The boy was sleeping in Allysyn's bed.
Reyona doubted that Jane had been the one who put him there.
The tears she had held back stained her eyes as she looked down at the innocent face so peaceful in sleep.
Had he suspected anything, despite the attempts of the surrounding adults to fool him?
From Reyona's experience, she knew that kids always seemed to know much more than the adults wanted them to know anyway.
Jane had told him Allysyn was staying for one more day, but when Allysyn did not come home again in the morning, he would begin to ask questions.
"It is over twelve hours already," she thought in agitation. "Who could carry the girl and why are they not making any calls yet?"
When she was tempted to ruffle his hair away from his face, she stepped back.
What would be the point in waking him if she couldn't provide the answer to what might be the most prominent question on his mind?
She had a call to make anyway.
She stepped out of the room and closed it slowly behind her.
As she came to the landing, she saw one of the security men look away from the landing and quickly head towards the back of the house without acknowledging her presence.
She fleetingly wondered if he was standing there or walking before she came out. He was facing the landing though.
She supposed Maxwell must have tightened the security of the property after what happened.
Reyona pulled her phone out without giving the matter a second thought.
She unblocked and dialled a number as she headed towards his bedroom.
The woman on the other end picked up with a drowsy tone.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Hello, Mary. This is Reyona."
"I am sorry I didn't…you said… Reyona?!"
Reyona heard the rustle of sheets as the older woman was probably sitting up in bed.
"Where have you been? Your young man has been looking for you!"
*******
She met him on the landing.
Reyona had gone to her room to change into one of her clothes that was still there.
Then, when he was still not back, she decided to meet him downstairs anyway.
She saw him coming upstairs as she got to the top of the stairs." You are done?"
"Yeah, just rounded up with them now. I had to talk to my security men also to tighten security. I know it didn't happen here, but we still can't be too careful, you know?"
"What was that one doing walking about, then?" Reyona thought as she remembered the man she had seen, but then she figured that might have been before he called for them.
"You look tired," she said.
"I can't imagine how much more tired Allysyn might be right now. She must be so…"
"Positive thoughts, remember?" Reyona said as he reached her.
"Yeah," he said with a nod. "I remember. Jane offered to stay on the phone even though I told her she could have some rest. She looked like she had been beating herself up a lot over this."
"I will talk to her."
"Good. Thank you. I need to call Andrew. I know the police said we shouldn't make it public but he and Celia are practically family. I wanted to get here first to know the extent of things before telling him about it. There could be a way he could help as well. What the police were doing didn't seem to be working yet. We might as well think of as many options as possible."
"You are right," said Reyona. "Can that call hold on for a while? I made a call of my own to Mary, and she told me that Thomas had been staying at his mom's."
As Maxwell's eyes narrowed, she added "I just figured he might be related to this in a way. I mean, the kids were fine before he got back. He got back, then all of a sudden one of them went missing?"
"I fail to see your point," he said woodenly.
"We need to know if he is connected to this."
"The police could…."
"You said it yourself that the police's efforts are still very fruitless at this point. What if he clammed up? Or what if he thinks we sic the cops on him? What if he runs again? Remember your stepsister is still very missing? Is that what we want?"
"I wouldn't mind if he dropped off the surface of…"
"Maxwell," Reyona called his name with meaning.
"Okay, fine." He looked at her change of clothes. "I take it you want to go? Right now? Don't you need to like eating something first? You have not had any real meal in the past thirteen hours. We need to think about Pat too, you know."
"I am not hungry, and the baby is fine. No time like the present. I was thinking we could go together, but if you want to stay here to make that call, then…."
"You must be kidding if you think I intend to let you go alone," he said as he turned back and went down the stairs again.
When she was still standing where she was with a bemused look on her face, he turned to her and said "Well?"
Reyona came down the stairs as she wondered what had put him in a foul mood again.
But then she could guess why.
Men.
He explained to her that he had thought he could go check on the Langdons that night before.
"I just found out they are in the hospital. The wife had another crisis and had to be taken to the hospital. The girl is staying at home with an aunt to wait for a call. There is a police officer there with them too."
"Oh, I guess they didn't feel someone needed to be here since it didn't happen here?"
"Yes, that must be it. Our phone here is rigged though."
Reyona turned sharply to him. "What? By who? Was that how they knew where Allysyn would be?"
"No, no. I meant by the police. They connected it to their phone at the station. That way, they would know immediately we would receive a call from them."
"Or from anyone else who called at all," Reyona mused.
"A small price to pay," Maxwell said.
They eventually fell silent as they drove the rest of the way.
Reyona wondered if they were thinking the same thing.
She figured he didn't want to talk about what must be most prominent on his mind at that moment.
Did he still believe that she would still be affected by Thomas?
Even the possibility of that thought did not cause anger in her at all.
She just wished their journey had not been for nothing.
If they could get anything. Anything at all, then it would be worth it.
She wondered what must be going through Allysyn's mind at the moment.
The girl must have been hoping they would get her out as soon as possible, yet here they were with no clue of where they should even start looking.
Damn it.
Soon enough, they arrived at the area.
Reyona thought of how many times she had driven up that same street in the past.
All under different circumstances, and this one was the worst yet.
They parked directly in front of Ruth Lanoth's place. It was already past 10 pm by this time and Reyona felt there was no need to wake the elderly couple up anyway.
"So…"
Maxwell's phone started ringing as Reyona unbuckled her seat belt.
"It's Officer Guy," he said as they got out.
"Alright, pick it. I will go see if he is around or something."
He looked like he wanted to disagree with her, but he nodded and said "Okay. I will be with you soon"
"Okay," she said.
And he picked up the call.
"Hello, officer."