192: TOGETHER WE SEARCH LUKE’S POV “Of course, I heard. Your building was destroyed and burned down. I’m sorry for your loss, man.” Andre tapped me on the shoulder. “Yeah, it’s not just that,” I said in hushed tones. “What else? Did you lose someone close to you?” I sighed. “Yes. We weren’t that close, but he was my blood.” “And who’s that exactly?” I looked Andre in the eyes. “My son.” “Your son? Hold on a minute. Are you talking about Luke?” “Of course,” I answered, nodding. “I am talking about Lukel.” “Ariel finally told you everything.” “Indeed, she did.” “And wait right there. Are you trying to tell me that Luke is dead?” Andre continued with his questions. “Yes, he’s dead. It’s really painful, I know.” “How? And how come I wasn’t informed about this?” “I don’t know. You’ve probably been busy. I can tell that your whole family knows this.” “And how are you so sure about that?” “I’m not too sure. But you can ask them right now.” Andre shook his head, sighing. “You’re right. I did spend the night at a hotel yesterday. I got caught up with so much stuff. I’ve got a lot of projects at hand right now.” “You don’t have to tell me that.” “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t have to tell you that. But what about Ariel? If Lukel is dead, where is she? And what about Janice? Is she still alive?” “That I do not know,” I replied. “This isn’t good at all. Lukel, gone?” I could see the pain in Andre’s eyes. He stood still for a minute, his mind far from here. “Ariel must be so broken right now.” “I don’t know where she is.” 192 TOGETHER WE SEARCH 2/4 Andre set his eyes on me, “What do you mean you don’t know where she is? She is your wife, Luke. Your wife.” “Look, I know it’s not the perfect time to talk about this, but I believe you have an idea of my relationship with Ariel.” “So what? Both of you got married again. She came back to you. You guys were supposed to fix things with each other.” “If you were in my shoes, you’d probably understand my whole part of the story. But I’m not here to talk about that. I’m not here to argue, either. I came to ask if you’ve seen Ariel.” “Well, now you know she isn’t with me, and I have no idea where she is.” “I wasn’t done talking,” I told him, and I could tell he had to adjust his attitude. “Now, since you and I don’t know where Ariel is, why don’t we work together and search for her?” “Really? I have a lot of projects at hand right now, and.” “Isn’t Ariel worth more than those projects?” I cut him off. He gave me a cold stare. “I wasn’t done talking. But if I’m going to have to ditch all these meetings just for Ariel, then so be it.” “Okay, we got to get going now,” I told him and turned around. “But you have to promise me one thing.” I turned to him. “And what’s that?” “You’re going to have to love Ariel and treat her right. No heartbreaks or any painful sh*t. Got that?” I became quiet, but I turned around, not looking back at him. “We better get going. There’s no time to waste.” I walked away. I went to my car and waited for André there for a few minutes. I thought maybe he had already changed his mind about the search. But just when I was about to start my car, he opened the door and entered. “You took quite a long time there, didn’t you?” I started the car. “I had to make sure things would go smoothly at the company while I’m not around. No, Ariel, too. But I know I have people that I can count on.” “Yeah, I don’t care about that. You got your seatbelt on?” “Do I appear to be the type of child who needs to be reminded to fasten their seatbelt?” I wore a confused face. “Say what now?” “It’s nothing; just start driving.” His tone was as fast as lightning. Anyway, I began to drive. Minutes passed, and with me and Andre speeding through the streets of New Haven, the tension in 192: TOGETHER WE SEARCH the car was palpable. My knuckles were white as I gripped the steering wheel, my eyes scanning everywhere for any sign of her. “Where do you think she could be?” Andre asked, his voice tight with worry. 314 “I don’t know, man,” I replied, my jaw set. “But we have to keep looking. She could be in trouble.” We drove through the city, checking all the different areas–cafés, bookstores, the park- just trying to get a positive result. But there was no sign of her. As we reached the outskirts of town, we decided to head towards the woods. The shadows of the trees were right there while we drove deeper into the woods. My heart pounded in my chest as we searched, calling out Ariel’s name. “Maybe she’s not here,” Andre told me, his voice barely above a whisper. “We have to keep looking. She could be out here somewhere.” We drove deeper into the woods, the trees closing in around us like silent sentinels. The air was thick with the smell of earth and pine, and the only sound was the crunch of gravel beneath the tires. And when we emerged from the woods, we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields and empty space. The silence was deafening, broken only by the distant hum of crickets. “We have to find her. We can’t stop. We can’t give up right now,” I said, letting out a sígh. We drove on, searching every corner of the desolate landscape, but there was no sign of Ariel. The minutes stretched into hours, and still, we found nothing Exhausted and defeated, we finally pulled over to the side of the road, the weight of our failure heavy upon us. I leaned back in my seat, my hands shaking with emotion. “We’ll find her, Luke. We just have to keep looking,” André told me with a gentle voice. I nodded, exhaling deeply, still leaning back in my seat. “I don’t even know what to do right now. I can’t tell if she’s still alive or if she’s” “Don’t say that.” Andre cut me off. “Why are you going to think like that, huh? Ariel is not dead. She’s probably somewhere, just going through the pain.” “I feel so sorry for her. I feel bad for everything. And I don’t know, man, but I got to hold myself responsible for this.” “Why?” Andre asked, looking at me. “You’re not the one who killed her son.” “I didn’t, but it’s really just… ugh, forget it.” “What’s that over there?” Andre asked, and I looked at where his eyes were fixed. It was a car stationed at a bridge not too far from us. And that car looked really familiar; it looked like Ariel’s. “It looks like Ariel’s car,” Andre told me, looking pretty well at the vehicle. “Come on, what are you waiting for? Let’s get closer.” I drove further, and indeed, it was Ariel’s car. The front doors were open, but no one was inside.
