GONE

Tessa ran down the road. Since the mansion was rather positioned away from other homes, she had a fair distance to run before she started having hope of seeing a car. She had no phone, thus she was just counting on luck to bump into a cab or a car. When she was thoroughly exhausted, she saw a car and she waved frantically. The car came to a stop.

"Hallo? Why are you out so late in the night?" the driver, a middle-aged man, asked.

"I am coming from work. I am a waitress and I was supposed to leave work at 7PM but I overstayed."

"Jump in. Where are you going?"

Tessa hesitated. Was she supposed to mention Jacob's address or her own parents' address? She was not sure at all. One thing was certain: the moment Gareth found out that she was missing, he was going to come after hear. The first place he was likely to check was at her parents' house, so Tessa decided to use Jacob's address.

The man, who was not going in that direction, decided to just help the poor girl, and he drove her and dropped her off at Jacob's front door.

Inside the house, the family was fast asleep when they heard a loud knock at the door. Jeremy was not in the attic, instead he was sleeping in the bedroom next to Jacob and Nesisa's. Thinking that it was Gareth and his men, the three looked at each other and did not know what to do.

"Use the back door!" Nesisa whispered. "They might search outside today, so go back until you get to the neighbour's. Hide there. Behind their house, behind a bush; anywhere safe."

Jeremy ran outside.

Jacob and Nesisa went to open the door, and to their shock, a young maid was standing by the door. The moment they opened, she burst into tears.

"What is it? Who are you?" they asked.

"I need help. Gareth will kill me. Jeremy will have to help me to skip the country," she sobbed.

"What is the story?" Jacob asked.

The girl narrated everything, leaving no detail. She handed over the full bag of jewellery, and the note too. Jacob and Nesisa read the note.

"May I see Jeremy?" Tessa asked. Jacob and Nesisa looked at each other, and Nesisa was the one to speak,

"We don't know where he is. We are also looking for him."

"Oh no! So what am I going to do? I was hoping that he would help me. Where will I go?" she looked very desperate.

"You have to go to your parents. I'm sure they will find a way to help you," Jacob said.

"I don't have any money on me," she cried. "And my home is too far from here. How will I get there? Will you drive me home, please?"

Jacob looked at the girl and although he felt sorry for her, he was not willing to take any risk. What if she had been sent by Gareth? Surely it was very possible for Gareth to hatch that plan, so that he could track her and find out where Jeremy was.

Kiara had stated in the letter that Tessa could be trusted; but could Jacob trust Kiara herself? No. He chose not to get involved. After discussing with Nesisa, they gave her a small amount of money and advised her to go to her parents.

"And the jewellery? Some of it should be Jeremy's." She asked, her eyes full of fear and confusion.

"No, you can have it all," Jacob said. "We cannot involve ourselves in any of that. What if it was stolen from the Pinkertons?"

Tessa sighed, "It was not stolen, trust me. Ma'am Kiara was given these as her welcome gift when she joined the family."

"No thank you," Jacob said.

He was just about to ask the girl to excuse them when Tessa quickly poured half the contents of the pillow case on to the floor in front of Jacob and Nesisa.

"No; Tessa. I said we are not going to have anything to do with this jewellery!" Jacob knelt down and put back all the jewellery inside the pillowcase. He handed it over to Tessa.

"That's jewellery for Jeremy." She said, her voice begging them to take it, but the couple was not having it.

"You're wasting time. If Gareth is truly after you, you better leave now." Jacob advised the girl.

"I…I will go now." she stammered before disappearing into the night.

Nesisa immediately closed and locked the door before asking her husband. "do you trust her?"

"I don't know." Jacob shrugged.

The two sighed and Nesisa walked back upstairs. Jacob remained, standing by the back door.

"Come back in the house," he said; his voice sounding tired.

There was no-one. He called again, and hearing no response, he walked outside and started going towards the neighbour's house. He called out his brother's name, and no-one responded.

Jacob was beginning to panic. He searched behind every bush and flower-pot. Even the flower pots which were too small for Jeremy to hide behind; Jacob still searched all around them. He started to swear, and searched again in places where he has checked before.

"Where is he?" Jacob spoke to no-one. He went back inside to inform Nesisa. The young mother, who was already beginning to fall asleep, sat up in bed and announced that Jeremy was surely going to come back. Or had he snuck in and hid in the attic? They checked every single room. They checked every possible place. He was not there.

"He's gone," Jacob's voice shook with emotional pain. "My brother's gone! Initially we lied that he was missing; and now he is rally missing! My brother!" the poor man went down on his knees and cursed the day Kiara messed up and in the process involved Jeremy in her mess.

"He will definitely come back," Nesisa tried to assure him, but he continued to cry.

"Gone; gone. My brother is gone!"

***

At the Pinkerton mansion, the guard who was on duty for watching the mansion cell ran downstairs and looked.

"Come out! There is a fire!" he said, and there was no response. He ran and entered into the room.

"Wake up!" he shook the 'person' sleeping, and seeing no movement at all, he pulled off the blanket, only to see that there was no-one inside, but instead another rolled up blanket.

"Where is she?" the man gasped. He ran to check in the toilet and the other room, and Tessa was nowhere to be found.

And the man did not know what to do. What was happening? He ran out and in the commotion, and without anyone noticing him, ran towards the exit. He ran as fast as his feet could carry him. He could not afford to linger around any longer; for he was certain that after finding out that Tessa was gone, Gareth was never going to spare his life.