Jaquan drove Allen to the hospital early in the morning to get the examination report.
Felice and Stony were at home. After cleaning up the house, Felice was going to throw the garbage and go shopping.
“Do you want to stay at home or go out with me?” she asked.
Stony stood up and said, “I’ll go with you.”
Felice always went to buy vegetables alone. Allen did not like the noise of the vegetable market, nor did he like the odors. She had taken him there once before. As soon as he came back, he took a bath, and Felice had never taken him with her again.
Jaquan hadn’t gone shopping with Felice since he went to school. Now he was busy with his work and didn’t have time to go with her.
This was the first time that Felice had brought Stony to the vegetable market. She was in a good mood. She was carrying a trolley in one hand and a garbage bag in the other. Stony was walking beside her. With things in both hands, she did not hold Stony’s hand. After she threw the garbage into the bin, Stony took out a napkin, wiped her hand and held it.
Felice always envied her neighbor for having a lovely granddaughter. The girl was cute. Occasionally, she would give Felice a candy. Her hands were soft. Felice wished that Jaquan could get married and have two children. At her age, she could help take care of his children. In a few years, she might be in bad health and die before she could see her grandchildren.
Stony’s little hand was also soft. She liked him very much. She wished Stony could be Jaquan’s own child. Was she too greedy?
The vegetable market was as noisy as ever. From afar, she could hear the vendors shouting, “It’s all fresh! Come and have a look!”
She first went to buy vegetables, including celery, mini Chinese cabbage, leeks, and spinach. After putting away the change, she put the vegetables into the trolley. Then she went to buy hindquarter and streaky pork, and walked to the fish vendor.
“Is the fish wild?”
“Yes. I caught it yesterday. Look, it was hooked.” The vendor opened the mouth of the fish as he spoke.
Before Felice could see clearly, the vendor had let go of the fish. She wanted to buy wild fish, but she felt that these fish might be raised domestically.
Allen couldn’t go fishing these days, but she could tell that he wanted to eat fish. She thought for a while and picked two fish. After asking about the price, she took out her wallet and asked the vendor to kill the fish. When she turned around, she found that something was missing.
When she was about to reach the door, she finally realized that Stony was missing.
She hurriedly gave what she had bought to the security guard at the entrance and ran to the vegetable market. She searched every inch but couldn’t find Stony. She asked every vendor she met, “Did you see the boy I brought with me?”
The fish vendor frowned and replied, “No. You were alone.”
Felice was anxious. She had asked all the vendors in the market, but she still couldn’t find Stony. The market wasn’t far from home. She thought that Stony might go home, so she hurried home. After unlocking the door with her fingerprint, she found that there was no one in the house. Stony’s slippers were still placed in the shoe cabinet.
She became scared. As she ran out, she took out her phone and called Jaquan. She was so anxious that she fell to the floor. She couldn’t get up for a long time, and her phone tumbled out of her hand.
As Felice didn’t respond to him, Jaquan hung up the phone. He said, “My mom is too impatient to wait.” As he spoke, he tilted his head to look at the examination report in Allen’s hand and smiled. “I will give her a pleasant surprise when we go back.”
Allen also smiled. “You may shock her.”
“I won’t. She’s bold. I remember when I was young, I didn’t dare to go back to sleep after we watched a horror movie, but she dared to go out and throw the garbage.”
Allen laughed. “You still remember what happened when you were young.”
“Of course I do.”
The two chatted and laughed all the way. Before they stopped the car, the security guard hurriedly rushed to them and said, “Something happened! Mr. Jaquan, your mother fell and your son got lost…”
The smile froze on Jaquan’s lips. He leaned out of the window and asked the security guard with his eyes wide open, “What did you say?”
“All the security guards have gone out to look for your son. Your mother just called the police, but the police said that they couldn’t place the case on file until twenty four hours later. Ask your mother to go to the hospital quickly. She can’t even move her legs, but she’s still looking for your son everywhere…”
“Where is my mother?” Jaquan was shocked. He asked nervously, “Where is she? Where is she?”
“She’s in the vegetable market. She has gone to check the cameras,” the security guard answered.
Jaquan immediately turned the car about. The vegetable market was not far away. Just as they got off the car, they saw Felice saying something with her hands folded together to a uniformed old man.
“Mom!” Jaquan shouted.
When Felice heard his voice, she looked up. Jaquan clearly saw that Felice’s eyes were red. She turned around and covered her face as she cried.
Allen and Jaquan walked over to her and asked, “What’s going on?”
Felice’s clothes were dirty and there were bloodstains on her knees and hands. She wiped her tears and limped to her feet. “I… I lost Stony.”
She cried, “I didn’t mean to. I forgot he was with me.”
Felice had always been fearless. Jaquan remembered that she cried last time because he called and said that he wanted to cook porridge for them.
Jaquan wanted to scold her, but he couldn’t when he saw her tearful face. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Stop crying. It’s useless to cry. Let’s go find Stony.”
Felice limped a step. Jaquan couldn’t bear to see her suffer, so he said, “You two go back. I’ll go find Stony.” He paused for a moment and then asked, “Have you checked the cameras?”
“Yes, I only saw Stony go out. I don’t know where he has gone. They said that the cameras at the door were broken. We have to go to the shop across the street if we want to know what happened,” said Felice, wiping away her tears.
“Alright. I’ll go take a look. You can go back now.” As he said that, Jaquan threw the car key to Allen. He jumped over the railing and rushed across the road regardless of the traffic. Felice’s heart skipped a beat. She knew that even though Stony was not Jaquan’s biological child, he had treated him as one.
“What happened to your legs?” Allen asked.
“I was in a hurry and fell.” Felice tried to reassure Allen, but it was painful to take a single step. She was in extreme pain, but she endured the pain and got in the car.
When she sat in the back seat, she saw a document. She thought that it was Jaquan’s work material, so she didn’t read it carefully. Just as she was about to put it away, Allen, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, said, “Open it and take a look.”
“What?” Felice asked.
Allen did not say anything and drove the car to the hospital.
Felice cast her gaze on the document in her hand.
When they arrived at the entrance of the hospital, Felice was crying. She pounded her chest and shouted, “I lost my grandson… Allen, I deserve to die. I lost him…”
Allen sighed, “Don’t worry. He is very smart. He should be playing somewhere. Let’s wait for Jaquan’s news. Jaquan is looking for him. He will find him.”
Felice asked, “Will he find Stony?”
“Yes, he will,” Allen consoled her.
“Why did you bring me to the hospital?” Only then did Felice realize that they were at the door of the hospital. “Go to the police station! Hurry up!”
“We have to check your legs. Do you want your son to be distracted and worry about you?” This was the first time that Allen had spoken in such a serious tone.
Felice tilted her head and wiped her tears. She nodded and got off the car. “After my legs are treated, we’ll go to the police station.”
“Alright.”
Jaquan crossed the road and was scolded as insane by many drivers. He ignored them, rushed to a fast food restaurant and asked the boss, “I want to check the camera at your door.”
“We’re very busy right now. Can you wait?” It was the lunch hour, and many people were waiting in line to pick up food. The waiters and the boss were busy.
Jaquan slapped the table, and his beautiful eyes were scarlet red. “My son is missing! He disappeared right at the door!”
After a moment of silence, the boss stood up and walked over, asking, “When did he lose?”
“Less than half an hour ago.” Jaquan guessed that Stony got lost when Felice called him. He gasped heavily, “He got lost at the entrance of the vegetable market. He is about five year old and wears a black jacket.”
Allen bought the jacket for Stony yesterday.
Jaquan clenched his fists and said, “Please. My son is missing. I’m anxious.”
The boss nodded at him and said, “Follow me.”
They entered a room where there were two computers. One was playing a TV series and the other was connected to the camera at the door. The boss used the mouse to replay the scene from half an hour ago.
He fast forwarded the footage but found nothing. Just as he was about to press fast forward again, Jaquan shouted, “Wait!”
The boss saw a boy enter the vegetable market. Not long after, the boy came out with a woman. A man carried him into a car, and the woman also got in it.
“Copy this for me.” Jaquan gritted his teeth and dialed Ferne’s number.
“My son is kidnapped.”
