Page 50 of Forged Forever

“Jake is missing. He went to physiotherapy this morning but needed to use the restroom. He was with the physiotherapist while Will was visiting someone down the hall. When he didn’t come back, the physiotherapist went looking for him and found Will. They scoured the place, but he wasn’t anywhere.”

“Colette and Joseph,” I growl.

“That is our guess. We looped in Sean, and we have people at the local airport. We are checking rental agencies, and Sean is alerting the Columbia and Charlotte airports to watch out for them.”

“What airport did they use for their other visits?”

“Columbia,” Ray answers.

“How long has it been?”

“Close to an hour. The next flight out of Columbia to New York is at 3pm, and there are multiple flights to New York from Charlotte.”

“I’m driving to Charlotte. They won’t go to Columbia.” Attempting to leave the office, Dad stops me by gently grabbing my arm.

“Darling, you can’t go alone.”

Will walks into the office just then. “I’ll go with her. I’m so sorry, Summer.” He hangs his head.

“Not your fault at all, Will. I’m texting the guys; they’ll want to help.” The guys answer right away. “Seb and Alex are coming with me. Can I go now?”

“Yes, but I’m going with you. I’ll let Sean know so we can contact security at the airport. Troy, can you coordinate here?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” he nods.

I squeeze Ray’s shoulder and follow Dad and Will outside. Dad wants to take a Finn SUV, so I climb into the passenger seat as he wastes no time driving to the school. Seb and Alex are already waiting by the road for us and quickly hop in.

I fill them in on the situation as Dad gets on the highway. He’s speeding, but not excessively so. I’m so nervous about Jake. He can walk a bit, but he certainly can’t easily get away from them.

I always thought there was an ulterior motive in Colette and Joseph visiting. Their rudeness towards everyone but Jake didn’t sit well, nor did their random visits asking about his progress and glorifying New York.

Seb keeps the conversation going as Dad drives, trying to shift our focus from worry. He tells us E, Bay, and Jonathan from Finn are driving to Columbia. We figure out there are two flights leaving for New York at 2:15pm and 5:50pm from Charlotte. Dad doesn’t think they'd have time to get on the 2:15pm flight since Jake went missing closer to 10:30am. Between the wheelchair and having to return their rental car, they wouldn’t make it.

The three hour drive goes by in a flash, and Dad is soon pulling into the parking lot of the international airport. It’s a few minutes past 2pm, so we might have to wait for several hours before it'll be time for them to check in. We follow Dad into the building and look around. I find a map as Dad steps aside to call Sean.

Seb finds the gate number for the New York flight on the overhead screen, but we won’t be able to get to it without a ticket or security.

Dad returns and says we’re to meet a security officer near TSA screening. We follow behind him as he and Will lead the way. I’ve got Alex on one side, and Seb is holding my hand on the other. “How are we looking at a kidnapping again? I swear there’s something in the water down south.”

Alex squeezes my hand as Seb chuckles. “We’ll stop them, Sunshine. It’s only two kids far away from home.”

I don’t share his positivity, but my determination could move mountains, despite the massive airport.

Dad knocks on the door marked security, and a woman in uniform quickly opens the door. Dad smiles and pulls her into a hug. What the?

He turns towards us. “This is my daughter Summer, Seb, Alex, and Will, who is Jake’s physiotherapist. Guys, this is an old army buddy of mine, Dahlia.”

Ah, now it makes sense. She ushers us through the door and into a small office with a table and chairs. “Sean filled me in on your situation. No one who matched your description got on the 2:15pm flight to New York, and the next is close to 6pm. Since this isn’t an official missing persons report yet, I have several people watching the monitors for them, and I will notify the flight attendants when they arrive for their flight. TSA won’t officially help us without the police, but I’m friends with a few of them who have their description.”

I pull out my phone and text Ray for a picture of Erin. He only takes a few minutes to answer with one, and I turn it so Dahlia can see it. “This is Jake’s mom, who may or may not show up here for the New York flight. There’s a cease and desist order against her, but she was very adamant Jake move in with her once he was mobile.”

“Smart thinking, darling,” Dad smiles at me.

Dahlia gives me an email address to send it to, and she promises they will keep an eye out for her too. “Any chance we can get past TSA and wait at the gate for Jake?”

“I can probably get a few of you through without too much fuss,” she answers. Seb and Alex volunteer to hang out back here, and Dahlia agrees to get me, Dad, and Will to the gate.

As Dahlia makes arrangements for the three of us to get past TSA, Dad gets an update from Jonathan that they didn’t show up in Columbia. They decided to stay there until the Charlotte flight leaves here, though. Maybe my intuition was correct in coming to Charlotte.