This wasn't what he expected to hear from Natalie or anyone else about his son.
Although there were some chances that what Natalie was saying could have happened, he still didn't want to buy to the idea. He wanted to remain positive, perhaps this way, things might turn out good.
"We have to find a way of looking for them before we come up with such conclusions. If we don't find them, then we shall come up with the next appropriate step."
Bruin said through gritted teeth as he struggled to suppress his anger.
During this moment, he was furious over the idea of having to search for his son in such a prohibited place.
"...And why can't we come up with the plan right now? What is stopping us from strategizing in advance?"
Natalie asked.
Faking a cough, Bruin lingered.
"It seems you have one already. So, bring it forth let me hear it."
For a moment, Natalie was embarrassed. From Bruin's tone, she could easily tell that the guy was trying to mock her.
Understanding the aim of the guy, she suddenly became avid to counter the guy by providing an answer to his provoking question.
Inhaling deeply to calm her nerves, Natalie lingered.
"We should try investing the former victims of these kidnap incidents from the neighbouring towns.
Suddenly, grave silence settled in the room.
After contemplating on the matter, Bruin responded.
"Although that's an appropriate step, but don't forget the risks that it comes with."
Suddenly, Natalie se3med to understand what the guy was trying to imply. Without waiting for his further explanation, she chimed in.
"...The risk of divulging the information about the disappearance of our sons, isn't it?"
With a nod, Bruin responded.
"That's also part of the risks, but the main risk here is if the adversaries find out about our doings. Just as you told me some time back, we might suffer the same fate the family of the victims suffered while trying to look for their lost family members."
Squinting her eyes, Natalie's expression turned distant as she recounted the information she shared with Bruin at the beginning of their search mission.
A couple of minutes later, she gazed at Bruin and sighed.
"You are right. If we were to avoid this fate, we have to avoid mentioning the disappearance of the boys. And if we are going to do this, then obtaining information from these victims is going to be hard since they won't trust us. And who knows, they might even conclude that we are the kidnappers."
"That's right. But I don't think there is a better strategy than that."
Bruin stated with a complicated expression plastered on his face.
Just at that moment, Bruin got to his feet and glanced at Natalie.
"I am sorry for not offering you something to eat all this while. At least a drink can be suitable for this occasion. I am used to being served that I forgot that I had prohibited my cook from entering the living room during our discussion."
Immediately Natalie heard this statement, She blushed.
Initially, before the meeting of the two, Bruin had prohibited his cook from entering the living room. He had done this to prevent her from eavesdropping their conversation. So, when the two had kick-started the conversation a while ago, Bruin had forgotten this. That's why he had not offered Natalie a thing since she arrived.
Although it was midmorning and they had already taken breakfast, Bruin still found it important to introduce a drink that would be used to soften their throats as they moved on with the conversation.
At first, Natalie was about to refute the guy, but immediately saw this act as inappropriate since she also needed the drink.
"Okay, I will be waiting..."
Natalie said in a friendly tone as she faked a smile.
It was difficult for either of them to be joyful in such hard times. It was like they were sent in fierce battle without any weapon to face armed adversaries. Their situation was akin to this situation since they couldn't involve anyone in their plans at the moment. That would just aggravate the situation by subjecting them to potential dangers that might result from the mishap.
Now sipping on the juice drink that Bruin had offered her, Natalie lingered.
"If I may ask you a question, could there be some chances that Axel is at your ex wife's place?"
As soon as Bruin heard this statement, his mood darkened.
"But I remember warning you from mentioning that woman to me ever again."
Bruin spatted.
Just at that moment, Natalie waved a hand dismissively.
"Alright, don't feel offended."
Natalie said in a calm voice.
After a short moment of silence, Bruin gazed at Natalie with a scrutinizing gaze. And when Natalie noticed this, she frowned in an instance.
"Although your suggestion might be carrying some truth in it, I am still confident that the boy won't be at her home. After all, she isn't his biological mother."
Immediately Natalie heard this, she jolted.
"Oh! But you haven't told me that before."
Natalie said with a surprised face.
Since Bruin had never revealed to her before that his ex wife wasn't Axel's biological mother, she was shocked at the mention of it.
"....but you have never asked me about it. After all, they are family matters and I can't divulge it anyhow."
Natalie seemed to understand the guy and even understood how easy it was for the guy to move on after divorcing his wife.
Bruin had divorced his ex wife lately. So, Natalie had a chance to interact with her before her departure. Characterwise, it was difficult to depict the woman from the way Bruin described her.
'If she was able to conceal her true character from me all this while, then she must be a great actor.'
Natalie pondered as she recounted her moments with Erica Reed, Bruin's ex wife before her departure.
"Now tell me,.why would you think that Axel would go there? It is not that she even had a good relationship with him, for him to consider her as his mum."
As soon as Bruin was done with his statement, a thought formed in Natalie's mind.
'Could there be some chances that she might have planned the kidnap of the boys just to get back on Bruin? ...Hmmm! I could have said that she was involved in the kidnap, but the country that Jean is likely to be in is meant for monsters and not humans like her. Talking about monsters, I think we are addressing the matter in a wrong way. For how long are our sons going to survive in that area for us to get to them and save them. Even if I am to reveal my secret for me to enter the disgusting place, I still have to face the major huddle of bypassing the borders.'
During this moment, Natalie's mind was running on all cylinders, trying to find out the appropriate way of rescuing their sons from the suspected location.
The moment, she discovered the potential location of their sons, she immediately knew that some sacrifices had to be made. Now that the place that the boys are suspected to be being a dangerous place, Natalie found herself at verge of revealing her major secret that she had been hiding since childhood. Although she had already shared it with a close person already, the secrete was yet to find its way to the outside world.
But since the secret has been the one guarding her life all this while, there was no way she was going to give it out anyhow. She had to come up with the appropriate strategy that would see her save her son and at the same time keep the secret to herself.
When Bruin noticed her thoughtful state, he waved a hand in front of her eyes to capture her attention. And just at that moment, Natalie was snapped out of her reverie as she jolted.
"What are you thinking?"
Bruin asked out of confusion.
Heaving a sigh, Natalie snorted.
"I think we need to get to the root of the matter as quickly as possible, if we hope to reunite with our sons while still alive."
"But before we come up with a way of rescuing them, we at least need to know why they were kidnapped. This way, we can be able to tell the nature of people we are likely to deal with."
Bruin stated with a serious face.
"No matter what we do right now, this process must involve a dangerous decision. And that's entering Whimland."
Natalie interjected.
Since the two knew how dangerous the country was, and how protected it was, none of them expected to have an easy time in finding their sons.
If the kidnappers were able to pass through the borders without any hindrance, then this implied one thing. The kidnappers might be partners in crime with the security people at the borders of both or either of the countries.
"This isn't going to be easy as I had anticipated."
Natalie whined.
"Although I know how dangerous Whimland is, for the sake of my son, I am willing to risk my life for him. But the biggest problem is that; How are we going to bypass the security systems at the borders?"
Bruin asked.
"That's what can easily stall our plans. As I am also willing to enter the country. Perhaps do you have any government official that can make our plan of crossing the borders a success?"
Natalie inquired.
Suddenly, Bruin glared at him.
"That was exactly what I was about to ask you."
Bruin said with a hint of annoyance.
At this point, one thing was clear.
Entering Whimland was going to be a dangerous decision.
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