LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

A mother and her daughter, along with a little boy, were seated on a table, eating a very healthy breakfast.

"You really shouldn't have, mamma. We ate in the morning." Kiara said.

"I can't sit and watch my daughter and grandson starving to death."

The young mother lifted the spoon and tried to feed the little boy, but he refused to eat.

"Eat, Ethan. You have to eat," she coerced.

"Don't force him. Give him to me, I will feed him. Why do you keep calling him Ethan? You'll confuse the child." Aletha said.

"Ethan is his name. He will have to get used to it," the young mother laughed.

"Don't get used to it, though. Remember Vine is still after you. The only reason he's keeping you alive is because he believes that the child is his. If he finds out, he will slaughter you both." Aletha spoke in a serious tone.

"I know. It's just that, that was the name Jeremy and I wanted. Jeremy so much loved the name Ethan. I believe if he could name himself as an adult, he would name himself Ethan….." Kiara stopped.

She abruptly stood from her chair and started breathing heavily.

"What is it?" Aletha was alarmed.

"I found the clue! I found the last piece of the puzzle!" she said.

Tears streamed on her cheeks, and she shook as if she was about to have some fits. "I have found the clue, mamma I found the clue!"

"What is happening, Kiara? Talk to me, what is happening?"

"I now know! The missing piece to the puzzle is now complete! I now know, mamma! Let's go! Let's go!" she started walking toward the door.

"I am not going anywhere until you tell me what you're talking about, Kiara!" the mother said. She wondered if her child had suddenly gone insane.

The child's diaper bag was placed on an empty chair which was next to Aletha. Kiara hauled it and opened. Since she always carried the diaries with her wherever she went, she pulled out his diary, and flipped to his last letter.

"Look what he wrote, "There is nothing that I need to tell you, Kiara. You know it all. You know everything." Do you see this sentence, mamma? He said I know it all! I know it, mamma! I know it all!"

Aletha could not stand it anymore. She stood up and held her daughter. Her screams were already attracting stares from the other diners.

"Kiara, will you sit down and explain what you are saying?"

"The pieces of the puzzle are all in place now! I now know the name that he is using! I now know his name, mamma!"

"What is the name he is using?" Aletha asked.

"Ethan Anesu! Let us go back to Luna Head office. Let's head there mamma; I want to go and find him. The name that he is using is definitely Ethan Anesu!"

Kiara started to run. She ran all the way, while Aletha followed her! Frantically, Kiara waved for a cab. She was so hysterical that a car almost hit her.

"Kiara!" Aletha cried out after her child.

Before she knew it, Kiara had disappeared inside the cab, and Aletha jumped in besides her.

"Calm down, Kiara."

"Take us to Luna Head office! Luna Head Office!" she continued to scream such that the driver thought he was going to lose his hearing.

"Noted ma'am," the man responded.

"Kiara, you have to calm down." Aletha said.

"I have finally found him, mamma! Him and I will go to a faraway place, together with our son! We will go very far; Vine will never find us! Please drive faster!" Kiara sat on the edge of her seat.

The traffic was bad, but the driver did his best to maneuver through the heavy traffic. He even cut corners in some instances, and since his car was small, he found himself getting through some spaces which some other drives would not have dared try.

When they finally arrived, Kiara ran towards the HR office; for she already knew where it was. The officer, who was the same person she had seen earlier on, recognised her as the woman whose husband ran away from her, and she greeted her.

"I now know the name that my husband is using. Please check for me Ethan Anesu." She breathed heavily.

"Why is he using a fake name? Is he in some kind of trouble?" the lady frowned.

"No, it's a long story, but trust me, he is not a criminal or any such thing. Please check for me."

"Are you certain that he got employment with us?" the lady tapped on her laptop.

"I'm sure he applied. Even if he did not get the job, he must have applied."

The lady looked through her laptop for less than a minute and then announced, "We don't have any Ethan Anesu. But even if we had, I don't think I would have assisted you. Why does it sound like he is some kind of criminal on the run?"

"Please help me. I beg you." Kiara said.

"We don't have that name here."

Without asking for permission, Kiara ran behind the desk and before the lady knew it, her fingers were flying wildly on the keyboard.

"Ma'am, what do you think you're doing?" she screamed at Kiara.

"Just a minute! Here, sort the names in alphabetical order. Or better still, you can press control and find. Here…OK I don't see his name. Where is the list of all who have applied? Do you keep such a list? Wait; what is this? Luna branch? You have a branch? Where is it?" Kiara went on and on; moving at an unbelievably fast speed as she searched the laptop files.

"With all due respect, ma'am, if my manager walks in now and sees you on my laptop; I will lose my job! Please leave now!" the lady pulled Kiara by the arm.

"Luna Branch, please. Please let me check under Luna branch? Or may you check for me instead. I'm sorry; I won't touch your laptop again, just check for me please…"

"Please leave before I call security!" the lady pointed at the door with a shaking finger.

"Let us leave, Kiara," Aletha pulled her child away.

***

In another part of the same city within East County, a young man was struggling to log into a page online.

"Why is the internet so slow? I haven't seen it this slow in almost ten years!" he asked in annoyance.

"It could be because it was too windy yesterday, sir." His assistant responded.

"So? It has been windy on so many days, but we never had any issues? Have you checked with head office? Are they aware that Luna Branch is down?" he asked.

"I had not informed them, sir."

"Please call them," he said.

While he remained in his office, the man tried again to log into the desired page, but the result was the same. He tried other websites, and it was all in vain.

"I really don't have time to be wasting like this. I have deadlines to meet." He spoke to himself.

The assistant walked in and told him, "Someone from Head office is saying there could be an issue with our WiFi routers. They also said the antenna could have an issue, since it's now old. We need to check connections up the roof as well." She reported.

"Who did you talk to?" the man asked.

"The head of IT."

"Can't we get someone to go up the roof and check? I really need to work on something urgently." The impatient man continued to talk.

The assistant thought about it and said, "umm, we can't do that, because our ladder is faulty, remember? It has that crack, and we had not yet replaced it. With the weight of a man on it, it surely can break."

The man pressed on his laptop, his fingers pressing on the buttons rather too hard.

"You're going to break the laptop, sir," the girl laughed.

He did not respond. He stood up and walked towards the window, then an idea flashed in his mind.

"What about that foreigner? Do you think he can check for us our antenna and routers? Do you think he has any knowledge of such? What did he specialize in, anyway?" he asked with a bright smile, finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

"Oh that one! He specialized in cyber security. He finished his degree and he passed with a first class; but he had to leave his country before the graduation."

"That's the man for the job. Call him." The man smiled.

"But sir, do we have another way for him to get to the rooftop? Remember the ladder?"

"Does he know that the ladder has a crack? No. Just tell him to do it."

"The last time we checked, the crack was really bad. What if…"

"Can you just get the job done?" he yelled.

The assistant left the room and went to find the new employee whose name she had even forgotten. She found him and told him,

"Please check on our internet. We have no idea why the whole of Luna Branch is down. I'm sure you can do that," she smiled.

"That's my daily bread," the man smiled as he stood up to go and attend to the given task.