"Then why did you bother to bring me down here, huh? You want me to understand what you're going through, but you don't want to explain yourself? That sounds pretty contradictory to me, Lucky." Sly angrily pounded his right hand against the wall.
"Sly, you don't know what it was like," Lucky angrily stated.
"You know what, Lucky? You're right. I don't know what happened to you. I will never understand that, but I thought we knew each other. I thought you and I would always be able to connect. Now I'm not so sure. The Lucky I know would have never done this. He wouldn't have taken me back here and played head games with me. He knew how much this place still hurts me. I still can't get over the fact that you're alive, Lucky, but I don't recognize the man before me. He's a stranger who pushes everyone away, who mistreats his friends. That's not the Lucky I know. Maybe that's how you want it."
"No, that's not how I want it! But you are right about something- I have changed. So have you. So has everyone. I can't go back to the way things used to be. I can't go back." Lucky whispered.
"No one says you have to! Lucky, you can't isolate yourself forever. You have to face life sometime."
"Not if I don't want to." With that, he started to run right out of the catacombs.
Sly ran after him, but lost him in the darkness outside the tunnels.
"Lucky! Lucky, don't leave!" Sly gasped. "Don't leave," he whispered.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Emily and Liz were watching "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" for the millionth time when Emily's phone rang.
"Who would be calling at this hour?" Liz asked.
"It's probably Juan." She picked up the phone and cooed, "Hello, handsome."
"Well, I'm glad you think so," said Sly. Emily turned a bright shade of red.
"What?" Liz giggled.
"Oh my God, I thought you were Juan," she moaned.
"I don't like being insulted, Emily." Before she could respond, he continued. "I wouldn't call this late at night if I didn't have a really good reason."
"Let me guess, it's about Lucky."
Liz moved across the room to Emily. "What about Lucky," she whispered.
Emily held up her hand. "Sly, what happened?"
"He took me on this run through the catacombs. Then when I tried to confront him, he acted really strange and took off again. I lost him in the night, but I am determined to find him."
"That sounds like how he's been acting. Don't get worked up about it."
"No, Emily, I think this is different. I know what you and Liz have told me, but my gut is telling me that something is off. I know Lucky, at least on some level, and something is wrong."
"What did he do to make you think this?"
"It's what he said. I told him he had to face his life, and he said, 'Not if I don't want to.' It chills me to the bone. I'm afraid he might do something rash."
"So what do you want us to do?"
"Give me some idea about where he might go, what he might do."
Emily turned to Liz. "Sly thinks Lucky might do something rash. Do you have an idea where he might go?"
"Oh, God. Please don't let him do anything crazy." Liz started to breathe rapidly.
"Liz don't start hyperventilating on me. Just think about where Lucky might be."
"Um, try the boxcar."
"Sly, do you know where Lucky's boxcar is? Try there."
"Yeah, I do."
"Oh, and his apartment above Jake's. Or maybe you should go back to the Spencer house. He's been visiting Lulu."
"There's so much ground to cover."
"That's why we're going to look for him, too."
"No, that's too dangerous. You shouldn't be going around this late at night."
"I guess Lucky never told you about how we caught… Never mind. We're tough. We can handle pretty much anything that comes our way."
Sly sighed. "You talked me into it. I'll take Jake's. You try the boxcar. I don't want to upset Laura if I can avoid it, so I'll go to the house if everything else fails. Be safe."
"I'll give you a call on your cell phone if we find him, and I want you to do the same."
"I will. We've just got to find him first."
"Bye." Emily hung up her phone. She looked to Liz. "Get dressed, we're going to find Lucky."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Sly brought his pick-up truck to a stop in front of Jake's. He quickly hopped down from the cab and entered the club. Luckily, Wildfire had played there a couple of times, so he knew no one would card him.
He stopped to talk to the bartender. "Hey, man, have you seen a guy named Lucky around? He lives upstairs."
"Nope, I haven't."
"Would you mind if I took a look around up there, Steve? Please, I'll owe you so much."
Steve looked at his watch. "Well, this is just about closing time. I'll go up there with you to check this out. You seem pretty upset."
"Thank you so much," Sly said gratefully.
They ascended the stairs to Lucky's apartment. Steve knocked on the door. "Anybody in here?"
"Lucky, it's me. Please open the door if you're there."
There was no answer, so Steve opened the door. The room was a mess, clothes thrown all over the place. Sly got a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"Thanks for letting me look, Steve. Like I said, I owe you."
"Just play a night for free, and it's a deal. You're better than those teenybopper bands they had in here last summer."
"Thanks, man." Sly ran down the stairs to his pickup, which he quickly started. He was going to find Lucky, he had to. On to the next stop. He hoped Emily and Liz were having better luck.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Emily and Liz were canvassing the area around the river when a trip to the boxcar proved unsuccessful. "Why don't we park the car and go on foot?" suggested Liz.
"Good idea." Emily parked the BMW on the side of the road not far from the bridge ahead.
Liz walked in front of Emily. "Lucky? Lucky are you here?" She saw a figure in the distance as she approached the bridge. "Lucky, are you here?" she repeated.
When Liz and Emily approached, they saw Lucky standing on the concrete railing of the bridge. "Not for long," was all he said.