Chapter 40 - From visions to freedom

While praying, he saw a vivid picture in his mind.

It was a vision of Laura. He saw her right in front of him, in the same way as in the dream.

Laura was asleep in some strange room.

Then, in a different scene, he saw just her face and this time she was awake. She looked at him with imploring, wide open eyes.

This alarmed him, because it was the first time that anything like this happened to him. Was Laura still alive?

***

At the police station, Blake had learned that Jared was actually adopted. His own father could not raise him, because Jared's mother died from cancer and the baby boy was only sixteen months old. Jared's father had grieved so much for his wife that his brother, Craig adopted the baby.

Craig and his wife only had a daughter, so they welcomed the little boy into their home.

Because Craig's brother, Cliff was disinherited by their mother, for marrying a girl that she disapproved of, Jared's adoptive father, Craig did not see much of his brother, Cliff. Their mother prohibited him.

So, Jared did not see his own father much anymore.

Cliff was completely estranged from his mother, who also happened to be Carminda and Shannon's grandmother. This meant that the twin sisters were Jared's cousins.

The mother of the twins was also estranged from her own mother. She was Cliff and Craig's sister. Like Cliff, she had also defied their mother, by marrying a rock & roll singer.

After all these years, Jared's biological father, Cliff decided that he would counteract his mother's disinheritance of him.

He decided to do this by kidnapping all his mother's grandchildren, thereby forcing her to pay a ransom to a total stranger, whom he had hired. He himself was out of town at the moment. He was in Durban.

The plan backfired, but the cousins finally met and Jared's biological father was arrested, together with his accomplices.

His accomplices were not paid, so they testified against him in court. This was where the whole truth came out.

Blake also learned that Lord Eickenberry in London was Carminda and Shannon's actual uncle, because he was their father's half-brother.

Blake had been sent to England, because the young women actually wanted to get to know their alienated family, who lived abroad.

Jack Eickenberry was the son of Alice's first husband, so he had his own wealth, through his inheritance from his late father.

Carminda and Shannon were not proud of Jack, but they kept his secret escapades to themselves.

It seemed as if their grandmother, Alice had never really wanted her children to be married to anyone who was not of her own choosing. Yet in the end, she was delighted that they had produced children.

Blake was relieved that his own family is simple. Quite uncomplicated.

Jared, on the other hand, realized that he could one day have unwittingly married one of his cousins. The mere thought of this made Carla in Cape Town seem almost acceptable.

The following morning, Blake had more visions during his prayer time, while kneeling in front of the bed. The visions were all about Laura.

This time he saw her face first and then he saw a bird. This happened twice over.

Then he saw different kinds of birds; first one, then quite a few, which turned into airplanes that flew across the ocean. This freaked him out.

After a while, he sat upright on the bed, because he immediately realized that he must be seeing airplanes, because they were guiding him towards the airport. He realized that Laura might just be there, at the airport, or in one of those airplanes.

Blake wondered whether the police would take him seriously if he told them about his suspicions. He then decided to let Carminda in on this hunch that he was having. She certainly could help, with her being psychic.

***

The following morning, Laura was woken up early and ordered to prepare for her flight.

As she dressed herself, she realized how important Monique and Blake are to her.

Who would she be without them, she wondered with a catch in her throat.

Meanwhile, at the Oliver Tambo International Airport, Blake, Jared and two of Carminda's bodyguards were just in time to see Laura leaving with some strangers.

They were headed towards the boarding gates of a flight which was destined for Greece.

Blake could not believe his eyes. Who were these people and why did Laura have to go with them?

Carminda's bodyguards, Jake and Erich told Blake that they would book the next flight to Greece and then track Laura down.

Blake now had more faith inside him than he would have ever expected to come up inside of him at a time of total upheaval.

It was strange to him.

After some thorough investigation, the two bodyguards located the travel agency through which Laura's flight was booked and so they left with Blake on the following day, because he simply wouldn't hear anything about remaining behind.

***

In Athens Greece, Blake began to feel as if he was in a dream. This was not happening to him, he felt.

The bodyguards, Jake and Erich dropped him off at a beautiful hotel, where he had to wait while they continued their investigation.

The two bodyguards found out that Laura was in the company of a Hollywood politician and this made their task much easier.

With Blake out of the way,a they focused much better.

The bodyguards eventually located Laura in a large house on a small Greek Island and then they proceeded to inform Interpol about their problem, because now all signs pointed to the fact that Laura was indeed being abducted. They sent a warning to Edward Hendricks via a messenger, informing him about their presence and about their intention of turning this situation into a full scale international scandal if he did not cooperate.

Edward in the end, after much agonizing, realized that negative publicity could ruin his reputation for years to come.

So he agreed to let Laura go.

"But only for now," he warned Erich and Jake.

Blake could not believe his eyes when he saw Laura running towards him, where he pensively stood alone on a stretch of beach.