Teen For Hire

She's Come Undone.

"Sorry, the person you are calling is not answering. Please leave a message after the beep."

"Hey, Sierra," he tried his best keeping his voice down but it turned out to be pretty hard to stay calm when the person you're calling hasn't picked up after 5 times of trying and the last thing you got was a text ominous enough to be in a Criminal Minds episode. "If you manage to hear this, for god's sake call me back. Please." Reece said as he hung up, still standing awkwardly outside the small boutique just across the cinema complex, turning his back to it just in case some observant employee there would recognize him.

His foot tapped rapidly against the white pavement as he couldn't help but check the time every 5 seconds, hoping for the phone to start ringing. But instead, he was staring at a blank screen, silent and empty. Reece's fingers itched to turn the phone back on, give it a final try.

Who knows, maybe the 7th time will be the charm.

'But if she was being chased by a serial killer,' a voice nagged in his head. 'Maybe my calls exposed Sierra's hiding spot and got her caught. Maybe by now, she was-'

"Get a grip on yourself, idiot," he muttered to himself, fingers massaging his temple as he pushed his thoughts back to reality.

Reece glanced at his watch again. It's been 15 minutes since that text.

"I've gotta do something..." he couldn't wait around for a phone call that might not happen.

He looked around, irritation filled him as he saw the dozens of shops lining down the streets as far as he could see and even more people filling up the sidewalks as lunch hour started. There was no way in hell would he be able to somehow spot that cheeky, barely 5 foot-something brunette in the middle of town. And the way things were, he didn't have many options to begin with.
Reece let out a heavy sigh as he zipped his jacket up again, hoping to cover as much of the T-shirt he 'borrowed' from the cinema as possible before crossing the street.

As he approached the building- the lights were on again it seems- Reece noticed the security guards at the entrance and recognized one of them from earlier, a rather grizzly man that looked more than happy to change shifts for his lunch break.

Distracted and fresh off the job; perfectly oblivious.

Reece was just about to approach him when he heard his phone ring.
"Sierra?" he answered the call before it even finished it's first tone, "Where are you? Are you okay?"

The other line stayed quiet and for the next few seconds, the only thing the boy could hear was his own heartbeat that went on much too fast for his comfort. Each second was like some twisted game, seeing how far along could he be tortured by something as simple as silence. And it worked; it felt like hours before Reece heard a soft rustle from the phone that gave him both hope and dread.

"Sierra?" he said a little louder this time, plugging his finger into his other ear as he tried his best to hear something—anything—on the line. "Are you there?"

The response was soft but clear. "Yes."

Relief spread through his chest as quickly as fear replaced it. For the short time that he had known Sierra, there was nothing timid about her. But the voice on the phone was nothing short of a whisper.

"Where are you? I'll be there soon, just tell me where."

And he waited, all the while looking around the streets as if suddenly some sort of Bat-signal would pop out somewhere. Then an uncertain hum filled his ear.

"I'm not sure," she said, clearer now. "I'm in the back streets of something, I only see red bricks." Then another rustle. "And dumpsters."

Reece grimaced; this little town's backstreets still easily stretched out to at least a 2 mile-radius, it would take him until sundown to go running through every each one. "Try to look around you, any signs or anything? Do you remember anything you passed by before?"