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Rey sighed as she lifted her mug of coffee, grimacing as the now cold beverage met her lips. Swallowing, she put the mug down, and stared at the paperwork on her desk. Checking her watch, she saw it was only half three.
"Detective?"
She blinked and looked up. Finn, another junior, was standing next to her, his face slightly creased.
"You can call me Rey," she reminded him. "I've only been here a couple of weeks."
"I know, but-" Finn shrugged. "Maybe I like to keep it formal."
She smiled. "You don't have to."
"Anyway," Finn said, as if remembering what he was at her desk for. "Dameron wants to see us both. In his office."
"Now?"
"Yes."
Rey swallowed and pushed back her chair. "OK."
Poe Dameron's office was at the top of the station, so they travelled up by elevator. As they did so, Rey tried to keep her face composed, despite her mind running through dozens of scenarios. Eventually, she shrugged. Finn looked at her. "You OK?"
"Yes. Just wondering what he wants."
Finn gave a ghost of a smile. "Who knows? Normally he's pretty friendly, but he's had a short fuse lately."
Rey followed Finn out of the open metal doors, and headed towards the office. Dameron looked up from a laptop screen as they approached, and waved them in.
"Finn, Rey - welcome." He gestured for them to sit. "I've called you here to ask if you're prepared to work on a case together."
Rey blinked. "Sir?"
"Well, yes, or no?"
Rey nodded. "I'm ready."
There was a slight smile on Dameron's face. "Without even knowing what it is?" He smiled openly. "I heard you were prepared for anything, Detective, hence why you're here. And hence why I'm going to ask if you want to take on one of the strangest missing person cases we've had for a long time." He placed a thick paper file on the desk. "Check it out."
Rey picked it up, and began to flick. Suddenly, she stopped. "Ben Solo? He's been missing for-"
"Two years," Dameron said, solemnly. "Two years, in which his family have heard nothing. No idea where he is, or where he's gone. Allegedly a devoted son, a good boy. Used to come home from College on weekends to visit his mother. Then - nothing."
"Possible he got in with a bad crowd?" Rey flicked a strand of dark hair out of her eyes. "Maybe didn't want his parents to know?"
"It is possible." Dameron nodded. "But its too much of a coincidence that he disappeared, and over the last 18 months, so did some girls. Three. All of whom turned up dead. And also, this man appeared in circulation at around the same time." He handed a photograph to Rey, who looked at it carefully.
The man in the photograph was a pale skinned red head, with clear blue eyes. Nothing about him seemed to suggest anything odd or suspicious - she looked at Poe and frowned slightly. "He is...?"
"Hux." Dameron smiled apologetically. "I believe his first name is Brendol, but that's unconfirmed. Businessman. But he appeared at the same time girls were reported missing, and well-"
"You're making an assumption," Rey interrupted, then looked at him and blinked. "Sorry."
"No, its good you're prepared to challenge." Dameron nodded. "But we need to find Solo. And Hux may be the link. Maybe they knew each other, maybe they worked together. But we have to find them."
"Are they the only suspects?"
"Yes." Dameron nodded. "I need to find these two men. Three women dead is three too many."
