The Search
HARDIN'S POV
"Is she still there? Is she in the car?" I asked again, the words clawing their way out of my throat. I could barely hear myself over the sound of my own heartbeat.
A pause.
A beat too long.
Then, "Sir, we... she's..."
The words came broken. Strained.
My chest seized. "What?" I barked. "What the hell does that mean?"
Another pause.
My knuckles went white around the steering wheel. I swerved into the left lane, ignoring the blaring horn of a car I nearly sideswiped. I didn’t care. I couldn’t.
"Fucking answer me!" I roared.
The guard inhaled sharply. I heard wind through the receiver, fast footsteps—he was running.
Then, finally, he said it.
"Sir, there's no sign of her."
Silence.
A silence so loud, it felt like my ears had imploded.
I gripped the wheel tighter, the leather groaning under the pressure of my hands.
No sign of her?
"What the hell do you mean no sign of her?" My voice cracked. I barely recognized it.
"Her car’s here," he rushed out. "Driver’s side door is open. Keys are still in the ignition. But she’s gone, sir. The area’s empty."
Gone.
Gone?
My stomach turned.
I slammed my foot on the gas so hard the tires nearly lost traction.
I was ten minutes away—maybe less if I pushed it. I could already see the pine trees rising in the distance like spires guarding a secret. The sky had darkened more, the first drops of rain smacking against the windshield like warning shots.
"Don’t let anyone touch anything," I ordered. "Don’t move the car. Don’t disturb a goddamn thing until I get there."
"Yes, sir."
"And keep looking. She couldn’t have gone far. Check the woods. The riverbank. Every goddamn inch of that place."
"We’re on it, sir."
I hung up without another word and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat.
She was gone.
Ariana was gone.
The image of her flashed in my mind—those haunted eyes the last time I saw her, the way her lips trembled when she said she was fine. She wasn’t fine. She hadn’t been fine for weeks. And I—God, I should’ve seen this coming.
Everyone had a breaking point.
The trees blurred past me in streaks of green and black as I swerved off the highway and took the Old Pine exit. My headlights cut through the gathering gloom, illuminating the narrow road snaking through the woods.
Memories hit me like a brick wall.
Ariana, sitting on the hood of her car, laughing softly as the wind played with her hair.
Ariana, telling me this was the one place she could breathe.
Ariana, saying this place made her feel small in the best way.
And now—this was where she ran?
This place wasn’t peace anymore.
It was a battlefield.
I hit the gravel shoulder near the bridge and skidded to a stop.
The moment I threw the door open, the cold air punched me in the face. The rain had turned steady now, tapping against my shoulders and matting my hair down as I stalked toward the car parked near the edge.
Her car.
The guards were already there, flashlights scanning the area, combing the perimeter.
“Sir,” Roman said as he approached, but I shoved past him without a word.
I went straight to the car.
Driver’s side door wide open. Interior light on.
Her scent still lingered—lavender and something sweet.
The keys dangled from the ignition, swinging slightly.
Her phone was in the cup holder.
No bag. No jacket.
Nothing else.
Just a ghost trail.
A whisper.
I turned toward the woods and bellowed her name.
“Ariana!”
My voice echoed against the trees, then faded into the hush of rain and wind.
Nothing.
Not even a rustle in response.
“She couldn’t have gone far,” I said aloud, more to myself than to them. “She didn’t take her phone. She didn’t lock the car. She didn’t even take her coat.”
Roman stepped forward. “We’ve searched the bridge and part of the trail. No sign of anyone walking. No tracks that lead into the woods, either. But with the rain…” He trailed off.
The rain was washing everything away.
Washing her away.
I pushed past them again and ran toward the bridge.
The metal rails were slick under my palms as I gripped them and looked out over the river below. The water was angry. Churning.
Dark.
Fast.
I scanned the banks. The rocks. The trails that led down to the shoreline.
Nothing.
My hands tightened on the rail until they ached. My vision blurred—not from rain, but from panic. From raw, unfiltered fear clawing its way through every cell in my body.
This wasn’t just her running away from a fight.
This wasn’t about cooling off or needing space.
This was something else.
And I had no idea where to start.
“Fan out,” I shouted over my shoulder. “Search the waterline, every path, every goddamn crevice in this place.”
Roman nodded, already signaling the others.
I paced along the edge of the bridge, scanning for any sign of her. A piece of fabric. A footprint. Anything.
Instead, I found silence.
Too much silence.
The kind that settles after something breaks.
Or someone.
My heart was a wild animal in my chest. Restless. Ferocious. Desperate.
God, please don’t let me be too late.
I kept thinking about the last time we kissed.
The way her arms trembled around my neck.
The way she kept pulling away like she was afraid if she stayed too long, she’d shatter.
“She has to be nearby,” I muttered under my breath. “She wouldn’t just vanish.”
But the more I said it, the less I believed it.
I grabbed my phone again. Dialed her number even though I knew it would ring in the cup holder of her abandoned car.
Still, I needed to hear it.
To feel like I was doing something.
Her voicemail answered.
I hung up before it could finish and swore under my breath.
Where are you, baby?
What are you thinking?
What did I miss?
A shout echoed from the woods. I snapped my head in that direction.
One of the guards burst from the trees, breathless, soaked.
“Anything?” I called.
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
Not yet.
Two of the cruelest words in the English language.
I looked up at the trees swaying under the weight of the wind.
She could be out there, alone, cold, scared.
Or worse…
No.
I wouldn’t let myself go there.
I couldn’t afford to break right now. Not until I had her in my arms.
Not until I knew she was alive.
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