sound was as if it was coming from far away.

She was hearing but she couldn't make out exactly what was happening and whatever the person was saying.

"You thought I couldn't do something like this, I bet? Bitch look who's crying now," the person said then laughed richly.

Ana frowned. She knew that voice. It was extremely familiar. But she didn't know who exactly it was.

She tried to open her eyes the first time to no avail. And the voice kept on going. "You just had to ignore all the signs right? Who's the dumb one now. You don't even know how much I've been waiting for this moment"

Ana tried to open her eyes again and this time around she succeeded. There was a bright light that hurt her eyes as soon as she opened them so she closed them again.

"You're awake!" the person who would not shut up exclaimed. At that moment, Ana knew who it was. Tasha.

"Asha," she said groggily, trying to get her mouth to form words.

"Yes bitch. It's me. Tasha. The girl you thought you could rival with," Tasha said and Ana frowned. What the hell was she going on about?

Ana opened her eyes again and tried to look around at her surroundings. They were in a small dingy room. With a bright light in the center of the room and badly painted blue walls.

Just at that moment, there was a sharp pain in her skull. Almost like someone was hitting it insistently with a screwdriver. Ana lifted up her hands to massage the area and that's when she noticed that her hands were tied up.

She sighed and looked up at Tasha. She did not believe for one second that the other girl was behind all this. Not to sound condescending, it was way too smart for her. Sure, she had probably contributed one way or the other in the plan. But the person who had hatched up the whole issue was not Tasha.

There was only one person that Ana suspected at that moment. Dorothy Knight. Jack's mother. Honestly, at this point, she was certain. This woman had threatened her, and was a risk to her safety.

Ana looked up at Tasha and sighed. She would listen to her chatted for now then when she had found a foolproof plan, she was going to execute it.