End of days

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Rayford had to park by the roadside to avoid him from crashing into something, for he was so angry. After a while, he decided to call his mother. "Hello mummy, good morning ma"

"Good morning my dear, have you seen Jonathan?"

"Yes, he is with me. Are you at the hospital already?''

''Yes I am with your sister''

''How is she doing?"

"She is fine, are you taking Jonathan home with you?"

"Yes I am, tell Leah Rose when I come, we all need to talk. I will be there soon"

Rayford decided to drive to his house and have a shower and change his clothes before returning to the hospital. All his meetings for the day would have to be handled by his manager. He kept calling Jane on his way home but she wasn't picking up still.

"Please pick up" he muttered as he drove, he really needed someone to calm him down and she usually knows how to.

When Rayford got to his gate, he found it wide open. "I'm really going to have a talk with this gateman of mine, I have warned him not to leave my gate wide open for no reason"

As he drove in, he noticed the estate security in his compound. He was still wondering what they could be doing in his compound, when he saw his housekeeper coming out of the house with tears in her eyes. He quickly parked, got down, and opened the door for Jonathan to get down too.

"Mama Martha, what is the problem?"

"Sir, there has been a situation" she cried as she spoke.

"What is the situation, and why are you crying?"

"The gateman was attacked"

"What? how? What are you talking about?"

"I came in this morning to find the gateman on the floor, he was bleeding on the head, then I tried waking him up but when he wouldn't responding, I decided to go call you or Miss Jane from inside, but I noticed the door was wide open and none of you were inside. That was when I called the estate security"

Rayford looked down to find blood stains on the interlocking stones. He quickly carried Jonathan and rushed into the house calling Jane's name but she wasn't there, instead he met two estate securities looking around in his sitting room.

"What are you people doing here? And where is my fiancée?"

"she was not here when I came in" his housekeeper said from behind him.

"We have taken your gateman to the hospital, he should be able to tell us what happened when he regains consciousness" one of the estate security said.

"But meanwhile, we think you should inform the police about this" The second security man said.

Rayford slumped tiredly on the couch, not hearing any other thing that was being said to him. What has he done wrong? Whom has he offended? Why can't he just have a moment of happiness without anything coming to cut it short?

"Mr. Rayford can you hear me?" His housekeeper asked, after the security men had left.

"What was it you were saying?" He asked with a hoarse voice.

"I asked if you would like me to call the police?" she looked pitifully at him.

"No don't worry, I will do that myself, kindly take my nephew and prepare him breakfast. I need to make a few calls" he handed Martha the little boy who was busy playing with the TV remote, oblivious of what was happening.

Rayford went upstairs and searched the whole house, but neither Jane nor Amaka were inside. He saw that everything was intact, not even a pin was missing. So this was clearly a case of a*******n and not theft. He decided to call Ming and her husband.

''Hello Rayford, I was trying to call you last night to know how Leah Rose was doing'' came Ming's small voice.Chaos

''Sorry I forgot my phone in the car, did Jane and Amaka follow you guys home after we left?''

''No, we left them at your house. What happened?''

''They are missing''

''Missing how? have you called their phones?''

''I found both of their phones on the floor of my sitting room, when I came in''

''Jesus Christ! what is this now?''

''I will call you back'' Rayford ended the call and decided to ring up Black.

"Hello boss, have you thought of hiring me back?" He asked with a smile on his voice.

"I thought you confirmed Timothy and his men were truly dead?" Rayford went straight to the point, he clearly wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"Yes I did"

"Did you go back there after we were gone?"

"Yes I did, I even set the place up on fire with the bodies in it, the next day. Why?"

"it seems like Jane has been kidn*pped!"

"What?"

"Yes, and this time it's with her friend"

"But how could that have happened? Who could be behind her kidnap this time?" Black asked.

"I don't know, if you say Timothy is truly dead, then I don't know who could have kidn*pped them" Rayford was clearly exhausted from all that is happening to him and his family.

Just this time yesterday, he was helping Jane and Amaka prepare for their get-together and now they have been kidn*pped.

"I think you should inform the police sir, as I don't think this is linked to Mr. Okafor's son"

"Yeah, I will do that right away"

"Let me know if you need me"

"I will, thanks Black" immediately Rayford ended the call with Black, he decided to call the police and report the case to them. Few minutes later the police were at his house to search for any trace of the kidnapper and also to take his statement and that of his housekeeper.

"I noticed you have a surveillance camera outside?" One of the Police officers asked.

"Yes, it's right at the front door and at the gate and there's also one at the pool area"

"Do you mind if we collect the footages and go through them? One of them might have captured the kidnappers face"

"Yeah sure, I will hand over to you"

After the police officers had left with the promise of coming back in the evening, Rayford decided to drop Jonathan off at Ming and Michael's place before heading back to the hospital.

''I don't get any of these, what exactly is going on? how can things just move from 100 to a 0 in barely 24hours? who have we offended?'' Ming lamented after Rayford had told her all about Leah Rose's health issue, her divorce and then Jane and Amaka's kidnap.

''I really don't understand it myself, but I do know things are going to turn around for good'' Rayford got up to leave, he needed to see Leah Rose and have a chat with her. He was really trying hard to not have a breakdown. The thought of Jane being out there with some total stranger, who might be causing her harm, is almost driving him mad. He has checked his phone over thirty times in the last one hour, hoping to get a message or a call from the kidnapper.

''I will need you to look after Jonathan. Please on no account should you let him out of your sight, there is no telling with what Desmond can do''

''I won't, do tell Leah Rose I will come over to see her later this evening''

''She will hear''

When Rayford got to the hospital, his mother was with Leah Rose's in her private ward.

"Leah Rose we need to talk" he said to her after he had greeted his mother.

"Where is Jonathan?" Leah Rose asked as she tried sitting up with her mother's assistance.

"He is with Ming, why didn't you tell me Desmond was physically abusing you?" The moment the words left his mouth, he started regretting it for the look on his sister's face was that of both shock, and embarrassment. For it was evident she didn't want their mother to know.

''I'm sorry'' Rayford mumbled under his breath.

"Desmond beats you?" Her mother asked in disbelief "how come you never told us?"

"How did you know about it?" Leah Rose directed to Rayford who was already walking back and forth in anger.

"From your three year old son! Leah Rose that boy thinks Desmond beating you up, is some type of play! Was that the lie you must have told him to cover up for his loser of a father? what type of kid do you want to raise? A woman beater just like..."

"You have no right to judge me!" Leah Rose cried out

"I'm not judging you, I'm just disappointed that you condoled it and..."

"Enough the both you" their mother cautioned. " Rayford I won't have you raise your voice at your elder sister, apologize immediately"

"I'm sorry Leah Rose, but.."

"No buts, stop that pacing and take a sit" Rayford immediately obeyed his mother and sat down on one of the plastic chairs in the room.