Vicious Romance

Chapter 14

I'm at the light of 7th Avenue and 26th Street, and I can't help but stare at Whole Foods. Should I go there now? Should I "bump" into Noah? I have a solid excuse this time: work. Ugh. For work. I have to DATE him and pretend to fall in love with him- for work.

I throw those thoughts away, and try to focus on Anita. She needs to be my focal point, right now. She's my best friend. She's also my domain. And what's that saying? "Sisters before misters?"

Yes, I should go over to Anita's first before throwing myself at some (possible) psychopath.

But in terms of psychopaths, I also had to dig into this group of people that were trying to kill me.

God, I've been so hung up on this. It hasn't even been a week since this all happened, yet, I already feel myself losing my sanity.

The sacrifices that come in my line of work. 

The traffic light turns green, and forcing my eyes away from Whole Foods, I drive straight, towards Anita's apartment.

***

I stop in front of her apartment building and instantly notice the group of federal cars surrounding it.

Looks like I'm not the only agent Doug has on this mini-case. Interesting... but not surprising.

I step into the building, walking past the numerous agents in their teal FBI jackets. 

I find the elevator and take it to the seventh floor. Once the doors open, I take it upon myself to find Anita's apartment.I rattle the doorknob, and as expected, it opens without a struggle, and I let myself in.

Once I step in, a splash of colors fills my eyes. CSI- in white hazmat suits, along with a couple of FBI agents are in the room. I count eight total people. It's not much, but I assume others are around, here and there.

I begin to walk into the room but am immediately stopped by some authoritative figure.

"Sorry ma'am, federal personnel only," the man says to me.

I look at the man, stare at him for a moment, before taking out my badge from the pocket of my pants.

"Special Agent Shea. I was requested to come on the scene to help investigate the missing person case on Special Agent Holland. She wa- is my partner," I tell him.

I refuse to speak about my best friend in the past tense, as if she's no longer alive.

He stares at me in observation, but moves out of the way to let me pass.

"My bad, I've heard about you... I just thought you were a rumor. The stories they tell about you at HQ are unbelievable," he says in what I believe is supposed to be an admirable voice, but I can't tell.

"Thank you?" I ask him, in slight confusion.

"Yes ma'am. If you need anything, I'm Special Agent Isle... Tom Isle. I'm the lead on this case, so if you need someone to fill you in, I got you," he says.

I nod at him, thinking of what I should ask him first.

"Okay, Tom... can you tell me what your current leads are?" I ask him.

He motions me to a group of CSI agents, as they're inspecting a sample.

"Well, currently, our CSI agents here have found a small sample of blood, that we were able to confirm as Ms. Holland's. However, we have also found a small sample of dirt- that we suspect to be from the scene of the incident from Thanksgiving. Our agents are currently in the middle of confirming that," he starts.

Before he continues, I intervene.

"What do you think happened to her?" I speak out.

I catch him in surprise. He clears his throat before he responds.

"We're not sure. If she was here, that means she more likely went somewhere else. She... she most likely ran away," he replies in a timid tone.

I scoff lightly before thanking him.

I divert from the crowd of agents- I don't want to look at things other people are.

I don't think Anita would run away. She could've, but it's not like her to run away from problems. But, I need to look for clues, I need to find something that will point me in her direction.

I start by roaming the kitchen, looking for any signs of planned departure. Not that I'd think she'd leave this life behind- not without telling me.

I start by looking in the fridge. It's full. That means, her leave was... unexpected. If this entire thing was planned, she wouldn't have wasted all her money on this grocery.

For some reason, the anxiety inside of me can't help but burst out. If Anita didn't choose to leave... then she could be in danger. No, no, no Hally- don't jump to that conclusion. Not yet. The fridge thing could just be a coincidence. It really could.

I check another location of the apartment to confirm my doubts.

I sneak into what would normally be her bedroom. I close the door behind me before I force myself to roll underneath her bed until I spot the deep blue strip of wood, aligned neatly with the rest of the bed's frame.

I place my finger over the strip, as I move my finger across the surface, trying to find the right splint of wood.

After several seconds of searching, I feel a skew of wood, slightly raised from the others. I get a look good at it. Sharp, pointy, and faded. This is the one.

I dig through my pockets, trying to find something sharp. My hand lands on my set of house keys- this will do.

I take the keys out of my pocket and stab them in the spot of the splinter. Nothing happens.

I try again.

This time, the wood gives in and cracks under my reign.

I use the keys to help clear the deadwood aside. After what feels like forever, some of the wood clears itself, and I spot the small ziplock, buried deep in the wooden needles.

I try my best to pull it out without pricking myself. Once I manage to do that, I open it to find a couple of passports and fake IDs. They all have Anita's face, but with different names.

This was her go-to stash. Filled with her aliases and whatnot. If she didn't take this- she couldn't have gone far. She should be within the country.More importantly, her disappearance wasn't planned. Not by her, at least.

I sigh as I roll out from under the bed.

Perfect. If her escape wasn't planned, then there couldn't possibly be anything that would lead me to where she could be.

Another thing that's bothering me: why did she come here? And why did she come so quickly? We were in a crisis. We were clinging on to our lives by a thin string. Before I make any more assumptions , I head to her closet.

If she came home, she must've taken off her dirty clothes, right? Especially if she was planning on leaving. I look for her dirty laundry, trying to find some indication that Anita was here, but as usual, it's empty.

Ugh.

As I make my way back to the bedroom, I catch myself tripping on something. I stop to pick it up.

It's... it's Anita's ring. A ring her grandma gave her.

She never takes it off. Ever.

This only means one thing. Anita didn't run away. She's not hiding. And she's most certainly not dead, not yet.

She's been taken. And she's in trouble.

A/N: Nooo not Anita. I know I haven't properly introduced Anita yet- but she's precious 🥺

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