Gone

Part 7

Chapter 7

Alex had left his car and entered the house again about an hour ago, not believing what had happened. He was walking around on his living room, pondering if he should maybe call Detective Morgan and shared with him that he had talked to his daughter or wait for Jo, to tell her when she got home, since she wasn't answering her phone still. He kept replaying in his head the conversation he had had with daughter, every single word she had told him. Two things about their conversation were disturbing him : the fact his little girl seemed like she was happy and unware of what was going on and being away from her home and the fact that she said she was with her Mother and that they weren't supposed to be found. Her ingenuousness made him think that whomever was keeping her had to be someone she was familiar with otherwise she'd be crying and asking him to take her home. But the question was, who was that person? Apparently, his daughter thought she was with her mother. Was she? He didn't know where Jo was either. The thought of Jo being responsible for all of that was happening was becoming more and more tangible in Alex' mind. He wasn't even thinking about how much he missed his daughter anymore, all that was going through his mind was that Jo had done it. He didn't want to believe it, but what else could he do? First was the daycare lady, then the detective and now, even Camilla was saying that she was with her mother.

What if she really did it? And how could she? That would mean that Jo has been lying all this time, but she hasn't, right? Meredith! She was going to say something when I told her that Jo was at the hospital when Camilla was taken as she said she was. Was she going to deny it? Stop it Alex! Jo did not do this. But Camilla... why would she called mommy to somebody else, other than Jo?

He had his cellphone on his hand ever since he finish talking to his daughter hoping that she would call again, he looked down at it and decided that it was important to let Detective Morgan know what happened. He started to dial the man's number on his phone when he heard voices coming from the front door and a second later the door opening. He walk in the direction where the sound of his wife voice was coming from, he saw Jane coming in first and then Jo, closing the door behind her.

"Where the hell have you been Jo?" he asked her not even bothering to acknowledge the present of his sister-in-law "What kind of walk takes seven hours?"

"I went to-" Jo started talking only to be interrupted by Alex

"Do you have any idea of how worried I have been?" he yelled at her, making both his wife and sister-in-law jump slightly

"I'm sorry... I didn't-"

"Why didn't you answer your phone? I have been calling you for the last freaking four hours!" he told her, then looked at Jane, and soothed his voice greeting her "Hi Janet."

"Hi Alex." She said waving at him and looked back to her sister who was standing beside her with a shocked look on her face, she then turned back to Alex "How are you?"

"Fine" he said looking back at Jo, leaving Jane looking between him and her sister.

"So," Jane started making both of them taking their eyes of each other and look at her "I'm going to go upstairs and leave you both alone... to talk" she said slowly and then headed to the stairs taking her small luggage with her. Alex waited until he heard the bedroom door close to start talking again, this time a little more in his normal voice.

"Couldn't you have texted me or something?" he asked her

"I didn't know how long I had been out... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you..."

"You didn't mean to worry me?" he repeated her words "Jo, our daughter is missing, only God knows where she is and-"

"Do you think I haven't noticed that she isn't here?!" she interrupted him by yelling " I just... I didn't watch the hours, or my cellphone for the matter."

"You can't not answer your phone Jo" he said more calmly now "We can't not talk to each other for this long, something could have happen. You need to be in touch Jo."

"What could have possibly happen, Alex? She is nowhere near to be found."

And then he remembered what he wanted to do and know at the first place. Jo seemed so sure of herself when she said that. She is nowhere near to be found. He needed to know why she was so sure of it when he wasn't.

"Wha- What do you mean?" he said it, blinking his eyes and shaking his head at her for not being able to cope with Jo's behavior "Why do you say that Jo? Do you know something that I don't?"

"You know that the first twenty-four hours are crucial. They have NOTHING to go after to. I am sorry, I am so sorry that I wanted to disappear for a little while but I... I just could not stand being here while she is out there somewhere probably scared to death or God knows how. And no, I don't know anything that you don't." she said and started to walk towards the stairs passing by Alex, but she couldn't go any further from that because he grabbed her arm and made her turn around.

He couldn't understand why she was acting so indifferent and being so annoyed to the current situation. If anyone should be annoyed, it had to be him, who had to go through seven hours without knowing where his wife was on top of the fact that his daughter was already missing. Basically he didn't know where is family was. He looked at her eyes and so something between anger and guilt but he couldn't understand why. He needed to know what was going through his wife head but he couldn't read her. He opened his mouth and tried to say something but nothing was coming out. He couldn't find the right words and he didn't want to hurt her by saying what he was thinking she had done and above that, he didn't want to believe what he was thinking so he had no idea what to do. Her eyes were giving it all away but at the same time they gave nothing. Mommy and I he thought and he needed to know if his daughter meant what she was saying.

"I... I" he started without knowing how to continue "Jo... I... You..."

"Alex?" Jo spoke up, trying to read his eyes as well and his expressions were showing that he thought to be sure about something he did not want to be. And then she knew. She knew exactly what he was thinking "Oh my God." She whispered and felt her eyes sting with the tears that were starting to for in them.

"Somebody called me while you were gone" he managed to say

"Who she asked and looked up to the ceiling trying to hold in the tears that were threatening to crawl out of her eyeballs "Who was that somebody that called you?"

"Camilla..." And then the tears started to roll down on her cheeks meeting in her chin and dropping to her neck as she heard Alex saying their daughter's name. "She didn't manage to say much. But by the way she was 'acting' I could tell that she isn't scared. I think she is with someone she knows..."

Jo brought her face back down to look at Alex and wiped her tears away. She didn't know how to react or what to say, but she knew that she needed to say something. She just couldn't organize her thoughts and get something to come out of her mouth. Her mind was racing but she wasn't able to tell herself what she was thinking about. Millions of thoughts were overpowering her mind at that moment. She knew what Alex meant by saying that Camilla was with someone she knew but she decided to pretend that she didn't.

"What did she say? Who is she with, Alex? Where?" she asked with tears escaping her eyes again.

"I don't know Jo... She said that she missed us" he lied not quite sure knowing why he had done it "And then she hang up, I mean, someone did it for her because she couldn't have called by herself in the first place."

"Have you called Morgan yet? We need to do it. We need to call him." She said searching for her phone on her purse. And for the first time after his conversation with their daughter he felt truly guilty for even considering that Jo was with their baby girl. Still he needed to be the first to know where she had been, because he knew for sure that Morgan would ask her that.

"Where were you, Jo?"