Chapter 7: Missing

A knock on the door was heard by Carlos, who was fast asleep in his room. Carlos began to open his eyes slowly, then pushed away Samantha's hand that was pressing on his stomach.

Carlos glanced at the clock on the wall with narrowed eyes; it was only 2 am.

"Carlos... open the door!" The person knocking on the door spoke.

Carlos knew that voice well. It was the voice of Margaret, his mother.

"Why is Mom knocking on my door at this time of night? What's wrong?" Carlos asked himself as he gathered his wits.

"Who?" Samantha asked Carlos, who also woke up.

"Mom."

"What's wrong with you knocking on my door at this time of night?"

"I don't know."

The knocking grew louder, Carlos got out of bed, and opened the door immediately. Meanwhile, Samantha remained in bed.

Sure enough, Margareth was already standing at the door with a panicked look on her face when the door opened. Margareth was holding a lit cell phone. Apparently, the old woman had made several phone calls to someone. "What's up with knocking on the door this early in the morning, Mom?" asked Carlos.

"Your father isn't home yet, Carlos. Do you know where your father is?" Margareth asked back.

"Have you tried calling his number?" "I did, but it's not active. I called the office, but your father wasn't there. I'm worried, I'm afraid something has happened to him," Margareth said, still panicking. "Dad did leave the office first, Mom. I thought he'd come straight home."

"He hasn't come home yet. I tried to contact some of his friends. But no one knows where he is. Find your father, Carlos. I'm worried ...." Margareth's tears fell as she finished speaking.

"Mom, calm down first. I'll find my Dad." Carlos rubbed the arm of the woman who brought him into the world.

Carlos quickly grabbed the car keys that were on the nightstand, then immediately stepped into the garage. Still in his pajamas, Carlos drove his car through the deserted streets of Boston.

The goal was one: to find the whereabouts of Austin, who had not returned home until now. Meanwhile, at home, Margareth waited worriedly for news from Carlos. Her brain kept thinking about Austin, her husband.

Samantha wakes up and calms her mother-in-law, telling her that everything will be fine. She rubbed the woman's back a few times.

Austin's wife continued to wait for news from her son.

However, by noon, Carlos had not returned home. Margareth was getting worried. Repeatedly asked by telephone, the answer was the same: Austin had not been found.

Carlos had searched everywhere, but to no avail, Austin was nowhere to be found.

That made Margareth even more worried.

"Where's your father, Diego? Did you find him?" Margareth asked when Carlos arrived home in the afternoon.

Carlos looked down, then shook his head.

Margareth threw herself on the couch quickly, her eyes filled with tears.

"Where did you go, Austin?" she monologued.

There was silence; no one answered. Carlos and Samantha stared at each other in silence. The married couple was confused and equally worried about Austin's condition.

"Is there a problem at the office?" asked Margaret suddenly. She looked up at Carlos. Tears were still falling from his eyes, his cheeks were wet.

"Hmmm... yes, Mom," Carlos replied hesitantly.

"What problem?"

"The company lost an advertisement for a client that had been completed. The ad was very expensive. Dad got angry and left the company. I thought he would come home. But he didn't."

Margaret's eyes widened. She was quite shocked by her son's confession. "Why is that, Carlos? Why was it stolen?"

"I'm investigating, Mother. But as of now, the culprit has not been found. That person is very good at stealing, so his work is very neat. Even the CCTV footage has been manipulated."

"Whenever there was trouble, Austin would go to nightclubs. He would drink there until he got drunk. It wouldn't solve the problem, but Austin's mind would be a little calmer if he did that. Look for your father at the nightclub, Carlos. He'll be there."

Carlos was silent for a while. Why didn't he think of going there? The nightclub was a place that was missing from Carlos' list of places to look. Margareth was right. Carlos often found his father in nightclubs when he was in trouble.

"Go on, Honey. Maybe mom's right, dad's there," Samantha, who had been silent, finally spoke up.

Carlos nodded slowly, then turned around and left.

***

Carlos drove his car at full speed.

He had just gotten out of the nightclub where Austin had come last night.

He still clearly remembered what the staff at the nightclub had said.

Austin did come and drink alcoholic beverages. He chatted with a man named Diego, then disappeared.

However, the officer could not confirm whether Austin's disappearance had anything to do with Diego or not.

For this reason, Carlos immediately went to Diego's house. The goal was to confirm his father's current whereabouts.

If Austin's disappearance had something to do with Diego, then Carlos would avenge his cousin's actions.

After 20 minutes of traveling, Carlos arrived at Diego's magnificent house. Carlos parked his car in Diego's spacious yard.

The bell at Diego's house was pressed repeatedly by Carlos at a fast tempo. Carlos did this because he wanted to meet Diego immediately.

Not content with just pressing the bell, Carlos also knocked loudly on the door. Eventually, someone opened the door.

"Where's Diego? I want to see him!" Carlos exclaimed to the man who opened the door.

The man was one of the servants at Diego's house.

"Who are you? Did you make a previous appointment?"

Carlos didn't answer; he pushed the man aside and forced his way into the house.

"Diego... Diego...! Come out, I want to talk to you!"

"Don't act arrogantly in our master's house," the servant tried to pull Carlos out. However, Carlos struggled, and the servant fell to the floor.

"Diego!" Carlos kept calling out to his cousin.

"What did you come here for?" The person called by Carlos finally appeared, coming down the stairs casually. He sat down on the living room chair, resting one foot on the other. His face was calm, unaffected by his cousin's increasingly loud shouting.

"Where's my father?" asked Carlos as he approached.

"Why are you asking me?" Diego asked back.

"Because my father disappeared after meeting you at the nightclub."

"Is that so? Hmmm... I just had a quick chat with Uncle Austin. After that, I went home," Diego replied.

"Lies!"

"It's okay if you don't believe me."

"Where's my dad, Diego?" Carlos stepped forward and pulled Diego's shirt by the collar.

"Let go of me!" cried Diego, getting to his feet and pushing Carlos backwards. "You're being disrespectful on my turf, get out of here, Carlos!"

"I'll leave after you tell me where my father is!" said Carlos sarcastically.

Diego smiled broadly, displaying his neat row of teeth. A mocking smile directed at the Austin boy.

"Find your Dad if you can."