18 Yes Father.

"Ooh don't be scared,

I'm right here,

And what is fear?"

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-ELIZABETH-

"Elizabeth!"

"Liza!"

Bang, bang, bang.

I'm awoken by a loud thumping on the door.

"Liza!"

Now that I'm up, I'm able to identify who the shouting belongs to.

I let out a big sigh and walk out my bedroom.

Bang, bang, bang.

"I'm coming!" I yell back making the knocking stop.

I swing the door open, revealing a worried Mark holding Ralph in his arms.

"Mark?"

"Liza what the fuck?"

"I could ask you the same question." I cross my arms over my chest.

"I called you ten times and you weren't picking up. I was worried."

"My phone was on silent, sorry."

"You scared me, jeez Liza." he lets out a frustrated sigh.

"Mark, I'm okay." I touch his arm then look over to Ralph who's still in his arms "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah," he hands me Ralph "I'm going to New York for work. I'll be gone for a couple days, three at max."

I can't help but feel upset that he's leaving me, "okay" I nod.

"While I'm gone, keep your door locked like you always do and don't talk to strangers."

"Yes Father." I tease with an Asian bow.

"I'm serious Liza."

I chuckle "Don't worry I'll be safe."

"And secondly, answer the phone as soon as I call you, if it's any strange number, do not answer it."

I nod.

He sighs and pulls me in for a hug, still mindful of Ralph who's between us "Don't find a new man while I'm gone."

I chuckle and nod in his chest. We release from the hug and he places a kiss on my forehead, and hands Ralph over to me.

"See you later." He says before turning on his heels.

I quickly hold onto his wrist, "Wait." I say, stopping him.

He turns his body back to face me and raises an eyebrow.

I put Ralph down and pull him into a proper hug, "Bye Mark."

He chuckles and hugs me back tighter, "I'll be back soon."

I nod against his chest and release from eachother, "Be safe until I'm back."

I nod.

He winks then turns fully to walk away.

"Bye!" I say cheerfully and watch him as he slowly starts to vanish from sight.

-MARK-

The interrogation room is bright but has zero warmth. The walls are painted white and there's a large one way mirror on the wall. It's cold and quiet. No one talk's unless spoken to.

My kind of scene.

"So, you're one of the PI's Miranda McAllen paid to search for her daughter, Alice McAllen, correct?"

"Correct."

"And your services were discontinued recently, correct?"

"Correct."

"Do you know why you were fired?"

"I'm not aloud to disclose any information given by client."

"Cut the bullshit. You do realize we have a potential killer on the loose and you would be covering up for her? I don't think that will look very good on your business card, 'Jerome Springer, PI who covered up for a murderer'"

He takes an unsettled breath.

"Now I'll repeat my question, do you know why Miranda McAllen cancelled your services?"

He looks at me and hesitates for a moment before continuing "Because one of the others found her."

So, our suspicion is correct.

"Okay, so they found her. Why haven't they taken her home yet."

"I'm not sure." Shakes his head.

"You're not sure." I scoff then hit my hand on the table "Then be fucking sure."

"I-I swear to you, she never t-told anyone what she planned to do when they f-find Alice."

He's telling the truth, and I hate that it's not what I want to hear.

"Look, you can ask any of the other guys. All we were told was information about how she looks and where we might find her. All of us assumed that she was just desperate to find her daughter. Then she involved illegal manhunters and they found her much quicker than us, so we were all fired." He lets out a sigh "I don't know what she plans to do. But I do know that the guys involved are dangerous and she has plenty of them, which can only mean that whatever she's going to do with Alice is not going to be pretty."

Though this information is good because we know what we're dealing with, it's still not solid enough to prove anything. All it looks like is that Mrs. McAllen is a good mother who will stop at nothing to find her daughter.

I exit the interrogation room and walk outside the building.

Each lead we have in this case bears nothing but bitter fruits, and it feels as though there's no way to turn things the right way round.

I sigh while taking my phone out my pocket and dial her number.

"Hey!"

"Liza." I sigh in relief.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just glad you sound okay." I shrug.

"You worry too much Mark."

I don't even think I worry enough.

As I open my mouth to respond, I see one of my juniors signaling for me to go back inside.

"Liza, I've got to go."

"Okay, go kick ass!"

I chuckle and cut the phone.

~~~

We pulled an all-nighter last night to try and gather all evidence we have and we spent all day attempting to make ground out of every suspicious thing we can find.

It's now noon and we barely have anything to go off of.

I have my head laid on the desk, resting my eyes but not sleeping.

"Mark!" I hear my boss yell.

Hastily, I get up from my desk and rush into his office. I enter his office without knocking.

"Sit down." He says sternly.

I do as he says, and sit down in front of him.

"We have a really big problem."

I furrow my eyebrows "What is it?"

"Miranda McAllen has gone MIA."

"shit." I mumble.

"What we need to do, is find her before she get's to Alice. She could be anywhere."

I nod.

"You need to get back to your team, brief them and intensify your security again."

"Yes, sir." I get up to leave but I'm stopped by boss continuing,

"And Mark."

I turn around and furrow my eyebrows.

"You're doing a really good job, I hate to say it, but this case is really just hard as fuck. You've handled it way better than anyone in the division."

"Thank you, boss."

"I can guarantee that no matter the outcome, that promotion is yours."

I smile and he nods at me before returning to his work.

I take that as my queue to leave.

Running out of the building, I dial her umber.

Ringing.

No response.

I call again, now with large quantities of fear accumulating inside of me.

Ringing.

No response.

"Fuck." I get into my car and speed off to the airport, still constantly trying to call her number.

The plain ride couldn't have been any longer.

As soon as I get off the jet, I drive faster than the speed limit to Alice's apartment.

"Liza!" I call while knocking hard on her door.

"Liza!" I knock again.

Just as I'm about to knock a third time, I here someone say my name from beside me.

"Mark?" Alice stands there, holding two big grocery bags, a leash and a confused look on her face.

I sigh with relief and take long strides toward her.

Immediately, I wrap my arms around her and hold her like I'm holding on to dear life.

This causes her to drop all her bags to the ground. We stand there for goodness knows how long, just embracing each other.

I hug her in fear of losing her, and she hugs me in reassurance that I will never lose her.

I just hope she's right.

++++++

Song: Scared by Jeremy Zucker.

✔

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