Kiara had not expected to be in the situation that she was in. She needed to make more money. In her imagination, before travelling out of the country, she had thought that she was going to be with Jeremy within the first three days, at most.
She was in touch with her mother, and the mother was suggesting that it was best for her to come back home.
"Mamma please, then what will be the meaning of all this? For me to come all the way here, and leave without finding him?"
"You have to accept it, Kiara," Aletha tried to convince her child.
"Mamma, I beg you. Please do me one last favour. May you please find Jacob? I have a feeling that he knows where Jeremy is. Ask him to tell me, and if he is using a different name, please let me know the name as well."
"Kiara, things are not well here. The Pinkertons are probably secretly searching for you. I cannot afford to be seen talking to Jacob. Who knows; maybe these people are tracking my car. And if Travis ever gets to know that I helped you to escape, that will be the end of me."
"Please mum, use a cab. Don't use your own car."
Aletha hesitated, but in the end she agreed to do that.
She quickly dialed Jacob's number and asked to meet with him.
"What is it about, Mrs Noels?" the man was not interested in any meeting.
"I…I just have a few questions," she said.
To her surprise, Jacob agreed.
"If you can make it now, come to the TRS Mall. I am inside at the play centre with my wife and son. If you don't make it within the hour, we will leave."
Aletha needed no more telling. She quickly called a cab, hopped in and within a few minutes, she was standing in front of Jacob.
Nesisa, who was holding her son's hand while he played on the jumping castle, carried the little boy and walked towards Aletha. She did not smile, as she usually did.
Aletha raised her eyes to see the child in Nesisa's hands. What? Why did the boy look so much like her own grandson Vincent Lisandro? Why was it that most of the times when she looked at Vincent's face, she was reminded of the faces of both Jacob and Jeremy during their childhood? How come Kiara had never mentioned anything in those lines? Was she able to see the resemblance as well, or she could not?
The boys, both of them, really looked like Jacob and Jeremy during their toddler years. The brothers had changed over the years, for sure, but they used to look just like that. And what was more; the two boys themselves looked like they were twins.
"Why are you looking at my son so intently like that?" Nesisa asked.
"Oh, I am sorry," Aletha quickly looked aside.
"Why do you need to see my husband?" Nesisa was not friendly at all.
Aletha contemplated on the issue. Suddenly she lost all the strength to narrate her story. The couple was tense. How on earth was she going to start informing them that there was a very high chance of Jeremy being alive? Were they going to believe it?
"I…I just wanted to see you." She stammered.
"I understand Kiara and the child are missing?" Jacob asked without much care.
"They are. And…" immediately an idea struck in Aletha's mind. She used it. "…and; that's why I am here. Do you think that there is any chance that Jeremy could still be alive, and he, along with Kiara, are hiding somewhere?"
"What an insult!" Jacob spat. "My brother died, and you have the guts to talk about him as if he were some school boy playing hide and seek?"
"I'm very sorry about that. I was just thinking that maybe you might know, in case there is anything."
"Anything like what?" Jacob asked angrily.
"I mean, maybe the two could have decided to use different names? For us to reach for them, what name would Jeremy use? If he were alive, and if he were to use another name, which name would he use?"
Jacob and Nesisa looked at each other. Jacob finally spoke.
"Mrs Noels, I don't mean to disrespect you, but if you stay here any longer; I might end up saying things that I will later on regret. My brother is dead. He died because of your child, if I may remind you. May you allow his soul to rest, please? Please leave my brother alone, I beg you."
"Oh Jacob, don't be like this!" Aletha shocked everyone when she burst into tears, throwing herself into Jacob's arms.
The man had not expected anything of that sort; not tears, not a whole human being throwing themselves at him. He almost lost his footing, but he managed to stand firm. Aletha hugged him tightly, with her hands in his head.
"You are like a son to me! The error was already done, but please, help us out! Let's work together and find a solution…."
She did not finish whatever she would have wanted to say, for Jacob pushed her away with, "there is no solution for me! For myself, my wife, son and mother; our Jeremy is gone! You are the one who still has hope! Your daughter is out there, leave us alone and go and find her! Our Jeremy is in the grave. He is gone! He is never coming back! There is no solution to death; do you hear me?"
"Is everything alright, sir?" a police officer who was passing by asked.
"We are fine, officer, but please can you tell this woman to leave us alone. She is harassing my family and I."
The officer turned to face Aletha. "Ma'am" he raised his brows at her.
"I am sorry. I will leave," Aletha slowly let go of Jacob and timidly walked away.
What none of them realised was that in her hands, she held a few strands of Jacob's hair.
As soon as she got home, Aletha made sure Travis was nowhere nearby, and she called her daughter.
"What did Jacob say?" Kiara asked excitedly.
"Nothing much. They all believe that Jeremy is dead. But there is a more important issue, Kiara. In my opinion, Vincent Lisandro is Jeremy's son."
"Impossible!" Kiara flatly denied it.
"It's very possible, Kiara. Tell me honestly; when you look at your son, don't you see Jeremy's features on him?"
"I don't think so," Kiara said truthfully.
"The thing is, Vincent looks like how Jeremy used to look when he was a child. Haven't you seen his childhood pictures, Kiara?"
"But mamma, the DNA test proved that he is Vine's son." Kiara stood her ground. "As much as I really wished for him to be Jeremy's son, unfortunately he is not."
"Forget about the DNA, Kiara." Aletha was becoming agitated.
"Mamma; the Pinkertons obviously used the most efficient person for the job. I believe that the DNA test was true. He is Vine's son."
"Ok listen, Kiara. Give me the address of the lodge where you are staying. I will send you a small parcel with some of my jewellery. Sell it for your upkeep. Then in that same parcel, you will find three strands of hair. Jacob's hair. Use it to get a DNA test done. I need to know who that child belongs to. I am his grandmother, and I must know."
"What! Jacob gave you strands of his own hair?" her voice came out loud and sharp.
"He did not give me, but I got it." Aletha said.
"How? What did you say to him?" Kiara was beyond amazed by her mother.
"Just get the test done, Kiara. Do not worry about all the other things. The hair strands will be sent to you today. As soon as you receive the parcel, get the test done. And tell me the results as soon as you get them."
"Yes mamma," Kiara said.
When Kiara placed her phone down, she looked at her son. The boy, who was playing around and throwing toys all over the room, smiled widely.
Kiara searched his face. She wanted to see features of Jeremy in that little face, yet she found none.
"Why do people keep saying you look like Jeremy?" she asked the boy, and Vincent started giggling happily, putting his fist in his mouth.
"First it was Nesisa, and now it's my mom," she said.
She knelt down besides her son, and continued to scrutinize his face. The hair…OK; the hair colour was the same as Jeremy's but then, so was Vine's. She could not use the eye colour, because the boy's eyes were exactly like hers.
She tried to recall the pictures of Jeremy from his childhood photo album. She had gone through the photo album countless times, and she still recalled some of the pictures in it. Maybe they were right. Yah; there were some instances when Vincent looked like Jeremy, for example when he laughed, or when he was chewing. But…was that a big deal? All along, Kiara had made herself believe that the only reason why she occasionally saw Jeremy in her son was because she had sincerely wanted him to be the father of her son. She remembered the pictures that she took using Rosaline's phone; pictures of Elvis and Vincent. Back at the mansion, she had analysed them and though that the boys did have some resemblance; but she chose to believe the DNA test results rather than the naked eye.
"Come here, Vincent," Kiara stretched out her hands to the little boy. The boy crawled towards his mother and began to pinch her cheeks.
"Don't pinch me!" Kiara wailed, because it was really painful.
She continued to analyse the child's face, and when she thought she had done enough, Kiara stood up and went to the reception of the lodge.
"How can I help you, ma'am?" the receptionist asked.
Kiara smiled at her and said,
"Please advise me where I can get the best person to do a DNA test."