Chapter 133

Chapter 133
Miles

Shit. She passed out. I picked her up, and took her back inside, and laid her down on the couch. Lana was about to wake her up, but I stopped her.

“We all know she’s not going to take this well. She’s going to lose her shit and break down,” I said, looking at them.
“Or she loses her shit and starts searching herself,” Lana said.
“How do we figure this out?” Freya asked quietly.

“Okay, I’ll make the official report on her behalf. I’ll get the authorities involved and have them start the search. Do you have the coordinates of where the jet went down?” Chris asked.
“Yes, I have it. I’ll follow you,” Eli said.
“Okay, take care of her, and we’ll handle it,” he said, walking out.

“Find him,” I heard her say. I turned to the couch, and she was awake, sitting up.
“I won’t believe he’s dead, not until I see his body. I don’t care what anyone says. He’s not dead, and I’ll keep searching for him until I find him,” she said.

I looked at the others, and they were looking at her. “Okay, well, keep looking for him,” Freya said, sitting beside her and holding her hands. By six that afternoon, the entire Havenwood knew what had happened, and an official report was launched, and the search began. When Daphne showed up, I motioned for her to be quiet. Sky was sleeping.

“What happened?” she asked, so I explained what we knew.
“Shit, how is she holding up?” she asked.
“Not good. She’s insistent that he isn’t dead, and she won’t stop searching for him,” I said with a sigh.
“What if she’s right?” Daphne asked.
“What do you mean?” I heard Liam ask from the doorway. Mathew and Mateo walked in also.

“Look, we all know how much Asher loves Sky and vice versa. What I mean is, when people love each other that deeply, they are connected. She’s not crying, she’s not screaming. She’s just calm and determined to find him, maybe because she feels it and she knows he’s not dead. What if he’s alive somewhere and hurt?” she asked, looking at us.

“I would know if something happened to Eli. I would feel it. Daphne has a point,” Olivia said, looking at us.

Skylar

I was awake with my eyes closed. I could hear them talking in hushed tones. He wasn’t dead; that much I knew. This was a game of hide-and-seek. Life was playing a game with me, and I wasn’t going to lose. I sat up and walked into the kitchen. “The jet exploded?” I asked.

“That’s what it seems like,” Mateo said.
“How? A few weeks ago, I remember he told me in passing the jet was getting serviced. So how would it explode?” I asked, looking at them.

“She’s right; even my jet was checked a few weeks ago because it is always in use. And something like that can’t just happen,” Liam said.
“Find out who the fuck was in that hangar while he was away,” I said, walking out.

When I walked into the living room, Eli and Chris were walking in. “Chris, how many helicopters does Azure have?”
“Two. Why?”
“Why? Because that jet didn’t explode on its own. We need two more helicopters, and we start searching. We start from the crash point outwards. Every search, we chart it and map off how far we searched,” I said, looking at them.

“Okay, I have one helicopter,” Eli said.
“I have one too,” Liam said.
“Okay then, round up security, and let’s start,” Lana said.
“Okay, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I said, heading up to our room.

I stood there for a minute. Where are you, Asher? I stood silent, praying that he was alive and safe. When I headed back down to the living room, Eli, Mathew, Mateo, Liam, Samuel, Leon, Miles, and Detective Bryson were standing around my table with a map open and laptops open. When Detective Bryson saw me, he came to me.

“Mrs. Rhys. Your friends have explained what you intend to do. It will be a hard task, but not impossible,” he said.
“I know, and I’m thankful that I have so many people helping me.”
“Okay then, you have four choppers. I’ll appoint four officers to accompany each individual for the search,” he said, and I nodded.

After they had all the details right, they all left. I wanted to go with them, but Miles and Olivia told me not to. I guess they were trying to avoid me hearing or seeing something firsthand. We were in the living room. I didn’t know what to do. Freya and Olivia took charge of making lunch. I honestly had no time to eat; food was the last thing on my mind. Time went by slowly, just dragging along. When they returned later that evening, it was a somber group.

“We found parts of the wreck; we found the body of Reid, the pilot,” Eli said, looking at me, and the thought of him dead crossed my mind for all of two seconds. Dinner that evening was quiet. We all picked at the food, not eating, not saying anything, just staring down.

“You all have lives to live, business to take care of, and families. I will handle Azure. I can do this on my own. All I need are the choppers. Once a month, we’ll resume the search, searching outwards. Don’t try stopping me. I won’t stop until I have a definite answer,” I said, looking at them.

“Okay, the 30th and the 31st, we’ll spend those two days every month searching,” Mateo said.
“Agreed,” Lana said, and the others nodded.

I let out the breath I was holding in because I didn’t know if they would have agreed or not. On Monday morning, when I walked into Azure, everyone looked at me, but I didn’t say anything. I headed up to my office. I called for a meeting with the board. When they showed up, Mark, Watson, and Paxton Sinclair came to me.

“Mrs. Rhys, we heard. You’ll find him,” Mark said, and I nodded. I told them exactly what happened, what we knew, and that business will continue as normal. After the meeting, Chris and I went over the projects Asher was working on. Every day was a struggle for me. I hardly slept, hardly ate; all I did was work and think about him.

When my birthday came, there was still no news of him. Detective Bryson contacted some of his friends, as he called them, to help out. I spent my birthday alone at home. I didn’t say anything to anyone, even Miles and Freya. My mother and father called me to wish me a happy birthday and say they were sorry, and that was it.