Chapter Thirty-Two

Wednesday 25th December – 6.15pm – Adelaide (6.45pm Erinsborough time)

As Chloe and Elly were enjoying their Christmas meal at the Kennedy's, over in Adelaide, Mark was putting some finishing touches on the Christmas dinner he had spent most of the day preparing for the family, Fay, Tyler and Piper.

Mark's phone rang and after washing his hands quickly from the food he'd been handling, Mark answered, "Pierce, Merry Christmas! I wasn't expecting to hear from you over the holidays. How's New York City? Chloe told me you ditched an Erinsborough Christmas for a New York White Christmas. Not sure that was the right-"

Pierce cut in on Mark's ramblings, "Mark, finally someone answers their damn phone! Sorry that was a bit…Merry Christmas, hope all is well with the Brennan clan in Adelaide. Have you heard from Chloe today? What's going on with her?"

"Yeah I got a very quick Merry Christmas call from Chloe and the boys first thing in the morning but they should be having Christmas dinner in an hour or so and we've lined up to do a Skype call soon after that so all of us can check in since we couldn't all be together for the holidays," Mark replied, "Wait…what do you mean 'what's going on with her'?"

Pierce shook his head in frustration, "Chloe, Mark, I've been calling her for hours and she's not answering my calls! It's midnight over here and I need to get in contact with her urgently. Hendrix isn't answering either. I just called both Aaron and David and left messages for them as neither answered. I feel like Erinsborough are shutting me out and you're the only other person I could try to get onto Chloe for me."

"Calm down, Pierce, mate, I'm sure everything's fine and Chloe's just being busy spending her Christmas with the boys," Mark tried to reassure.

"Well that's well and good, Mark, but Hendrix is missing! Chloe was dropping him off to the airport to take a flight to Sydney to spend Christmas with his mum and sister. Hendrix didn't meet Lisa at the gate disembarking from the flight. Lisa's being rope-able at me for hours now! Her entire Christmas has been ruined by either Hendrix pulling a stunt and skipping past her before she could see him get off the flight or he never got on the flight to begin with. I need to get in touch with Chloe to find out if she got Hendrix to board the flight or not!" Pierce explained to Mark in desperation.

Mark ran his hand through his hair, "Okay, I'm sorry buddy, I didn't realize how serious this was. I'm sure Hendrix is fine. His phone is still on when you ring so that's a good sign. He's probably pulling a stunt and will turn up at Lisa's before you know it. Have you spoken to the airline on if he boarded the flight?"

"They won't tell Lisa or I anything. Even a 17-year-old has privacy. We need to get the cops involved for them to do anything but I don't want to call them until I speak to Chloe first. Lisa's at her wits' end with me not able to get in touch with Chloe. Another hour and she will call them. What am I supposed to say to the cops? I'm in New York, my fiancé was dropping Hendrix off at the airport but she hasn't been answering my calls for hours now. Are they going to send a patrol car to Aaron's to get a hold of Chloe? I'm losing my mind here, Mark. I'm worried about Chloe, I'm worried about Hendrix. Why isn't Chloe answering my calls?" Pierce asked, trying to mask the hurt he felt at not being able to get a hold of Chloe.

"Take a deep breath, Pierce," Mark recommended, "I will call Chloe and the boys for you. I've got all the Ramsay Street neighbours numbers in my phone. I can send out an urgent plea for help if I don't get onto them so they can go around to your place and Aaron's to see if they can find Hendrix or Chloe."

"Thanks, Mark, it's not easy been so far away. I get why Hendrix would pull a stunt like this, it's what he does, him not answering my calls is normal. Less normal to ignore Lisa's but still if he's met up with his Sydney mates, he's riling us on purpose. Probably out of anger that I wasn't there to spend Christmas with him," Pierce laminated, "But it's Chloe ignoring all my calls that I don't get. Before I tried you, I even called Lassisters to find out if Chloe was working today but the staff told me she'd been given a few weeks off work. I don't get it, Chloe refused to join me in New York because it was the busiest week of the year at the hotel. If Chloe's phone was switched off, I'd be thinking she's on a flight over now to surprise me for Christmas tomor…okay well today now. Instead, I'm left with all these crazy theories like Chloe can't answer my calls as she's been kidnapped or something."

"Look I know Finn hasn't been caught or arrested yet but give Chloe some credit, she's not going to be kidnapped by Finn twice in the space of three days," Mark replied decisively.

Pierce narrowed his eyes at Mark's words, "What are you talking about?"

Mark shrugged, "Chloe, she's not going to be kidnapped again by Finn. Look I'm sure you're worried about what happened but there's no way Finn would do that all-"

"Mark! What are you talking about?" Pierce asked again.

Mark frowned, "Well, you know, Chloe was kidnapped by Finn."

Mark blinked gently as there was nothing but silence from Pierce.

"You do know…right?" Mark finally asked awkwardly.

"Chloe was kidnapped by Finn?" Pierce finally uttered in shock, "What? When? Why? How? Why the hell didn't anyone call me?"

"I thought you did…know," Mark spluttered in surprise, "Aaron called us the evening Chloe went missing then Chloe got onto us as soon as she was in the hospital to let us know she was fine. It's why she's got the time off work, Terese is worried she could have a bit of PTSD from the kidnapping."

"Chloe's in the hospital? She has PTSD?" Pierce asked with concern.

"No, it's not like that. Chloe was kept in hospital for a matter of hours because she was dehydrated. She's perfectly fine. Terese was just being cautious so gave her time off to spend with her family and see a counselor," Mark explained, "I really thought Chloe would have told you."

"Why didn't she?" Pierce asked in distress, "I should've been the first person she told."

Mark thought for a moment, "Maybe she didn't want to worry you. You'd want to fly home immediately to check on Chloe and she knows how important it is that you're over there. I know the kidnapping was a really big deal but Chloe's safe and home now…I mean yeah, she's not answering her phone but I'm sure as soon as we clear up why, things will be fine. There's no way Finn could do what he did all over again."

"What even happened? Why would Finn kidnap Chloe?" Pierce queried.

"It wasn't just Chloe; Finn took Elly and Bea too. He took Elly first, he had Elly locked up in a shipping container the other night then Finn returned and saw that Chloe and Bea were starting to raise the alarm so he took them too. They all spent the night locked up in the shipping container. Two nights in there for Elly. Then Chloe McGuyver'd her way to unlocking the door from the inside and the four of them escaped and got themselves to the hospital," Mark recapped.

"Four? Who else did Finn take?" Pierce blinked trying to work out how Chloe could keep this from him.

"Oh, right, sorry, huge part of the story missed there. Elly gave birth to her baby the second night she was in the shipping container. Chloe and Bea helped her deliver the baby. Elly had a little boy. I don't really know any other details on him. Name or anything," Mark then cleared his throat, trying to forget the feeling that hurt him because for nearly three months he had believed he was the father of Elly's baby, "They're all good. Bea, like Chloe was dehydrated. Elly and her baby spent several days in hospital…they um…Chloe filled me in quickly this morning that they were going to be discharged to go spend their first Christmas together."

"Chloe was there…when…Elly had her baby? That must have been…" Pierce trailed off, not wanting to think about what Chloe could've thought about the experience.

"Special," Mark finished for Pierce, "Chloe told me that it was…special. But it's got nothing to do with why Chloe didn't call you to tell you about…everything. Look it's late over there, why don't I get onto Chloe to track her down and get her to call you… Wait…back up…before when you were talking about when you were considering calling the cops about Hendrix…did you call Chloe your fiancé…?"

Pierce remained quiet on the other end of the phone as he took the engagement ring box out of his pocket, staring at it thoughtfully.

"Are you two engaged?" Mark pressed further, feeling confused because Chloe hadn't mentioned anything when they'd spoken several times since Pierce left for New York.

Pierce eventually cleared his throat, "I didn't mean to…blurt it out like that by calling Chloe my fiancé…in fact I…I always intended on calling you first before I… Mark, I'm going to propose to Chloe when I get back to Erinsborough…and I'd like your blessing."

Now it was Mark's turn to be silent, surprised by Pierce's decision.

Pierce popped the engagement ring box open as he smiled at the ring inside before realizing Mark hadn't responded, "Mark…?"

Mark snapped out of his thoughts, "That's…I mean wow…that's…wow. Are you sure about this?"

Pierce frowned at Mark's question, "I love Chloe, why wouldn't I want to marry her?"

"No…I just meant…that's really fast, Pierce, isn't it?" Mark asked.

"When you know, you know, and I know," Pierce replied decisively.

Mark pursed his lips, "Yeah I get that, mate, but you and Chloe have only been together for a few months. Is Chloe at that…'when you know, you know' stage?"

Pierce tried to ignore the thought that Chloe had yet to tell him that she loved him, "I'm not going into this thinking she's going to reject my proposal, Mark. I was…actually planning on asking her the day that I had to fly out here. I was planning on calling you for your blessing that morning but then things went down south with my business and here I am. So…do I have your blessing?"

"Is Chloe ready to move in with you and Hendrix? And y'know we are going to have that conversation about you lying to me when you purchased my house from me and I doubt Chloe ever pulled you up on," Mark said sternly, sidetracking Pierce's blessing request.

"I'm sure Chloe will be as soon as we're engaged," Pierce replied positively, then with less enthusiasm, "What lie?"

Mark rolled his eyes, "You told me when you were buying it that Chloe had already agreed to move in with you and Hendrix. I believed when I sold my house to you, I was setting up my little sister for her life there. Did you not think that I wouldn't pick up on that when Chloe didn't move in with you? Or that I wouldn't tell Chloe you lied to me?"

Pierce grimaced, "I'm sorry, Mark, you're right. I should've told you that I was yet to ask Chloe to move in with me…I just thought she would. I got it wrong."

Mark raised his eyebrow, slightly annoyed that Pierce couldn't see his reluctance, "And what makes you think that…proposing to Chloe won't be…getting it wrong?"

"Because I love Chloe and there's no one that can offer her the love and care and support that I can for the rest of her life," Pierce replied assuredly, "So…do I have your blessing?"

Mark thought for a moment before answering, "I'm sorry, Pierce, I can't give you my blessing. I don't think Chloe is ready for marriage."

"Well…that's…incredibly disappointing to hear, Mark. I disagree, I think Chloe is more than ready to settle down and be a family with me and Hendrix," Pierce insisted.

"Without my blessing will you be proposing to Chloe when you return home anyway?" Mark asked.

Pierce snapped the engagement box closed and placed it back in his pocket where he'd been carrying it around for weeks, "If the right moment strikes…yes, Mark, I will be proposing to Chloe. Are you going to let her know?"

"No, Pierce, I'm not going to spoil your proposal plans…but…if Chloe's not ready for marriage…I'm not sure your relationship will survive a misstep like that. Are you sure you want to risk that before Chloe has agreed to move in with you?" Mark asked honestly.

"I am," Pierce decided cockily, "Look we got quite side-tracked here. I need to get an answer back to Lisa within the hour or she's reporting Hendrix missing to the cops. Can you reach out to track Chloe down for me and get her to answer my calls?"

"Right, absolutely, I'll get onto Chloe or the boys as soon as I hang up," Mark agreed, "Do you want Chloe to call or text you as I know it's the middle of the night over there?"

"Mark, my son is missing, until I find out where he is, I won't be able to sleep. Get Chloe to call me asap," Pierce instructed.

"I'll get Chloe to call you as soon as I can. Don't panic too much, Hendrix likes to pull stunts, I'm sure that's all this is…and Chloe's just busy…with her family for Christmas. Bye Pierce," Mark said as he hung up his phone.

Shaking his head for a moment, Mark worried that maybe something was wrong which is why Chloe wasn't answering her phone, then insisting to himself, "Chloe's fine…she's just busy with the family today."

Mark immediately dialed Chloe's number, listening to the phone ring out to Chloe's voicemail.