Agent 38: I Never Forgot You

Chapter 33: Perdu

*Perdu: (of a person or thing) hidden or concealed.*
    
     In her hand, Sarai's phone screen went dark with two lonely words hovering beneath a picture of Alex.
     Call failed.
     Tremors ran down her back and swirled around her stomach, then landed in her legs, threatening to send her to the ground. Sarai ran faster, resisting the urge to throw her phone and instead jamming it into her pocket. She pulled out the keys and stuck the one she needed between her fingers, shoving people out of her way as she went.
     She could see the apartment complex, the parking lot, the staircase she would run up, and forced herself to go faster.
     He could be gone already, The thought hit her like a punch to the face.
     Legs burning, she swung around the gate and sprinted through the parking lot, narrowly avoiding a speeding car she'd never seen before pulling out of the complex. Sarai darted up the stairs, skipping several steps with each stride. The door stood before her in a matter of seconds and she shoved the key into the hole before realizing, with an impending sense of terror, that it was already unlocked.
     She stared at it for a moment.
     Alex wouldn't have left it unlocked. He knows better. Her hearts pounded in her ears.
     Right?
     Sarai shoved the door open and rushed in. "Alex?"
     She waited in desperate silence for a response.
     Nothing.
     "Alex!" She cried, pushing herself forward despite her tiredness. The bedroom was empty. The lamp from the nightstand lay on the floor, bulb broken, and the nightstand itself had been knocked over. There was a tiny, singular drop of green ink on the carpet.
     Sarai knelt down and poked it.
     She examined the pockmark on her finger, suddenly feeling very cold. It was fresh.
     He's gone.
     She stood and, driven by a new frantic force, ran to the balcony and stared madly around. Sarai knew well that she wouldn't see him, or even his assailant, and a burst of rage bubbled up in her chest. Gabriel hadn't bluffed. But how had his men done their job in such a short amount of time? Surely their escape would've taken ages, seeing as her home was unfamiliar territory.
     Her head shot up.
     The car that pulled out... I'd never seen it before.
     Was that him?
     No. No, no, no. It had probably been a visitor or something. A delivery. Anything but that.
     But delivery drivers don't drive fast in simple parking lots.
     Sarai fully realized her mistake.
     Alex's assailant
     had driven
     right past her.
     And she'd simply ignored it.
     Without thinking, or contemplating, or even allowing her mind to process a single thought, a low yell of fury clawed its way out of her throat and into the evening sky, rattling the birds from the nearest trees and sending several people to their windows.
     And with that yell came a promise. A threat.
     Someone was going to die for their actions.

     Sarai had been on the phone with the entire Squidbeak Splatoon for about an hour now, explaining the situation, coming clean about all that she'd done, and begging for their help.
     Marie had called the police; they were on an "active search" that Sarai was skeptical of.
     Aaron had pulled up an actual map and had marked Gabriel's base, searching for any other structures or places that would be suitable to move to or have their own little meetup spot at, simply to make things easier.
     Callie was suggesting plans of attack and rescue missions, areas that may be easier to get in through and weapon kits that would suit them.
     And lastly, Sarai was busy worrying and being told not to worry, that they'd find him, that they'd get him home real fast, don't worry, it'll all be fine, blah blah blah.
     In a more simple phrase, pointless words that wouldn't get them a single step closer to finding out where Alex was.
     She sighed and finally spoke her mind. "Guys."
     The speaker went quiet.
     "We know where Gabriel is. Why don't we just go now?"
     There was a brief moment of silence, a glimmer of hope in her hearts that they would agree.
     That is, until Marie argued otherwise.
     "It wouldn't be that easy." The Inkling countered. "Your brother knows better than to execute a well-thought-out plan only to let it fail so quickly. Anyone knows better. We'll go to his base at some point and see if they were dumb enough to stay, but for now, it's safe to assume that Gabriel has probably moved."
     Sarai processed this, hearts sinking. "You're right. We should, at the very least, try to prepare."
     "I agree." Aaron chimed. "I don't like the idea of waiting so long and giving your brother more time to hurt our best friend. Callie, any good ideas on gear?"
     "I've been spewing weapon kits for the past hour!" Callie said indignantly. "I've had every good idea there is to have."
     "Well, can you repeat?" He replied.
     "You seriously weren't listening?"
     "Cal, if I'm asking you to repeat, what do you think?"
     Sarai rubbed her forehead. Bickering wouldn't get them anywhere.
     She noticed a small, folded square of paper on the counter and instantly felt suspicious. That hadn't been there when she left, before Alex was taken. Had he written it? Had she mistaken the situation?
     The nightstand... the lamp... the drop of ink.. all could've been the product of a blind rage. Had the unfamiliar car really just been a visitor? Had Gabriel really bluffed?
     Had he left on purpose?
     She picked up the note and slowly unfolded it.
     Written on the paper in emboldened, cursive writing:
    
     143 klicks southwest.
     - G