We read to know we are not alone
-C.S. Lewis
"Myka!" She heard her name being carried through the hallway from the kitchen of the inn. She lay on her bed on her stomach, Kipling's The Jungle Book staring up at her. She flipped the page, engrossed by the treasures and wonders that Kipling described inside the well. She could feel Mowgli's awe and wonderment at the shining colors off the gems placed on the Ankus. She was lost in her own world, or really Mowgli's. She was there with Bagheera and Baloo, and she was sitting in the circle of the Seeonnee pack. She huffed as she pulled out of her book and dog-earred her page for the third time today.
"Always during the good parts," she muttered to herself as she rolled off the bed, made her way down the hallway.
"Myyyykaaaa!" Pete was getting impatient, as seen by his pacing back and forth across the kitchen floor. He could hear her loudly stomping down the stairs. He rolled his eyes at her attempt to show her irritation.
"Listen, you better not be calling me because you can't find the damn milk again. Use your eyes." She said as she reached the kitchen. "This is the third time today and I'm sick…" She stopped as she saw Artie sitting at the table on the porch, his face covered by a file. "Oh," she said as an uncomfortable smile formed on her face.
Pete smiled back at her, shaking his head slightly. "New case. Seems like a bad one. He hasn't said much." They walked to the porch, taking their usual seats next to each other and across from Artie.
"Four girls are missing in Roscoe. No one has yet to connect them together. The police are labeling them all as "runaways" Claudia's computer is going nuts over this town."
"Why haven't they connected them yet? I mean, come on, four runaways in town? Isn't that a little suspicious?" Myka asked as she flipped through the files, the young women's faces staring up at her.
"The first girl to go missing was a freshman atClarksonUniversity. It's common for students to be overwhelmed their first year and act out in ways that go against their personality, like fighting or running away. Her grades were dropping right before she disappeared. The second was a women getting ready to get married. They're blaming cold feet and expect her to come back once she's calmed down. The third was a high schooler, so that's an obvious one. In police eyes, all teens want to run away at one point in their life and a good amount of them act on it."
"And the last one?" Pete asked, looking up at Myka and then Artie.
"Got nothing on her, the police haven't released her name for the public. I've got no idea as to why though."
"So where is Roscoe?" Pete asked, praying for the highly unlikely chance they were going toHawaiior Los Vegas or evenFlorida."
"New York."
"Sweet! The Big Apple!" Pete smiled as he looked at Myka, waiting for her to show some sort of excitement."
"Uh, not exactly. Roscoe is about two hours from the city, in theAdirondacks. Dress warmly." He smiled at both of them as he got up and walked away.
"Oh," he added as he turned around, "be careful Myka. You would fit in well with these girls. I really don't need another missing agent."
"I don't see it." Myka said as she flipped through the folders yet again. She was sitting next to Pete in the rented Trailblazer, driving fromLaGuardiaAirportup to the small rustic town. She stared down at the three pictures in front of her, memorizing each detail. She saw very little in similarity with any of the girls.
Pete looked over at Myka and at the pictures in her lap. He smiled as one thought came to mind. "They're all very beautiful. I'm sure that's what Artie meant." He glanced away from the road again to look at Myka. Her cheeks were bright red and she was attempting to hide behind her large curls. He smiled, realizing she wasn't going to say anything and was most likely going to act as if those simple words didn't come out of his mouth. And though she probably wanted to argue, he knew it was fact. Myka was beautiful. In fact, she was gorgeous. Not like any of the other girls though. She never caked on make-up or teased her hair continuously. Suddenly his mind was flooded with thoughts of Myka. His heart pounded in his ears and his hands began to get clammy. His exhaled, praying that her thoughts would leave him just as quickly as the air left his lungs.
"Pete?" Myka said suddenly, pulling Pete out of his head.
"Oh. Sorry." The light which they had been sitting at flashed green and the cars behind him began honking impatiently. He hit the gas and made his way onto the busy I-87. After about five minutes of driving in agonizing silence Myka finally reached for the radio knob, flipping it, not really caring about what she was listening to. She finally settled on an 80's styled radio station, more so to please Pete than herself. The slowly made their way over the G.W. bridge and after almost four hours and more traffic than one can handle, they finally made it to Roscoe.
"Oh thank god!" Pete yelled when he saw the Roscoe diner move into view. They followed the curved lines till they reached the police station. Throwing the files into her bag, Myka climbed out of the car and followed Pete into the building. "Hi. We're looking for Detective Ross," Pete asked to the first person he saw as he made his way through the entrance.
"Down the hall, last door on the left."
"Thanks." They shuffled past the rows of desks and computers to the long hallway. Myka knocked loudly on the closed off ice door that read "Dt. Jared Ross." A deep voice from behind the door called him in.
"Detective Ross, I'm Agent Lattimer and this is my partner Agent Berring. We called earlier. We're here about the missing women."
"Yes. Sit down. I'll go over what we know so far. I'll be honest I'm still not sure why you're being called in on this but obviously your boss, Mrs. Frederic, has some sort of ties somewhere."
"Oh you'd be surprised. So what have you got?"
Detective Ross was an older looking man, in his early 50's. He had a thin white beard and mustache and a full head of salt and pepper colored hair. He was heavy set and had a soft smile. He looked more like one of those grandfathers that spoiled his grandchildren rotten, and less like a seasoned detective.
"The first girl to go missing; Natalie Dunne. College student, age 20. She's going to school for English education and works at some salon her mother owns. She disappeared two months ago on her way home from work. Her car was found parked in the college parking lot closest to her dorm." He took a breath and looked up at the agents, making sure they were paying close attention.
"Three weeks after Natalie, Kataryzna Bahktin went missing. She's a model fromRussia. I've got no clue why, but Elite, the modeling agency she's with, sent her here for a photo shoot for some Vogue cover. She left during the middle of the shoot for lunch and never returned. After her was Fiona Rionni. She's a newly divorced mother of two. It was two days before her wedding to her fiancé Roger Anders. She disappeared four weeks after Kataryzna. And finally, missing for a total of two days is Wendy Litte. She disappeared four weeks after Fiona. It was the night of her senior prom. Her car was found parked in front of her house but her mom swears she never saw her after she left in the afternoon to get her hair, make-up and nails done."
"They were all getting ready for some big event but Natalie." Myka said,looking up from the notes she had been scribbling down.
"Yes. But they were all in a sort of stressful situation or life style; college, prom and high school, second wedding and a big photo-shoot."
"Why was Kataryzna's name never released to the public? This is the first we're hearing of her." Pete asked.
"Well the company she's shooting for has more money than they know what to do with. They've been paying the media and news-papers to hide her name and what she was doing here so they don't get "bad publicity." I've been telling them it's a bad idea, but no one is listening."
"Why do you think that was a bad idea?"
"Well, most young women who disappear eventually come back after they feel like they've been missed or when they regret what they've done. By releasing her name to the media, showing remorse that they're gone or somehow reaching out the girl to tell her that she's missed generally speeds up their return. Say she's been depressed, thinks the world will be better off without her, which is what most of these runaways think, completely leaving her out of the news will just reinforce that feeling."
Myka and Pete looked at each other in a sort of agreement. "Can we have access to their files?" Myka asked.
"Do I have a choice? I have a feeling your boss is one person I don't particularly want to mess with."
"Wise decision," Pete said with a small chuckle. "She can be...intimidating, to say the least." They took the files and made their way back to their car. They drove for about twenty minutes to the nearest hotel and checked into their adjoining rooms.
AHH! I finally have a new story up! I hope you all love it and don't worry, I have six chapter written already. Hope you show me some major love and review this story!
I owe a HUGE thanks to my AMAZING beta-reader, Poison-Quills for all they did for me! I reposted this chapter and fixed the tons of little mistakes and confusing facts that they pointed out. Hope if you read this again it sounded better :)
~*MANDYEM92*~