Sleeping With The CEO
Chapter 346: A Possibility

Chapter 346: A Possibility

Cassandra Haven did not mind the wear and tear that came with age. As far as she was concerned, those were battle scars that showed that she was resilient.

What was the occasional joint ache and back pain when compared to all of the experiences that she’d had throughout the years? But even so, being older really did have its disadvantages.

If it were up to her, Cassandra would have been searching for eternity if she had to. She never would have given up on trying to find her son and Emily.

But her body was far too old for her to push it past certain limits. And she had finally reached that limit. She wanted to deny it, to keep going. But her body’s protests were too great for her to keep ignoring them.

Looking over at Jane, she realized that the other woman, even if she was staying quiet about it. Was also having the same difficulties as Cassandra.

"We have to head back,"Cassandra called out. Jane put her binoculars on her lap and turnedto Cassandra.

"We can’t just give up. Cassie,we have to keep looking. They are out there. They need us," Her friend said. The determination in her voice was admirable.

But there was no disguising the way her shoulders slumped and how pale she looked. And that was before taking in the goose flesh over her skin. Jane was tired and she was cold. In fact, Cassandra would wager that the only thing keeping her upright was maternal love.

Without it, she would have slumped over and passed out long ago. Reaching out for her friend, Cassandra gave her hand a gentle pat. Then she resumed trying to talk sense into her.

"Jane, we cannot stay out here. If we do, we will not be helping. We will be hindering. What if we spot them, but we are too tired to realize that it’s them, and just fly right over them when they need us," That one seemed to get through.

Jane finally nodding her agreement.

Unlike the previous times when they had returned to land, and then gone back out to search. This time they would be staying for good. They just did not have it in them anymore. But even so, when the pilot turned the chopper around. The two of them were still looking down hoping to catch a glimpse of their children they had no such luck.

Their return to camp was an uneventful one.

The teams were still out there searching and Jane and Cassandra were receiving updates from them on a regular basis. But it was not the one update that they wanted to hear. No one had yet to come back and say that they had found their children.

Instead, it was more and more people coming in and saying the same thing over and over again. ’We will keep looking, but now we will be changing direction. We will keep searching, but now we will be focusing on this particular area.’ Those were the things that they said instead of the words that Cassandra wanted to hear.

But even so she did not get angry at them. Instead she sat down, a shock blanket thrown over her, a cup of coffee in her hands. One that she was using to warm her fingers instead of drinking it.

The people out there searching might not have found anything, but they were still looking. No one had come back yet and said ’we have not found anything and we believe that we have exhausted every single resource we have. If we haven’t found them now, we never will. So we are calling off the search.’ Those dreaded words had not come in yet. So Cassandra was still holding on to hope.

But even with all of that hope. There was still another possibility. One that Cassandra did not like thinking about. The fact that their children could be found, but instead of being retrieved alive and well.

She and Jane could be getting back the bodies of their children, cold and lifeless. As had been the case with their husbands. It was a terrifying thought, one that she hoped would not come to be, but it had a higher possibility of becoming reality. The longer time went on with Emily and Derek missing.

If her son died out there, Cassandra would have loved to say that she had no idea what she would do with herself. That she was too emotional to think that far. But that would have been a lie. She knew exactly what she would do.

Staring at the side of the tent without really seeing it. She bumped her shoulder against James and the other woman slowly turned to her.

A blank look on her face as she too cradled a cup of coffee in her hands without drinking it.

"Do you think they will find them?" Cassandra asked and Jane nodded slowly, reaching up to wipe a single tear. Cassandra stared at her friend. Then she decided to voice what she was thinking.

"If they drag their bodies out of there, I do not think I will have much time left on this earth either," Anyone else would have already been shaking their head. Offering her empty reassurances. But Jane did not do that. She was in the same situation. She understood.

"Years ago we stayed strong because of them, and even now I think that the only reason we are still standing is for their sake. Without them, I too have no idea what I would be doing here anymore. I’m in the same boat as you," Jane said, raising up her mug, and the two of them clinked their cups together. Then they looked at each other in silent understanding.

If anyone were to overhear their conversation. Then Cassandra was certain that they would find themselves in the hospital being given 24-hour supervision.

But it was just the two of them in the tent, and that allowed them to share their dark thoughts without fear.