With trembling lips, Riley pointed at the spot that Alexa was lying on before she left their bedroom but she couldn’t say anything. She just kept staring, her eyes almost popping out of its sockets.
“You said she was in the bedroom.”Laura snapped at Riley who was still trying to come to terms with what she was seeing.
“I did. In fact, she was the last to fall asleep and… where would I have left her if not here?”She retorted only to resume trembling while Laura began to rack her brain on what to do but it was blank.
“Then where did she go all of a sudden?”Laura wondered aloud, her heart slamming against her chest in a quick succession.
While the two women went about searching the room for Alexa like she was almost invincible, Laura was muttering incoherent words to herself, panicking greatly.
Suddenly, Riley stood upright, “I think I know where she is.”
“Where?”Laura asked at once, trying to keep still with the excitement that was surging through her veins but she couldn’t.
Now standing in front of her and holding her shoulders, she said, “Please tell me where my daughter is.”
“Just this morning, I saw her by the pool but after…”Laura didn’t allow her to finish speaking before she brushed past her and then dashed out of the door.
Not knowing what to do, Riley walked around in circles for a while before she finally decided to go after Laura.
On reaching the swimming pool, there was no sight of Alexa. Using her hands to shield her eyes, Laura tried checking the bottom of the pool but there was nothing in it.
“Did you buy any chance see Alexa?”Riley asked the guard who was walking past at that time.
“Alexa?”He asked with a raised brow.
“Yeah, she is a little child…”Laura said, hitting Riley’s arm, she said, “Tell him what he was wearing.”
“I know Alexa but I haven’t seen her since she picked him up from the pool side. What, is there an issue?”He asked, looking at the faces of the women standing in front of him.
Scared, Laura grabbed Riley’s arm and then began to pull her back into the building.
“Let’s call the cops.”Laura suddenly suggested when they returned to the hallway after searching all the rooms.
“I know a lot is going through your mind right now but I’d suggest you speak to Chris instead.”
“There is nothing Chris can do in a situation like this. Moreover, we have wasted a great deal of time, searching around for her. It’s best if we just call the cops and inform them about it.”She took a pause as she rubbed her sweaty hands against her dress.
“While waiting for their arrival, I will go speak to Chris.”She said.
Laura strongly believed that her son had been kidnapped and that was why she had opted to speak with the police immediately instead of going through Christian.
“I understand your grief but, I’d still suggest Christian should be indulged now. Just give it a try, I know it is hard, please try calming down too. I assure you, Alexa will be found soon.”She said and without waiting for her to utter a word, she turned in the opposite direction to resume her search for Alexa.
Laura delayed going to see Christian, she wasn’t ready to speak to him and so she didn’t want to involve him in it.
Letting out a low sigh, she took in a deep breath and with her gaze straight ahead, she began to walk towards the study where she guessed Christian would be.
Now standing behind his door, she delayed knocking and when she finally did, he replied almost immediately.
Knowing that if she decided to leave, he would find out she was the one because he would be swift in reaching the door, she grabbed the knob and then turned it.
With her gaze to the ground, she made her way to the middle of the room, only then did she raise her head and immediately she locked eyes with him, she burst into tears.
Leaving his seat, Christian hurried to her side, “What is the issue?”He asked, his hand resting on her shoulder as different thoughts ran in his head all at once.
“Please talk to me.”He said, pulling her to himself.”You will be fine, okay.”
“I won’t.”She snapped. Now staring back at him, she grabbed her dress, “Alexa has been kidnapped.”she was crying profusely now.
“Kidnapped? It’s impossible.”He said, shaking his head sideways.
“But I can’t find her anywhere. Riley and I had looked all over the place in search for her but…”
“The security is right here and everyone knows Alexa. There is no way someone can break in and whisk her away just like that.”
“Not even if the person is a pro.”He added the last part when she wouldn’t stop staring at him.
“Then what are we going to do now? I have checked practically everywhere I can think of, even the pool…”she said and then broke into fresh tears.
“Please relax, I will gather the guards for another round of search.”He said and with that, let the study, leaving her behind.
******
Meanwhile, while all the chaos were happening, Alexa was making her way through the dark corridor. For a while now, she had been trying to find out what was there.
It was her inquisitiveness that made her sneak out of the room after Riley had our her to sleep and then suttered out while she was in the bathroom.
Though scared, Alexa continued groping her way through the dark corridor just because she had a sniffing sound. With each step she took, the louder the sniff.
“Who’s there?”She asked, craning his neck to have a clear view of the figure that was huddled in one corner of the corridor.
Unable to keep her curiousity to himself, she grabbed the person’s arm and immediately, Antonia snapped her head upwards, barely missing hitting her since she was leaning very close.
“What are you doing here?”She asked using the back of her palm to clean her face.
“Take.”She said instead of giving her a response and when she received the chocolate from her, she slid through the wall, pulling her leg to her chin, mimicking her posture.
“Are you worried?”Alexa asked, taking a bite from hers.
“No… why?”Antonia asked, taking a bit from her chocolate too. She was glad to have a company but at the same time she was wondering what she was doing at this part of the building.
“My mother is worried and I don’t know why.”She pouted.
“I guess a lot of things are running though her mind right now.”Antonia offered.
“That was exactly what I thought but she wouldn’t say what the issue is. Can you help me ask her?”She was grabbing Antonia’s arm now.
Instead of giving a response to this, Antonia pulled herself up and then went further to help Alexa.
“We should return to the building now.”She said.
“But why? I just came here.”Antonia had a gut feeling that they might be looking for her since this part of the building was a bit separated from the main building.
“Let’s go talk to your mom.”She said.
Elated by this, Alexa sprung to her feet and together they left for the main building with Alexa chattering all the way.
Back at the study room, Laura was pacing to and fro, trying to calm herself down but couldn’t. Several times she had reached out to Riley who always informed her that the situation was the same, thus driving her crazy.