[https://i.ibb.co/yhzmpZ8/ch63.png]

'I said I was going to look for her,' Norman thought to himself, 'But I have no idea where she could be!' With only Lucy's address to go by, he drove all around her neighborhood but it soon became apparent that he had no idea where to begin. 'I might as well be searching for a needle in a haystack. She could be anywhere.'

After spending some time driving, he spotted two police officers talking to a city cleaner at the train station. Upon parking his car and entering the station, "Hey, I need to ask you a question. I need to ask about my daughter."

"Daughter?" one of the police officers asked. "She wouldn't happen to be a girl named Lucy, would she?"

"Yes, exactly. I'm her father, Norman."

"Well, we tracked her down here to this train station. Apparently, she bought a ticket to Springfield."

"Springfield? That's a city in the next state over. Is she planning on boarding the train?"

"She already has. According to the computer records, she scanned her ticket 15 minutes ago."

"Then you got to stop that train!"

"We've already alerted the city of Springfield to look out for a minor exiting the train."

"Just that? Didn't you read what I reported? She was seeing an older man! She's probably going to meet him!"

"Yes, sir, we got the report and are surveying the area for any suspicious person who may approach your daughter."

"You idiots! He could be on the train for all we know! The Springfield ticket may be a way to divert our attention while he waits for her in some other station."

"Calm down, sir. I assure you that we're being vigilant of the trains. Besides, the only thing certain is her destination."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Are you keeping track of the cameras on the trains? On the stations?"

"We're trying got get clearance on that."

"Then how do you know where they will stop? Do you even have police stationed in every station?"

"That would require more effort than we can handle. It's practically impossible."

"You police are worthless! While you are following protocol, some strange man is taking my daughter away! I can't trust anyone! I got to do things myself."

--

"Wow," Margaret said with surprise, "It looks so pretty at night. Look at the lights on the Ferris wheel."

"Yeah, it does," Johan responded in a somber tone.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. Well, let's get going." As Johan proceeded to walk forward, Margaret wrapped her arm around his. "Margaret what are you doing?"

"I figured I'd set the mood."

"Excuse my rudeness but can you please not."

"Oh, I see. A bit embarrassed.” She removed her arm from his. “You're going to give me a lot to work with, but it'll be worth it, I'm certain."

They continued their way toward the amusement park passing by stores with one catching Margaret's eye. "Might as well get that phone charger dealt with. Let's get something for your car first."

Johan looked at the store she was referring to. "Here?" he asked.

"Of course.”

“But why here?”

“If they sell phones, they'll sell chargers."

"Can't it wait? We're here to have fun."

"You need your phone in case of an emergency. You can use my phone for the time being and leave your phone behind to charge."

"Isn't that a bit irresponsible? Someone could see it and try to steal it."

"You have a pretty cheap phone, Johan. Nobody wants that."

"Come on. That's not fair. After all, Lucy helped me pick-" He placed his hand on his mouth before another word could escape him. Straightening himself up and flattening his shirt, "Alright, fine, but let's do it quickly."

They entered the small phone shop and the familiar atmosphere hit Johan immediately upon stepping in. It wasn't the same store but the aesthetic was more than enough to keep him on edge. "Let's just get any charger and get out of here."

"Oh look at that!" Margaret immediately headed on over to a small glass display. "Look at this phone. This is the new model!" Johan takes a peek to see the same phone that Lucy was equally impressed with. "Maybe I'll buy it right now," Margaret said enthusiastically as she turned to Johan who was avoiding eye contact.

"Forget it," Johan said.

"I'm only kidding. I'm not really going to-"

"I don't want to be here."

"Johan, why do you sound so jumpy?"

Without responding, Johan immediately exited the store with Margaret following.

"Johan, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just felt sick in there."

"Oh, that's too bad. Well, then how about I-"

"Let's just go."

"What about the charger?"

"I don't care about the charger. Let's just move on."

"Johan, what is going-"

"Let's just go!" he said loudly.

Taken by surprise, she only responded, "Okay..."