Chapter 43: Real Nightmare

Gwen collapsed on her chair immediately after she heard that. Stephanie didn’t need to say anything else; she was pretty sure who was behind it.
But nothing crossed Gwen’s mind about what to do. If she was right, there was nothing she could do, her hands were tied. But she wouldn’t leave her son alone. She would go through hell to get him back.
“Gwen? Gwen!” Stephanie yelled on the other side, since Gwen didn’t say anything.
“I'll tell Finn, I’ll call you back.” She hung up the phone, and gathering strength from somewhere deep inside her soul, Gwen got up and rushed to the elevator to go to Finn’s office.
As soon as she got there, she didn’t wait to see if she could come in or not. She simply burst in, invading his office like she owned the place. She didn’t care what he was going to think about it, Cody’s life was much more important than anything else.
“Gwen, what happened?” He looked at her with puzzled eyes. He was checking something on the computer screen in front of him, so Gwen didn’t think he had seen his phone yet.
“Cody was kidnapped! Stephanie called, he’s not at school. Someone took him. I told you something bad was going to happen…” Gwen started to cry compulsively. “It's your mother’s fault… I told you!”
Finn blinked a few times, digesting what she had just said.
“Kidnapped?” he murmured, talking to himself. “How’s that even possible? I sent some men to watch him, how-”
“Does it even matter now, Finn? Our son is missing and I can’t do anything.” Gwen felt her legs failing and her sight blurring. She almost fainted and collapsed on the floor, if it wasn’t for Finn getting up from his chair and grabbing her as she lost her strength completely.
She felt weak, as though her body had ceased to function; from the horrified look on Finn’s face, Gwen knew she must look as pale as death. What she feared the most had happened, and she had no idea what to do.
She should never have trusted Finn. He didn’t protect Cody the way he should.
“It's all your fault,” she stuttered, tears falling endlessly through her cheeks.
Finn put her on his couch and grabbed her cheeks between his hands, making her stare into his emerald eyes.
“Gwen, calm down. We’re going to find him, okay? Trust me,” he asked, but something in his shaky voice caught Gwen’s attention. He was also nervous.
“Trust you? If you had trusted me… Cody wouldn’t be missing now. I told you this was-” Gwen was interrupted by a hiccup; she was not able to make proper sentences anymore.
“Stay here, I’m going to call a few people.” Finn released her face and got up, rushing back to take his phone on the table.
Gwen followed him with her eyes, barely seeing anything ahead of her. As Finn called one person after the other, asking what had happened and giving orders for them to find Cody, Gwen started to remember all the threats she had received from Marcy.
Overthinking, her nervousness got worse, the memories very clear and fresh inside her mind now. Her hands started to shake, her sight darkened, her whole body was numb. Like falling asleep, Gwen fell on the couch, unconscious.
She dreamed that she was running after Cody, but every time she got near her child, an enormous and evil hand with red nails and a lot of rings grabbed him and took him away from her. Gwen woke up startled, looking around and trying to understand where she was.
The room was very fancy and the bed she was on was very comfortable; it took her a few minutes to realize that it was Finn’s room. It was the same as a few years before, when she used to sleep there with him.
“Are you okay?” A hoarse voice asked by her side, and she turned to see who it was. Finn was sitting in a chair, looking very tired and worried. He had dark circles under his eyes, had taken off the tie and his blazer, and his shirt was now slightly opened. His hair was messy and he was holding two phones at the same time.
“What happened? Why am I here?” she asked, trying to get up. He dropped the phones and rushed towards her, pushing her back to bed, forcing her to continue lying down.
“You fainted in my office, and I decided to bring you here. My doctor came to check on you, and ran a few exams. You’re a bit anemic, and he said you went through a lot of stress lately, so you need to rest.”
“What about Cody?” she asked, tearful again.
Finn lowered his head.
“I'm doing everything I can, Gwen. My men are looking everywhere for him, and I’m sure he’ll be back very soon.”
She swallowed, trying to be strong for a change, but it was so hard not knowing how her son was, if he was being treated nicely, if he was being fed and cared for. He would probably be scared and lonely.
She started to cry again and Finn pulled her for a hug, one that she had to admit was very comforting. His arms had a way to ease her worries, even though at the moment, she couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
She couldn’t help but think that something bad was going to happen to her son. If that was the case, she would not be able to recover from that, ever. She’d rather die than live without Cody.
Finn went to the kitchen to grab a cup of water with sugar for her, and after she pulled herself together and calmed her nerves, they were able to talk properly.
“How come the school let him get out with someone besides us?” she asked, trying to think of how things actually happened.
“Someone faked my signature. The school has protocols, and the authorization letter was very convincing. The teacher tried to call me, but since I was at the meeting, they couldn’t confirm with me,” Finn explained.
“They told you the identity of the person who picked him up?” she continued, verbalizing her questions.
“The teacher said it was a very nice-looking man. The teacher said he told her he worked for me and that we were both in a meeting. Since no one could pick Cody at that moment, he would bring the little kid to us at the company.”
“A nice-looking man?” Gwen repeated, trying to put the pieces together.
“It was probably someone hired to do it. No one would risk showing their faces. My men watched the surveillance videos, but no one recognized him. We do have a few clues of his whereabouts though. We just need to have faith.” Finn said.
Gwen leaned her head against the headboard, mentally exhausted. She closed her eyes and prayed that her son could come home soon, and safe.
“I'm going to bring him home, Gwen. I promise. I’ll turn this country upside down if it’s necessary.”
They stayed like this for hours, putting a hole into their phones with their eyes, as they stared the screens waiting for some news.
It was almost 3 in the morning when Finn’s phone rang. Gwen was taking a nap and woke up, scared by his ringtone.
“Yes?” Finn answered, his voice deep and gravely with worry and lack of sleep.
Gwen sat on the bed, her shoulders stiff with apprehension.
Finn murmured a few more words and hung up, looking at her.
“They found Cody.”