Chapter 76
JACK’s POV
“Why am I just finding out my kids are missing?” I yelled at the principal, the echo in my voice causing the room to vibrate.
“Dr. Jack, if you will just calm down, I can explain everything to you.” Principal Ablin pleaded, she looked like she was caught between a rock and a hard place but I didn’t care. I wanted her to Open her mouth and tell me this was an elaborate prank.
“This better be a fucking good explanation,” I barked.
“it is. If you’d just have a seat, please,” she gestured.
Reluctantly, I sat down and folded my arms across my chest, staring at her with all the hostility I could muster as I waited for her to confess that this was only a bad joke.
She took her seat after me and clasped her hands together on the table as if she was about to break the horrible news to me.
“We are not quite sure if they are missing. They’ve only been out of our grasp for the last 30 hours. We were waiting for the 48hours mark before we reported to the police.
“What do you mean out of your grasp?” I asked impatiently and with barely any control over my anger.
“Are you not supposed to be responsible for them? And why am I just finding out about the fact that my kids are missing from your school, huh?”
I was really trying to reign in my temper because I was talking to a lady that was old enough to be my mother but if she doesn’t give me a proper answer soon, I’d have to take matters into my own hands.
“Yes but, you see, the kids are naughty and they may just be hiding somewhere around school. We just thought to search the school premises for them before informing you.”
I burst out into a bitter laugh because it was either that or punch a hole through the wall.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I shook my head after my laughter died down. There was no way this was happening.
This had to be some kind of terrible nightmare that I needed to wake up from soon because there was no way this was happening now of all time.
I was not even sure exactly what to think. The only thing on my mind was what Larissa would think about this whole mess wherever the fuck she was.
Or did she finally come to take them ?
My head was spinning and I was doing my absolute best to calm myself down and not spiral out of control but it was hard given the circumstances.
“Okay,” I began, holding out to the little patience I had left in me, “You say, you are not sure if they are actually missing or hiding, right? Is this something they’ve done before now?”
“Yes but never this long, not nearly,” she admitted with shame in her eyes
I shot up from the chair, unable to contain myself anymore and began to pace the room.
“Was my wife here earlier, Maybe to pick them up?”
The principal gave me a blank look and shook her head. I could tell she wanted to ask more questions but decided against it when she saw my expression.
“They are definitely missing,” I muttered under my breath as I continued to pace the office, running my hands through my hair in the process.
I could feel the eyes of the principal watching me with uncertainty as I paced her office deep in thought
“Dr. Jack, do you think we should involve the Police in this situation?’ she finally asked after several minutes of just watching me uncomfortably.
“No, no,” I turned around abruptly, “not yet. Um, I might have a pretty good idea of where they went.”
I lied.
“keep this under wraps until I inform you otherwise,” I instructed her with both a stern expression and a stern voice.
I could not afford to go to the police not when Larissa was still missing.
The news would instantly spread like wildfire and I couldn’t let that happen.
It would be too suspicious. Losing my wife and kids in less than a month would be ridiculous not to mention suspicious.
It would be a field day for the press if news of the kids missing got out. I would instantly be labeled a bad husband and a bad father .
Plus I didn’t want to worry Larissa. I just needed to think carefully where the triplets could have gone and what their motive was.
I thought about the last time I had come to visit and remembered just how worried about their mother they had been.
Had they decided to go home early?
Was it possible that they were trying to go find her at home?
I wasn’t sure but it was the only explanation I could think of.
I stopped pacing, recalling the cop car I saw at the school gate.
“You said you have not informed the police about it, right?”
“That’s right?”
“There was a cop car outside the school
Premises”
“Oh,” she blurted out. “They’re here for an entirely different business”
I heaved a sigh of relief and nodded.
“I wouldn’t have involved the cops without first informing you, Dr. Jack”
I sighed, at least she did a thing right.
“Search the school premises thoroughly, I’ll be back and If I don’t find them, this school will pay dearly.”
With that, I stormed out of the office and into my car and drove off.
In my car, all I could think about was getting home and hoping the kids were there. A huge part of me knew they probably wouldn’t be but I needed them to be.
As soon as I drove into the driveway of my house, I practically flew out the door, ran to the front door without closing my car door and fished out my keys from my pocket and unlocked the front door.
“Diana! David! Daniel!” I barged into the house, knowing that there was no way they’d be here. They didn’t even have a key to the house.
“Daniel please tell me you are here?” I called out, my mind a haze of different thought patterns.
After looking everywhere in the house for them and unable to find them, I came back to the living room and sank into the couch and held my head in my hands.
“Oh Larissa, where are you? I’m sorry. Please come back,” I said a silent prayer, unsure of what to do.