CHAPTER 90
LILY’S POV
~ “Miss Jones, Mr. Hills, come to the control room immediately. We’ve got a lead. I think we might have found your kids.” ~
The detective’s words sounded in my ears over and over again as I stared at the camera in a daze. It was the only thing I could hear and focus on. Did they really find them? How were they able to do it? I just hope it’s really them.
I looked at Noah with a glimmer of hope glistening in my eyes. The look on his face was positive and uplifting too. We quickly left the interrogation room.
“No…!” I heard Cassandra’s loud and frustrated voice as she smashed her fist on the table. “Get back here! We’re not done yet. I’m the only one that can tell you where your children are…! You’re fools if you think you can find them without me. I left them in a place where no one not even the police can find them…”
“That’s enough,” I heard the officer in the interrogation room say in infuriation. “I did warn you to keep your mouth shut, now you leave me without a choice.”
I think he put a gag over her mouth because I could hear her muffled screams and incoherent muttering as she struggled.
A bitter and terrified frown settled on my face as I thought about what she said. Did she really lock them in the basement amid all that danger? What if she’s right about us never finding them? What if what the detective wanted to show us wasn’t them or the clue ends up fruitless? What if I’m late? What if something has already happened to them?
All these questions daggered my mind, leaving me panicking in fear. I think Noah noticed because he nudged me a little as we were led by another officer to the control room. His action distracted me from my wrecking thoughts, drifting me back to reality.
“Don’t listen to her,” he said. “She’s just trying to manipulate you. Everything she said in there might not be true so don’t put your mind to it.”
I nodded calmly, managing a dry smile.
On getting to the control room where the detective and other officers of the station stayed to monitor activities of the interrogation room, the detective showed me a couple of photos in a phone.
“Are they your kids?” He asked. “The description we got from Mr. Hills earlier matches theirs.”
As I stared at the photos, tears found their way down my eyes. My hand ran up to my nose to stop myself from sobbing out loud. It was them. It was truly them. My babies. They found them.
In the photos, they looked dishevelled in the clothes they had on since yesterday at the park. Their eyes were red and teary, proof they had been crying for long and they looked very terrified just like in the nightmare I had earlier while at the hospital. I can’t imagine what they’ve passed through in the hands of that psychotic witch. I did my best not to think about all those ugly thoughts again. All that mattered now was that we’d found them. They were alive and well and I’m never letting them out of my sight ever again.
“Yes…” I nodded repeatedly, more tears falling freely from my eyes as I lifted my gaze to the detective. “It’s them. Where are they? How did you find them?…” I couldn’t help asking.
“A lady who said she lives on the outskirts of the city called in not too long ago to report two children she suspected were kidnapped. She said they were abandoned and tied up in a house we believe belongs to the suspect. Apparently, their cries for help and suspicious movements around the house attracted her attention as she lives very close to the property. She also mentioned seeing the suspect dragging two children against their will into the house yesterday. When we asked for the photos of the children, she was able to send them, and they matched the description of your kids perfectly. That’s why we called you in here,” he explained as I listened attentively, hanging onto every word that came out of his mouth.
Noah was right. Everything Cassandra said back in the interrogation room wasn’t true. She just wanted to manipulate and make me agree to her conditions of leaving the city and swearing on the life of my kids. I can’t believe I fell for her antics. That officer should have let me finish her off when I had the chance. I hope she faces the full wrath of the law and gets life imprisonment or the death penalty Noah mentioned.
“Yes, they’re my kids,” I said again in confirmation as I handed the detective back the phone. “Please let’s not waste any more time. Let’s go get them immediately.”
The detective gave a firm nod. He pulled out a small microphone connected by a coiled wire to the control panel and said something to the officer in the interrogation room with Cassandra. Cassandra was squirming in her seat like an earthworm poured salt, trying but unsuccessfully to break through her restraints. I wasn’t paying much attention to what the detective said. But I think he mentioned something about the officer not taking off her restraints, including the gag unless her attorney arrived. She was considered dangerous and mentally unstable.
The detective took one of the officers on standby. Including Noah and I, we set out to bring back my kids.
The ride seemed to last forever as I anxiously waited for us to arrive at the destination, which was a bit far as it was on the outskirts of the city. The officer driving was using a map as a guide since it was a bit difficult to pinpoint the exact location. Throughout the ride, Noah wrapped his hand around mine to soothe my nerves and make me feel better. I was grateful to have him around. I wished I never thought of ending things with him back in the interrogation room due to the pressure from Cassandra.
After several minutes of driving, we finally arrived at the destination. We parked in front of a modest bungalow with two large windows and a line of colourful flowers that ran along the edges, adorning it.
Standing on the porch was a middle-aged lady in a simple long skirt, blouse and thinning blonde hair packed into a small ponytail, along with Liam and Lila. Liam and Lila were standing in front of her while her hands rested on their shoulder as they watched the police car park.
Quickly, I stepped out of the car and rushed towards them. Seeing me, they screamed, “Mummy!” and came running towards me. We collided in a deep hug that lasted for eternity. I buried myself in between the depths of their necks, taking in the familiar warmth and tender feel of their body against mine as tears of relief ran down my cheeks. Just yesterday not being with them felt like a thorn in my flesh. A torment to my soul.
I felt something wet on my shoulders. When we pulled away, I saw they were also crying. Poor things. They have been through a lot without me around, with no one to care for them.
“Don’t cry,” I said wiping the tears off their faces. “Mummy is here now. Everything will be alright…”
“What took you so long, Mommy?” Lila sobbed, her small voice trembling with pain. “We waited and waited for you. That woman…she was so mean. She hurt us and kept saying horrible things about you.”
“I was so scared I peed my pants,” Liam said, lowering his gaze in embarrassment. This really hurt him because I haven’t seen him cry in a long time.
“I’m very sorry. I’ll make it up to you okay? I promise it will never happen again. We are back together, and that is all that matters now. No one will take you away from me ever again,” I reassured them, wrapping them in a protective embrace.
After I finished comforting them and making them feel better, I took their hands and we walked up to the lady who had saved them. The detective and the police officer after asking her some questions headed for the house where Liam and Lila were kept. The lady said it belonged to Cassandra and that she’d been staying there for some time now. They sealed off the residence with caution tape and labelled it as a property under police investigation.
Noah was still speaking with the lady when we walked up to her.
“Thank you so much,” I said, my voice filled with gratitude. “I can’t express how grateful I am for what you’ve done for my kids.”
“It’s nothing, my dear,” she laughed it off. Her smile was bright and welcoming like my mother’s. “You and your husband are a very cute couple and you have such adorable kids. I’m happy to have reunited the family together again.”
She must have thought Noah and I were married and the kids were ours. I tried to tell her we weren’t but Noah quickly held my hand furtively to stop me, laughing widely and nodding his head to everything she said.
I asked how she managed to save the kids and if they were locked in the basement. She clarified they weren’t in the basement at all. They had only been tied up in the living room, with the house locked and all the curtains drawn. With help from her husband, who wasn’t there at the moment, they broke in through the back to rescue them. That revelation made it clear everything Cassandra said back in the interrogation room was all lies to scare and make me desperate.
Several weeks later, Cassandra and the taxi driver, after being discharged from the hospital, were arraigned in court. Given the weight and severity of her crimes, Cassandra was sentenced to life imprisonment and required to undergo therapy while serving her term. The taxi driver, convicted of assassination and attempted murder, was sentenced to 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole.