Link Six (completed)

Chapter 42 - Panic

Mrs. Mayes wakes up in the bed next to Ms. Lawrence and for a moment, she forgets that she's experiencing every parent's worst fear. 

It all comes back as soon as she sits up. Her kids have been missing for over twelve hours. She has no idea who has taken them and no way of contacting them. 

She shouldn't have dismissed her kids' initial fear of the photographer. Apparently, they had every right to fear him.

She lost her husband only a short while ago, and now her kids are gone, too, and it's her fault. She sinks onto her elbows, and for the first time since her kids went missing, she starts to cry. 

She hadn't cried yesterday when the cops had dispatched in all directions to search for the kids but returned empty handed. Nor, when the ship crew apologized for allowing that criminal to board their cruise ship, and offered to pay for the hotel room for as long as they needed. Not even when it was the middle night and the cops came up to the hotel room, informing them that they wouldn't be able to resume their search until the morning, because it was too dark for them to see more than 3 feet in front of them. 

But now, as she sits on the bed and the full grimness of the situation hits her, she finds herself unable to assuage the tears pouring down her cheeks. 

Surely by this point, their captors know about the kids' abilities. She can only imagine the horrible tests that are being done on them, or how far they'll be pushed to use them. Maybe for crimes, to aid their captors with their nefarious purposes. Any chance they had for a ransom is gone. 

"I thought, for the first few seconds that I was awake, it was all just a terrible dream," Ms. Lawrence says to the ceiling. 

Mrs. Mayes wipes her eyes and looks at her friend. 

"But, it isn't," Ms. Lawrence's voice cracks. "My beautiful little boys are missing. And, the worst part is, I don't think I've ever told Howie how much I love him. I know what it looks like to you guys." She looks at Mrs. Mayes. "But, I don't love Gerald anymore than I love Howie. Gerald just makes things easier, he's outgoing, he's amiable, he's just so easy to adore. And, Howie's always been closed off, even when he was a baby. I make an effort to understand him, but he doesn't make an effort to understand us, but that doesn't mean I don't try every time I'm with him. I love him, just as much as I love his brother, and he doesn't know it. All he sees is how easily me and his father gravitate to Gerald and he pushes us away because of it. I just wish I would have told him, at least once, how much..." Ms. Lawrence sits up and starts to sob into her hands. "My son doesn't know how much I love him."

Mrs. Mayes puts her arm around her. "Then, when we get them back, first thing you'll do is tell him." 

"Lorelai, what if-" Ms. Lawrence starts. 

"Genevieve, don't," Mrs. Mayes cuts her off. "These are our children, and we cannot think like that. They're okay, and we will find them, or they will find us."

Ms. Lawrence nods and brings herself to stop sobbing. "How do you stay so strong?"

"I don't. I just break down when no one else is around then pull myself together so you guys have my shoulder to cry on," Mrs. Mayes answers. "It's the same thing I did when the kid's lost their father."

There's a moment where the women just sit next to each other, Mrs. Mayes arms still wrapped around Ms. Lawrence. 

"You really think we will get our children back?" Ms. Lawrence asks. 

"Yes, I do. Our children are the most brilliant children in the world, and I don't mean that because of their powers," Mrs. Mayes says. "Even if we don't find them, they will come back to us." 

"Okay," Ms. Lawrence nods. 

Someone knocks on the door, and both women hope it's one of the cops reporting that they've found the kids. 

"Who is it?" Mrs. Mayes asks. 

"It's Ben," Mr. Parkerson answers. "The cops are going to resume the search in a few minutes, they offered us a place in the search party." 

"We'll be right out," Ms. Lawrence answers. 

"Come on, let's go look for our kids," Mrs. Mayes says. Ms. Lawrence nods, grabs her bags, and the two meet Mr. and Mrs. Parkerson in the hallway. 

They walk silently for a few seconds, then Mr. Parkerson has to ask, "Genevieve, did you notify your ex-husband about the boys?" 

"Not yet," Ms. Lawrence takes a shuddering breath. "How am I supposed to tell him that I lost our kids?" 

"I don't know, Genevieve," Mrs. Mayes tells her. "But, I do know it's better to tell him sooner than later. He should find out from you." 

Ms. Lawrence nods, and tears well underneath here eyes. She stops walking. "You're right. You guys go ahead, I'll meet you there." 

With a trembling hand, she dials her ex-husband's number into her phone. 

"Genevieve?" Mr. Lawrence answers. 

"Anton, I have to tell you something. Are you sitting down?" Ms. Lawrence asks, her voice cracking on every word. 

"What is it, what happened?" Mr. Lawrence asks her. 

"I should have gotten you a ticket," Ms. Lawrence continues. "Then maybe this wouldn't have happened, maybe the boys would still-" She breaks off and starts to cry. 

"What happened?" Mr. Lawrence asks again, frightened by his ex-wife's tears. 

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Ms. Lawrence says. "Our boys are gone. They've been missing for almost 18 hours."

"What?" Mr. Lawrence cries in alarm. 

"There was a man he said he was a photographer and that he wanted the kids for a photo shoot; we thought that's what he was doing, and then he took them into town and didn't bring them back. We went to the police when we could't find them, and saw them being knocked out and thrown into the back of a van. He took them, all of the kids. They're gone, Anton."  

"I'll be on the next flight to Hawaii," Mr. Lawrence ends the call so his wife can't hear him bang his fist against the table. 

He pulls himself together enough to head out the door with his keys. The tears doing fall until he gets into the car and pulls onto the freeway. 

In Hawaii, the rest of the parents leave to join the search. 

The search continues for five days without the cops or the parents seeing any sign of the kids or the van they had been taken in. The parents begin to despair, fearing the worst, despite the cops assurances that the kids could still be fine. 

During the entire time, the parents can't help but wonder if there was more to this kidnapping than meets the eye. It seems rather pointless for all six kids to be tranquilized and kidnapped for no reason, especially since a lot of planning obviously went into the scheme. Perhaps, and this idea scares the parents even more than their missing kids, the whole reason the kids are missing is their abilities. Perhaps someone had found out and they'd taken the kids to make use of their gifts. The more they discuss the idea, the more probable it seems, and by the now, they're so sure of that being the case that they almost consider telling the cops about the children's abilities, especially since the investigators have gotten nowhere with finding the photographer's and costume designer's identities. But, they realize that if they do inform the cops of the situation, that would likely put the children in more danger, maybe even from the cops themselves. 

So, the parents resign themselves to panicking in the hotel, watching the news broadcasts informing the US about their missing children, and aiding the search efforts throughout the Hawaii island chain, hoping that one of the calls they receive will be good news concerning their children.