** Tuesday — June 6, 2028 **
•• Harry's POV ••
Brynn has been gone for nearly three weeks, and I haven't heard from her at all. I'd gone to Colmar, and went to the hotel she told me she was staying in. And she wasn't there.. That led me to talking to the hotel staff, who spoke very little English. Once I got it translated, they told me she'd left a while back..
But it didn't make any sense. We were finally doing good. She'd started her therapy again, and was spending more time with Grace.. And then she just vanishes? I mean, yes, Brynn has a history of being hot and cold with me. But something about it didn't feel right.
I sent Grace to my mum's for the rest of the week, while I tried to call Brynn a few more times, and then called the police.. I gave them her description, and then decided to tell them she had an abusive ex-boyfriend who'd tried to send his friends after us when he got arrested...
"Son, what's his name?" The officer asked over the phone.. "Ryan something. I don't know his last name." I stated. He took a few seconds, and I heard him typing on a keyboard in the background. "Okay. I found her police report that she filed, and here he is right here.. Alright. Well, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you, son.. This Ryan guy actually escaped from the prison he was being held at, a little over two months ago.. During yard-time, a few of the inmates somehow cut through the fence and got out that way. A few other prisoners also got out, and were later found and returned. But he was not found. They're still looking, supposedly." He explained.
I shoved my hands through my hair. "Okay, well. He has her. I know he does. She wouldn't just vanish like this again." I commented. "You sure?" He asked. I sighed. "No. But I'm pretty sure. Just... Are you going to help me find her or not?" I questioned.
"I can file a missing persons report, and they'll broadcast it on the public news feeds later in the week." He said, and I hesitated, silently cursing. "Actually.. Ok, can you just hold on for a minute?" I asked, putting him on hold and calling Jeff..
"Hey, just the person I wanted to talk to. You know, you're doing a great job staying out of the media." He commented. "Thanks. Listen, this is really important.. Brynn.. Ok, Ryan escaped from prison, 'cause he's the worst person ever. And I think he took Brynn. She's been gone for like three weeks, and I just figured she'd disappeared again. But then this officer told me Ryan escaped. And so I was going to file a missing persons report, but he said they'll broadcast it on public news." I explained.
"Right.. Wow, that's a lot. Um.. Well, Brynn has always been a flight risk.. And, I personally don't think it's a good idea to file a missing persons report.. Especially if the media sees that, which, they will." He replied..
I sighed. "I have to find her, Jeff. If he really does have her, she's not ok. He'll hurt her." I commented, knowing he was the one that almost killed her trying to help her fake her death..
"Ok. Um.. I'm sorry, Harry. I just really think it'd be a bad idea to let the media know what's going on.. Just, ask him if there's any way to file the report without it going into the public domain, and then call me back when you're off the phone and let me know." He said, and I nodded. "Ok." I replied, hanging up and going back on the other line.. "Hey, sorry. I had to talk to my manager. Is there any way that we can file this missing persons report, and not have it be broadcasted on public news? Like, keep it off the media entirely?" I asked..
"That defeats the whole purpose, son. We file it publicly, so that if someone sees her photo on the news, and happens to see her or Ryan, they can call us and we find her faster." He explained. "And I get that.. But I can't have her photo on the news. It'd be this huge mess with the media. They can't know what's going on." I replied..
He sighed. "Listen.. I can file it, and send it to the other local police stations around here, and around France. But that's a long-shot. They don't have time to be looking around for her everywhere they go. It'd be much more effective to go public." He explained to me, and I sighed, shoving a hand through my hair and pacing across the kitchen floor.
"I know. But.. I can't. We can't go public with it." I said.. "Alright.. Well, I'll go ahead and file it through the other stations. However, Ryan's photo will be airing on all news stations, because he's an escaped convict." He commented. "Yeah, that's fine. Thank you." I said, hanging up....
I called Jeff back, explaining it to him....
*** June 23, 2028 ***
• Three weeks later •
I woke up to my phone ringing, and groaned, rolling over and grabbing it, hitting answer..
"What?" I asked. "Sorry to call you so early, Mr. Styles. We tried to get ahold of you last night. We found your girlfriend." He said, and I sat up. "What? When? Where is she?" I asked, getting out of bed and nearly falling from standing up too fast..
"Well, someone spotted Ryan, and called the police immediately to report it. They followed him back to where he was hiding out, and found her there. He's been arrested and put back into a high-security prison. A few years will likely be added onto his sentence." He explained. "Is she okay?" I asked.
"She was unconscious and unresponsive when they arrived on scene. But they think he'd been depriving her of sleep, as well as water and food for a large portion of her time there. She's in the ICU at the American Hospital of Paris. There are some doctors there that speak English, which will be helpful for you." He explained.
I ran a hand through my hair. "She's in France?" I asked, going into the bathroom. "Yes sir." He stated. "Ok. Okay, um. Thank you for letting me know, I really appreciate it." I commented, hanging up and looking at my reflection.. I quickly got ready, and shoved some extra clothes in a bag in case I needed to stay there for a few days.
"Dad?" I heard from behind me, and I turned around after setting the bag down on my bed. Grace was standing in the doorway. She'd just woken up and her hair was all over the place. "Hey. You're up early." I commented. "Where are you going?" She asked, yawning. "Uh.." I trailed off, sighing. "Can you do something for me?" I asked, and she shrugged, yawning again. "Can you go back in your room, and put some extra clothes in your backpack? We're going to see your mum." I explained, and her eyes lit up. She immediately ran out of the room, making me smile...
***
Once in Paris, we got a cab to take us to the hospital. I'd made Grace wear a dark hoodie, and I also wore one, as an attempt to keep this out of the media..
I explained to her what had happened, trying my best not to scare her with it.. "Is mum going to be ok?" She asked as we got out of the cab.
"Let's just go see her, alright?" I replied, grabbing her hand. I kept my head down as we walked in and I immediately went straight to the front desk..
The woman studied my face for a moment. "You look familiar." She stated in a fairly thick French accent. I nodded. "Uh, so we need to see someone. She's in the ICU. She was brought in last night. Her name's Brynn." I commented. "Last name?" She asked, and I hesitated. Brynn had told me that she'd changed her last name, since legally "Brynn Matthews" was dead. But she'd never told me her new last name..
"Moreau." Grace said, spelling it out for the woman. I briefly looked down at her, surprised she knew that and I didn't. "Alright.. Um, it says here she doesn't haven't any direct family members listed, so I'm afraid until she's out of the ICU, I'm not allowed to let you see her." She explained.
"Ok. Well.." I trailed off, looking down at Grace. "She is. This is her daughter." I said, and she looked over the counter, studying Grace's face. She leaned back, looking at the screen, where I guess they had a picture of Brynn. Probably her driver's license..
"Okay. But only her. We'll get a nurse to escort her to the room, but you have to stay down here." She stated, and I sighed.
"Can you at least tell me what condition she's in? 'Cause Grace is only six." I said, and she sighed, typing some stuff into her computer. "Some bad bruising, but nothing too gory. She'll be fine going up there on her own." She commented, her tone void of any emotion. I nodded, crouching down to look at Grace. "Will you come back down here after you see her?" I asked. She nodded, holding out her pinky finger.
I smiled, linking my pinky around hers...
