Astra had been missing for two days and Nicholas was sure that he would go crazy. There had been no hints from the police. Nicholas was regretting not letting Astra become bait for Ray. It would have been much easier to track down Ray. The police had tried to track the vehicles that brought Stephanie and Theo back home but the plate numbers were fake. The only thing that gave him a bit of joy was the fact that both Theo and Stephanie were well. Steph was discharged from the hospital that day, thankfully she did not lose the baby. Nicholas was sure that she would be having conflicting feelings, she was carrying the child of a man that had threatened to kill her and was obsessed with her friend.
Nicholas was hoping to get some information about Ray's hideout from Stephanie. She was better than she was before and so it will be easier to talk to her. Sarah, Jared and Nicholas together with Steph were seated in Nicholas' living room. Jared started living in his house temporarily for safety purposes. Nicholas had tightened up the security in the house. Nicholas was a bit surprised that Jared so easily agreed to stay. Nicholas was seeing some kind of chemistry between Jared and his cousin. He was not sure whether he should be thankful or not. It meant that Jared would not be interested in Astra anymore, but his cousin.
"Do you remember anything from where you were held?" Sarah asked Stephanie, who looked a bit confused.
"Are you guys trying to find Ray? Please leave that job for the police. Ray can be very dangerous," Stephanie said, her eyes were wide and she sounded scared. She was clearly not ready for the conversation yet. Steph also did not know that Astra was kidnapped. There had been marks on her body and she was malnourished by the time she was brought back. Her eyes seemed like they had seen more than her mouth could talk. She was too scared of Ray.
"We just want to know the details," Sarah said. Nicholas wanted to tell her not to push Stephanie too much.
"I already talked to the police in the hospital. Where did Astra go why is she not back till now?" Stephanie asked, and both Jared and Sarah looked at him. Nicholas knew that it was only a matter of time before she became very inquisitive, she really wanted to know what happened to Astra.
"Astra is with Ray, Steph," Nicholas said carefully, and Stephanie shook her head.
"No, no, that is not right! She can't be with him. He would hurt her. I should go back instead, let him take me and bring Astra back," Stephanie cried, she was hysterical. Sarah went on to hold her as she shook her head and cried.
"I am so sorry, we will bring her back, we promise" Nicholas said. Stephanie was still crying.
"Let's go upstairs," Sarah said to Steph.
"No you don't understand. Ray is crazy, he is mad. There are no simple ways to say it. He feels what je is doing is normal. He believes that he deserves Astra. He confessed to so many things when I was with him, and I wondered how he even had the time to do all that. His mental issues came with money. He had enough money to do whatever it is that he wanted. There is alter Nicholas, an alter of all her pictures, he even has pictures of her naked. I cannot even begin to imagine what he would do to her when he finally gets her. You have to get her out of there," Stephanie said, and everywhere was silent. Nicholas was trying to imagine all that Steph said. It was crazy. Sarah started crying. Jared covered his face with his hands and Nicholas could feel his chest constrict. She had been there for two days.
"We should go upstairs," Sarah said again to Stephanie. Steph went with Sarah this time. They went upstairs together.
"Astra needs to leave there now," Nicholas said.
"But how do you we know where she is?" Jared asked. Nicholas could not come up with anything. He felt so fucking helpless.
Nicholas was about to say something else when his phone rang. It was the police. Nicholas hoped that they had found Astra and they were on their way to get her.
"Hello, this is Detective Morris, we found a letter while clearing out Astra's place. We believe it belongs to you. Please can you come to the station to get it?" The detective asked. Nicholas was disappointed but also curious as to what the letter would contain.
"Okay, I am on my way," Nicholas said and disconnected the call.
"I am going to the police station. They have something for me," Nicholas told Jared.
"Try and see if you can get information about the whereabouts of Astra," Jared said and Nicholas nodded. He then left and drove the police station, he had a body guard with him.
Nicholas entered into the police station and went straight to the detective. "I have some news for you, but read the letter first," the detective said and handed him a letter. Nicholas took the later and opened it. The handwriting was clearly Astra's but the message was very shocking. You have a son, he is in trouble. Those were the major things he picked from the letter. He was trying to wrap his head around having a son and then Ray was after him too. There was a number for her cousin, Yvonne. Nicholas had heard the name once or twice from her but had never met the said cousin.
"We have already called the number. The police are on their way to their address at the moment. It would be best if you stayed to meet them," the detective said, but Nicholas was still in shock. He did know why Astra kept it as a secret from him for so long, but then he reasoned that if she had told him when they got divorced he would not have believed her. He would have felt like she was bearing another man's child.
Nicholas sat down and was quiet for a while, but then he remembered how Stephanie was. They still needed to find Astra.
"Is there any news on Astra's whereabouts?' Nicholas managed to ask. The detective looked at him with eyes that spelt something close to pity.
"We have gotten the list of properties that Ray owns, and we are trying to reduce with the description that Stephanie made and the direction the cars went to. I have my eyes on one in particular. Latest by the tomorrow we will raid the building, Astra will be safe," Detective Morris said.
"Stephanie said a lot of things today, she said that Ray had a shrine for Astra. I am scared for her. I hope that he doesn't do anything to her," Nicholas said and Morris looked at him.
"With the way Stephanie described Ray, he has a mental disorder, but we cannot assume since he has not been examined. People like that can be very erratic. I will not lie to you. The probability that Ray has done something to your wife is very high. She has been with him for more than 24 hours, and he seems to be obsessed with her." It was the exact thing that Nicholas feared that Morris just said.
"There is still hope that she will be fine though. Like I said, they are erratic and so very unpredictable," Morris said, and Nicholas sighed.