Travis and Aletha were talking about the missing Kiara; and Travis was really worried about his daughter.
"Where could she be?" he asked for the umpteenth time.
All the while, Aletha had not yet informed her husband that Gareth was the one who took Kiara with her. In her mind, Aletha still believed that Vine and his men were chasing after Kiara so that they could end her life. She had no idea that her own child was being held hostage.
While they were discussing, another three of Vine's men walked into the house.
"Where is our child?" Aletha immediately asked.
"We're also searching for her. Ma'am, we urge you to tell us if you hear from her. Has she called any of you?"
"No," Travis and Aletha chorused.
"We really need to find her."
"Is she in any kind of trouble?" Travis asked.
At that moment, Travis was also not aware that Kiara was running away from her own issues, he had no idea of the diary and its contents which showed that Jeremy was still alive.
"With Gareth, yes. Gareth is holding Kiara and the junior master hostage. And without our help, we don't know how long they will be alive."
Aletha listened and in her heart, she was not sure what to believe anymore. Gareth had said he was taking Kiara so that he could help her to escape from the Pinkertons; and yet the Pinkertons themselves were saying that they were also trying to help Kiara? Who was telling the truth?
"Has she really been kidnapped, and is being held hostage?" Aletha asked in doubt.
In response to that, the bodyguard pulled out his phone and showed the couple the image of Kiara and her son in the bedroom.
"But that is just a picture. It does not show that she is kidnapped. Her hands are not tied; neither is her mouth tapped." Aletha reasoned with the bodyguard.
The bodyguard, not wanting to say much, played one of the audios from Dream. He put the volume at maximum, and everyone heard Dream talking,
"We have reason to believe that ma'am Kiara and the junior master are being held hostage in one of Gareth's houses. Teams C, F and G; head over to the boarder. Before you get to the actual boarder, find house number thirty-eight Crescento Avenue. That is Gareth's house. Don't get in. Surround the place and inform us. The young master and I are flying there now. No use of firearms, please; in case someone shoots at ma'am or the junior master!"
"What! Play that again, please!" Aletha said, starting to feel very worried about her daughter.
The man obeyed, he played the audio one more time, but before he played it, he stated that they were wasting time. Aletha and her husband needed to speak soon; if they knew anything about their daughter's whereabouts.
Before the audio finished playing, Aletha was unable to handle the stress anymore.
"Gareth took her! She was here, but Gareth took her with him!" she cried.
The bodyguard quickly made a call to Dream, and asked Aletha to narrate everything that had happened. Leaving out the issue of the diary, Aletha lied and said her daughter had just visited her when Gareth came in and said Vine wanted her dead."
"Why did he want my daughter dead?" Travis asked.
"I also don't know," Aletha said. "But according to Gareth, she had to run for her life."
On the other end of the line, Vine and Dream listened, and when the call ended, Dream asked,
"But why would he ask ma'am Kiara to remove her panties? Do you think he intended to rape her?" he was shocked to hear that Gareth asked the lady to remove her pants.
The only people who knew about installing trackers on Kiara's pants were Vine, Gareth and lady Pinkerton. Vine did not respond.
At that moment the young master cursed himself for ever trusting Vine that much. Besides lying about the death of Jeremy, the young master wondered; what else had Gareth hid? Cold chills ran through his body as he recalled how much he had trusted Gareth, and he also asked himself the duration of Gareth's betrayal? Was it his first time to lie to Vine and lady Pinkerton, or he had always lied about many other things? Vine wondered if Gareth had developed some sort of friendship with Jeremy; and when Jeremy escaped, was Gareth part of the plan? The more he thought about it all, the angrier he became; and the more energy he got. He became more and more determined to strangle Gareth with his own bare hands.
***
At the same time in the Noels' home, Travis was breathing fire.
"Why was I not told about this? My own daughter is in trouble and I am the last person to know? Aletha! Explain to me!"
Aletha, worried more about her daughter rather than her husband in front of her, screamed,
"What would you have done if I had informed you? What have you ever done as a father; to my child? You have let her down her entire life, putting more value on money rather than on her!"
"Shut up Aletha! Are you listening to yourself! I have always stood by Kiara…" Travis was going to find ways of defending himself; but Aletha was not having it at all.
"You have always let my daughter down; Travis! When the Pinkertons took her, she did not want to go, and you, as the father, did nothing to assist her!"
"What could I have done? I was in no position to fight with such a high and mighty family!" Travis shouted back.
"And who was? Who was, Travis, huh? I also was very scared of the Pinkertons; I still am; but I did not sell our daughter! You used her as a meal ticket; you were more than eager to have her marry into that family, because of the money that they have!"
"Aletha, start talking to me respectfully now, or else I will regret what I will do now," the man threatened.
"What will you do? You will punch me in the face? Go ahead then, punch me! It's nothing new, really! You've punched me many times before, both physically and emotionally." The woman went on.
"You also hid the truth from me. Kiara was kidnapped and you…."
"I was not aware that she was kidnapped. And yes; I hid it from you because knowing you, you would have turned to Vine and his men, to tell them everything about my daughter. You have become so obsessed with their money that you will do anything just to please them. You are blinded; you fail to see Kiara's depression. The poor girl is not happy, but all that matters to you is money! Vine's family is bad! They murder people and they have the darkest history ever; yet you still want my child to be associated with them." Aletha went on and on, pouring her heart out.
She had bottled a lot of issues, and on that day she decided to let it all out. Travis, on the other hand, refused to accept that he was wrong. He continued to defend himself.
"You keep referring to her as 'my child.' Need I remind you that Kiara is my child too? She is OUR CHILD! I am the girl's father, and I also have a right to making decisions in her life!"
"Kiara is an adult! She is old enough to make her own decisions, and the least we can do for her, as her parents, is to support the decisions that she makes! And while we're at it; we don't put money first!" Aletha was fuming, her chest drenched with sweat. She had never been that angry before.
"Right now our daughter is missing, and all you know is to shout at me," Travis said.
"And you? What have you done for her? She is missing yes; but I played my part. I made sure to help her escape with Gareth; because at that time I was not aware that Gareth was the villain. I have always stood by my child…"
"Our child!" Travis snapped.
"My child! Until you learn to stand up and be responsible, and value your family more than money, Kiara will remain my child! You have not earned the title of father! Useless man!" Aletha stormed out of the house, running to an unknown destination.
Feeling the pain, Travis pulled a chair and sat on it.
Her words rang in the air, "…..You have not earned the title of father! Useless man!"
The last part; "useless man" continued to haunt him, and he hated himself for some of the decisions which he had made.
However when Travis stood up to go and take a shower; passing by the home gym and seeing all the expensive gym equipment, and seeing how his and Aletha's lives had drastically changed for the better, the man smiled to himself.
"I am the child's father, Aletha. And I do what I have to do in order to give us all a better life. I don't care if you insult me," he smiled sheepishly to himself.