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Feeling that he had to do something, he stood up and as he joined the others downstairs. As he reached the main lounge, he could hear Alex relating to the officers the headlines of the story. Headline being : the bride could not be found only one hour before the wedding ceremony. Which sounded lame even to himself.

The two burly police officers looked skeptical and wanted to know who was the last person who had talked to Kate before she was missing. After some questions, they discovered that it was her sister Caitlin who had been helping her fix her dress two hours before the ceremony.

“I was fixing her dress when I went to the attic room to fetch another set of pins. And you know how far the east wing is,” she said as if talking to herself. Everybody nodded focusing on every detail. They were all in the same situation. Almost going crazy with worry.

Aidan knew that out of her three sisters, Kate was closest to Caitlin since the latter was only three or four years younger. The other two sisters were twins ; Jade and June and were still in their early twenties still studying at university.

It was clear to him that Kate would never run from anyone in her family. She loved them too much for that.

“When I came back, she was not in the fitting room, I looked for her in the washroom but she was still nowhere to be found. And so I waited for her. Sure that she would come back because she had been wearing her wedding dress for Christ’s sake. Where the hell would she go with that uncomfortable white dress ?” Caitlin explained to the officer unable to stop the tears streaming down her face.

And Caitlin was right. If Kate had fled in her wedding dress, it would have seemed pretty weird. So, upon listening to everyone’s story, he felt almost sure that she had been kidnapped. What other explanation could there be ? Already feeling worry surge in his heart, he started to concentrate on who could the kidnapper be. Maybe Alex had an enemy who had abducted her daughter for some personal reasons ? And he decided to share that piece of information with the cops.

“Exactly !” he said. “Somebody would have seen her running in a wedding dress. I think she has been kidnapped,” he stated and there was a general audible gasp in the audience at his bold sentence.

“Are you sure ?” asked Jade speaking for the first time since the ordeal.

“What other explanations could there be ? She had left with only her wedding dress. With no money, no bag. Judith had checked her belongings. Everything was intact ; even her honeymoon suitcase. It is clear that she had not planned this escapade,” he stated firmly and everyone nodded.

“Now ! Now ! Let’s not speculate about what happened for the time being,” scolded the police officer whose name was Ryan Bridge. “So for how many hours did you wait ?” he asked Caitlin turning back to her.

“I don’t know. I waited for approximately thirty minutes when mom and the other girls joined me in the fitting room ready to help me with the bride,” she stated and the focus shifted on the other three women.

“And ma’am what had you been doing in the meantime ?” asked the other police officer whose tag name wrote Liam Curtin. Aidan could hardly suppress his rage ; why were the officers wasting time asking stupid question when all they had to do was find Kate ?

Ready to blast, he opened his mouth but promptly closed it when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Ryce again who stopped him by shaking his head in his direction having clearly read what was in his mind. Hell, what a bunch of losers !

The officers bombarded them with futile question wasting their time. How did the bride behave before the wedding ? Has anybody detect anything at all in her usual behavior ? What time was the ceremony scheduled for ? What time was she supposed to get to church ?

As predicted, everybody gave the same answers which left them with no trail and they asked one final question. Where were you when between noon and one ? And each family member had an alibi. Since it was the wedding of such a close person, everybody had been getting ready for the wedding. When the police officers had finished talking to everyone, they saluted saying that they will keep in touch and Aidan ran after them.

“So, what are your plans to find Kate ?” he asked being closely followed by Ryce.

“We’re sorry. We cannot do anything for the time being.”

“Huh ? Excuse me ?” Ryce asked snatching the words from his mouth before he had time to voice them out. What the hell did he mean that he could do nothing for the time being. What were they supposed to do ?

“We have to follow the rules. A missing person can only be searched if he or she have been missing for twenny four hours,” the officer Ryan drawled in a slurry voice which made Aidan want to punch his sorry face down.

“So, you’re telling me that we have to wait for another day for you to start looking up for Kate ?” he shouted. “But she had not taken anything with her. She must not be far away,” he ranted his desperation clear now.

“Exactly. And we’re pretty sure that it’s no big deal. She must have run from the marriage and will be back before dawn.”

That was it ! How dared that sorry excuse of a man insult his relationship between him and Kate ? Hell, he had no idea what they meant to each other. Aidan lifted his clenched fist ready to re-atomize his face when Ryce stopped him from behind once again.

“Aidan, stop ! You don’t want to end up in jail while Kate is missing, do you ?” he hissed with fury and Aidan dropped his hand immediately. Ryce was right. It would serve no purpose if he landed up in jail while Kate was still in danger.

Gritting his teeth, he swallowed any insult which was threatening to come out before asking. “What about the possibility that she might have been kidnapped ? Isn’t that something you can explore for the time being ?”

“No,” replied Bridge. “If she has been kidnapped, there will be a demand for ransom and we have to wait for that before taking any initiative. We are at a moot point and can do nothing more, sir,” he was informed and he stood still as he watched the two officers drive away.

How the hell was he supposed to sit back and wait for Kate when she could be in some serious and dangerous situation ? Wasn’t there a protocol for such type of situations ? How could the cops be so.. so careless ? As he stared at the retreating vehicle, he felt rage consume him and he wanted to throw something at the rear window.

“Come on !” Ryce called to him running to the Alex’s truck. “Let’s go and see if we can find her around. Like you said, she had nothing with her. No money. No car. And no luggage. She mustn’t have gone too far.”

Filled with hope, he hopped in the vehicle and they drove five times to in the nearby streets asking anybody if they had seen someone running in her wedding dress. Surprisingly, nobody had seen her and it was still broad daylight.

Maybe they had taken the wrong direction. They did the same for the other three directions but to no avail. It would have been too easy, thought Aidan derisively as he went back to the house looking and feeling defeated.

“Son, what happened ?” asked Alex as he reached the doorstep. “Have you been able to find something ? Anything ?” and Aidan shook his head.

“No, we have driven till Central Park but nobody had seen her anywhere. It’s as if she had disappeared into thin air. Which leads to only one explanation. She has been kidnapped,” he said with conviction.

Alex nodded. “You’re right. I have also been racking my brain for the past few hours and this seems to be the only explanation. What has the police said ?”

“Nothing,” Ryce intervened. “They can do nothing for the time being. Even if she has been kidnapped, they have to wait for the demand for ransom call before taking any actions. The police is convinced that Kate has ran because of the wedding,” Ryce explained.

Alex frowned. “Because of the wedding ?” he repeated uncomprehendingly. “What the hell is that supposed to mean ?”

“They’re saying that it’s nothing serious. That she will be back before dawn as she has been having second thoughts about the wedding.”

“How dare they talk like that about my daughter ?” Alex fumed. “I’ve never heard of such absurdities. Don’t worry boys. Let me call the superintendent Gregory Kyle. He’s my friend and he might be in a better position to help us out.”

It was a silver lining among the suddenly grey clouds and he was ready to grasp straws if it meant that he would find something about Kate.

Aidan could only nod his thoughts still in chaos. What were they supposed to do now ? Now that even the police was unwilling to help, he was at a loss of what to do. And the police might be right. There was nothing he could do. He could only wait. Wait for a phone call. A phone call which would give him the news of his beloved. And only time will tell whether the news were good or bad.

She was running. Even if her heels were broken, her head was bleeding and her tears were blinding her, she was still running like mad. Even if her lips were parched, her throat dry and her feet aching, she was still running. She could not stop.