Search Mission

It had passed three days since the disappearance of Jean. Natalie had been restless in these past days. She had even requested for an emergency leave.

Now that the leave was granted a day ago, she just wanted to focus in finding her son.

The last time she communicated with him on the cellphone, she immediately deduced that something was wrong. She could tell from the boy's voice that something was amiss. Although the two barely talked for a minute, Natalie was able to realize this.

When she sensed this mishap, the thing that immediately rang in her head was getting in contact with Axel. This was after trying to reach out to Jean without fruition.

She wanted to reach out to Axel immediately since he was the only close friend that Jean had by the time of the incident. Although this could be argued that he was Jean's only closest friend that Natalie knew about, this couldn't invalidate her speculation.

With that thought in mind, Natalie tried to reach out to Axel through his cellphone but to no avail. With her first step hitting the wall, her worries multiplied.

This was the moment she decided to contact Bruin Dek, Axel's dad. Since the two were acquaintances, their conversation was smooth and effective. After talking to Bruin, Natalie realized that Axel was also missing. His dad had also not found him at home and tried to contact him only to find out that his cellphone was switched off.

The two found themselves in a similar position. But Bruin gave an encouraging word to Natalie for them to wait until it is dawn the following day.

She recounted their conversation on the cellphone that day.

***

"No need to worry. The boys might have visited one of their friends without our consent. Remember you have been restricting Jean from interacting with his age mates for too long. Maybe this is a way of telling us that they have grown up and need a freedom of their own. Who knows, perhaps it was their idea to switch off their phones on us."

Bruin stated.

"You might be right, but from my own deductions, there is something wrong considering how Jean spoke with me through the cellphone. First of all, the contact was foreign. Secondly, he was asking me if I was home in a panicked voice before the call disconnected. How can you explain this?"

Natalie asked with a frown on her face.

"If that is the case, then we should meet for us to know our way forward."

Bruin suggested.

Natalie agreed to the suggestion and the two planned to have a private discussion in Natalie's house. By the time Natalie was talking with Bruin on the cellphone, she was still on her way home.

So, when the two had agreed on meeting,  Axel's dad offered to wait Natalie by the gate of her home.

Since the two were acquaintances, the discussion was smooth and effective during their meeting.

This was the time when they decided to give the benefit of a doubt and wait until it was dawn to see if the boys will return. After all, it was already too late to conduct an immediate search.

Although there were some signs that the boys couldn't return, they still decided to take the matters slowly since the lost boys were adults and not kids.

The day of the incident was long for both parents especially Natalie. This was the first time Jean had spent a night outside. It was a sleepless long night for Natalie. The food that used to be yummy this time around was distasteful. It was too hard too chew and too tough to swallow to the point that Natalie retired to bed on an empty stomach.

Jean's disappearance could have been considered a common happening, but with the rumours of youths getting kidnapped in the neighbouring towns getting to her some years back, it was impossible for het to ignore such possibility.

Besides, her intuition kept confirming to her that her son was in a dire situation.

When dawn came, there was still no sign of the two returning. They were still unreachable through the cellphone.

When the two parents were struck by this realization, they immediately realized how serious the matter was getting.

Bruin came up with the suggestion of reporting the matter to the authorities, but Natalie was against the idea.

"Why don't you want the government to get involved in this when it is the best suited for such task since it has the necessary resources to follow-up on matter?"

Bruin asked out of confusion.

"You need to understand that such incidents had occurred in our neighbouring towns before. Although I am not that sure that the boys were kidnapped, this speculation can't be far from the truth itself."

Natalie said with a serious face.

The two had met in Natalie's house for the second time since the disappearance of Jean and Axel. On this day, the two were supposed to report to work, but since the mishap, they had agreed to have a brief meeting before leaving for work. This was the moment they came up with the idea of asking for an emergency leave for them to have ample time to look for their children.

"What is your suggestion?"

Bruin asked after a short moment of silence.

"I think we should try reaching out to some of their friends and see if we can find them or even get a hint of where they could be."

Natalie suggested.

"That's a good suggestion. But for us to be effective on this, we need to visit their friends' places in person. This way, we can get the right information in case the boys are toying with us."

With a nod, Natalie paced around in the living room. In the next moment, her eyes shone with a glint of realization. She then stopped in her steps and gazed at the sitting Bruin.

"Talking about toying with us, I think I have a clue to why they are missing."

Natalie said in a pitched tone.

"What is it?"

Axel's dad questioned with a confused look.

"Today is Jean's birthday. There are some chances that these boys ran from us so that they can conduct his birthday celebrations somewhere else, considering that I have been denying them the chance for years now."

Suddenly, Axel's dad mood livened up.

"I think that makes sense. So, for us to find them, we need to ambush them."

"Yes! Now I see why you suggested that we visit their friends in person. But let's not put all our hopes on this, it might turn out otherwise."

Natalie said with a complicated look.

"In case it accidentally turns out to be a kidnap, what do you think we should do since you were against my idea of reporting the incident to the authorities?"

With a gulp, Natalie responded.

"With the foreign contact, we can be able to guess the country that they are in. But that can also be inaccurate since some of the lines can function across borders. And for the idea of reporting to the authorities, it won't do us any good. You have to remember that, the rumours about the kidnapped youths in the neighbouring towns also carried some news of the closest people of the victims disappearing almost immediately they report the matter to the authorities."

Natalie explained in a clear voice making sure Bruin didn't miss even a point.

"So, you believe on the rumours? None of them had been proved before."

Bruin stated in a mocking tone.

"Yes, they are rumours until it happens to you. Try to be realistic on this matter. At this point,  anything is possible, unless you don't care about the safety  of your son."

Natalie said in a voiced laced with anger.

Suddenly, Bruin's mood darkened.

"You can't say that about my son. I am a parent as you, and I am equally hurting. But that was just my opinion on the matter, and sometimes I might be wrong. So, just take it as a possibility but not the reality."

Bruin lamented in an angry voice, but cooled down almost immediately after meeting Natalie's glaring stare.

"Okay, but keep in mind that this matter should remain private until I suggest otherwise."

Natalie stated.

"If that's your suggestion,  then how are we going to be granted an emergency leave?"

Bruin asked.

"Try to be creative, you can say that, perhaps your wife... my bad you separated or your son is in a critical condition and requires your attention."

With a glare, Bruin pouted.

"Nice idea, but never mention that monster of a woman to me ever again."

This was how the two agreed on getting an emergency leave.

Now that Natalie's idea seemed to have worked, the two now on an emergency leave.

The day that they were given the leave they barely did anything, they agreed to use this time to come up with the appropriate decisions in case they fail on their first attempt.

***

Now shifting in her seat with a complicated expression,  Natalie pondered.

'What is keeping him for this long. We should be out by now.'

A moment later, her cellphone rang. Without wasting even a second, she immediately picked it up before placing it on her ear.

"Have you arrived?"

Natalie asked in a distorted voice.

"Come at the gate, let's  leave."

Bruin answered from the other end of the call.

At this moment,  Natalie was putting on a plain jungle green dress that fitted her body perfectly, revealing her gorgeous body. She had tied her raven hair into a ponytail. She had applied a colourless lipstick on her lips that had a glistening effect in light. In her feet, she put on a pair of black stilettos that were slightly raised.

In simple terms, her sense of fashion was breathtaking.

When she stepped out of the gate, Bruin couldn't help but gasp with admiration.

Bruin on the other hand was putting on a light blue shirt with a black tie hanging on the neck and a black trouser that were well ironed. In his feet, he wore some leathered sharp shooters. His silver hair was well combed.

"Wow! you look amazing."

Natalie who was now finishing up with locking the gate, turned back and let out a mischievous smile.

"You too."

Natalie said as she locked the gate and moved towards Bruin.

"From the way you are dressed, someone could think that you are the guest of honour of the celebration."

Bruin said in an amused tone.

"Which celebration?"

Natalie asked out of confusion.

"Jean's birthday celebration."

Bruin retorted.

"Enough with the jokes. Albeit the celebration was supposed to be yesterday."

Natalie answered as she looked at the street to her right.

"Oh, how did that escape my mind. Now let's go."

Bruin said as he turned to his right and started leaving.

Without further hesitation, Natalie followed suit.

The two were on their way to look for Axel and Jean at some of their friends' places

The search mission had begun.

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