The alarm blared at the usual 6.15 a.m., as I struggled to hit the snooze, indicating another mundane day of the usual nothing struggle. Honestly, as a 42-year-old trying to balance a family of 4, life was just dragging on . Working as a General Manager for an automotive firm was no sweet task either, with gruelling weekdays and exhausting weekends . Actually, come to think of it, the family was stuck in a rut, and I needed to break free of this.

I mean, I had it all on paper, right? I had married my high school sweetheart, I had 2 beautiful kids, a home, and a nice car, what else could a man ask for? Well, I wish I had the answer to that, but, yes, something is missing and I am not quite able to point out what. I still remember my college days, we were an inseparable trio, Me, Sharon (my wife), and Bob. We even had a sign-off line that we would say "Hasta la Vista baby", well it was the 90s and the Terminator was all the rage. Life was full of motorcycles, beaches, and fun, there wouldn't be a day that the three of us wouldn't meet up, even the holidays. Me and Sharon were never even a couple back then, we were just pure friends, all 3 of us, but, like they say, all good things must come to an end, right? That end for us was our convocation ceremony. That was the last day the three of us laughed and cried together. Bob, being the smartest one, was picked on campus for a huge Silicon Valley giant, and had to join immediately. He was flying out the next day, leaving just me and Sharon to ourselves.That night was the toughest for us, I clearly remember though it's been 15 years, and not one of us said a word except when he was leaving "Hasta la Vista baby", the last time physically. Thee next day he was gone, and Sharon would often meet up and speculate about our life ahead and missing Bob. Initially we would speak with Bob once a week and update each other about or daily lives, then as life set in, that reduced, it's been over 5 years now haven't heard from him.

I always had a thing for cars and joined an automotive company as a floor engineer and quickly started climbing up the stairs. Sharon and I, meanwhile decided that we had feelings for each other beyond friendship, we got married soon after. Sharon too was a senior executive in a law firm, and together we got ourselves a nice apartment and decided to start a family. The day I held my firstborn- Emily in my hands, was one of the happiest days in my life. Her smile was like the first rays of the morning sun and her laughter was the sounds of birds singing to greet each other. My second born, Jason a year later made me stronger as a father. Soon enough we hit the straps and me and Sharon settled down into our roles. Everything was smooth, I was making progress on my professional front, as was Sharon, kids moved from primary to secondary school, and everything was smooth, but, somewhere along the way, me and Sharon drifted apart. Maybe it was the mundane schedule or the everyday schedule, we had just become walking timetables. Yes, we would go for weekend trips and occasional outings, but that would be too rhetorical, and wouldn't help in improving things between us. Thee love was always there, but we were like 2 canoes in an ocean, letting the waves drift us apart, and we could see that, but couldn't do anything about it.

It was one of those office parties, and I was out with my colleagues, the usual drinks and high talks . After the 4th drink, started a round of blabbering and boasting. It seemed all the guys had at least one gf despite being married or committed. Honestly, that really wasn't an achievement for me, and I would never think of doing that to Sharon, but what started as a bit of a big talk soon snowballed into picking the odd one out, and that had to be me, the straight-faced Liam Jacks. This wasn't the first time I was targeted for not "enjoying life" which according to them meant having an extramarital affair or two. But, this time it was different, I, for some reason was open to listening them out, even considering the suggestion that maybe dating someone would bring some much-needed spark to my mundane married life, suddenly, I was in, I needed this, I needed to do something different and stir up the waters. Bill, a close friend/confidante suggested I download the dating app Tinder and try my luck. Initially, the first few weeks, it was disappointing, then one Tuesday afternoon, I received a "right click".My heart was racing, as I checked out the profile, "Barbara Bancroft" It said, 36 years of age, single, and 8 miles away.

I was about to type Hi, when I asked myself, "Liam, are you sure about this?", but hell yeah, I was ready for this, I wanted a rush of adrenaline, I wanted to wake up every morning, looking forward to seeing someone, I was missing all that.I got an immediate reply, I like your smile, Barbara wrote in response to You have beautiful dreamy eyes. After a few days of chatting, we decided to meet up that weekend. It was a quaint pizza place when I first saw her, I mean she wasn't breathtaking or anything, but she was ......different.......Can't really put it in words, and we immediately hit it off. Back of my mind, I knew, this wasn't right, but so isn't smoking, but we like the high, right? Then the frequency of meetings increased, we used to go out on the weekends often giving the reason for official meetings at home. I could tell we were enjoying each other's company, there were things which I do not know why but I would hesitate to share with Sharon, those would just flow out with Barbara, it was that easy and comfortable, and that was what was concerning, I still love Sharon, she was and always would be my first true love. I needed time to figure this out. I had shared almost all the details of my life with Barbara, and she was Ok with it all, but come to think of it now, the only things I knew about her were that she was divorced and didn't have any kids. I also never feared, what if Sharon would find out, I just thought she didn't care anymore.

It was 4 months since I met Barbara, and I was engrossed studying this 80s AMG Hammer which had come in yesterday for some upgrades and fixing when my phone rang, it was Sharon, and she seemed panicked, Liam, Jason's missing. Initially, I was concerned about my 8-year-old Jason, as he would sometimes chug along to his friend's house a few blocks away whist returning from school without informing us. But, Sharon had checked everywhere, and there was no news, I rushed home. Panic was beginning to set in me too, It was almost 4 hrs post-school and no one had heard from Jason. I tried to call Barbara to talk to her, but her cell wasn't reachable. As soon as I got home, Sharon rushed out and gave me the tightest hug she had given me in ages, Liam, please find our son she sobbed. I felt a sense of love and responsibility creep over all immediately, I too hugged her and said don't you worry, I am bringing Liam back. The police were already on the job and his photos were being circulated everywhere, that when my phone rang at 8.35 pm. At first, no one spoke, then some static, and then a voice spoke, Hello Liam, what a lovely son you have, do you wanna say Hi, I felt my hands and feet go cold, and my hands started trembling on thinking my 8 yr old is being held by some disturbed individual somewhere far away and I could do nothing, but I tried to keep my composure. What do you want I blurted, there were a few seconds of silence again, again some static,c and the call was disconnected. I was distraught, the police were there and they said he would call again, and this time to talk with him much longer and keep him engaged, but somehow, I was fearing, one false move and........!!

Barbara, where is she when I need her the most, I would often excuse myself and catch a corner and try to call her, but she was just not reachable. Just about that time, I received a message, it was from the bank, 2 million, almost all of my savings had been withdrawn from my account.$50K from another, almost all my money was gone. I tried to call the banks to report this, but just about then, I received an email with the subject: Honey Honey, which had some intimate pics between me and Barbara, and written, say Hi to Sharon...............Y ours, Barbara. I almost collapsed, why is this happening, why is all of this happening to me all at once, my whole world is crashing down. I had to hold myself together, I can't let this happen, too much was at stake. Too many questions were popping up, who was Barbara, how or why is she involved in this, have I been...Honey trapped??? At that moment, Clarke Dunhill, my boss at Aurica motors called, Liam, we have received an anonymous mail stating proof that you are involved in leaking some company secrets to our rivals.Y ou are a good employee and friend, but this is too concerning, I will have to suspend you effective immediately.

What just hit me.................................... In a matter of minutes, everything that I ever cared about and loved was being taken away from me, why would Barbara do this, I had only loved her, and expected only that from her . All this was because of a moment of weakness from my end, no one else was to blame. What do I do, who do I confide in? I tried to look for Sharon, I needed to hold her hand and confide in her, accept my guilt, say sorry, so sorry to have messed this up so big, but she was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps she needed to calm herself and must have retired to her room. With all the goings on and police around my house, I just lit up a cigarette, thinking to myself, Barbara will pay for this. I immediately got out, started my car and drove 15 minutes to Barbara's home, where, obviously i couldn't find her. I rang up her neighbors, and an old lady answered, I said Hi, I am a friend of Barbara's, any idea, where I might find her? The old lady looked quizzically at my face, Barabara??? she said, I don't know of any Barbara around here.I pointed to her room and said, that woman that loves there. She looked in the direction and said, ohh her, I have seen her but once, that room was just rented out 4 months ago she said. Disappointed, I headed home, not knowing what to do, my only beacon of hope was Emily, my 11-year-old daughter. As I reached home, I could see that most of the police cars were gone except one and a couple of cops remained. I went to Emily's room, but couldn't find her. I noticed a small note on her table, it said, I am with Mom, don't worry Dad, love and hugs. I was like, what the hell is happening to me and with me???? Where were Sharon and Emily, where's Jason, Where's my money and job gone??? I had a friend Alan, who worked with the cops, i asked him if he could do me a favor and look up a number for me. He said it would be difficult but he would try. He called me back in a couple of hours.

Liam, said, listen, this number was procured using some fake IDs and docs, there is no person by the name of "Barbara Bancroft", checked the social networking sites, and everything, all the profiles were deleted and taken off this morning. Not a trace of her. I was being dealt with blows constantly, one after the other,r and from all directions. But, he said, I can do something, I can tell you the area that the number was last active from, and the last few numbers she had called. That would be a great help, thanks Alan, sure gimme a few minutes Alan said. For the next few minutes, my head was reeling with all the possibilities, what if Barbara was some kinda deranged criminal who wanted to destroy me, what if she was a part of an online scam, where they lure men and take everything from them, where would my family be right now, what's happening. Suddenly the phone rang again, it was Alan, he said, Liam, this might sound strange to you, but the last location that the phone was active was Wells County, block 24, that's where you stay, and the last few numbers called include 2 numbers only, and one of them is yours, and I am trying to figure out who the other number is registered under, this might take some more time. You try to catch some shut-eye, I know this is gonna be difficult for you, but please try, I will text you as soon as I figure this other person out. Yes, It was truly difficult to even lie down in my bed with all that had happened to me in the last few hours, everything was snatched from me. I think I must've fallen asleep at 6 am, I was woken up by a text from Alan that read:

"Liam, Barbara's number was procured using your wife- Sharon's IDs. The other number belonged to a man whose ID we haven't yet been able to ascertain, but the strange fact is Sharon would constantly text this man, and they would end each conversation with - Hasta la Vista baby".............