Chapter 16
**Kimberly’s POV**
I had waited for almost an hour at the coffee shop, but none of my friends showed up. Neither Hannah nor Louis walked in. I kept glancing around, hoping to see them, but nothing. After what felt like forever, I grew frustrated and decided to leave.
As I turned to go, a memory hit me—something Mona had said earlier. I froze, piecing it all together. She had practically bragged about kidnapping my friends before I left home.
"How could she be so heartless?" I muttered to myself, struggling to control my rising anger. Every day it seemed like dealing with Mona became more unbearable. But getting angry wouldn’t help. I had to focus on finding my friends. That was my priority now.
I walked back into the coffee shop and approached two waiters standing by the front door. As I neared them, I greeted them politely, "Hello there."
One of the waiters smiled and replied, "Hi, ma’am." The other just nodded, avoiding eye contact.
"I have a really important question to ask. Hope you don’t mind?" I asked, trying to be as polite as possible.
"Of course, ma’am. You can ask," said the smiling waiter.
The other waiter didn’t seem like he wanted to talk, which was odd, but I ignored it for now. I focused on the one who was willing to help.
"I was supposed to meet two friends here this morning, but I haven’t seen them yet. Have you by any chance seen them?" I showed them pictures of Hannah and Louis on my phone.
The waiter examined the photos, then scratched his head as if trying to recall. "Yes, they were here earlier this morning."