Chapter 678: Lunas Reaction

The whole room was glumly as a heavy stormy day.

Luna was sitting beside Amanda when the call came through.

Amanda had been checking her phone for updates throughout the evening. She had tried to keep Luna occupied, but neither of them had managed to concentrate on anything for long. Every few minutes, Luna would ask whether there was any news, and Amanda would check again.

This time, when she looked at the screen, her expression changed.

"Luna, wait. I’ve got something."

Luna turned toward her immediately. "What is it? Have they found her?"

Amanda answered the call and listened. She didn’t interrupt the person on the other end, though Luna could barely remain seated while she waited.

After a few moments, Amanda ended the call.

"They’ve found Jennifer."

Luna stared at her.

"What?"

"Jennifer has been found. Dayo got her back."

For a second, Luna didn’t seem to know what to say. Then she covered her mouth with one hand, and tears gathered in her eyes.

"She’s alive?" she asked as her ands were trembling.

"Yes. She’s with Dayo."

Luna stood up so quickly that the chair moved behind her. "Oh, thank God."

Amanda rose too and pulled her into a hug. Luna held on to her, crying against her shoulder. The fear she had been carrying since Jennifer disappeared had left her struggling to think clearly. Now, at last, she knew her daughter was alive and no longer in the kidnappers’ hands.

"She’s really okay?" Luna asked when they separated.

"That’s what I was told. Dayo has her, and they’re going home."

Luna wiped her face with the back of her hand. "I need to see her. I need to go home now."

"We’ll go," Amanda assured her. "Let me get our things."

Amanda reached for her bag, but Luna had already taken out her phone. She looked at the screen, then at the message she had received earlier from Dayo. She wanted to call him, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it yet.

A thought had begun to settle in.

Dayo had promised that he would take care of their family. He had told her that Jennifer would be safe, that he would make sure nothing happened to them. Yet Jennifer had been taken while Luna was away and Dayo was dealing with everything surrounding his career and the people who had been threatening him.

Luna knew the kidnappers were responsible for what they had done. She knew they were the ones who had taken Jennifer. But she still couldn’t stop thinking about the promise Dayo had made.

Amanda noticed that Luna had gone quiet.

"What is it?"

Luna lowered her phone. "I’m happy she’s safe. I am. But I keep thinking about how this happened."

"Nobody expected them to take her."

"That doesn’t change what happened, Amanda." Luna’s voice had become firmer. "Dayo told me he would protect us. He said he would take care of the family. And now Jennifer has been put in danger because of everything going on around him I warned him specifically about does people."

Amanda didn’t immediately answer. She understood why Luna was upset, even if she didn’t believe Dayo deserved all the blame being placed on him.

"He went after her, Luna. He brought her back."

"I know that."

"Then you know he was trying to protect her."

Luna looked away. "I know he loves her. I know that. But I don’t want our daughter growing up in the middle of all this. I don’t want to keep wondering whether someone is going to use her to get at him."

Amanda closed her bag. "We can talk about all of that later. Right now, you need to see Jennifer."

Luna nodded, though her expression remained troubled.

"Let’s go."

By the time Luna reached the house, Dayo was sitting with Jennifer in the living room.

He had changed out of the clothes he wore during the rescue. Jennifer was in his arms, looking tired after the ordeal. She had been quiet for most of the journey home, and Dayo had kept her close, speaking to her whenever she stirred.

Now he was gently petting her hair while she rested against him.

"You’re home, baby," he murmured. "You’re safe now."

Jennifer made a small sound and moved closer to his chest.

Dayo smiled at her. He had spent hours thinking about what might happen if he failed to find her. Even after bringing her back, he still found himself checking that she was there, that she was breathing comfortably, that she hadn’t been hurt.

The front door opened.

He looked up and saw Luna entering the room.

For the first time that evening, his face brightened. He had been waiting for her to come home. He wanted her to see Jennifer safe, and he hoped that holding their daughter would help ease some of the fear they had both experienced.

"Luna," he said softly.

She came toward him without answering.

Dayo began to shift Jennifer so Luna could take her, but Luna reached out and lifted the child from his arms herself. She held Jennifer tightly against her, kissing her cheek and checking her face.

"Baby, are you okay?" she whispered. "Mummy’s here."

Jennifer stirred against her shoulder.

Dayo watched them, relieved that they were together again. He was about to say something when Luna turned toward him.

"You have no right to hold her after what you did."

His smile disappeared.

"Luna, what are you talking about?"

She didn’t answer. Instead, she adjusted Jennifer in her arms and walked away from him.

Dayo remained where he was, trying to understand what had just happened. He had expected Luna to be upset. He knew she had been frightened, and he had been prepared for tears, questions, even anger about how Jennifer had been taken.

But he hadn’t expected her to take their daughter from him and tell him he had no right to hold her.

"Luna, wait," he called.

She kept walking.

He started to get up, but Amanda was still standing near the entrance. Dayo looked at her, searching for some explanation.

"Can you talk to her for me?" he asked. "Please. I know she’s upset, but she needs to understand what happened. I went after Jennifer because I couldn’t leave her there."

Amanda looked toward the hallway where Luna had disappeared.

"I’ll try," she said. "But I’ve never seen her this angry before. I’m not sure she’ll listen to me right now."

Dayo looked down at his empty arms.

"I understand."

Amanda hesitated, as though she wanted to say something else, but she eventually followed Luna.

The door to the hallway closed behind her.

Dayo stayed still for a moment. Bella was standing near the living room entrance, while Max had been checking his phone. Felix was seated at the dining table with a laptop open in front of him.

Nobody spoke.

Then Dayo’s expression changed.

It happened gradually at first. His face became still, and the warmth that had been there when he saw Luna disappeared. The people around him had seen Dayo angry before, but this was different. He wasn’t shouting or arguing. He was looking at nothing in particular, and his breathing had become slow and controlled.

Felix looked up from the laptop.

"Dayo?"

Dayo didn’t answer.

His eyes began to turn crimson.

Bella noticed first. She took a small step back, uncertain what to do. Max stopped looking at his phone. Amanda had only just returned to the edge of the room when she saw Dayo’s eyes and froze.

She had never seen anything like it.

Dayo finally looked at the people around him.

"Everyone out."

Amanda opened her mouth, but the words didn’t come. She glanced toward Felix, who had already begun closing his laptop.

"Leave," Dayo repeated.

His voice was low, but nobody mistook the instruction.

Amanda left the room. The others followed her, leaving Bella, Max, and Felix behind.

Once the door had closed, Felix stood up.

"Dayo, look at me."

Dayo’s gaze moved toward him.

Felix knew that expression. He had seen Dayo angry, frustrated, and exhausted. He had also seen him under pressure when other people were struggling to keep up. But this was something else. The anger was raw, and Felix understood that Dayo was having trouble keeping it under control.

"Don’t do anything yet," Felix said carefully.

Dayo’s eyes remained crimson.

"They took my daughter."

"I know."

"They came into my house. They took her from her bed, and I had to go looking for her. I had to fight my way into a place full of armed men just to bring her home."

His voice rose slightly. Bella and Max exchanged a glance but said nothing.

Felix moved closer, keeping his voice steady. "I know what happened. You don’t have to explain it to me."

Dayo looked toward the hallway.

"And now Luna thinks I’m the one who put her in danger."

"She’s scared too."

"That doesn’t give her the right to say I can’t hold my own daughter."

Felix didn’t try to defend Luna. He knew that would only make things worse at that moment.

Dayo looked down at his hands. They were still trembling slightly, and he slowly closed them at his sides.

For several seconds, the room remained quiet.

Then Felix spoke again. "We need to think about what comes next. Jennifer is home, but the people who took her are still connected to whoever arranged this. We have to find out who gave the orders."

Dayo’s expression hardened.

"I know who I want."

"Then let me help you finish them properly," Felix replied. "Don’t rush into something because you’re angry. We need information, and we need to know what we’re dealing with."

Dayo didn’t respond immediately. His eyes were still red, and Felix could tell that the anger hadn’t passed. But he had at least begun listening.

****

At the police station, Michael was trying to contact the hired team again.

He had called the agency several times, but the answers had remained the same. Nobody had managed to establish contact with the men responsible for holding Jennifer.

Michael looked at the number on his phone and tried once more.

The call failed.

He set the phone down and contacted Silas.

Silas answered from the IRS holding facility. "Have you heard anything?"

"No. I’ve tried the team again. Nothing."

"What about the agency?"

"I’m calling them now."

Michael ended the call and dialled the agency’s number. A representative answered after a short wait.

"We’ve been trying to reach the team," the representative said. "There has been no response to our calls."

"Have you checked the location?"

"Yes. We sent people to verify the site."

Michael sat forward. "And?"

"The building is empty."

"Empty?"

"Nobody was there when our people arrived. The place has also been cleaned. There are no obvious fingerprints or traces left behind."

Michael stared at the desk.

"You’re telling me the whole place is empty?"

"Yes. We don’t know where the team went, and we haven’t been able to establish contact with them."

Michael ended the call without another word.

For a few seconds, he remained still. Then he called Silas again.

"The agency checked the base. It’s empty. The team is gone, and the place has been cleaned."

Silas was quiet.

"What do you mean, gone?"

"They can’t reach the men. Nobody is answering. The agency says there are no obvious traces left behind like it was wiped clean."

Silas took a moment before responding. "That doesn’t tell us what happened. They could have moved the girl."

"Where would they move her? They were supposed to follow the plan and even if they did plan to move her for any reason they would say something."

"We don’t know yet lets keep an open mind."

Michael stood and walked a short distance across the small room. He knew Dayo had military connections. He knew Dayo had the resources to arrange something most people couldn’t. More importantly, he knew Dayo had already shown that he could act quickly when someone close to him was threatened.

The possibility that Dayo had found Jennifer himself was becoming difficult to ignore.

"I think Dayo may have rescued her," Michael said.

Silas didn’t answer immediately.

"You’re assuming too much."

"Am I? We knew he had people around him who could handle security. We knew he had military contacts. Now the team is gone, and the building has been cleaned. Who else would have the resources to do that?"

"Someone else could have found the location."

"Who else?"

"We don’t know. That’s the point."

Michael stopped walking.

"If Dayo found her, then he may already know someone arranged the kidnapping."

"That is possible," Silas replied. "But we still don’t know whether he has connected it to us. We need to be careful about what we do next."

Michael looked at his phone again. The unanswered calls were still there.

"We should never have gone this far."

Silas’s voice became sharper. "We can’t change what has already happened. Panicking won’t help us."

Michael didn’t reply.

Silas continued, more calmly this time. "We hired people through an agency. They were not supposed to know who we were working for. We kept our names out of the operation. Until we know what happened, we should not assume that everything has been traced back to us."

Michael knew that was the sensible answer. It still did little to settle his concern.

Dayo was no longer just an obstacle to their plans. If he had rescued Jennifer, he had already crossed a line that Michael and Silas had not expected him to cross so quickly.

And if Dayo knew who had taken her, the situation could become much worse.

"We need the agency to keep looking," Michael said.

"They will," Silas replied. "We’ll wait for their next report. Don’t make any calls that aren’t necessary."

Michael ended the conversation and sat back down.

Back at Dayo’s house, Felix had reopened his laptop.

Bella and Max remained nearby while Dayo stood beside the dining table, looking through the information they had gathered during the rescue. He had not calmed down completely, but he was no longer speaking through his anger.

Felix glanced at him.

"We’ll go through everything again in the morning. The calls, the footage, the route to the building. Whatever they missed, we’ll look for it."

Dayo looked toward the hallway where Luna had taken Jennifer.

"Do that."

Felix waited, but Dayo said nothing more.

Jennifer was home. That was the only thing that mattered to him at that moment. He could deal with the rest later.

Still, as he stood there, the memory of Luna’s words remained with him.

He had gone out to bring his daughter back.

And now, even with Jennifer safe, he had lost something else he wasn’t sure how to repair.

At the police station, Michael was still waiting for the agency to call. Silas remained in his holding cell, trying to convince himself that there might be another explanation.

Neither man knew where Jennifer was.

Neither knew what Dayo had already begun to hunt them.

For now, they could only wait.

A/N: Hey guys, please bear with me! The device I use to write broke recently, so it’s a real struggle for me to type out updates right now. On top of that, my network connection has been awful. Updates might be less frequent for a bit, but I really appreciate your patience and support!