Chapter 57
Chapter 57
Ariel groaned and rolled her eyes as Micheal took the seat next to her.
“No one said you could sit there,” she snapped.
“But the seat was empty,” Micheal defended himself.
Freya laughed.
Micheal greeted Frank and then greeted Freya.
“So, what are you doing here?”
“Don’t you believe in coincidence? I happened to stumble upon you here,” Micheal replied.
Ariel scoffed, taking her chicken soup. “You don’t expect anyone to believe that, right?”
“But your friend does.” He looked at Freya, who was chuckling with her head resting on Frank.
“Frank has those coincidences a lot of times. Don’t argue it, Ariel. It’s all just coincidence.”
“Thank you, Freya,” Micheal smiled.
Ariel sighed.
He clapped his hands, and the waitress brought the menu, then afterward his order.
“You were saying something about a club fire? I thought it was caused by the murderer who killed the politician.”
Freya shook her head, wiping her mouth with a tissue.
“No, they aren’t even related in the slightest.”
“So how come the police weren’t informed?” Ariel turned to Micheal, confused. His focus was on his food.
She rolled her eyes and looked back at Freya.
“I think it’s related to girls at the club being missing. My company wants to be the first to bring the case on air, so you won’t hear much of it around,” Freya shrugged.
Frank held her arm. “Look, babe, I already told you, it’s really dangerous. We’re getting married next week. Why can’t they ask someone else to do it?” Worry filled his voice.
Freya gave him a reassuring smile. “I’ll be fine. You just have to trust me. I’ll just make a little investigation and work with the police, that’s all,” she said pleadingly.
Frank sighed.
Ariel reached out and touched Freya’s hand. “Frank is right. It’s really dangerous for you, Freya.”
Freya laughed. “Not you again, Ariel.”
“I’m serious,” Ariel said.
“Alright, don’t worry. I promise I’ll only work with the police, that’s all. I won’t go anywhere dangerous or make any attempt to track the murderer.”
“Huh?” Ariel stared at her, stunned. “Were you planning on going after the killer?”
Freya replied, “I was joking on that one.”
They all laughed.
They continued eating, talking about their college days and everything they had missed.
It was getting really late, and the lounge was almost empty.
Ariel stood up—and swayed. Micheal quickly caught her.
“Get your hands off me,” she mumbled.
“She can be really crazy when drunk,” Freya said.
“I’ve seen enough of it,” Micheal admitted.
Freya laughed. She stood with Frank.
“Alright, good night.” Freya walked to Ariel and kissed her cheek. “Goodnight, Ari.”
Ariel muttered something inaudible in return.
Micheal said the final goodbye, and they all departed.
The next morning, Ariel groaned as sunlight hit her face. She squinted and pulled the blanket over her head.
Someone yanked it away. Annoyed, she opened her eyes—Micheal stood in front of her.
“What the hell are you doing in my bed?” She quickly sat up. Then it hit her. “I drank again.”
Micheal nodded. He tossed her phone toward her. “You’ve been getting phone calls. And get up, it’s morning.”
Ariel picked up her phone. Fifteen missed calls.
“What? Who calls that much? It’s still morning.” She yawned, then noticed a text:
#Good morning, it’s Frank. Has Freya called you? She left this morning saying she needed to go to the station and promised to call when she got there, but it’s been two hours. She hasn’t called back and she’s not picking up either. Please, if she contacts you, let me know.#
Ariel’s brows furrowed. She checked the time it was sent.
“An hour ago! Fuck, I didn’t even realize it’s ten already.”
She rushed out of the room with a toothbrush in hand.
After rinsing her mouth, she came back out, hastily tying a robe around her chest—it belonged to Micheal, but she didn’t care.
“Where are you rushing to? Was it Mrs. Jones who called?” Micheal asked as he walked in, finding Ariel scrambling for her clothes.
“No, it was Frank. He messaged two hours ago. He said he can’t reach Freya.”
“Have you tried calling her?”
“Yeah.” Ariel exhaled sharply. “She’s not picking. And that’s very unlike her.” She was breathing hard as she dressed.
“Alright, calm down. Let’s call Frank first and hear from him. I’m sure she’s safe.”
Ariel inhaled slowly and nodded. Micheal dialed Frank’s number. He answered immediately.
“I just got a call from the station. They said they’ve found her,” Frank said.
Ariel let out the breath she’d been holding. “We’ll come meet you there. Send me the address. I just hope she’s okay.”
“She will,” Micheal assured her, pulling her close and kissing her forehead.
They arrived at the station and met Frank waiting.
“What happened? Where is she?”
Frank looked just as confused. “They told me to wait here.”
Ariel showed her ID to the officers. They told her to follow them. She asked Frank to wait outside.
Frank grew restless, and Micheal tried to calm him.
Ariel entered the room the officers led her to. A body lay on a table, covered in leather. One officer gestured, and the other lifted the cover.
Ariel immediately asked them to close it.
“That’s not her.” Ariel shook her head. “She only came yesterday and left for the station this morning.” Her voice cracked. “She was supposed to get married next week.”
“We’re sorry, ma’am,” one officer said softly. “When we found her, the murderer had already fled the scene.”
“What do you mean when you found her?” Ariel pushed the officer’s chest, tears streaming. “She was fine yesterday! Why would anyone want to kill her?”
Micheal rushed inside.
“What’s going on?”
Ariel clung to him. “Tell them, Mike. You saw her yesterday too. She was fine.” Tears soaked her cheeks as she gripped his shirt.
“Yes, I did. But you have to calm down and tell me what happened, okay?”
Ariel shook her head, sobbing into his chest.
Micheal looked at the officers’ somber faces, then at the body.
“Oh no,” he muttered, disbelief settling in. He held Ariel tighter while she wept.
Frank couldn’t wait any longer. He pushed past the officers and stormed in.
“Where’s my fiancée? Where is Freya?” he yelled.
The officers uncovered the body again.
Frank almost collapsed. His breath vanished. He recognized her hands first, the scar from the burn. Her face was unrecognizable, beaten until it was just blood and shattered bone.
His eyes welled as memories of her laughter flashed— her hand burned while making pancakes for him.
Frank lunged at one of the officers. “What did you do to her? She said she was coming to the station! Why am I staring at an unrecognizable body?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the officer said. “We saw her bag next to her. That’s how we contacted her family.”
“No! Bring her back!” Frank screamed.
Officers restrained him, trying to drag him out.
Ariel, on the other hand, suddenly collapsed in Micheal’s arms. The last thing she heard was Micheal shouting her name.
“Ariel!”