Part 2End Of The Search

The search and rescue team dragged their nets along the riverbanks.

Seth and a few mutual friends split up to search the nearby pine woods, abandoned industrial lots, and surrounding countryside.

Tori stayed glued to my side.

As dawn began to break, a text notification lit up her screen. Her face turned pale in an instant.

I grabbed her wrist immediately. "Is there news about Jonah?"

She reflexively slammed her screen off before forcing a strained, reassuring smile. "Someone said they saw a guy who looked just like him near the East Pier. I already sent Mark over to check it out."

I turned to go there right away, but Tori pulled me back. "You haven't eaten a bite all night, Mindy. Going there in this state will just slow things down. Mark knows Jonah well, he'll call us the second he confirms it."

I refused to sit around waiting. In the end, Tori had no choice but to drive me to East Pier herself.

We searched the docks for three excruciating hours.

The so-called eyewitness was long gone, and the security footage nearby only picked up a grainy figure in a black jacket walking away from the camera.

You couldn't make out his face at all.

I stood in the security room, staring at the blurry screen, playing the clip over and over.

The gait was wrong. The height was off by an inch or two.

It wasn't Jonah.

Tori let out a heavy, sympathetic sigh and guided me out by the arm. "Don't lose heart, Mindy. At least it proves someone fitting his description is out there. Maybe Jonah really is safe."

I gave a numb nod.

By the time we returned to the riverbank, my future mother-in-law had woken up from her dizzy spell. With bloodshot eyes, she handed me a thermos cup of warm water. "Mindy, Jonah is so blessed to have you. Don't you worry, when he gets back, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind for putting you through this."

I took the warm cup, and tears spilled over my eyelashes without warning.