"Regrettably, we have had no new leads regarding Adara's disappearance."

I took a deep breath, struggling to keep control of my temper. It had been over three and a half weeks since Adara did not come home and still the police had found nothing! The fury I felt was indescribable. However, it was not until Detective Inspector Cullen made the ludicrous suggestion of Adara most likely having run off with a love interest that my ability to hold my tongue became insuppressible.

"How many fucking times do we have to tell you! Adara would never just leave and not tell us! She isn't like that!" I snarled down the phone.

This fat pig seemed to be under the illusion that because he had been a police officer for twenty plus years, he knew my daughter better than her father and I. Well, no he Goddamn didn't. Adara would never just leave without talking to us first.

"Mrs James, I am going to ask you to not use that tone or that language with me. We are doing everything we can to find Adara." Cullen chastised. His tone sounded almost as though he was bored of our conversation and hearing such nonchalance, such disregard for my daughters safety and whereabouts only enraged me more.

I took a deep breath before slamming the phone receiver down. I could not listen to his nasally voice tell me that they are doing everything they can when in actual fact they were doing sod all, any longer.

Twenty five days had passed since we had last seen our girl. Six hundred hours had gone by since we had last heard her sweet voice and vibrant laughter. It sounds such a short time but the deep fear of what may have happened to her made it seem like a lifetime.

On that first morning when Officer Gallagher and Doyle came to the house to take the report, they had informed us that the chances of finding a missing person after the 72 hour mark often meant that the search would transition into one where they were looking for a body and not a living person. We were already five hundred and twenty eight hours over and still they were telling us they had nothing!

I am pulled from my angered thoughts when Andre and Axel walk into the room with a mug of coffee in hand.

"What did the Detective say?" Axel, my darling husband asked anxiously.

"They aren't even looking for her. They think she has run off with a boyfriend." I sniffled, struggling to keep my tears at bay.

"They said they have no promising leads at the moment. Axe, you know what they told us about the 72 hour point. It's been way over that."

I couldn't bridle my despair any longer. As Axel engulfed me into a strong, warm hug, I sobbed into his chest.

"Shh. It's alright darling. Our girl is tough. She isn't a quitter." He whispered, trying his hardest to console me. I knew he was struggling, I could feel the worry radiating from him in copious waves. Adara was his little girl even if she was in her early twenties.

"What if someone has her holed up somewhere?" I cried, completely unable to keep myself from shaking with fear. My mind was running at a million miles per hour of what could have happened to my baby.

"Hey, hey, hey. Let's try not to think of the worst bubs. She might have just lost her phone or something." Axel soothed, trying to keep his own tears back.

"Dad, did you find anything when you went over to Jordan's place?" Andre asked, settling baby Galia on his chest. She was such a dear little love and was just like Auntie Adara; a total daddy's girl.
Axel shook his head, grappling to quell his angst.

"There is someone new living there. He told your dad that Jordan had moved a year and a half ago." I explained, offering a small smile to our beautiful granddaughter. Andre's features contorted into a forlorn expression. After what that bastard had forced our girl to endure, he was the first person who came to mind when we were asked if there may have been anyone wishing to cause Adara harm. However, the police had come back to us, explaining that Jordan had a valid alibi on the night our girl disappeared.

Regardless of being told that Gray had nothing to do with Adara vanishing, my maternal instincts told me otherwise. There was no way that piece of shit wouldn't have something to do with it.

"Fuck." Andre replied, leaning his head back against the sofa. My poor boy looked as exhausted as Axel and I. Not only was he caring for a three week old newborn, his darling fiance who was still recovering from the trauma Galia's birth had brought but he was racked with anxiety for his sister.

Seeing how exhausted our son was, I pulled myself out of Axel's warm embrace and took a seat next to Andre, gesturing for him to hand Galia to me. The little sweetheart was sound asleep and had that adorable newborn smell emanating off of her tiny bodysuit. She smelt like clean washing and baby milk and it was the cutest thing ever. Galia snuggled into my chest and just for a moment, allowed me to feel carefree and happy.

"How is Gemima doing, Andre?" Axel asked, handing our son one of the mugs of coffee from the table. Andre took a large gulp of the caffeine before he answered.

"The gynaecologist explained that during the C-Section, Gem had lost a fair amount of blood. They have prescribed her some Ferrous Sulphate to replenish what she had lost but now her scar from the surgery looks like it is infected."

I could see by the crease in his eyebrows how concerned he was for Gemima and I couldn't blame him. Although Gemima had not yet married Andre, I still considered her to be like a second daughter. She has such a lively and jolly character. Whenever she walked into the room, she had the ability to make you smile with a joke or just by her caring nature. She had welcomed Axel and I into her life with open arms and clearly doted on Adara.

Although, what I adored most about Gem was how truly and how purely she loved Andre and Galia. She was always there for Andre to confide in, she was always there to support him in whatever endeavours he chose to pursue and to know that my child was settled and genuinely happy with her, allowed me to know that if I were ever to pass on, Andre would be loved and well cared for.

"I'll go check to see if she needs anything." Axel offered, heading out of the living room.

The room fell silent for a moment and whilst Andre had been portraying that he was managing the situations we all found ourselves within, I knew that he actually wasn't. So, despite his eyes being closed and just like any mother would, I pried.
"Talk to me, bubba."
His big green eyes shot open and met my own.
"About what, Ma?"
"Anything and everything that is on your mind."

I watched the turmoil he was in. He knew that I was struggling to cope with Adara being missing and likely didn't want to add to the weight already on my shoulders.
"Go on. I can see you are struggling, darling."

Taking a breath, he began to open up.

"The guilt is immense, Mum." He admits, tears brewing as he pressed his eyes closed to keep them from falling.
"Why do you feel guilty?" I asked, genuinely perplexed.

Andre doesn't speak again for at least a minute and a half. He had stood from the sofa and was leaning against the mantlepiece, looking downward. When he spoke again, his voice was barely above a hushed murmur.

"I should have been there to pick her up."

My heart pounded heavy beats inside my chest and for a fraction of a second, I felt breath catch in my throat. Axel had confided in me the same feeling of guilt. Andre had been working late and wasn't able to collect Addie from work so Axel had called her and offered to do so in his stead. Adara had told her father clearly that she had endured a hectic twelve hour shift and wished to walk home to gather some headspace.

"Andre, your father feels the exact same way," I began, walking over to the side of him as a rogue tear fell from his cheek.

"But neither of you are at fault for what has happened. Your sister made it abundantly clear that she wanted to walk home that night."

Galia begins to stir so I gently rock side to side.

"If I had just finished earlier and gone to get her like we had planned..she would be home safe now." He wept, hitting his fist against the top of the mantlepiece.

"You don't know that baby. Whoever has her, if someone has her, may have stopped at nothing to get her." I whispered, feeling my heart break as the words left my mouth.

"It isn't your fault nor is it your fathers."

Axel re-entered the room before Andre could reply.

"Gem's fine. She was telling me how tired she is, bless her heart. I told her that if you needed a break that your mum and I would take Galia for the night." He grinned, gently taking Galia from my arms. With the absence of her tiny body against my chest, the fear, the worry and the ache of missing my own child returned almost immediately.

"That would be great. Thanks dad. I'll get her bottles ready." Andre replied, wiping the remnants of his tears from his cheeks as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Is he alright?" Axel asked, rocking Galia softly.

"Not at all but are any of us?"

Once Axel and I returned home, we gave Galia a bottle and changed her nappy. After her tiny tum was full, she went straight back off to sleep just like her Auntie Adara used to. We laid her down to rest in the moses basket Andre had given us before we headed to bed ourselves.

"Do you really think that she is okay?" I asked as Axel finished brushing his teeth. I stood behind him, meeting his stare in the mirror. From the way he stared back at me, I knew he felt the same as me. Jordan Gray was somehow involved in this.

"I think she is being held against her will. I just," Axel leant against the sink, sighing heavily before he continued, "I just can't bear the thought of her being hurt."

I wrapped my arms around his back and held him tight.

"Me neither."

So a whole new Chapter on how Addie's family are doing.
Hope you little sparks enjoy :)
Word Count - 1849