CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Jack came rushing into the room with Kim and Kit close behind him.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Martha turned around to face him. She was white as a ghost; like all colour had drained from her face. "Laila's gone," she cried.
"What?" Jack was a bit confused. He then looked into Laila's crib and realised she wasn't there. They he noticed that the bedroom window was open. Jack felt sick to the stomach and he felt like he'd just been punched in the guts. "No," he gasped.
"Oh my god," Kit cried from the doorway.
"I'll call the cops," Kim said as he ran from the room.
"Where's my baby?" Martha screamed. She was starting to become quite hysterical. "Where's my baby?" she cried out again.
Jack was still standing on the same spot; looking into his daughters crib. He was in shock; still not quite believing what was going on. He felt a pain inside him; it overwhelmed his body. His most precious gift in life was gone and the pain he felt inside was almost unbearable.
"Jack," Martha said from behind him.
He slowly turned to face her. She was shaking uncontrollably and Kit was holding onto her; trying to stop her from collapsing to the ground. She had tears streaming down her cheeks. It broke Jack's heart to see her like that.
"Where is she Jack?" she sobbed.
Jack shook his head. He didn't know.
Martha's face crumbled and she completely broke down. Jack moved towards her and scooped her into his arms. "Everything is going to be fine," he tried to calm her; while trying to stay calm himself. "We're going to find her. We're going to get her back," Jack promised as he held her tight.
"I'll go next door and get your dad," Kit said before running from the house.
Martha looked up at Jack. Through her tears, she could see Jack's eyes welling up with his own tears. He looked down at her and she could see the pain in his face. She knew that he was feeling it as much as she was. Martha started to cry harder. She wanted Laila back. Who would want to take her baby away from her?
"Megan," she suddenly spat out.
"What?" Jack looked down at her.
"It was Megan," Martha exclaimed.
"We don't know that," Jack shook his head.
"She turns up in town and then the next day our baby is gone. It's not a coincidence," Martha said. "She wants to ruin us Jack. This is a perfect opportunity for her to do so," she sniffed.
"We'll mention it to the boys when they get here," Jack said.
The next few moments went passed with Jack comforting Martha; telling her that they'd get Laila back.
"Jack," a voice called out. It was Tony.
Jack and Martha walked out of the room. In the distance they could hear the police sirens; they were getting closer and closer by the second.
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AN HOUR LATER
An hour had passed and nothing had changed. Laila was still gone.
The police were swarming the place; taking fingerprints from the window and door knocking the area in hopes that someone has seen something. Alf, Macca, Roo, Tony, Beth, Lucas, Matilda, Robbie and Tasha had all arrived at the house. Alf had called Sally and told her what was going on. Ric wanted to come over and be with Martha, but Alf told him to stay put.
Martha was sitting on the couch. She hadn't moved or spoken since the police had arrived. She was still in shock. Roo and Tasha were sitting on either side of her; comforting her. Jack was standing with Tony and Beth; trying to stay calm and positive. The others were standing around the room; unsure of what to do or say.
"Martha," Roo said. "Can I get you anything?" she asked.
Martha just shook her head. The only thing she wanted was her daughter; and that wasn't about to happen.
"They're going to find her Mac," Tasha said from beside her. "I know they will," she added.
Martha looked up and at the same moment Peter walked through the door. Martha jumped up and moved towards him. She felt Jack walk up behind her; he took her hand and held it tightly in his own.
"Anything?" Jack asked Peter.
"Have you found my granddaughter?" Tony demanded as he rushed up to them.
"No, I'm sorry," Peter shook his head. "But it seems that your suspicions about Megan may have been correct," he said.
"What have you found out?" Jack wanted to know.
"Mrs. Watson, the little old lady down the road, said that she was looking out her window earlier and she saw a blonde women walking towards a car with a baby in her arms," Peter started to explain. "The description she gave of the women matches Megan. She couldn't really see what the car looked like, so we couldn't get a description of that," he finished.
Just as Peter finished speaking Sgt McGrath walked through the door. "I've just been on the phone to Megan's mother, Leanne, and she told me that she hasn't seen Megan for a couple days. Apparently she got up the other morning and Megan was gone; she didn't leave a note or anything," McGrath told them. "She also told me that just last week, Megan lost custody of her own daughter. The courts decided that the child would be better of with its father, and so they gave him full custody," he continued.
Martha was fuming. "So, she took our daughter as a replacement," she snapped. That was the first time she'd spoken in the last hour.
"We still don't know for sure that she took your daughter," McGrath pointed out.
"Of course it was her," Martha yelled. "Are you people stupid? The girl is crazy, and now she's taken my baby. I'm going to kill her. She's going to pay for this," she cried.
"Calm down sweetheart. Come and sit back down," Roo soothed as she led Martha back over to the couch.
"I should be out there looking for my baby," Martha sobbed. "I feel so useless sitting here and doing nothing," she said.
"The best thing you can do is just stay here," Peter said. "We've got our best officers out there looking for Laila. We will get her back, and that's a promise," he exclaimed.
Martha just nodded and sat back down next to her mum. She rested her head on Roo's shoulder and started to cry again.
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3 AM
Martha was sitting in on her bed. Macca was sitting in with her; holding her as she cried. Hours had passed and the police weren't any closer to finding Laila.
"She's going to be fine bug," Macca tried to reassure his sister. "She'll be back before you know it," he said.
"Why does this keep happening to me Macca?" Martha spoke up. "Why do people keep getting taken away from me? Mum, dad and now my baby; they're gone," she wept.
"You're going to get her back. The police are going to find her and they're going to bring her back to you," Macca soothed.
Martha gave her brother a quick hug. When she pulled away she spotted Jack standing in the doorway. "I'll leave you two alone," Macca said as he got up and then walked from the room.
Jack closed the door and went and sat next to Martha. "Hey," he said softly.
"She's not coming back, is she?" Martha cried.
"Of course she's coming back. We will get her back Martha," Jack hugged her. They rested in each others arms for a few minutes until Martha started to speak again.
"I dreamt that she was going to get taken away," she exclaimed.
"What?" Jack was confused.
"Remember that dream I had when I was still pregnant? I dreamt that you and everyone else took Laila away from me, except in real life Megan's the one who took her," Martha started to explain. "In my dream I was wearing white; look at what I'm wearing Jack. All white. And the baby was wearing white and was wrapped up in a white blanket aswell. I put Laila in a white jumpsuit and wrapped her up in a white blanket, just like my dream," she whimpered.
"That dream didn't mean anything Martha," Jack said softly. "It was just a dream," he added.
"But Laila's gone Jack. My dream did come true," Martha pointed. "This is my fault. I could have prevented it from happening," she said.
Jack cupped Martha's face in his hands. "This is not your fault. There was nothing you could have done to stop this. Please don't blame yourself," he pleaded.
Martha looked down at the items sitting in front of her; a little teddy that Lucas gave Laila, and a pink blanket. Martha picked up the blanket and raised it to her face. She inhaled its scent. It smelt like her baby girl.
"She's probably scared Jack. She's probably wondering where I am. She'd be hungry by now," Martha started to sob. "She needs me. I'm her mother, and she needs me. She needs us," she broke down in Jack's arms.
Martha could feel Jack shaking. She knew he was crying too.
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8:00 AM
Megan pulled the car into the drive way. She got out of the car and walked around to the other side. She opened the door and unstrapped the baby from the capsule. She pulled her out and slammed the door.
She looked at the house. She hoped that it was the right place. She'd looked for his name in the phone book and this was the address that was listed. She also hoped that he was home alone. She knew it was early, but hopefully his wife had already left for work or something.
She walked up the path until she reached the door. She knocked hard on the door. She looked down at the baby while she waited for someone to answer. She still didn't feel any remorse for what she was doing. Grace had been taken away from her, so she wanted Jack and Martha to feel the same pain as she did.
Megan looked up when she heard the door open. A man opened the door and she smiled at him.
"Harry Chambers?" she asked.
"Yes, that's me," the man nodded.
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