Ranita’s heart felt like it had been split open. Her heart was racing uncontrollably, and her blood felt like it had turned to ice.
“Ranita! Ranita!” Steve’s voice called out to her, choked with emotion. “The amusement park staff and I are looking for him, and we’ve already called the police.”
Ranita rushed to the amusement park.
It was already 4 p. m., and Ranita ran until she found Steve. She anxiously asked, “Dr. Pearson, where is Ayaan? Have you found him?”
Steve looked dejected as he held onto Ranita. “We’ve searched the entire amusement park but haven’t found him yet.”
“What about surveillance footage? Don’t they have cameras?” Ranita grabbed onto Steve’s arm tightly; she needed a good answer from him.
But Steve’s expression grew worse. “I’m sorry… Ayaan is still missing,” he said in a low voice.
“Ayaan is okay… Ayaan is okay…” Tears streamed down Ranita’s face uncontrollably; she couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to Ayaan.
“Ranita! Please calm down!” Steve hugged her tightly while feeling consumed by guilt inside himself. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have brought Ayaan here today; I should have taken him back instead… I’m so sorry…”
Even someone as composed as Steve had tears in his eyes now.
After venting all of their emotions, Ranita forced herself to calm down and asked, “What do we know right now?”
“We have checked the surveillance footage, but it doesn’t cover the entire area. There are some blind spots in the monitoring. As for the exit, the surveillance at a side door is currently under maintenance, so we cannot determine if Ayaan was taken out.”
“I have asked a friend to check the surveillance cameras on the city roads,” Steve added.
Pausing for a moment, Steve continued, “There is also a possibility that Ayaan hasn’t left the amusement park. Because the security guard found Ayaan’s shoe by the lake… I’m afraid…”
They were afraid that Ayaan might have fallen into the water!
“No, no, no… that can’t be…” Ranita’s head started to spin. “Ayaan is very well-behaved. He wouldn’t go to the lakeside on his own!”
The amusement park was large, and they didn’t have enough manpower at the moment.
They had already reported to the police, but the authorities were arrogant and unreasonable. Only two people had come so far to understand the situation. Ranita felt that they couldn’t rely on these people!
Ranita and Steve split up to search. Ranita kept dialing Ayaan’s phone watch, but it remained unreachable!
As the sky grew dark, Ranita collapsed to the ground, unable to catch her breath.
Ayaan, where are you?
“Ayaan! Please come out!” Ranita felt desperate. She couldn’t believe they couldn’t find him, but he was nowhere to be found.
As the night deepened, everyone began to feel exhausted.
The amusement park staff negotiated with Steve. Most of their employees needed to rest, and the subsequent matters would have to rely on the police.
“You can’t do this! Finding the child as soon as possible is crucial for his safety…” Ranita pleaded.
“Mr. Pearson, Miss Bowman, we understand how you feel. We have searched every corner. Either the child fell into the lake, in which case he wouldn’t have survived for this long, or someone took him out of the amusement park. If he was taken out, it would be best for you to gather more people to search. Perhaps there is still a chance…” the amusement park manager apologized. “We are deeply sorry for this incident, but our employees need rest!”