Kathryn's discovery

Chapter one hundred and seventy-six 

Days have passed and there still hadn't been any lead as to the whereabouts of Anna, it was as though she had vanished into thin air. Xander had been finding it difficult to concentrate on anything. He'd also taken a break from work, he spent most of his time thinking about Anna and how she would be faring. He couldn't understand how he could forget to investigate the strange stalker from the dinner party. He had completely forgotten about him. He'd requested the CCTV footage of the place, but they hadn't found anything at all. It was as though Anna's story never existed. Despite Davis' help, the result was still the same, it was futile.

He'd instructed his men to continue looking for Anna. They'd tried tracing her location also, but the last place they could trace it to was the restaurant. He'd been too preoccupied with the thoughts of Anna to notice the absence of Jaden. He noticed that he was absent the day that he went to the company, but he'd been too disoriented to even ask about his whereabouts. He didn't know what else he could do to find her. He had no idea at all, and it made his heart sink.

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It had been over two weeks since Kathryn and Davis' breakup, but Kathryn had still not recovered from it. She'd been in her room since the day. She barely ate. She was almost always on her bed, crying and sulking. She'd also made her line unreachable, she wanted time alone. The last thing she wanted was to be disturbed by anyone. She couldn't stop thinking of Davis, despite how hurt she'd felt. His thoughts clouded her mind now and then. She wondered if he thought about her too. This was the hardest decision she'd made in her entire life. She hadn't known that it would be this hard when she'd called it quits with Davis, she never thought that it was easy, but she never knew that parting with him would be this difficult.

Kathryn felt so lonely without him. She felt like she was all alone in the world. If she had known that parting with him would make her feel this empty, she wouldn't have initiated the breakup at all. Kathryn would often find herself crying, even at odd hours. She'd sometimes be awake all through the night, reminiscing about the memories they'd shared and she would find tears streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably. On one occasion, she'd been so close to calling him to tell him that she couldn't take it any longer. She'd been so close to begging him to come back into her life. 

Today, however, she wanted to speak with someone. She wanted to talk it out with someone, and she immediately thought of Anna. She wondered if she would have the time to visit her. She wondered if she was still at work. Kathryn retrieved her cellphone from the drawer and turned it on. The moment her phone came on, she saw that Xander had been trying to reach her. The number of voice mails she saw frightened her. She wondered how she could get so many voice mails. 

She called Xander first to know if there was anything wrong. Xander was not the kind to call her like his life was in her hands. She knew that something must be wrong. She however didn't know what could have happened. Xander picked on the second ring and Kathryn noticed his frenzied voice.

"Jesus, Kathryn! I've been trying to reach you to no avail. Where have you been? I also came over to your house but was told that I couldn't see you. What happened? Are you alright?" Xander asked, disturbed. 

"Is there any problem?" Kathryn asked, ignoring his questions. 

"Anna has been kidnapped for almost a week now and we have no idea where she is." Kathryn was sure that her heart skipped the moment she heard those words. Her hands covered her mouth in surprise. She could almost not believe her ears. What could have possibly happened?

"Kidnapped? How? Who kidnapped her?" She asked in surprise, her sockets almost popping out of her dilated eyes.

"We are not sure yet, Kathryn, but I have a strong feeling that it could be him." Kathryn paced about in her room, her heart was racing like she was running a marathon.

"Him? Who?" 

Xander went silent for a while before opening his mouth to speak again. 

"I got a call from him just before this happened." Kathryn was about to scream at Xander to quit the suspense when he finally mentioned the name. The moment she heard Max's name, she froze in her tracks. For a while, she thought that it was probably her mind playing tricks on her. Kathryn forgot to breathe, her breath caught in her throat.