Missing [ST]

Forty Eight

Location: Police Station, Interview Room Eleven, 10:23 am

With no sleep, slim pickings at their food, and living in constant fear of their innocence, Joe, Tom, Brad, and Joey were far from their usual buzz.

They had been escorted from their separate holding cells to a decently sized interview room which had a large table in the centre, and five chairs on the furthest side.

There was a mutual greeting between the four friends in which tired, stressed eyes with lines of exhaustion contesting youth flicked over each other, and none of them took to a particular liking of their shared surroundings.

Joe sat, making a lot of noise from exaggerated flounces, and Brad took the one next to him in a much more calm manner. Tom took the third, but Joey was adamant that he would stand, chewing on his thumbnail, and waiting nervously for their company.

None of them talked.

They were left for about five minutes, maybe ten, before the heavy door buzzed open and a professionally dressed female stepped in.

She looked exceptionally serious, and seeing the large letters of 'police' embroidered into the black fabric of her lanyard, her ID on a rectangular card, and her hands clutching a stack of document files, didn't put any of them at ease.

"So, gentlemen," she began, placing the files in the centre of the table.

She stood back, observing the four dishevelled men.

"I ain't sayin' jack shit without a lawyer," Joe grumbled, a hand covering half of his face.

The Detective Chief Inspector raised an arched eyebrow at him.

"I'm so sorry, please ignore him," Brad said, like he was embarrassed for the lump of weight to his left.

"Don't worry," she assured, visibly relaxing her posture. "I get it a lot."

Before she could formally introduce herself as the DCI, the door buzzed again, and she was joined by Special Agent Will Darlow, who had a briefcase clutched in hand, was wearing a well-fitted navy two piece suit, blazer undone, and someone very familiar following in his footsteps.

"Leah!" Joey exclaimed, jumping from the furthest wall.

"Oh my god, Joey! Hey, are you okay?" Leah rushed out in shock, tackled into a bone crunching hug.

Will barely had the chance to step out of the way.

Joe perked up, Tom and Brad half stood from their chairs, and Joey was just wrapping his arms as tightly as he could around Leah's middle that was covered by an oversized retro graphic charcoal sweatshirt.

The DCI cleared her throat.

"Shall we start?"

The embrace fell apart, and it left Joey patting his back jeans pockets and avoiding all eye contact when he turned around.

Sharing his embarrassment, Leah gently urged him to move with a hand pressed to his back. She sent a small smile to the three other tired faces, and then sat down in the final chair on the outside next to Joe.

It meant the five of them were more or less in a row around the width of the large table, and they all shared the nervous wait under the hum of the lights.

"For those of you who don't know, my name is DCI Alisson Parker and I am head of this investigation. You should know we will not be holding individual interviews under formal regulations, which essentially means none of this is being recorded. That said, I am here to supervise, and all of your cooperation is advised."