In a few minutes, she was stepping out of the house in her casual wear as if she was just taking a walk.
Thankfully, no one had noticed her as she stepped out of the back door.
She continued walking towards the main road parallel to the driveway without actually stepping out onto the driveway where she could be seen by anyone looking out of the window.
Maxwell's home office where the men were having the meeting faced the driveway.
Reyona looked at her phone and saw that she had fifteen minutes left.
She sent the ready link to Maxwell and then deleted the message and every call she had made in the last few minutes.
Then she hid the app on her phone.
She suddenly crouched when she heard the sounds of vehicles going down the driveway.
"That must be the men," she thought, as she hoped they had been able to give Maxwell some hope.
Grateful for the foliage that covered her from whoever was passing in the driveway, she finally stood up and moved a bit farther away from the driveway before she continued her walk towards the main road.
She swore in frustration when she had to dodge one of the security men who was on patrol.
She waited until the man walked on, then she tucked the phone in her pocket and started running.
She was more concerned at this point about being late than about the fear of discovery.
Panting and sweating, she got to the road with just four minutes to spare.
As she bent over trying to catch her breath, she wondered if she was too late.
Did they mean she should get there before or in one hour?
Was she too late?
Had the cars of those men scared away whoever was supposed to pick her up?
Maybe they already thought she was the one who called the men?
Oh my god. Allysyn.
She was panicking as she quickly pulled her phone out of the tight-fitting jeans and clicked on the number to call it back.
It had not connected when she heard the sound of a car driving towards her.
The car parked directly in front of her and the door opened instantly.
Reyona didn't hesitate to get in as she knew there could only be one reason why a car would be waiting for her at that moment.
The driver had a weird mask on. A transparent mask with carbon filters and airtight seals on it.
Reyona was shocked as she recognised him still.
"It is you!" she exclaimed right before she noticed a slight, sickly sweet smell in the air.
The driver merely gunned the engine without saying anything as alarm bells went haywire in Reyona's mind and unexplainable weakness engulfed her system.
She soundlessly slumped against her seat.
*************
Maxwell watched the men leave.
The trio of a forensic engineer, a crime scene consultant, and a seasoned private investigator who had worked on a similar case before had promised to hit the ground running.
They had already reached an agreement with the police through the call that Maxwell made that they would not hinder the procedures of the police and would give them feedback on anyone and anything they discovered.
"They are good, man. Let's give them a chance." Andrew said from behind Maxwell.
"Yeah, yeah. I know that." Maxwell said as he ruffled his hair and turned back to go inside.
He wondered where Reyona and Celia were as he went back to the living room.
Jane was standing guard again as she stared at the phone like she was willing it to ring with her mind.
"Jane, do you…"
"Max!" Junior called excitedly as he ran towards him.
"Hey kiddo," Maxwell said as he bent down to catch the boy.
Junior's lips were smeared with a bit of creamy smudge.
Maxwell smiled and said, "I see that someone has been having some kitchen adventure."
"Rox gave me a cheese filling. He said it wouldn't spoil my breakfast. Right, Celia?"
"That is right," Celia said behind him as she went to meet her husband. "Hi. How was it?"
"We are hopeful," Andrew said as he kissed her.
"Uh, yuck," Junior said with a wrinkle of his nose. Then he shifted from leg to leg excitedly while asking "Can we have breakfast now? Rox said it is ready."
"Sure, you need to brush and bathe first though. Jane? Jane." Maxwell called her more loudly before she jolted on the couch and hurried towards them.
"Sir, Yes, sir."
"Get him ready." Maxwell said, then he pulled her aside as he said "You need to get ahold of yourself, or you will scare him."
"Yes, sir. I am sorry, sir." Jane said before she turned around to call Junior.
"I am going to eat a big breakfast." Junior was telling Jane as they left. "Rox said I can have as much as I want. Oh, Ally is going to be so jealous when she gets back. Celia said she was having lots of fun with Amelia. I am going to have lots of fun too, then I will tell her about it." his gleeful chuckle filled the pensive silence surrounding the adults.
When Maxwell looked at her, she raised her shoulders in a shrug as she said "I had to tell him something that would make him stop asking every other second."
"Thank you," Maxwell said. His gaze went towards the phone before he turned away to ask Celia. "Where is she?"
She went upstairs to rest for a while. She was feeling very tired. I think the stress she went through yesterday is finally taking a toll on her."
Maxwell slicked his hair back as he said "Damn it. I should have stopped her. I should have made her rest earlier."
"I don't think she would want you to blame yourself, bud. She knew what she was doing. Like this one here, that woman doesn't seem like someone you could simply stop from doing something unless she really wanted to," Andrew said.
With an unconvinced tone, Maxwell said "Yeah, uhm. I will just freshen up and join you guys. I will check in on her on my way."
"Yeah, you do that. The girl will be found, man. She will."
"We will set the table before you guys get back. If she is up, see if you can get her to have an early breakfast. She needs it."
Maxwell nodded and headed upstairs.
"This one here? Is that supposed to be me?" he heard Celia say behind him.
Maxwell pulled his hand back just as he wanted to open her door.
She needed sleep as much as she needed food.
Maybe he should leave her to sleep for a while longer. He could call her after his bath.
And even if she was still asleep when he was going back, he could just tell Rox to put her food in the warmer.
He was tempted to check in on her, but then he remembered that she was a light sleeper.
He didn't want to wake her when she was not ready, only to have her worrying about the situation again.
He turned away quietly and headed to his room.
Fuck, he hated that they had separate rooms.
That would change soon enough, he vowed as he entered his room and headed straight into the bathroom.
His phone lay silent on the desk of his home office.