Chapter 6 My Guess
When I rushed to the amusement park security office, Ava was curled up in Tyler's arms, crying.
With just one glance, I saw right through her act.
I rushed forward, pulled her away, and slapped her hard. The sharp sound of the slap echoed through the room, shocking everyone present.
Tyler instinctively pulled Ava close, his eyes piercing me with bone-chilling coldness.
"Ava, if anything happens to Jasper, I swear I'll kill you!" I stared at her with pure hatred. Somehow, I felt this wasn't an accident.
Ava collapsed weakly in Tyler's arms, her eyes showing a vulnerability and sadness that made people feel sorry for her.
Her body trembled slightly as she sobbed, "Sophia, I'm sorry, it's all my fault. Jasper wanted ice cream, so I took him to get some. There were so many people in line, and when I got the ice cream, Jasper was gone. I looked for him for so long. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."
My face was blank, my eyes storming.
"Save your tears."
Right now, I had no time to watch Ava play the victim, and I didn't want to deal with Tyler. Just seeing them made me sick.
I asked the security guard, "Did you check the surveillance?"
Before the guard could answer, Ava's soft, weak voice cut in, "The amusement park was doing maintenance on the cameras today. It's all my fault, all my fault. If we can't find Jasper, I'll just die!"
My shoulders trembled slightly as I bore the enormous pain in my heart.
"Go die right now then," I said.
From the moment I walked in until now, Tyler had remained silent. I knew very well that even though he was protecting Ava, Jasper was the person he treasured most. Right now, he must be blaming Ava too.
Ava looked at Tyler, tears welling up in her eyes, as if wanting him to back her up.
Just then, Tyler's assistant Hayden rushed in, out of breath. "Mr. Tyler Thompson, I've sent out a lot of security guards to look for Mr. Jasper Thompson. We're checking the surveillance at the front and back gates."
"I want to see the footage," I said.
Hayden looked at Tyler, seemingly asking for his approval.
Tyler hesitated for two seconds, then nodded.
And Ava pitifully said, "I'll go too. I want to help find Jasper. If we can't find him today, I'll die!"
I yelled at her, "Enough! Get out! Don't touch my child! You have no right to look for him! Get out!"
Ava looked shocked, as if she hadn't expected me to go this crazy.
But then Tyler said something that surprised both Ava and me.
"Hayden, please take Ms. Davis home."
Ava froze for a moment, then pleaded, "Tyler, I need to find Jasper. I'm the one who lost him. How can I just stay home?"
"You're in no state to look for Jasper. Go home. Sophia and I will find him." With that, Tyler pulled me out of the security office.
I shook off his hand, my face full of hatred. "Tyler, right now I want to kill you."
Surveillance Room
I stared at the computer screen, my nerves on edge, my fingers unconsciously clenched tight.
I didn't miss a single person going in and out of the main entrance.
Finally, my eyes locked onto a middle-aged woman. The child she was holding by the hand was Jasper.
"That's Jasper!"
The image was zoomed in. Sure enough, at five o'clock in the afternoon, Jasper was being led out of the amusement park by a woman who looked to be in her forties.
Tyler's pupils suddenly contracted. He quickly took a photo and sent it to Hayden. A few minutes later, Hayden called back with all the woman's information.
Just as I was about to go find her, Tyler's phone rang again. It was the police station.
-
The sky had darkened, with no color at all, just a cold, emotionless gray.
Tyler and I rushed into the police station. Jasper was sitting inside eating snacks, with a female officer keeping him company.
"Jasper!" I rushed forward and hugged him tight, tears finally breaking free.
"Mommy!" Jasper hugged me back tightly, then said, "I cried for so long."
I held Jasper tight, unable to say a word. Right now I just wanted to hold him close. I was so afraid he would disappear from my arms again.
Tyler also bent down and hugged both Jasper and me, holding us tight.
After calming down, we learned what had happened. Apparently, Jasper got separated from Ava at the amusement park, then was found by that middle-aged woman who took him to eat, played with him for a bit, and finally brought him to the police station.
On the surface, this seemed like a believable story.
But my gut told me things weren't that simple.
I was ninety-nine percent sure that all of this was planned by Ava.
I stood up. Tyler looked at me, confused. "What's wrong? I'll go find that woman."
"You take Jasper home and watch him carefully. I have something to do. I'm leaving." With that, I quickly left the police station.
One marriage was enough to teach me many things and sharpen my instincts. I had to get justice for Jasper.
More than ten minutes later, my car stopped in front of an apartment building. I walked quickly into the elevator with a blank expression, having already made up my mind about something.
The elevator reached the twelfth floor. I walked quickly to door 1202 and knocked.
Footsteps approached from inside, then the door opened. A woman in her fifties stood at the entrance.
"Who... who are you looking for?"
I pushed past her into the apartment without expression. Ava was sitting on the sofa with a face mask on, watching TV. When she saw me, she looked like a startled mouse.
Before she could react, I slapped her, grabbed her hair, and threw her hard onto the sofa. She screamed, and her mother rushed over to stop me.
"What are you doing hitting my daughter! Who are you! You're crazy! I'm calling the police!"
I ignored her mother. A woman in her fifties was no match for me. Right now, I just wanted to settle the score with Ava.
"Why did you do this to Jasper? Tell me!"
Ava got angry too, screaming and struggling. "Let go of me! Let go! I'm calling the police! How dare you hit me!"
I kept pulling her hair, stretching the skin on her face tight.
"Fine, call the police. Let them investigate you, you kidnapper. First you picked up Jasper, deliberately lost him, then had someone take him away, and finally waited a while before having him sent to the police station. That way you could scare me without anyone tracing it back to you, right?"