A Cold Wife, Sweet Husband - Chapter 88：I left her in front of the orphanage

―Franklin’s horses and stagecoach are missing too. ―I was on my way to the shoe store when someone grabbed me and pulled me into an alley, Franklin explained. ―The person put a cloth up to my nose. I suspect chloroform was on it, for I passed out.

When I regained consciousness, nearly three hours had passed and my horses and stagecoach were gone. I came right over here to see if you or Mrs. Monroe could tell me what happened.

―No, I can’t, and she’s nowhere to be found. I checked with everyone close to her and she hasn’t been seen since I left her in front of the orphanage. Leo was regretting that decision more and more by the minute.

When they seemed hesitant to begin an immediate search on her since she was an adult, he requested a search to begin for Ryan. This, at least, got their attention. Maybe now he would begin to get some answers.

***

Three hours later, the phone finally rang and Leo didn’t wait for the second ring before he picked it up. It was the police. ―We don’t know where Jessica or Ryan is, but Harrison Grant Jr. said his father took them about five miles out of town in a stagecoach.

He said that Jessica appeared to be fine but she had to fight his father. We saw his father when he brought him in and she got him pretty good in the eye. Anyway, Harrison said that the last he saw of Jessica, she was running into the trees looking for someone.

He thinks he heard her calling for Brian. ―That’s Ryan. The pounding in his head was getting worse. He had developed a headache over the past hour. Pain medicine hadn’t helped.

―So chances are, the boy ran off and she went to look for him. They are both probably fine though it’s possible that they got lost in the woods. We’re sending out some officers to look for them. ―What road did he take them out on?

―They went north on Washington Avenue. He took a deep breath before he was able to thank the police officer and hung up. Turning to Geoffrey, he said, ―I need a horse and I need it now. He couldn’t sit by the phone and wait for the word to reach him.

He needed to be active or he’d go insane. The past three hours had been the longest of his life. The only thing that gave him peace of mind was knowing neither Jessica nor Ryan had been hurt.