Chapter 227 - The Islet Mystery 43

"Somebody saw both of you in a boat before the couple disappeared. Is it true?" An interrogation officer sitting across Andrew and Joanna asked them. The messy beard, his sturdy built and dark complexion made him look intimidating.

"Yes."

"Was there an argument among the four of you while you were on the boat?"

"No. We were happily chatting while enjoying the beauty of the surroundings," answered Joanna when the officer fixed his gaze at her.

"Where did you go after you separated?" 

"We went back to the hotel where we stayed while Allie and Adrian went back to the yacht."

"Did you see them leaving?"

"No," Andrew answered this time.

"What makes you say they went back to the yacht?"

"I just presumed they went back directly to the yacht because it was already dark and the whole family was there."

"So, none of you had seen them going up?"

"None."

"Have they mentioned about going somewhere during your chat?"

"No."

"We heard a report that you had a conflict with this couple," the police officer turned to Andrew and looked straight into his eyes.

"I do not deny that but that was all in the past. We had already talked about it and I had apologized."

The interrogation went on for some time before the rest of the team were called out. After all of them presented their side, Hayri entered the interrogation room.

"How is it going, chief?" Hayri asked even before the officer asked him to sit down across his desk.

"So far, I have no lead. Fortunately, the hotel management placed a secret monitoring and hearing devices in their boats. It may be a violation against privacy and confidentiality but due to several reported cases of kidnapping and disappearance, this is the best way to trace the culprit down."

Hayri drew in a deep breath and sighed. The search operation and rescue team still had no reported progress and everything seemed hopeless. The seafloor had too many caves and blind holes that penetrating into any of them posed great risks to the rescuer. He felt so useless and his headache had gone worse for thinking so hard. To scour the entire seafloor in this area sounded futile and impossible. He didn't expect that the peace and reconciliation within the family turned out to be just a calm before the storm.

Just as he placed his head in between his two palms, Ryan came to pick him up. He also underwent thorough investigation and interrogation but he was too good in hiding all the pieces of evidence that could point out to his dad. The authority rummaged through his beach house but found nothing. The time the thunder and lightning hit in that morning when he let them get inside a boat, was exactly the time the electrical connection got disconnected. His skill in computers allowed him to cut and edit the video footages that recorded his father's arrival and the confrontation that followed. The authority did not even exempt Jullien and Andy but the footage showed the time they entered and went out of their room.

Ryan brought Hayri back to his beach house. Chloe was there and Jullien took care of her. Even if Chloe was still a child, they still found it hard to tell her the truth that her family disappeared and maybe, died. Hayri was able to control his emotion when he heard about what happened but he was not able to shield himself from the pain of watching a distressed child.

"Daddy Hayri, where's mom and dad? They take so long," Chloe complained after holding for a long time her urge to cry. Ever since Ajie taught her to address him as 'daddy', it was permanently inculcated in her mind. There were times, though, that she was confused between calling him uncle or daddy because also of the different ways the adult let her call him.

Hayri picked her up and placed her in his lap. His heart sank when her tears started dripping from her beautiful eyes. It may sound funny, yet, it looked like he instantly became a daddy.

"Baby, daddy is here. We can read, play or sleep while waiting for them. If you like it, we can go back to the city and go to playrooms or any beautiful place you like to go to."

Chloe's black eyes glistened with tears but she still managed to talk even if now and then, she would pause to cry.

"What if mom and dad come back and they won't find me here?"

"It's not a problem, baby. I can leave a message and tell them where we are."

"Why not call them now and tell them to hurry up? Tell them Chloe is waiting," Chloe could no longer stop herself. She cried hard so Hayri lifted her in his arms, and paced back and forth the living room to comfort her.

Standing not far from them, Ryan's felt his heart crushed in watching them. If his child had lived, he would have been a little older than Chloe. He could have lifted him in his arms to comfort him also every time he was crying. He could have played with him or take him to school every day. He could have put him to sleep in his arms but his father did not give him the chance.

Reminded of that poignant part of his life, he felt his blood rushed up to his brain and his temper spiked. He became so angry that he wanted to kick everything in his way, especially when he imagined the pain Shiela had gone through. His father's wickedness was already filling up the brim.

He sprinted toward his secret passageway and entered his chamber. He lifted the cover of the grand piano and pulled the seat simultaneously. He then ran down his fingers across the keyboard, letting it fly the next second as its tips produced a beautiful sound of anger, of loneliness and of hatred. As he released his emotion into the loudest sound and the highest notes his fingers could produce, he slammed into the keyboard and tickled the keys as fast as he could until he slowed down at a gradual pace until the music faded into the background.

After ventilating his anger, he came back to the living room and joined Hayri. Chloe was already sleeping in his arms and Hayri was leaning his head at the top of the backrest.

"Hayri, I will go back to the city with Jullien for the wedding preparation. Just please stay here until everything goes well."

Hayri squinted his eyes as he looked at Ryan, wondering what he exactly meant.

"Come with me. I'll show you something."

Hayri stood up and followed Ryan as they went inside his room. Once inside the room, they entered another room which was furnished with elegant living room furniture.

"My plan was different," Ryan began to talk while looking straight into Hayri's eyes. "I invited the singing band because I can manipulate the investigating team and push the blame on your family's loss against Andrew. But I changed my mind."

Hayri stared at Ryan, his brows knitted together as his mind processed what he was saying. He then froze when he realized what he meant.

"Do you mean you are the one behind my family's disappearance? How dare you, Ryan!" 

Hayri was about to throw a fist into Ryan's face when the floor where they stood suddenly moved and dropped them down, taking Hayri's breath away!