"I'm glad you're doing okay. I don't know how I can ever repay you. There's a bottle of old bourbon in the cellar. Great talking to you as always, silly!" He hung up.
"Hey. I was wondering if you're free this Friday evening, let's go to a good place", Zelda said.
"Um, I'll check my schedule and let you know. I'm falling behind on work. Got a lot to do. Since the Mc.Kenzie issue has brought a lot of homicides, I'm pulling an all-nighter even today", I replied.
He asked, "So who were you talking to just now? Your face looked pretty intense. Not that I was spying on you, I saw you sweating as you prepared for your response"
"I don't mind. That was my dad. He's always calling on weekends nowadays to see how I'm doing. Nothing to worry about", I answered him.
*Flashlight turns on and off*
"Crap! We're seriously not stuck here. When was the last time you did your car maintenance?"
"Don't snap at me Alex! It's not my fault that this stupid car stopped moving. Besides, you were the one who wanted to take the "forest way". Great! Now we're in the middle of the jungle and it's about to get dark", Samriddhi yelled.
Zelda said angrily, "Would you guys for one minute stop fighting? We need help. Everybody! Try your cellphones and find network"
"This won't be easy. Guess we're gonna spend the night here. In the car", I said.
"You can't be kidding me!"
"Well at least we won't have to starve for the whole night. Luckily, I have some briskets, roasted potatoes and carrots I packed for myself. Welcome y'all", Samriddhi said.
Zelda added, "I've brought beer. Guess that's it then. We're stuck here and we have no place to go. Here's a question. Uh, How much can you all run? Like you know, if a bear attacks us"
"Good lord, calm down. There are no animals here. This area is too close to the nearby village but still far from walking distance so the conservation committee has taken all the wild animals", I replied to him.
That was our last conversation I remember clearly before we started drinking.
"Fill it up again!"
"GIRLLLLLLL, what do you think will happen to us?"
"What're you talking about?", I responded.
"You know what I'm talkjinng about! You whispering some weird names and getting so lost. Ain't that unusual? And we're HERE, just after a visit to some victim who we think is "innocent". WE ARE GONNA DIE. WE ARE GONNA DIH"
"Somebody snatch her drink! We don't have enough energy to deal with a drunk person right now"
"Hey Zelda, I need to tell you something. It's about the case. Um, you two should hear this too", I stated.
"Go ahead. These two idiots won't make it. I'm all ears though"
"All right. I wanted to talk to Suveksha personally cause the guy she killed was someone I knew. Someone pretty close, in fact. About two weeks ago, I had a visitor in my lab. I rushed to the gate to see who'd wanna meet me. As I approached him, I saw him standing there. It was after a very long time I had seen him this close. He walked to me and extended his greetings. That same old face, I kind of missed it. I was so confused. I didn't know how I was feeling. Happy? Shocked? Emotional? Enthusiastic? I didn't know. Anyways, we went inside. "It feels good to finally see you again. When was the last time? 2 years go? Hm. You haven't changed even a bit", he spoke. "Why are you here, dad?", I asked him.
"Your old man needs someone to look after him. I'm not used to today's youth and their way of living. I'll die very soon. I missed you so I decided you to come over for some time. I'm staying at an apartment for no-"
"Dad, I don't know why you're talking to me so casually after everything that happened. Don't. You and I are not the same anymore"
He continued, "Listen to me, I've been keeping an eye on some girl. And I think she might be the one from your hallucinations. The way you described her, they're alike. I just want you to be free from this burden-"
"I said STOP. You cannot just come in my life again and ruin it entirely. I don't want you to keep talking. Please find your way, sir", I replied. Then he walked out of the passage and the caretaker showed him the exit", I explained.
"Hold on, let me get this straight. So, your father came to you after two or something years and told you about some girl he's been spying on for "you". You think that girl is Suveksha and the incident occurred right after he left from your conversation with him?"
"BINGO. You saved my time. That's all"
"What 'happened' back then though? You didn't mention it."
I told him," Just some family issues. Nothing worth mentioning"
"Well, I'm so sorry for your loss. He must have meant a lot to you. Let's get these two back in the car and rest properly now."
"Oh yes, I'm tired as hell!"
We tidied up the ground and went back inside the car and slept around 11 p.m.
Another bright morning as usual, not so fine though. We checked on the back seat only to find two of them and their mouth wide open, covered in vomit. It was all looking gross.
"They had too much to drink. Now let's get them sober, shall we?"
"We may have to explain the whole case to these idiots again. But let's not waste our time. We'll reach the highway if we start walking now. We'll get a cab and go to my apartment and freshen up", I replied to Zelda.
"What if we don't find a cab?"
"Well, your mother must have told you stories about young teenagers getting lost in the jungle and found eaten up by giant beasts. That won't be just a 'story' anymore."
"Wheesh, doesn't scare me", he gave me a frightened look.
"Oh I hope so, Zelda"
We both carried Samriddhi and Alex supporting their arms and walked for two hours. We didn't have enough water. The scorching heat was boiling us from the inside. Finally, a taxi seemed to approach us. As we waved our hands towards the vehicle, we lost it.
"That was a rude driver. Are we even getting a ride this time?", Zelda was murmuring in sweat.
It was One o'clock and somehow we even lost track of them two. We searched them for a while and while walking straight down the road, they were wandering in the middle like a bunch of labradoodles. Luckily, I'll say, another vehicle passed by us. Surprisingly kind. The old fella didn't even have us show our hands for him and stopped the cab himself right after he saw us.
"That's quite an intense look on y'all's faces. I don't know if I can get today's urban slangs right. Still, hop in, amigos! Where do ya have to go?", the old man asked us.
"Thank you so much, sir. Drive us to 811 Walnut street, Pasadena. That'd be much.", Zelda spoke to him.
"You all look mature. How did you end up in a strange road with no ride anyway? Y'all aren't doing something illegal, right?", the old man laughed with a hint of concern as he turned back to us.
"Haha. No sir. Just some work stuffs", we replied.
The music became louder.
"///The city's a flood and our love turns to rust. We're beaten and blown by the wind, trampled in dust. I'll show you a place. High on the desert plain, yeah
Where the streets have no name, oh, oh....."
"We need to leave in five minutes. Our commissioner sir is gonna be there. He's called everyone in the department. The recent coffee shop case was brought up again and they said they've got leads. He wants us to work on it again.", I yelled hurriedly gathering everyone.
"How long has it been since we- What happened actually? And when did we get home?", Samriddhi raised her questions one by one scratching her head trying to remember anything that she can.
"Now is not the time. I'll explain everything on the way. Bring your other drinking partner. And, don't tell me that brat is still sleeping! We have somewhere to go.", I cried out.
"Apparently, there is still a hidden cam in the kitchen that I told one of our workers to fix. I don't know if it still works, an old model...We've got some footages. Maybe you'll find something useful in here."
"Okay, and you are....?", I asked.
"I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself. I'm the owner of this shop, Mr Kowski. I was gone for some weeks and I heard this sad news about the demise of my young chefs. That brought me back here. Now, I want to help as much as I can to find the killer", he responded.
"We appreciate your help, Mister...Kowski? We'll look at the clips and get back to you as soon as we can", I resounded assuring him much.
"Hey, see if you recognize this. An old man, probably in his late sixties wearing an old fashioned cardigan on top of a sweater, maybe polyester. He's got thick beard and is coasting around asking people about some young girl who is, get this, his daughter, in that polaroid picture in his hand he's carrying. Seems familiar?", Zelda quizzed me.
The dusk hit us to bring the moonlight after, reflecting the whole day upon us and the start of next day to be ready. Not so dark but warm evening fell on us. At that point, Zelda and I held each other's gaze. Things started to make a little more sense.