Crises in Love (Zora and Jaylan)

Hannah eyed me with curiosity and concern. "Looks like I'll have to visit Fidelia soon to get the scoop!"

"Just don't get too cozy, or Camilla might sniff something's up," Ronan warned, his voice low and measured. "Hold your horses for now. I'll get someone to keep tabs on her. We need to figure out who Camilla is before we make a move."

Then Ronan turned to me, his gaze sharp. "So, when are you heading back to Silverdale City?"

His question caught me off guard. With all the recent craziness, my plans were tossed like a salad.

"I... I haven't decided yet!" I replied, my voice tinged with uncertainty, and then quickly added, "I've invited Geneva to see around Silverdale City with me. I thought it might ease the tension a bit." Ronan nodded approvingly. "That's a good call."

I glanced at him. "Are you heading to Silverdale City, too?"

Ronan nodded again., "Yep! That's the plan."

Logan, who had been quietly listening all this while, interjected with a hint of uncertainty, "We've managed to get the information of the woman who has your lost child!"

I was instantly on edge, leaning in with urgency. "You found something? What's her story?"

"She's a distant relative from Hazel's hometown named Marilyn, forty-two years old. She married into a family related to Hazel but got divorced because she couldn't have kids."

My heart tightened at the news. Whoever this woman with my child was, I couldn't shake off a feeling of unease.

"From what we've gathered, Marilyn is decent and down-to-earth. She's got some smarts and finished up to junior high. She got hitched at sixteen to the guy, and apparently, they were quite the item.

Neighbors say she's got a knack for crafts, a dab hand at embroidery and even does a bit of painting. She designs her patterns and all that stuff. However, the inability to have children eventually led to her divorce.

After that, she left her broken home behind. Since then, she had worked odd jobs in the surrounding cities and never remarried, living on a shoestring. She had been in contact with her parents until about four years ago, then suddenly, radio silence.

But just before she dropped off the map, she wired a sum of about fifteen grand to her parents. We guess Hazel got to her, paid her off, but put a gag order on her, too." Logan laid out the facts with clarity.

"But we still can't track her down, right?" I asked, a hint of disappointment in my voice.

Logan nodded solemnly. "Yeah, no word on her whereabouts."

"What kind of person would take them? If it's not one of Jerome's, it means someone else is in on Hazel's secret," Hannah mused aloud.

Logan continued, "We've asked around the entire neighborhood where she lived and came up with something possibly helpful. Some people took them away in the dead of night.

There were two men and an SUV, Marilyn clutching the child. A witness mentioned seeing the scene. He came home late from a trip and spotted it.

He said Marilyn was reluctant,

resisting the men, and kept

repeating, Where are you taking us? She got slapped before they shoved her into the vehicle. The witness managed to snap a photo of the car and its plates."

"Let me see!" I reached out eagerly.

My insides churned with panic. They'd hit the woman named Marilyn? What would be stopping them from hurting my child if they had treated Marilyn so roughly? Logan hesitated before showing me the photos.

The images were dimly lit and grainy, showing a woman holding a child close, protectively in her arms, The child seemed to be asleep, and by the looks of it, it was about the same size as Carl, with little legs poking out.

I stared at the bare legs, my fingers instinctively reaching out to touch the screen, inadvertently zooming in.

Taking a deep breath, I flicked to the photo of the vehicle.

"Did you find this car?" I pressed.

"Fake plates," Logan said with a sigh of frustration.

"It means they took her against her will!" Logan added. "It was a forced abduction."

"Then why was the house tidied up so neatly? It looked like they were to leave," I questioned, perplexed. "But why would she resist?"

"It suggests that whoever took them knew Hazel or at least of her," Ronan deduced and turned to Logan. "Look into Hazel's acquaintances. If we can confirm Hazel doesn't know the child's been taken, it likely means the abductors were using Hazel's name as a cover!"

Ronan's conclusion sent a chill down my spine.

Someone who knew Hazel?