“You almost done with homework?” Cole asks, looking bored now that he's done helping me search. I give him a shoulder bump and playfully roll my eyes.
"It's not my fault you always have more homework," he defends. I close my books and start packing up so we can walk home. It's about our usual time anyway.
When we get outside, his arm wraps around me. I’m getting used to the constant touches because all three of them are like this. I find myself loving every second of it though.
As soon as I give Cole a kiss goodbye and walk into the house, Sophia runs up to me. “Come sit, Charlie, I have some news from the detectives.” She ushers me to the stools at the kitchen island so she can finish cooking. It doesn’t make sense for there to be news already, I just texted Flynn less than twenty minutes ago. Though he probably doesn’t relay everything to me, so it could be unrelated.
“I called Flynn for an update today. Apparently they scoured through the boxes of papers and found another hidden paper. They went to your dad’s research facility and didn’t find much, but they managed to get a warrant to search their networks. Since they don’t conduct any trials with humans at his facility, it was a bit easier to get. Apparently they found some information on your father’s boss’ computer. It was talking about a trial they were conducting with volunteers. But they couldn’t find any more information on the alleged volunteers involved. Like I said, there were no human trials done at the facility, so the email stood out. It was flagged because someone tried and failed to hide it. So now they are bringing it to the attention of a team at the FBI. Searching through human volunteers and
multiple companies means it’s a bit more than the force can handle. Flynn will still be collaborating with them, but now this is a big step up!”
My mouth hangs open in shock. This is big enough now for the FBI!?
It gives me a mixture of anxiety and hope. Maybe they will finally be able to put the pieces together. I want this over and I want justice for my family. I think a part of me doesn’t feel like I can ever truly move on until there is proper closure. I’m especially tired of the constant paranoia. Even if I try to play it cool, there’s fear in every moment that they’ll come back for me. Because I know it is when, not if. And this time, I know they won’t fail.
Detective Flynn
The bitter coffee tastes awful here and I wince as I swallow the last drops down. It’s lukewarm now which only makes it worse. Being stuck with shitty coffee and a growling stomach isn’t helping my mood in the least.
Grumbling to myself, I set my coffee cup down and rub my eyes. The hours I'm pouring into this case are starting to get to me. This one never sat well with me. When the chief ruled the murder just a burglary gone wrong, I was livid. If it was just a burglary, then they wouldn’t have gone and searched for the kid again. The only reason she's alive to give us any sort of statement is because she was smart enough to call us and hide herself before they found her. Sneaking out saved her life that night.
Too much of the evidence still doesn’t add up, though. Even after all of these years it feels like we missed something and all the new developments seem to support that theory. But I just can’t seem to connect the fucking dots.
My mind flashes back to that night. I happened to be driving home when the call came across. Since I only lived a few blocks away, I figured I’d beat the backup there. But the moment I walked into that scene and heard her screams, I knew it would change my life. The police and paramedics who arrived first were still trying to calm Charlotte down. Her screams were these awful, raspy wails by the time I arrived. She already had bruising and internal damage, so by the time they got her to the hospital it was even worse. Not to mention she survived a gunshot wound to the side that she didn’t notice in her state of shock. Adrenaline can do some fucked up shit.
The scene itself was gruesome, one of the worst I’ve seen. The entire dining room was covered in blood, pooled on the table, dripping on the floor, and splattered on every surface and wall it seemed. It still amazes me that Charlotte came out of it with only damaged vocal cords and a scar on her side after seeing the brutality that happened to them.
In every one of her reports, she mentioned that the men who broke in called it a job. The officers brushed it off as a burglary job, but the fact they shot them and only took his laptop didn’t add up. We looked into his job, but everything about the company and coworkers seemed to check out.
Now that it's open again, I refuse to fail her a second time. After she texted me earlier, I did my own search on the ad she mentioned. It only had a number, which I traced back to a burner phone. Real shocker, there. The ad was about as vague as you can get, but if you offer money, desperate people will come, every single time.
When I tried to call the phone number, it was a recording asking you to leave an email to be contacted back with to see if you qualify. I sent it over to one of the other detectives to look into. I also put a tail on the boss of the research facility both victims had worked at. So far he hasn’t led us to anything. We had Charlotte work with a sketch artist the night of the kidnapping attempt and the boss is a different man than the two that killed her family. So now we have three unknown suspects, too many victims, and not enough leads.
The only new information that came in was regarding the encrypted email that the FBI team found in the boss’ email account. It was talking about volunteers, which was the only reason they flagged it to look into. We investigated their associated companies and charities but still couldn’t make a connection. I slam my hand on my desk in frustration at yet another dead end.
I have to find something soon.
Charlie
In the music room, I straighten my spine and walk up to Mr. Hill, tapping him on his shoulder. When he turns to me, I indicate the piano. This week I found myself wanting to try again and I decided that I'm finally ready to deal with my hesitation to play. It's worth a try at least, and I know Cole won’t judge me if I can’t handle it in the end. Mr. Hill gestures me toward the piano with a huge smile; even he seems to realize what a big deal this is.
Taking a deep breath, I perch on the bench and start warming up. Cole comes in and gives me an approving look.
“Hey, beautiful.” He leans down and gives me a kiss on the top of my head. Mr. Hill shoots Cole a half amused, half chastising look as he walks over and picks up a guitar off of the instrument shelves. Just as I hit the first note, an office attendant interrupts us.
“Mr. Hill, they need Charlotte in the office,” she says, handing him the paper and walking away. He hands me the slip, disappointment written on his face. My mouth turns down into a frown as I look it over. Apparently the guidance counselor wants to see me. Great. I deserve a gold medal for keeping in my eye roll.
I’m sure Danielle reached out again to have yet another guidance counselor check in on me. She always does this if I'm not attending therapy regularly and I haven’t felt like trying out a new one. It's pointless since I won’t actually talk to them and they aren’t going to conduct entire sessions online through text or via notebook. Unfortunately, despite how I feel, I don’t have much of a choice, so I get up and walk down to the office for a pointless meeting.
Wednesday
Afternoon
Charlie
I'm beyond mad by the time I make my way to the front office. Danielle should have called and told me this was coming. My life here is so much different than before, and I know she and Sophia have had several calls about it. I'm practically growling as I search for the counselor’s office.
After searching for way too long, I eventually have to write a note to ask for help. They point me to an office that’s tucked into the back corner. When I walk in, the lady looks up at me and gives me a tight smile. Great, that means this is going to go really well.