Chapter 155 - Chloe Is Back

Allie stared at her in disbelief. Was she only hallucinating due to her anxiety?

"Mommy!" Chloe called her out again, seeing that she was not responding. She raised a finger to her face and touched it.

"Please don't cry."

Her touch made Allie return to her senses and so she threw her arms around and hugged her tight, bursting into wailing at the same time. The others froze as well for a couple of seconds.

"Darling, where have you been?"

"My God, Chloe, where have you been?"

"Where have you been my love and who was with you? Who brought you here?"

They all chorused their questions, making Chloe confused who among them would she answer first. She ran her eyes through all of them and in a puzzled look, she exclaimed, "Why?"

Seeing her confused look, Allie pulled her closer and sat her in her lap. "Baby, who accompanied you in coming back here?"

"Uncle!" 

"What is his name?" Allie asked further, combing Chloe's hair with her fingers. He made her voice as soft and gentle as possible, to avoid scaring her.

Jane watched how Allie handled the situation in front of her child and she realized that mothers indeed have their instincts. She did not undergo any therapeutic management training to be able to guide her in handling this kind of situation. Yet, the way she did it in a proper manner, amazed and took her by surprise. She then realized that if her marriage to Ajie was pushed through, she could never take her place as the real mother.

"I don't know," Chloe answered but a pout started to curve in her tiny lips.

"Baby, I guess uncle is like an angel because she brought you here. Perhaps he has a lot of candies." Needless to ask, the abductor must have brought candies or toys to lure children out.

"Yeah, he gave me toys but I forgot to bring it with me."

"Did that uncle also brought you to the park and played with you?" Flashes of Chloe being tied up and blindfolded floated in her mind and all her fear and other wild imaginations came back. Her voice started to crack and hot tears escaped from her eyes.

"No, we were in his car and I played with the toys then I got sleepy."

Allie looked up and communicated silently with everyone around. Sleeping may imply an action taken by the abductor  other than the usual pattern of a child's sleeping routine.

"Let's have her checked," Ajie's voice startled all of them. No one noticed his arrival with Ryan. All their attention was focused on the mother-and-child exchanges.

Mr. Dioko stood up and looked at the two men. "How does the investigation go? Is someone behind this?"

Ryan placed his hands in both of his pockets as he returned Mr. Dioko's gaze. "Considering the means it was carried out and the way she is returned, it could be an indirect announcement that someone is plotting against one of you."

Everyone gasped in fear. Since Chloe was used as a warning, the revenged was perhaps directed at Ajie or Allie.

"If I may have an enemy, why does he have to execute it here in Japan? I could not remember that I offended someone when I was here," Ajie answered. 

"He may have monitored you already and knew about your plan to join the cruise. He planned all these ahead. Who knows if he's with us on the cruise?"

Cherry felt shivers running along her spine. If she was right in her speculation, Ryan was right. He was with them on the cruise. She cast a glance at Ajie and the latter met her eyes. She then saw Ajie turned red in anger and his sharp gaze seemed to emit lava from an erupting volcano. 

"Let's return to the ship!" he scowled; his lips were already quivering in anger. Andrew succeeded in manipulating Allie's decision in running away and that had cost their marriage.

Ryan narrowed his eyes and looked at Ajie. "It seems that you have someone in your mind."

Looking at everyone around, he then narrated their personal grievances ever since they were kids in Molave. He also confessed how he successfully manipulated Allie in changing her identity and in running away for her life.

"But what if he has come down already?" Mrs. Lopez asked.

Jane butted in and volunteered. "I'll call the management and ask for their schedule."

"How about joining the cruise back to Singapore?" Ryan suggested, "in that way, we can have a longer time to observe him."

"I agree," Mr. Lopez replied.

"This should  not be taken lightly so I also agree."

"It's a good decision."

All of them came up with the unanimous decision to join the cruise back to Singapore. The two great tycoons ordered their men to fly to Japan for the surveillance operation. The fact that Andrew executed his first step in Japan, it could mean he had connections in this country. Or perhaps, he was affiliated with an organization in the black market. However, it was difficult to point him out without strong pieces of evidence

Their initial plan to visit the temples and shrines in Kyoto, the Meiji Shrine and Imperial Palace and museums in Tokyo and the famous Mt. Fuji, an active volcano southwest of Tokyo, was all canceled. None of them was in the mood for sightseeing anymore. They just waited for the laboratory tests of Chloe.

A few hours after, the result was released. A trace amount of chemical compound was found in her blood, a chloroform. A chloroform or trichloromethane is an organc compound used as solvent for lacquers, resins, adhesives and many others. At lower doses, it can knock a person out but at large doses, it can be fatal.

Their trip back to the ship was silent except the babblings of Chloe about the toys she missed in Joey's van. Allie just nodded and smiled but her heart was torn by her innocence. What if she was not returned? What if the culprit had a plan to abduct her again?

As soon as they arrived in the port, Ajie went straight ahead to the ship without waiting for the rest. All he wanted was to find Andrew and punch him to death. Just how grave was his hatred to him that he had to involve his family? Was Allie not enough for him? He was not a man enough to also involve his innocent child? He just couldn't fathom how evil he was in including the innocent ones in his revenge.

He asked for Andrew's cabin number and in less than a minute, he was already banging loudly on the door. The door was soon opened and Joan came out. "Sir Adrian, how may I help you?"

"Where's Andrew?" he shouted. Without waiting to be invited, he rushed forward, pushing Joan to the side.

"Andrew! Come out!"