CHAPTER 106
Liam looked at the young children who had just given him some information which he had no idea of what to make of it. He searched himself deeply and realized that it might only be a stupid plan to work in line with what the children has said.
After a while, he concluded that he wasn’t going to take any chances. The children had said that they had seen him driving by and that only meant that he was somewhere around where they are.
He called his men and after making a unified conclusion, they decided to storm into the first building that was only some feet away.
“We would start from there, after which we would search every other building in this premises!” Liam nodded and his men nodded in understanding.
They made to approach the first building when Nat suddenly stopped him.
“I think we are not strategic about this. If we do it this way, news would spread and if the culprits are anywhere around, they would make a quick change of location”, Nathaniel explained while Liam listened with rapt attention.
He took a pause and gestured on the men to remain still. Inasmuch as he was in dire need to find Alyssa, he wasn’t going to be stupid about it.
“What do you suggest we do?” Liam asked Nathaniel who stared at him blankly.
Just then, a man approached them, staring at them intently as though trying to ascertain who they were and what they were up to.
“Who are you?” The man asked, staring at Liam who had his head lowered to the ground.
“We are in search of someone”, Nathaniel replied when he observed that Liam was not making any efforts towards replying the stranger.
“This is her”, Nathaniel continued as he stretched out a quick sketch of Alyssa.
The man’s eyes opened in surprise after which they softened with emotions.
“I know her”, he replied and that was when Liam raised his head to stare at the man.
Liam moved closer to him and peered into his eyes.
“You know the person in this picture?” He asked as his heart raced in anxiety.
The man nodded and wiped the tears off his eyes. Liam was surprised that the man was crying while talking of Alyssa. The first thought that came to his mind was that something bad might have happened to Alyssa. This caused his heart to drop in shock and fear.
“Why are you shedding tears? Speak up! We don’t have time on our side”, Liam said aloud, running out patience and ignoring Nat who tried to nudge on him to remain calm.
“She was such a sweet soul!” The man commented and yet again, Liam’s heart skipped a beat.
He could feel his heart racing that for a moment, it felt as though he was unable to breath.
“I met her one time at the market in Alexandria”, The man started narrating while Liam nodded his head in understanding.
“My parent’s had just died and I needed to come stay with my grandparents. I’m so grateful to her. I don’t think I’ve thanked her enough for how much she helped me then. She footed my transport expenses, even if I knew that she didn’t have much in her end”, the man noted and Liam nodded his head.
Alyssa was a young woman with a good heart and that was one trait that kept her to him. She had tried to save him that day at the lake, even if he was only a stranger. She was a good person, but the question remained; where is she?
“I’m so grateful and at the same time scared of what they might have done to her”, the man went further with his tale, causing Liam to jerk up attentively.
“What happened to her?” He asked in a hurry.
“I saw some men dragging her towards a warehouse. I knew this because i drove past them and saw when the blanket on her face lifted up a bit. It was her”, the man said in finality.
Liam heaved a massive sigh of relief and dropped some coins into the man’s hands. He was relieved that someone gave a perfect description of where they had taken her to, and he only hoped that she was really there.
“Where is this warehouse?” Liam asked the man who pointed at the far end of the road.
“It’s a lonely path. But just keep moving till the very tail end”, the man said and thanked Liam for the money he had given to him.
Liam and his men marched into the warehouse. They were about to break in and search through it, but Nathaniel stopped him.
“This is broad daylight. They could catch sight of us at this point and elope before we even get to them. We should hide and wait until it’s dark after which we can then strike!” Nathaniel advised and everybody there supported him.
Liam was quite stubborn with the suggestion, although he saw some sense in it. After minutes of battling with his heart, he finally resolved to waiting until it was nightfall, just as Nat had suggested.
They hid behind the bushes at a corner, paying close attention to the building and waiting to get the slightest signal of someone’s movement.
Everywhere was quiet that for a moment, they wondered if they were only wasting their time by waiting there.
“What if they aren’t there? This would be a great waste of time! We should head inside now”, Liam said and made to stand up, but Nat held him down.
“What if they are there and sees us before we get to them? It would be a waste of clue”, Nat said and again, Liam sighed in defeat.
It was finally night time. One by one, they trooped out of the hideout and headed towards the warehouse. They had their torches with them and so, it wasn’t difficult for them to navigate their way even in the darkness.
“This looks empty!” Liam observed as he swirled around and searched the warehouse.
There was no sight of a human, neither was there a sign that someone was there.
“Just a waste of time like I said!” Liam said and sighed in frustration.
“Not actually…”, Nathaniel said as he crouched low and stared at a footprint that was on the ground.
“This is a foot print. It was today”, he said to Liam who quickly rushed there.
Liam stared at the footprint carefully. If he wasn’t mistaken, then it meant that Alyssa was here because that was her foot print.
“This is Alyssa’s. I know it’s hers. We’ve been to the lake severally and walked on the sand on barefoot. I can tell when I see her footprint”, Liam said to his men who were gazing at him as though he had no idea of what he was saying.
“Wait!” He suddenly said as he walked towards another side of the warehouse, just father away from where they had seen the footprint.
It was a golden bracelet which he gifted Alyssa. She must have dropped it here to show him that she was really there.
“Alyssa is here!” Liam said with every conviction as he looked around the warehouse again.
“Maybe she was here”, Nathaniel countered when they didn’t catch sight of any other door.© NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.
“No…she’s here”, Liam said and ran towards a staircase that was at the far end of the warehouse. No one would have spotted out the staircase unless they looked carefully.