108 Missing (3)

When mom returned, they talked about what they could do, but midnight was too late for anything. They could only agree to wait till morning, and if nothing changed, call the police.

Back in his room, Kyro lay down on his bed, but sleep was the last thing on his mind. He couldn't help thinking about what had happened, and the only thing that came to his mind was that someone did it on purpose.

What would they want then? It would be fine if they asked for a couple thousand ransom and returned the pets, but what if they were collecting healthy animals for some kind of experiments. It wasn't unheard of, even if it wasn't common.

At 3 am, he took out his phone and called Gale. Since that guy was almost a week back in the country, he should be aware of all the latest rumors.

The phone rang for good two minutes without anyone picking it up. Kyro called again then, and after the fifth time, Gale finally picked up.

"If you want me to kill you, just say the word and I'll be there. But if it's anything else, fuck off. Can't you see the fucking time?"

He wasn't in the mood, but Kyro couldn't be bothered to care. "Have you heard any rumors about missing pets?"

"For fucks sake, it's three o'clock! Three!" After shouting for a bit more, he calmed down and said, "Call Mark in the morning, and I mean in the morning. If you call him now, you can say goodbye to learning anything from him. Is that it?"

"Didn't Mark quit?" Kyro asked, a bit uncertain. If he had known that Mark was still in the business, he wouldn't have wasted energy calling Gale.

There was a sigh from the other end of the call. "You don't really leave that world. He still runs errands for them sometimes."

"I see. By—"

Gale hung up on him without even waiting for him to finish his goodbyes. This wasn't too surprising when taking the time of day into consideration, but Kyro still felt annoyed. Especially since he couldn't do anything at this moment.

Where Lucy, Iris, and Queen safe? At least alive? All kinds of worst care scenarios flitted through his mind.

When morning finally came, he called Mark and learned from him that there were a couple criminal organizations actively collecting pets. Summer was the best time since people often let their pets run free around their grounds, not caring if they returned early since it was still light outside.

One of the groups was quite small and was in it for ransom money. They stole pets around the city, moving about to not get too famous in one area, and asked for ludicrous money to return them. They weren't going after the really expensive ones or those that belonged to important people, so they were doing quite well for themselves.

The other business was more malign. They went after pets that were worth a lot to traffic them abroad for illegal competitions or breeding. Most of those who were caught by them were never seen again, unless some mishap happened during transportation.

"And if you're asking all this, it means you've been hit, or someone close to you was," Mark finished, sounding like he couldn't care less.

"Three pets went missing, a black Norwegian Forest Cat, young female fennec fox, and a white Chow Chow. There has been no messages about ransom so far."

"Why should I care?"

It was not easy to deal with Mark on a good day, and Kyro didn't have the patience to play today. "You know why, so do it. I'll call in half an hour."

He ended the call and looked out the window. Mark would want to get something for those standing behind him, which would force Kyro to call in some favors, but it'll be worth it if he could retrieve the three pets.

The fennec was a new friend to him, but Lucy was like a family member. He had received the kitten from his parents when he left for university, so the two of them had been through hell and back again. If not for Lucy always being by his side, he wasn't certain he could have come out as sane.

"Don't worry, I'll get you all back," he promised quietly to himself and left the room. Downstairs, he told his parents he needed to go check out something in the company while they should wait and see if the pets returned. After that, he drove away to where he could be more proactive.

…

Upon waking up, Iris couldn't see anything. Her hear rate increased, and she noticed the smell. The stench of chemicals assailed her nostrils again, but they were too weak to cause anything more than nausea. She rolled on her side and retched, her breath coming in gasps.

What was wrong? Why was it so hard to breathe?

The air was moldy, filled with dust, and every breath she took tore at her throat. She coughed and coughed, unable to stop herself.

In a panic, she tried to move back, and something happened. One moment she was contained in some dusty, dark place, and the next she felt air passing down her skin and raising her hair on end.

'This…'

But she didn't have time to think. Whatever had happened, she needed to know and solve as soon as possible.

She pulled the sack off her head and looked around, instantly taking note of her surroundings. There were tables with cages all around, but all of them were empty. Only one of them held Queen, who was watching her with curiosity.

When Iris looked down, she saw that, as expected, she was now dressed in the clothes she was born in, and a string of curses left her lips.