The wide steel double doors opened toward Julian, revealing the inner sanctum of the ASF ComCentral. Stepping inside, Julian heard the rants and screams of a man in obvious emotional pain. Several agents stood rigid near the door, rooted to their positions, eyes locked on the man stalking back and forth.
Julian glanced over at Sunny, who gave him a quizzical look back.
Pushing past one of the agents, Julian stepped inside and watched the man berating another agent. A man he recognized.
Caleb Olivier.
What the hell was Mena’s father doing here? Why wasn’t he at the hospital in Wajir?
Julian spotted Mena’s mother, Dee, sitting in a chair near a computer monitor across the room. Her face splotchy and red as tears dripped off the end of her nose. She was the spitting image of her only child with the same mesmerizing brown eyes and stunning smile. Her skin was several shades lighter than Mena’s and most would mistake her for Mena’s older sister rather than her mother.
“You are incompetent and you are liars!” Caleb screamed at Agent Betts, standing stoic near a row of monitors displaying changing screens of arid desert lands. Caleb stalked over to another agent standing near the path to Reggie’s office. He pointed his finger at the man’s face as he continued, “That poor woman’s family is still clueless about what happened to their child. Dee and I have wasted hours praying over a woman who isn’t our daughter! You think ‘I’m sorry’ is good enough for the hell you’ve put us through?”
“Sir, we have alerted Chief Agent Kamau and he is on his way back to headquarters to speak to you about this situation. Can I ask you to please calm down and have a seat while we wait for him to return?” Agent Betts asked.
“Calm down? Have a seat? You didn’t lose my luggage. You lost my daughter!” Caleb screamed, as he turned slowly, staring daggers at each agent he made eye contact with. “Why are you just sitting around here? Get out there and find Mena!”
“Mr. Olivier. We must wait until Chief Agent Kamau returns to be briefed on these developments before we proceed to reinstitute the search for Mena,” Agent Betts tried to explain.
“Reinstitute the search?” Sunny whispered.
Julian’s mind was reeling.
The woman at the hospital wasn’t Mena.
She was still out there. But where?
“What the hell happened?” Julian asked. He stepped around the agents and walked over to Agent Betts.
Caleb paused mid-sentence and turned to glare at Julian. “It’s about damn time you got here! That woman going through all those surgeries at the hospital is not Mena. She’s not my daughter. The nurse came over about four hours after we’d arrived acting real nervous, explaining that Mena had lost so much blood and they were running low on her blood type.”
Dee stood from her chair and walked over to stand between Agent Betts, Julian, Sunny, and Caleb, then said, “Julian, they wanted us to give blood and of course we were willing to, but then the nurse said that Mena’s blood type was so rare, O negative, and the hospital didn’t have much of that blood left in inventory.”
“Mena’s not O negative. She’s A like me,” Julian said, frowning.
“Like me and her mother! That’s how we knew that poor woman was not our daughter!” Caleb exploded.
“What if we don’t find her because everybody stopped looking? What if we never find her?” Dee asked, her words soft and haunted by the fears she likely never wanted to express.
“What happened?” Julian asked Agent Betts.
“None of this is making any sense. How did the mix-up occur?” Sunny asked.
“Don’t say another word,” Reggie’s voice boomed as he stormed into the room, flanked by four other agents. Reggie waved a hand, sending the four agents through the room to regain order and issue new directions to the team.
Walking over to Dee and Caleb, Reggie said, “I’ve been apprised of the mistaken identity of the female patient at the Wajir hospital. I cannot express to you how awful I feel about the stress you’ve endured today, thinking that Mena was in such a horrible condition. Please accept my deepest regrets and rest assured that my team will be re-evaluating our efforts to find your daughter.”
Turning to Sunny, Reggie said, “In my office. Now.”
Julian watched as Sunny bristled under the direct command.
Dee looked away, swiping a tear as it fell from her eyes.
Caleb glanced at Dee and his features softened as he looped his arm in hers. Pointing a finger at Julian, he said, “Don’t you let them go looking for our daughter without you. These fools couldn’t find their nose on their face. You and your team saved Wangari Irungu and you are the only one I trust to get out there and actually bring my daughter back home!”
Dee’s hopeful eyes looked up at Julian. Eyes so similar to Mena’s staring back at him.
“Trust me, with or without Reggie’s team, I will find Mena,” Julian said. “Why don’t the two of you go wait in the conference room and I’ll let you know as soon as we have a plan.”
