Austin made it back to France immediately after his appointed week was over. He hadn't been with his personal phone and had only his work phone with him so he couldn't contact Alora. He didn't even power it back on after receiving it and just drove over to her cousin's house with a bouquet of roses.
As soon as he opened the door, he was met with the tear-stricken faces of her uncle and cousins. The girl walked to him and without saying a word, started hitting him while crying and cursing. Astonished, the roses dropped from his hands as he silently took the hits.
"Where have you been?" She wailed. "Where is Alora? Where is my cousin? You must bring her home. Where is she, you lousy bastard?."
Charles pulled her away as she kicked and screamed. Austin turned to Ash who was sitting on one of the couches, looking crestfallen.
"What happened?" He asked. Ash didn't answer immediately, causing Austin to grab him by the collar. "What happened to my Alora?"
"I don't know." Tears dripped off his face. "It's been four days since we last heard from her. Apparently, the couple at her second babysitting job called and said she didn't show up."
"We can't reach her phone and no one's seen or heard from her." Charles added.
Austin dropped him and turned on his phone. There was a message from Alora, dated four days ago. He slowly opened it and scanned the content.
[In case something happens to me, promise that you would take care of my family. Or I won't talk to you.]
He stormed out of the house and into his car. He started driving and didn't stop until he reached Dieppe beach. He walked out of the car and sat on the sand.
And he cried.
Tears flowed like water down his face and he buried his face in his knees. A minute passed, two, three, thirty minutes. He couldn't stop crying. He didn't know what to do. He longed for some kind of comfort.
She could be dead.