Lost Too Much

LOST TOO MUCH Chapter 20

The Boat Shed

Bronte carried Thomas into the boat shed with Ella clinging to her side, afraid to let her go. When Ella saw Max inside, she ran over to him and hugged him.

Max looked up with a worried look in his eyes to his mother. "Mom, what's going on?" He signed over to her. "Where's Mel?"

Ella pulled on his arm and signed to him. "Daddy came home last night. Bad men took him and Mommy away."

Callen looked over to Bronte and both of them realised that Ella saw what had happened. Bronte knelt down beside Ella. "El Bel. What did you see?"

"Dark men with guns. They hit Daddy on the head with one. He went to sleep. Mommy screamed and she tried to fight them, but they were too strong." She was only five, but she was doing great telling them what she saw. "I was too scared to find Tommy. I hid in my cupboard."

"You did the right thing, sweetheart." She hugged the girl and signed to Max. "Why don't you and Ella do some drawings over at the table."

Max nodded and led Ella over. The distraction was what both children needed as she could see the fear in Max's eyes that something bad had happened.

Thomas continued to sleep in her arms and she was glad that they had a couple of days supply in a bag with them of formula, baby food and nappies. It's had been a while since she'd taken care of a baby, but she was familiar with Thomas' routine. She knew the look that Callen gave her of why she hadn't mentioned her friendship with the Nassirs, let alone her past with Mick.

"I need to ring their parents to tell them what's happened." She looked at her watch. "It'll be dinner time in London now." She noticed the confusion in Callen's eyes. "Mick's parents live in London. I need to call them." Callen nodded and allowed her to make the calls. She rang Beth and Peter's number and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" Beth's English accent had returned after their move back to London. Mick had been born and raised in Washington D.C., although his parents were English. They returned to their home country after his father retired from his CEO position for a large international corporation. Although Mick had grown up with a great deal of money, his love to protect his country was strong. It led him on his path into the Navy and then later over to NCIS. It explained his beautiful home that he shared with his family.

"Beth, it's Bronte." Bronte's voice quavered and the older woman instantly knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong, Bron?" Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she waited to hear what Bronte had to tell her. She knew Mick and Mel's wills had Bronte as the guardian for their young children. It made sense to them, with their past and their close friendship even today. "Ella and Thomas are fine." Bronte managed to get the concerns out for Beth's grandchildren out of the way first before she continued. "Mick and Mel have been abducted early hours this morning. We're doing all that we can to find them, Beth."

"We're coming on the next flight out, Bron. Give those grandchildren of ours loads of hugs." Peter moved closer to his wife when he picked up on the change in her demeanour. It meant only one thing, something had happened to their son. She disconnected the call and quickly wiped her tears as she looked over at her husband. "We have to get to Los Angeles quickly, Pete. Michael and Melissa have been abducted this morning. Ella and Thomas are okay. Bronte's has them."

"I'll make the arrangements, Beth. You go and pack." He held her tight for a moment longer, before he dialled British Airways.

Ops Centre

Owen Granger paced the floor, waiting for the information to come through from Director Vance. Nell looked up when the file on Operation Formosa arrived into her inbox. She pulled it up and threw documents up onto the large screen for them to read. All three of them scanned the documents over the operation, particularly the report that Agent Nassir had written up the day before.