That night, the search continued all through to the next morning. She was questioned by the police, so were Victor and Yvonne. She suspected the police also contacted other people. They asked for her cell phone, Yvonne’s and Victor’s. She fought hard not to let it go. It was a means of communication between her and Sky. What if he called? She was assured someone would answer her phone at all times. At the end of the day, the sergeant came by to report on the findings of the search they had conducted.

 

“We had ten officers on the ground. Two 4-wheelers were also dispatched and continued searching throughout the day, so did the helicopter. We used the map of the domain, searched all of it, all the buildings, even the old wells. The whole length of the shore, the edges of the cliffs, the ledges were all well explored and searched for tracks, fresh earth displacement and any kind of evidence.”, he then lifted his eyes to her and almost apologetically, he continued. “The helicopter also searched the ocean over a few kilometers in all directions. No reports from hospitals, no bodies found on the shores of nearby villages. That is the negative part. But on a positive note, we did find some horse tracks. Sadly, they are all over the domain. And we are now trying to differentiate between the tracks you and Victor left, from other tracks. We will also have to consider that Sky’s tracks would normally be found all around, right? I know you wanted to find him but having your tracks over the older ones make it harder for us. It will take longer.”, he ended with a firm look.

 

Maeva did not answer. She realized that. She had even thought about it while searching. She had quickly evaluated the risk of Sky maybe getting the help he needed too late, against hindering the investigation. It was an easy choice for her.

 

“Do you have any questions, Mrs. Hawthorne?”, asked the sergeant surprised by her silence and lack of reaction. She looked completely lifeless.

 

“I am sorry I do not have better news for you. From now on, Scotland Yard will be joining forces with us and will send us the best detective. This becomes a missing person investigation. We are taking it seriously. Oh and, we took some items as evidence. All boots found at the stables and any footwear found anywhere on the property were seized, your cellphones as you know, and we would like to ask you to give us all Sky’s shoes and your own.”.

 

“Do you realize how many that will be? He is a movie star. He has a wall filled with them, same for me.”, Maeva spoke for the first time. “Maybe it would be better if you see them for yourself and choose the type you are looking for? He was certainly not wearing dress shoes when he left to the stables. He put on the boots that we kept in the porch, as the outside is often muddy.”

 

“How can you be sure? Did you see him with the boots on?”, the detective asked.

 

“No, but his boots are gone. Mine, the ones I wore last night are there.”, she was looking straight at him.

 

“We already took a picture of the porch and the items there and seized everything as evidence.”, he informed Maeva. She simply nodded. The sergeant got up to leave.

 

“We will certainly have more questions. For now, stay around, don’t go anywhere on the domain except your house.”, she cut him off.

 

“We must feed the horses, and we have some other animals. I have to feed them. They will die. As well, Victor and Yvonne work here everyday. As well as the caretakers and our security agents. Yvonne and Victor live on the domain, in the guest house and they walk over here. Victor’s tracks are all over the domain. He also uses a 4-wheeler. Also, the caretakers are with their own families from supper time to early the next morning. They had already left. That is why Sky was worried about the new horse.”

 

“We will ask Mr. and Mrs. Shaw for their footwear and to identify shoes they will be using so we can differentiate them from others. The same goes for the caretakers and you, Mrs. Hawthorne. You will also be required to wear booties over your shoes if you go outside for any reason, but we prefer you stay inside. As for the 4-wheelers, they will all be seized to be investigated.”.

 

“Well, I will have to purchase one. It is impossible to care for this domain without at least one. It is the same for my cell phone. I will need to purchase another, and quickly”, Maeva was getting upset realizing they were all going to be investigated. “Do you know something that you aren’t telling us?”, she asked starting to be suspicious.

 

“This is normal procedure Mrs. Hawthorne. Mr. Hawthorne was well-known and the media will soon get a hold of this disappearance. The world will be watching this investigation. A man such as your husband does not disappear into thin air. People recognise him.”, he said, trying to be considerate, but still needing to do his job.

 

“I guess we will also need extra security. People will surely find out where we live. We can keep the main gate closed but the domain is not fenced everywhere. Anyone can enter from the forest on the east and west sides, behind the guest house. The cliffs and ocean border the north, and the south has the main gate and a huge stone wall.”, Maeva was trying to concentrate and to decide what needed to be done to protect Neve. Memories of the hospital incident came flooding back.

 

“Are each side land parcels of the forest owned?”, the officer saw her affirmative answer and he went on. “We will be visiting the owners. We will see what we can offer to keep you safe. You can add security yourself if you want, but they will have to check in with us before starting. They will be limited in their movements until we are done with looking for evidence.”, he ended.

 

“It really sounds as if you suspect foul-play.”, Maeva was panicking inside, trying to remain calm.

 

“As I said Mrs. Hawthorne, your husband is famous and is considered rich so, probably more at risk of foul-play than the common man. What does not add up is the horse also disappearing. What is an expensive horse?”, he asked.

 

“I do not know how much Sky paid for the horse. He had been looking for a stallion of this kind to offer as a gift for his daughter, but I don’t know about the horse itself. You should ask the previous owner. I will have to look for the information in Sky’s study.”, Maeva was quite distraught. One more thing to do when she could hardly even eat. She only wanted to take care of her daughter right now but everything they asked of her, kept her busy with what she considered trivial tasks at the moment. They wanted a report of all the times and activities they did in the past weeks, a list of who they saw and, a list of their expenses and bank records. They also wanted Sky’s journals. She did keep one but did not think Sky had. She would have to check in his training quarter. She had never looked through his things. She felt it was intrusive. However, she preferred doing it, than having them search the house. She hoped it didn’t come to that.

 

 

 

Maeva didn’t get to sleep again. Her mind kept going back to Sky. She thought she could hear him call her every time she felt herself slipping into a dreamy state. She woke up panicking, went to the window which she kept open so she could hear any noise; she listened carefully and realized she had imagined him calling her name. Neve also woke up a few times during the night which was not at all her usual behavior. As if she could feel something was amiss. She was such an empath child. Sky was the first one who noticed it in Neve. At the time she didn’t think anything of it. All babies cry when you cry and laugh when you laugh. Sky said it was more than that. He said she could feel when he was sad, bothered or pensive. He took walks with her in his arms all over the domain and liked to talk to her about the animals, the birds, the trees. He said he sometimes confided in her as if she could understand and he swore she would always have the expression to go with the emotions he was describing. He even said that when he talked about Maeva and how much he loved her, she always patted his cheek and looked deeply into his eyes smiling. Often, she would give him a kiss in those moments.

 

She decided to get up even if what she wanted was to just stay in bed, think of him and cry. She couldn’t give up. She wouldn’t give up. She went to Neve’s room. She was sleeping. She would open the TV downstairs and put it the monitor on. Yvonne was already making coffee for whoever would be there to help, question or search. Maeva saw that Yvonne had also made a dozen breakfast burritos.

 

“Morning Mrs. Maeva. I will make your coffee as you like it.” Yvonne looked at her briefly. She had not been able to say a clear “Good morning” since Sky disappeared.

 

“Morning Yvonne.”, Maeva thought no one would be able to say “Good” until Sky came back to them. He had a jovial way of saying it and they all imitated him. He dragged the ‘goo’ sound in his low voice.

 

“Would you like a burrito?”, she knew what the answer would be. Maeva nodded. “I will leave one for you in the fridge. I will take the rest and some coffee to the Victor and the team outside”, she said putting Maeva’s coffee on the table.

 

“Are they many outside?”, she asked. “Do you know if the media got hold of the news?

 

“Quite a few. I haven’t seen any media. But I will ask the officers.”, she went out with a big tray.

 

Maeva picked up the land line. It was rarely used but she was so happy Sky has insisted on it. She had not contacted Sky’s family, or Jess yet. She should of, but she couldn’t bring herself to it. She needed to hurry as she had to reach them before the police or the media contacted them. She needed to contact Joe first. She first checked on Neve on the tele. Still sleeping soundly. She looked at the phone. How would she do this without crying or screaming? She searched for his number on the automatic dial. Pressed Call. Closed the phone quickly and started to cry. A few minutes went by. Yvonne came in with an empty tray. Saw Maeva and went to her. She brought her close to her and hugged her tightly.

 

“Thanks Yvonne, it’s OK. I will be OK.”, she took the phone again and pressed Call. It took a few rings before Joe answered. He worked from home.

 

“Joe? It’s Maeva.

 

“Hey Darling, how are you mates doing? I’ve been wanting to call you, but you know how life gets in the way, right?”, he answered joyfully.

 

“I have bad news Joe.”, Maeva hurried to slip it in as she felt he had a lot to say.

 

“What? What happened?”, this time he waited for her to speak.

 

“We, we can’t find Sky.”, she started to weep slowly.

 

“What are you talking about? Is he not at home with you? He was not on location, right?, he asked.

 

“No. He was home with me and Neve. We were about to have supper, and he decided to check on his new horse. He went out. He never came back. I went to the stables to look for him, but he was not there, and the horse was also gone.”

 

“So, he went for a ride.”, he said surprised they had not come to that conclusion.

 

“Maybe. But all the saddles and bridals were accounted for. I can’t believe he would go bareback on a wild horse. That stallion needed to be trained. He had never had a rider on his back.”, she answered.

 

“Did you find the horse? Did he come back?”, he was going through the same reasoning as they all did.

 

“No, the horse also disappeared. I searched, Victor searched, we went to the beach, a search party has been around for the past two days. Helicopter, dogs. They are now looking for evidence. Tracks, pieces of clothing, anything.”, she said.

 

“Maeva, just hold on. I am coming over. Tell Yvonne to get the guest room ready. Kate…”, he yelled away from the phone, then Maeva heard a click. He hung up. She didn’t have time to ask him to let everyone else know. Next, she called Jess. She felt stronger now. Jess answered on the first ring.

 

“Hey Maeva. How are you guys?”, she said happy to hear from her boss’ wife.

 

“Jess, I am calling to let you know that Sky has disappeared. We cannot find him. You must keep this silent and leave everything as planned for now.”, Maeva said this in one breath.

 

“What do you mean? Disappeared? From where?”, Jess was incredulous.

 

“Listen, I don’t have any more to say right now. I will call you back when I do know more, OK?”, Maeva hung up. She had no more energy in her. She couldn’t keep talking about this. She needed to act. She remembered she needed to look into the training room areas. She had her eyes on the tele the whole time she was talking.

 

“Yvonne? Yvonne?”, called Maeva.

 

“Yes Mrs. Hawthorne?”, Yvonne came from the laundry room.

 

“Can you please keep an eye on Neve and text me when she awakens?”, Maeva went to the bedroom, took the stairs to the attic, thought to look through the kitchenette. As she entered, a flood of familiar smells overpowered her. Sky. His face, his body, his voice came back to her in a flash. Those tears again. She just couldn’t stop them from coming out of those eyes of hers. Her beautiful doe eyes as he liked to call them. Would she hear those words again? My Love, where are you? She turned around remembering those huge stained-glass windows up the staircase from which you could see as far as the horizon. She looked out and dreamed of him coming out of the stables, saying everything was good, that it was just a misunderstanding. But no. The nightmare was not over.

 

She turned around and went directly to where she thought he would put a diary. She wiped her tears and sat down. There was a window giving view the east side. In fact, he was coming down from upstairs when he peeked out of the bedroom and told her he just needed a few minutes to check on the horse. Had he seen something from here? Something that got him worried? Something amiss? Like a gate not latched properly? She checked what she could see from where she was. You could see the road that passed the house, the one they had walked on for the first time. You couldn’t see the stables at all from there. She then thought of going to her study as Sky did use it sometimes. The stable was located about 50 meters away from the main house and was slightly at an angle, so the back door was pointing northeast. She could see the wide-open front doors and a few stalls on the inside left-hand side. You definitely could not see the last stall, neither could we see any other stalls. You couldn’t see the open backdoors, but you could have seen a horse or person coming out if they were going west towards the end of the grazing field and the forest. Was that it? Did Sky see something that worried him to the point of wanting to check it out. However, not enough to contact Victor or to ask to call the police. She got up from the chair and walked forward until she was close to the window. Her vision field was increased and englobed, both sides of the domain and the back lawn and parking area on the left. On the right, she could see more of the forest and saw the domain garage and shed that where a few feet closer the stables. Both buildings’ doors were closed and locked. From her studio, Sky could have seen anyone coming out of the forest or from the buildings. She went back to the chair and noted that the horses training ring could also be seen from there. The barn could not be seen as it was on the southwest of the property, in the back of the shed.

 

 

She decided to go to his study. Her attention then went to the top of his beautiful mahogany desk. The desk was a beautiful and rare antique that weighed a ton. It was carved on both sides and front and, all six drawers were engraved and inlayed with gold wire.

 

The top of the desk was clean of dust and clean of papers. A few treasured objects were placed exactly where they should be placed. She remembered Yvonne saying that she was always careful to position the items exactly where Sky had placed them when she cleaned up in his spaces. There was a picture frame of her and Neve just after her birth. There was also an eagle feather fountain pen in its holder with a pot of ink, a pad of note paper, and a beautiful bronze statue of a stallion, that was gifted to him by Maeva on their second wedding anniversary. A green blotter was perfectly clean and well aligned in the bottom center of the desk. She looked at the desk and she found it almost, too clean. She started to look through the drawers. The first one was as neat as the desk. Everything was organized nicely in a wooden grid with different size opening made for office items; pens, pencils, erasers, pins, staples and stapler, paper clips of different sizes. There was even a compartment for small tools and all battery sizes. She pulled the drawer until she could see the far back to make sure, there was nothing hidden like a journal, a note. She looked at the drawer thickness and eye measured to be sure there was no hidden compartment. The first drawer to the left had, what seemed to be recent invoices for renovations or repairs done on the domain. She flipped through them and didn’t see anything that held her attention. She pulled the drawer all the way and eye measured again. Nothing out of the ordinary. The second drawer held a big paper roll calculator, a booklet of blank receipts and a ledger way in the back. She took it out, opened it. She saw he was keeping a record of the renovations and repairs costs with the dates and payment modes. She flipped all the way to the back. Nothing else. She replaced it but kept it in her head to come back to, for further examination. At first glance, she recognized the expenses. This drawer did not have a false bottom either. The bottom drawer was a deeper one meant to hold legal size folders. When she opened it, she found it full of upside-down binders 1 inch large, they were labeled by year. She pulled one and found income tax papers. She pulled a second, same thing. Now, to the other side. There were three drawers of equal size. The top one held old and used notebooks in different colors. She took them all out. Three. The red one seemed to be a record of dates and times, and other numbers. After analyzing them for a few seconds, she concluded this was his weight record. The green one contained his training routines. It changed quite often. It always had a goal and filming information and a time-period at the beginning. The yellow one recorded his change in diet, according to different training routines. These notebooks had been manipulated frequently and contained a few years’ data. She put them back. When she went to pull out the other drawer, it would not budge. The third one didn’t slide open either. She remembered that some of those older desks had an internal combination to lock drawers. For example, you would have to pull open the middle one for those who appeared locked to be freed. She tried different combination movements with no success. She sat there looking outside feeling defeated, sad and exhausted.

 

 

Maeva was drawn to some movement in the sky. It was far away and appeared to be over the cliffs area, but from where she was, she couldn’t be sure. She got up and went over to the window. Still, she couldn’t make out what it was. Sky has a huge wall unit on the left. She knew she would also have to search it, but what she was looking for now should be close by. Binoculars. She knew Sky had them. She finally found them inserted in between some books about identifying birds and fauna. They were some fancy ones which included a night vision option and a wide-angle lens. She wasn’t sure she would know how to use them. As she put them in front of her eyes, she noticed that should be able to use them  with the automatic focus function on. She pressed the button and put them to her eyes. It took time for her to realized she had to press repeatedly on that same button and the focus adapted increasingly to what she tried to aim at. Suddenly a bird like shape appeared through the lenses. A drone! It was a drone. It seemed to be slowly trailing the coast. She then heard noise from below the window and saw some coppers also looking in that direction and speaking through their walkie-talkies. They had been instructed to stay put and act as surveillance for Sky’s family and whoever came to the house. Maeva gathered by their actions that they had not been aware of that drone before they saw it just as she did. She quickly went out of the room and saw Yvonne just standing there.

 

“Mr. Joe is here, Mrs. Maeva. He arrived a couple of minutes ago. He asked about you, but I told him I didn’t exactly know where you were and he just left towards the barn. “, Yvonne said almost apologetically. Maeva pushed the wall unit closed.

 

“It’s fine Yvonne. Did he come through the front door?”, Maeva knew the front was watched.

 

“No. From the kitchen French doors.”, Yvonne turned towards that direction as she spoke.

 

Maeva understood that Joe used the small forest path to reach the back of the property without being seen except by the surveillance cameras, but no one was looking at them presently. He wanted to have a chance to search a little without encountering the police team. He probably suspected they would not let him go about the property. He was right.

 

“Yvonne, did you tell Joe we were not to go on the property?”

 

“Yes, I did Mrs. Maeva.”. Good old Joe thought Maeva. He knew what to do to act. This made her understand that she had to come out of her present mindset and act. It was useless to let the coppers do the job.

 

Maeva went back to her office, found the surveillance cameras’ panel. Turned off the switch. She would need to remember to delete the section which showed Joe’s arrival. She went back down and went out by the French doors, walked slowly close to the house until she reached the vines covered tunnel that linked the house to the little barn. She first looked inside the barn but couldn’t see anyone. If Joe had heard her, he would be hiding. The barn was a red and white trimmed building giving to the south-west. It was at least eight meters long, by 4 meters wide. As she went in, the strong smell of hay mixed with the animals’ excrements, first made her gag. She covered her mouth and nose for awhile and continued walking forward. She was sure Joe had come in by the back barn doors, the ones that opened up to the animals pastures. As she reached them, she heard a whisper.

 

“Maeva, I’m here.”, he said coming out of the shadow. He did have a controller in his hands.

 

“I knew this is how you entered, right?”, said Maeva. He nodded.

 

“I know this place well enough. Have they searched the forest I went through? Surely not. I saw no 4-wheeler or footprints tracks there. I did see some horse hoofs tracks, though. I am sure of that. I took some pictures but did not take the time to track them.”, he said.

 

“Did you?”, Maeva was nicely surprised. “That is the first positive news I am hearing. Nothing came out of the coppers’ search. What you saw seems to confirm the horse running away theory.”.

 

“You are going to have to tell me everything that happened to the last detail. I am searching blind here. The drone filmed every little nook I could find, but we need to look at the footage together, and before the cops find me.”

 

“We must do it now as they will be searching for you. They saw the drone. Let’s go in the attic. Sky told me he installed electrical outlets up there.”, she started to walk in that direction.

 

Maeva had never been in this attic and was impressed by what Sky had done with it. It remained an attic with its cathedral ceiling of old wooden beams, but Sky had designed and made a space with an electric fireplace that could heat the room, as well as handmade wooden chairs with comfortable cushions and a working table with an empty wall unit. Once she got closer, she noticed there was also a bed and a bathroom in a nook off the to side.

 

“Wouldn’t the smell deter anyone from living here?”, she asked, incredulous.

 

“Cowboys, real cowboys are used to this. This is quite comfortable, apart from the smell.”, Joe was looking for the outlet.

 

“I guess you can get used to it.”. Maeva pointed to the working table. They both sat down and, once his computer was plugged in, they started to look at the drone’s recording.

 

Joe knew the domain but controlling the drone without being able to have a general view of it’s whereabouts was a difficult task.

 

“We need to take notes. You see here, I think the drone is further away to the north as those types of rocks are absent from the sharp cliffs. There are some rocks in the sea below the east cliffs but they are taller and sharper. The only rounded ones are below the sandy hills.”, the recording continued. “Send it to me. I will save a few copies.”, Maeva’s thoughts went a little further.  “ Maybe better to just drop it in our shared folder. They will seize your computer and the drone.”

 

Joe knew she was right. He interrupted the recording and proceeded to copy it to their shared folder amongst the family pictures and official documents. He still encoded it and marked it as invisible if you didn’t have the password.

 

“Cantley. Will be the password OK? I am placing them in the Wedding Pictures folder.”, he told Maeva. “Done. Continue?” Joe asked her. She nodded. He pressed the button. They continued watching noting some areas that needed to be focused on, and some differences Maeva thought she noticed.

 

“These cliffs need to have every nook and cranny checked while climbing them. We need to hire an expert team that can do that.”, she told Joe. “I don’t know if the coppers have a drone. I don’t think they have climbers.”, she said.

 

“I agree.”, Joe stood up, held a hand to Maeva. He unplugged, took his potable and they both went back to the house. Maeva went up to her studio to open the surveillance cameras again. She showed Joe his room. She thought he would be comfortable in Skye lounge area adjacent to the training room. She hoped he would be less noticeable there.

 

“Let me know if you prefer being on the first floor. I thought you would welcome the small kitchenette, the movie room and the training equipment.”, she said going back downstairs.

 

“It’s perfect Maeva. I am appreciative of the comfort.”

 

Maeva took the rest of the day with Neve, which they both needed. She was sure Neve missed her dad. When he was not home, they had their little routine that kept the child occupied. Yvonne took the baby out for strolls in the gardens and the forest. Neve usually took her naps outside if the weather permitted. That allowed time for Maeva to write. When Sky was home, he spent so much time with neve that  Maeva was able to write for longer stretches. He carried her and walked through the forest, brought her to the stables and the barn. She was learning how to feed the chickens and loved to run after the baby chicks. Her best friend was the cutest goat they had. Maeva never saw her with the goat, but Sky said she kept clapping her hands and laughing at the goat’s antics. The animal seemed to understand this little girl enjoyed all the silly things it did, so it kept on. Sky said he couldn’t wait to see what would happen with those two when Neve grew up some. Maeva was smiling visualizing him talking about it and being so happy. Neve was still too little but, Joe had mentioned that she looked just like Sky at that age. They were both on a play carpet and Neve was starting to get up and wander off through the house. They had placed a small gate on top of the entrance stairs and installed safety locks on doors, to keep her safe She was strong and was starting to climb. Sky was in awe of his daughter.

 

She recalled how insecure they both were when they had confirmation of the pregnancy. She had been in denial. It just was not possible. Her body was telling her otherwise. His face as he was trying to talk her into getting a blood test, was still so clear in her mind. If she closed her eyes, she could almost smell his scent, feel his warmth when he took her in his arms to reassure her.

 

Yvonne was in the kitchen washing the dishes she refused to place in the diswasher. She could see the garden and the play carpet where Neve and her Mom were spending time together. Yvonne smiled when she saw Neve trying to climb on the couch. Maeva’s eyes remained fixed and she didn’t respond to the baby. Yvonne wondered if she should intervene. Maeva turned her head directly to the couch at this instant. Yvonne was taken aback but smiled. Maeva took her daughter into her arms and holding Neve’s arm, she made her wave to Yvonne. Maeva smiled a little but her eyes had no sparkle.