Loving You Too Long

Dean held Haisley and tried to calm her while Gilbert stood in front of them, his attention focused on Nathan’s phone. After a moment, he bent his knees and squatted in front of Haisley.

“Haisley, calm down. Tell us everything,” Gilbert requested gently.

Haisley released herself from Dean’s embrace, wiped her tears with force, and blew her nose with the tissue Gilbert handed her. She began to recount all the details, about four men who came claiming to be police officers, accusing Nathan, handcuffing him, and taking him away.

“Attempted murder?” Gilbert asked, furrowing his brow. “Not premeditated murder?” he repeated, to which Haisley shook her head.

“He said attempted murder,” Haisley said confidently. “And fraud,” she continued with a sniffle, tears flowing again.

“Doesn’t make sense,” Gilbert said, glancing at Dean. “Loretta’s fiancé is already dead. It’s impossible for him to be accused of an ‘attempt.’ And what’s with that woman accusing my brother of fraud?” Gilbert grumbled in frustration. “Where did they take Nathan? East or south?” Gilbert asked again, leaving Haisley silent this time.

Haisley couldn’t remember which police station the men mentioned. All she could recall was that they said “police station” without specifying the details.

A knock on the door made Gilbert stand up and step aside. He opened the door for the guests who shared his concerns. Gilbert’s parents, Haisley’s parents, her brother and sister-in-law, and two friends, Flavia and Abigail, entered. They all headed to the room where Haisley was crying, with Dean trying to console her. Gilbert’s mother and Haisley’s mother approached the distressed woman, embracing her from two different sides, attempting to soothe her.

“We need to find Nathan’s actual location,” Gilbert said, addressing the men. He mentioned the name of the police officer mentioned by Haisley along with the characteristics she provided. “I suspect this might be a trap,” he whispered, not wanting Haisley to hear and panic.

“I’ll try to get the CCTV footage from the villa. Hopefully, they can give us access to identify those police officers,” Juan said, nodding at Gilbert. He then left the unit without saying another word.

“Dad, try asking your contacts. Whether the report about Nathan has actually reached the police station there. We need to make sure the embassy really sent someone to arrest Nathan. Or if it’s just that cunning woman’s trickery,” Gilbert said again, getting a nod from Mr. Luis, who stepped away and typed something on his phone.

“What can Uncle do to help, G?” Haisley’s father asked, looking helpless. Gilbert looked at him and shook his head.

“There’s nothing we can do for now, Uncle. We have to wait for Juan to go and find Nathan and those four police officers,” Gilbert said.

Haisley’s father sat down in a chair with Crystal trying to comfort him. Meanwhile, Haisley remained in the embrace of her mother and her mother-in-law. Abigail and Flavia walked out of the room and approached Gilbert, asking what they could do next. However, Gilbert shook his head and said the same thing he told Haisley’s father.

A few minutes later, Mr. Gilbert finished his call, and an anxious expression appeared on everyone’s faces.

“My friend will find out, G. We wait for his report in a few hours,” his father said, and Gilbert nodded.

A few minutes later, the door was knocked again, and Juan appeared. “I got the faces of those four people,” he said loudly. He took out his phone from his pocket, sending a video to several people in the room. They opened it on their own phones.

Afterward, Gilbert suggested forming a team to try to find the police officers and Nathan at the police station mentioned by Haisley and other stations, as his gut feeling told him that the officers were fake. Juan went with Crystal, while Gilbert went with Dean. The rest were asked to wait at the villa until Gilbert returned.

Hours later, Gilbert, Dean, Juan, and Crystal returned with weary faces. They didn’t get any results, and Gilbert’s earlier suspicion about the fake police officers was proven right. Upon hearing the news, Haisley broke into hysterical cries, a heartbreaking sound for anyone who heard it.

“What happened?” she asked softly. “Why is this happening? Where did they take Nathan?” she questioned to no one in particular.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Everyone could only look at her with sorrow.

Abigail nudged Flavia and whispered something in her friend’s ear. Flavia, hearing Abigail’s idea, immediately nodded. She took out her phone from her pocket and contacted someone she knew could help – Granny Helena and her father, Antony Ahmed Quirino.

Meanwhile, a few moments earlier, in another location, Nathan bowed his head after leaving Haisley crying alone at the doorstep. He wanted to go back, run to his wife, hug and comfort her. At the very least, he would stay with her until their families and Haisley’s family arrived. But he knew he didn’t have the privilege to ask for that from the police who arrested him. Instead of accompanying his wife, Nathan would be accused of resisting arrest, making his case even worse.

Nathan was pushed to the back of the jeep, sandwiched between two large foreign men who had captured him, making him feel cramped and unable to move. However, he chose to stay silent, not commenting at all. Meanwhile, the two local men who also captured him sat in the front seats. The man who handcuffed him sat behind the wheel, while the other seemed to be contacting someone and speaking softly.

As the car started moving, and the route was not toward the police station Nathan knew, he began to feel suspicious. “Where are you taking me?” he asked with a fear that involuntarily crept into his voice.

“Shut up!” the driver replied.

“I need to know where I’m being taken. Shouldn’t you be taking me to the police station? Which police station?” Nathan insisted, fear growing in his mind.

The two men in front of him laughed upon hearing Nathan’s question. “You picked the wrong time to ask, buddy. Too late to know where we’re heading,” one of them said. After that, Nathan saw the man nod to the two behind him, and he felt a hard blow to the back of his neck before everything turned dark before his eyes.