Lenore almost had everything she wanted.
In just a few short months, she'd graduate early from high school, start an internship at her father's new startup in San Francisco, and then head off to college in the fall on a full scholarship. Everything...
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The questions barely registered for Lenore as Officer Harris rattled them off. He started with the basic stuff at first—confirming her name, her age, and her address.
Then he started on the questions she had been dreading...
"Did you know Victor Lockwood?"
"Y-Yes." Her voice shook. The reality of everything was finally starting to seep in, and it was hard for her to focus. The red-and-blue lights still flashing outside only made it worse.
"How did you know each other?" Officer Harris asked.
Lenore wrung her hands. "Through school. We, uh, share a bunch of classes."
"Would you consider him a friend?"
"Sort of," Lenore muttered. It was a bit more complicated than that...
"Sort of?" Officer Harris repeated, one of his near-white brows crawling up his forehead. "Sort of how?"
"We were... We were just starting to, uh, get to know each other."
He stared at her for a moment before scribbling something down. When he looked back at her, his green eyes were hard. "Were you close?"
"S-Sort of." Lenore shot a quick glance at her mother.
The officer's brows now dove down, angling sharply over his eyes. "Sort of," he echoed again. It didn't sound like he believed her.
Len could only nod. She really didn't want to have to get into the details of it in front of her mother...
"How close were you?" Officer Harris pressed.
She swallowed and gave the officer a pleading look."Does it matter? How is this going to help find him?"
"Every bit helps," Officer Harris said. "You never know what could make everything make sense. The smallest thing could be the key to finding him. I'm trying to establish a timeline and get the context of all his... relationships." He stared at her.
She stared back. He must already know they were more than just friends, but it seemed he was going to make her say it. "Instead of wasting your time grilling me, shouldn't you be out there, looking for him?"
"We are looking for him," he said simply. "Now, again, how close were you with Victor Lockwood?"
Lenore ground her teeth together and shut her eyes. "Close."
"How close?"
It was like Lenore could almost feel her mother's presence over her shoulder, pressing in on her. It had been comforting before, but now she suddenly wished she was being questioned in private. Her cheeks started to burn.
"We... We were, uh, almost dating."
Officer Harris made a noise but coughed to cover it up. "Almost dating? Could you elaborate on that?"
