Chapter 111
Chapter 111
The moment Veronica saw Kael, she began to laugh hysterically, so much so that it startled the people around her. The entire time she had been in prison, what kept her going was the thought of coming back to have her revenge. On Rashel, Jethro, Viola, and Merikh, but most of all, Rashel. Her theory was that if Rashel hadn’t forced her way into their lives, then she wouldn’t have had to do some of the things she did. So, it was all Rashel’s fault, and she had to suffer for ruining her life.
She had heard about Jethro and Rashel’s wedding and swore to never allow it to happen. If she couldn’t have Jethro, then no one else would. She knew Kael was the one thing that Rashel cared about and could lay down her life for, and so, her first plan was to take the child and make Rashel suffer or go mad with worry. She wasn’t going to let them know that she took the child, even though they might suspect it, as the news of her escape must have spread throughout the city of Denver.
Now, it was time for her to shake the city of Denver and shake up some packs. The next on her list was Viola. She had learned from a reliable source that she was pregnant with Merikh and had pinned it on Seth; the innocent man was merely a pawn in their game. Her first plan was to expose Viola to Seth for who she actually was, and even though it would break Seth’s heart, she was going to show him that the child wasn’t his. As for Merikh, once Seth found out the truth, she was certain he would take care of him. All she had to do now was to set this in motion.
“Kael. Kael. Kael. Look how big you’ve grown.” Veronica repeated as she bent to face the child and ran her finger across his cheek. It was evident that he was scared of her, but she didn’t move.
“Aww, don’t be afraid, Kael. I won’t hurt you. Your mum is such a bitch, but I won’t harm you, okay?” Then she turned to Gina and pointed at her.
“You, calm him down. You both are going to be here for a very long time.”
Gina hugged Kael to her chest and moved as far away from Veronica as possible. Veronica watched the girl for a moment with amusement in her eyes, and then she turned and left the room without another word.
For the rest of the day, Jethro and Rashel drove to all the checkpoints that had been set up on the roads. They spent an hour or two at each of them, hoping to be there when the men finally caught the abductor, but nothing came up. It wasn’t until 7 pm in the evening that Jethro accepted that they weren’t going to find Kael like this unless the person who took him was ready to come forward. But he couldn’t admit this to Rashel; instead, he carried on with the search until it was too dark and the influx of cars had reduced. Even if the abductors were still in transit, they must have heard of the search parties all over town and made plans to evade them.
As Jethro drove them to another checkpoint, Rashel finally spoke after hours of not making a single sound.
“Aren’t you tired?” She asked. Jethro was surprised because he assumed she was asleep as she sat curled up with her feet folded in the chair and her eyes closed.
“I thought you were asleep,” Jethro said, but Rashel didn’t answer. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but she didn’t have the energy to engage in conversation.
“I am. I’m tired as hell, and I’m starving.”
“So, why aren’t we headed home?”
“My son is out there; I don’t know where he is or how he’s doing. I can’t go home now.”
“Who says you’re going to find him where you’re going?” Rashel asked quietly without turning to look at him.
“Because I still have hope that I’ll find my child. Our child, Rashel.”
“We’re not going to find him. Not tonight, maybe not even tomorrow. And definitely not like this.”
Jethro was surprised to hear her speak like this, even though he knew she was saying the truth. They were never going to find Kael if they kept going like this. If the abductor didn’t call them or they didn’t get a lead, they would just go on a wild goose chase around Denver, and it would turn out that the child was actually taken out of the city. What surprised Jethro about Rashel was her ability to think clearly and accept the truth in this situation where blind faith and hope were easier.
Jethro didn’t say anything in reply; instead, he kept his eyes on the road and gripped the steering wheel till his knuckles turned white.
“Maybe when we’re well rested, we can come up with a plan. You said you’re starving, right? Let’s go.” She finally opened her eyes and turned to him.
“But we can get some food to go; there are lots of places we can get food,” Jethro argued. He didn’t want to go back home. He didn’t want to rest even though he was tired, and he sure as hell didn’t want to eat anything, even though his stomach said otherwise. It didn’t feel right going home when Kael was out there. He felt helpless, like someone had tied his arms and thrown him into deep water. He had no leads and no evidence against his suspects, and so he was forced to wait. If he felt this way, he imagined what must be going through Rashel’s mind at the moment.
“Let’s go home, Jethro,” Rashel said as she turned away and shut her eyes again.
Milla was waiting for them at the front porch when they returned.
“Welcome back, Alpha, Commander. We’ve been waiting for you both. We stopped picking up your signals a while ago and worried that something must have happened. We had to send out a team to your last known location.”
“We’re fine, Milla,” Jethro said.
“That’s fine then; I’ll call back the team. Also, there’s something you need to see. Please follow me to the East Wing office; I need to show you something there.”
As they walked to the office, Milla spoke into her receiver, giving a retreat order to the search party she had sent out earlier. The office was chill when they entered; she had turned on the air conditioning shortly before they returned.
Milla waited for Jethro and Rashel to have their seats before she began her presentation. She turned on the wide screens and projected two images on them. They were images of a grey SUV on a highway. The first one had a different license plate from the second one, but it was the same car. Rashel and Jethro exchanged puzzled looks before turning to look at Milla.
“What are we looking at?” Rashel asked, her exhaustion evident in her voice.
“These were captured by the street cams leading to the estate. There are also the ones captured by the highway cams. The time stamp matches the time when the explosion occurred. The first one was seen ten minutes before the explosion at the Laurel’s intersection. It takes exactly ten minutes to get here from that location. The second one was captured by 10:45 pm at the same location. That is exactly twelve minutes after the explosion. Must have been the time taken to pick the baby.”
“I guess that explains the changed license plates,” Jethro said.
“Exactly. This is the same vehicle with changed license plates to avoid identification. These two might not even be real. We’re certain that it’s the same vehicle because we didn’t notice any other vehicle of this model enter twice or exit twice.”
“Have you run the license plates yet?” Jethro asked again.
“Not yet, sir. I’ll get to it as soon as possible.”
“I need you to be fast about this, Milla. We do not have the luxury of time. Let me know whatever comes up once you’re done.”
“Yes, sir,” Milla said and left Jethro and Rashel alone.
“When I find out the person who took my child, I’ll make sure they regret ever thinking up that plan,” Rashel said suddenly.
She had been quiet during most of the conversation, and Jethro feared she had finally succumbed to grief. But it felt good to hear her promise death to the culprit; it was better than having her mope around all day.
“And I’ll do everything possible to ensure they do.”
“It wasn’t ghosts who took Kael; it was actual people. What we need is a lead, something that cracks the code and points us in the right direction. I know that we can gather our suspects for a few hours based on suspicion because they all have motive; even the council cannot deny that. I’m certain that we’ll get something out of one of them.”