No Letting Go

Chapter 29: Home for Christmas

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FICTION.
Disclaimer: All and fully disclaimed.
For ADN. 💚💚💚💚💚

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Chapter 29: Home for Christmas

~~Twyford, Berkshire; Maine's parents' house~~

Monday Evening
Mr. and Mrs. Mendoza had just finished their dinner and were settling down in their sitting room, with their grandson Sebastian when the phone rang.

Mr. Mendoza got up to cross the short distance to the kitchen to answer the phone. He took no more than two steps when the doorbell chimed. He looked at Mrs. Mendoza communicating silently that she answer the phone while he would be the one who would answer the door.

Mrs. Mendoza gently put down Sebby in his playpen and went to the kitchen to answer the persistent phone.

Mr. Mendoza shouted. "Hold on! I'm coming." as he heard the doorbell chimed again, this time longer. Mr. Mendoza unbolted the door and swung it open. He was surprised see their front porch was empty. He walked out to see if there was any one there but found none.

In the meantime, in the kitchen, Mrs. Mendoza grabbed the phone off the hook to answer the call. All she got was the dial tone. She placed the receiver back and returned to the sitting room.

Mrs. Mendoza started walking back towards the sitting room when she felt cold and shivered, noticing the sliding doors that leads to their back garden open. "Teddy dear? What are you doing out there? Come back inside, it's freezing!"

Mr. Mendoza was standing by the front door. "I am inside."

Mrs. Mendoza looked behind her. "Then who opened these doors?" Her heart started pounding, as her ears started ringing as she ran to the middle of the room where Sebby's playpen was.

When she reached the playpen, she gave out a keen cry of anguish.

~~Savoy Baur En Ville; Zurich, Switzerland~~

Monday Evening
Maine and Ray were having late dinner with the top executives of the two companies celebrating the successful merger that went on not more than 5 hours ago.

Maine was reaching for her water glass when she accidentally bumped her wine glass with her water glass. She sprung from her seat, not wanting to stain her dress, making her bump into the waiter behind her who was serving the other table. A loud crash was heard throughout the dining hall. Ray stood up to steady Maine as she was rattled by the crash.

Maine turned around and apologized to the waiter as well as to the people seated on the next table. She wanted to talk to the waiter to ask him to place the tab on her bill but was forestalled by one of the executives with them at the table saying the company will foot the bill.

Maine expressed her gratitude and asked that she be excused, saying that she wanted to retire early tonight. All the men in the group stood up as a sign of respect and acquiescence to her request. Ray wanted to escort her to the elevator but she put her hand on his shoulder pushing him down to take his seat.

She could hear her mobile phone ringing as soon as she opened the door to her suite. She fished her phone out from her Lady Dior Rouge Foncé Evening clutch and when she saw the caller ID, she felt an uncanny feeling of dread swept over her.

"Nay? Nanay! I can't understand a word that you're saying, go slowly. Why are you crying? Slow down! Is it Sebby? Oh God! No! No!"

Maine ran out of the suite, not even bothering to close the door behind her. She repeatedly pressed the down button of the elevator in the hopes of making it go down faster. The dial indicated that it was still 8 floors up. She looked to the left and the right, trying to find the sign that pointed to the stairs. When she saw it, she ran towards it, hiking up the skirt of her dress in the process to make her go faster. After two flights of stairs, she took off her heels as they hampered her movement.

When she entered the dining hall, the room became quiet as everyone turned to stare at her as she ran to their table at the back of the dining hall. Ray stood up and approached her, asking her what was wrong.

"Ray! It's Sebby!" she panted.

Concern marking his brow. "What about him?"

"Kidnapped!" she slurred as she fell into Ray's arms in a dead faint.

~~Canary Wharf Bus Station~~

Alexa hoisted her backpack over her shoulders and climbed the steps of the bus taking her back to East Downtown. She took the seat right behind the driver. The middle-aged driver seeing her gloomy face decided to start some small talk to find out what was causing her long face.

"Heading home for the holidays miss?"

"You could say that."

"Home doesn't hold much for you?"

Alexa looked out the window, her mind already on her mother's tombstone. "There's nothing much to go home to."

~Somewhere over between Switzerland and England~~

The cabin pressure slowly woke Maine. She blinked twice to clear her vision. She jerked into a seating position seeing that she wasn't on the ground anymore. Ray who was seated opposite from her held her arm.

"Take it easy."

"Where are we? And whose jet is this?"

He looked out the window. "Judging by the lack of city lights, I believe we just crossed the border. This is the First National's company jet. They lent it to us when they learned... " Ray couldn't continue his sentence.

Maine dragged both her hands through her hair. "What does anyone want with my son? He's but a baby!"

Ray knelt down in front of her. "We'll know when we get to your parent's house."

She choked on her words as tears flowed freely down her cheeks. "When was the last time you talked to them? Do they have any news? What about the police, have they done anything to find my son?"

"I talked to them before we went airborne. The said the police where there and were taking prints."

Maine patted Ray's coat, feeling for his mobile phone and fishing it out when she found it. She had a hard time punching in her parent's home number as her hand was shaking with tension and fear.

Ray grabbed the phone from her, holding it out of her grasp. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Give it to me! I need to talk to them now!"

"And what? Jam the plane's signal? Wait it out, we'll be landing soon."

"Wait?! How can you ask that of me when you know that my son is missing?!"

"Maine, listen to me. Calling your parents right this minute will not bring back Sebby. It will only bring trouble for us because it will cause interference with the airplane's navigation. I want to know what's happening there as well but we have to wait until we land to make that call."

"But I need to know at least that he is safe. I would like to hear the kidnapper say that he is safe. He must be so scared by now, is he cold or hungry? Have they fed him at least? At least to know that he's safe, that would be a little consolation in this agony." She cried.

He took the seat beside her and putting his arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry, I know his guardian angel will keep him safe."

"I pray so. I dearly hope and pray so."

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A/N:
Who could be behind the kidnapping? Where did Sebby's kidnapper taken him? 😱😱

My heart breaks for ficmama Maine. The anguish of not knowing is enough to drive a mother crazy. I hope she gets her answers soon. 💔😭

See you tomorrow for two more! 💚

*******ALDUBPARIN****************
Non-proofread.
Non-beta'ed.
FICTION.
Disclaimer: Fully and all disclaimed.
Thank you for reading. 😊💚