FEDORIAN CRESCENT, DAY TWO.
10:43am.

Icina Duvitus's keening had stopped eventually. Sully brought her a glass of water, and I leaned outside the hallway while I heard her murmur soft words of consolation. We had no lead on the disappearance of her daughter, and all we could offer was the reassurance we were working on it.

I silenced my VITA before she could speak about hygrometers and humidity, trying to shut the audio off. I was still connected to the damn thing when the door rang, and I had to answer it one handed to let Icina's friend in.

A concerned Tulnea Calanion was pointed in the direction of the bedroom before we left; there was not a lot else we could do. I was past the threshold of the Duvitus's garden when I realised I was holding my breath and inhaled once to fill my lungs.

Sully looked just as pensive. "Watch her," I said. "That's your job now."

It was frustrating; we needed one more FLO on the case, and the officers assigned to me were already stretched thin. Sully would be devoting her time liaising with all three families now, taking a capable cop off the case.

"Yes sir," she replied, fiddling with her sleeves.

I shoved my hands in my pocket and went over the interview again. "That woman is badly held together and about ready to explode. Persuade her to bring her husband home, a friend, anything. You can go back after we visit the last family."

Sully nodded. "She's gotten worse. Your questions upset her," and at my side eye she held out her hands. "No offence sir- I know it's our job."

"Did anything seem out of place to you?" Icina's swooning reaction wasn't exactly out of the blue for a frantic relative of a kidnapping case, but still.

"Not really. She's the most fragile out of them," she said, shrugging at the question.

Something about the Duvitus house felt off, but it could be the mausoleum Icina kept for her daughter's rooms that unnerved me the most. "I'm going to interview a witness after the last family," I said. "I'd rather you didn't come. Your job is with them, now."

She looked back where we left Icina, pensive again. "All right." Once we were by the skycar, Sully pulled out a ration bar from the front. "Want one?"

"No thank you." I looked away as she ate, pulling out my omni-tool. "You've already interviewed this one, anyway," I said, going over the statement I took this morning from the Aberbas boy. "A mechanic nearby here, says he saw Pliva Duvitus walking by herself at the time of the disappearance."

Sully gagged at the mention, then threw the wrapper back in the car like it was a garbage can. "Oh, him. Pacus Hex, our local arsehole. Twat called me a pretty pyjack."

Her disgust made me curious, but I had to speak to the Caeplins before I could see this 'local asshole.' Juvus was the youngest of the children to disapear at only six years of age, and his father was the first to report him missing.

I pulled out a pinch of se'aus and shoved it under my lip as we walked. Sully at least let me enjoy my habit without twenty questions about it, and only gave it a glance when she saw the tin. "Why is it always animals for insults, anyway?" I said. "If I had ten credits for every time I've been called a lizard, I could retire by now."

"Yeah, well. Jokes on them, sir; I like pyjacks," she replied. We both grinned, even if it was a mild stab at humour. After Icina's bout of misery, we needed it.

"Your pyjack fancier-"

"-he's not my anything," Sully replied, pretending to act sullen. "I've already got a turian, thanks. One's enough, believe me."

"I'll take your word for it," I said. "Anyway, your admirer puts Pliva Duvitus in a different place than what her mother said. Either Icina is lying, or she can't remember things correctly. Whatever it is, it's not good enough to leave alone."

She frowned. "Hex's place is a ten minute walk from here, just up the footpath. I know the children play in the forest behind the houses, but it's possible she was there. I'll admit I didn't think much of his statement at the time."

The trees stood straight as soldiers beyond the roofs of the street, a strange reddened bark against the aqua of the sky. "Why? Not just because he called you a pyjack, I hope," I said, watching the rings of Iritum again.

"Hex has a reputation." Sully looked at the scars on her wrist and pulled the sleeve further down to cover it. "He, ah, didn't have a good war. He's banned from the local bar."

So much said in the unsaid. Of course, the one witness I was interested in was would be torn apart in the stand, all before a defence lawyer could mutter the words Post Traumatic Stress.

I huffed a sigh, changing the subject. "What do you think of the next family?"

Sully chewed a nail before she answered, thinking her answer through. "They both are clean, alibis all check out. Distant, that's the word I'd use for them. Out of all the families, it's the Caeplins who are the quietest. Juvus was their only kid too."

For some reason Sully's words made me think of the lake, the deceptive silence of grief. They named it Victory when it was made, according to the brochure; the original crater spanned the entire colony. 480 km of languid, calm water terraformed from the fissures of hidden ice, deceiving in its depth.

"Let's get them interviewed." I gestured for her to lead, and we wound our way along the pathway, up into the trees.

A solitary house greeted us in the clearing. It took three rings of the door chime before we got an answer, and a sleepy male turian wrapped in a blanket opened the door. I put him at around early thirties, almost half the age of the parents we'd seen today.

No good news usually comes when two police officers turn up at your doorstep. People rightly assume the worse, especially those with missing children to worry over. Once he worked out who we were, Mr. Caeplin's entire body jolted like he was shot.

"No," he said, subvocals frantic with panic. "What's happened?"

The blanket fell from his shoulders, and Sully bent down to pick it up. "There's no news," she said, passing it back. "We're just here to let you know how things are going, and if you have any questions for us." I nodded at her words; it was a standard issue FLO answer if I ever heard it. I made a good choice in promoting Officer Sully.

Mr. Caeplin folded in relief, slumped against the door. "Who are you?" he said, looking at me. My omni-ID flashed in front of him, and he squinted at it. "I don't think we've met."

"I've been sent by the Council to help the investigation," I replied, holding my hand out now. "I'm DI Krios."

He ignored the gesture, bleary-eyed still. "Right, sure," he said, unsure what to do. "I work nights. I'm sorry, you woke me up. Come in, I'll put some kava on. Call me Teus."

My bladder could take no more tea, and to my relief, he had nothing levo to drink. Teus Caeplin sipped his kava with both hands, the hide around his eyes creased in sleep and grief. "What do you know?" he asked. "If you're here, something has happened."

Sully folded her hands on the table; I noticed the burn marks pucker her skin, and looked away. "Where's Mrs. Caeplin today?" she asked, deflecting his question with one of her own.

"The usual, at work. Laeta will stay there all night if she could," he said. I didn't hear bitterness there, only frustration. "Someone will drag her by her crest to get home to me, don't worry."

My eye caught a painting framed in the kitchen behind him, a childish drawing scribbled on real paper; Mom, Dad, and Juvus was written underneath in an adult's hand. Teus noticed my gaze and smiled, then immediately looked away.

"He's good for his age," I said.

"Did that last year too," Teus replied. "First in his class for mathematics and sciences- didn't get that from me."

"He's resourceful. That means he's surviving," said Sully.

Teus looked away, then pulled the blanket further around his shoulders. "He's adopted, you know. We don't think of him as that. He's our son."

I took a breath before speaking. "Family doesn't mean blood-"

-just because he made me, doesn't mean he's my father,' she said. Oriana's blue eyes were ice cold in the light of the Widow's star, and I reached for her hand. 'Fuck him. All he did was donate bits of cell. Blood doesn't define-

"-I didn't realise we needed him," Teus replied, talking over the memory. "Like he was always meant to be here. I thought-" I leaned forward to show I was still listening. "I thought we were just fine as a unit, Laeta and me. I didn't know how much Juvus would just fit so easily into our lives, you know? Just one of those kids- always smiling."

"We're doing everything in our power to find him," I said. "It's why I've been sent."

They were hollow words, but at least they were true. "It's my fault," said Teus. "I should've kept him inside. I just assumed with the two older girls he would be safe. He was so happy he got to tag along with the big kids. He left with his backpack on and said he was going to have an adventure, but he would be back soon. I didn't think-"

A common theme with grieving relatives; the what ifs and should haves they thought they had control over. Sully put her hand over his shoulder, but Teus shrugged it off, annoyed at the breach of personal space.

I thought of Kaeruns Abtion and wondered if the Caeplins had seen him too. "Do you know a man named Kaeruns Abtion?" I asked.

He pushed his kava away, fatigued by our presence. "Should I?"

Sully cleared her throat before speaking. "He's an older gentleman. Lives around here, often goes for walks."

She was in danger of leading the witness on, and I pushed down my reaction before Teus could see it. "Don't know him," he said. "I work nights; so Laeta might. Is it important?"

"He was murdered yesterday."

Teus looked at us both, unsure what to say. "Is it something to do with Juvus?"

"It might not be," I replied. "Just a line of inquiry to follow through. It is only procedure."

"Ask Laeta," he said. He sighed, rubbing at his eyes again. The interview had gone on long enough.

"Do you have a bathroom I could use?" I asked.

"Down the hallway."

I took it as permission to nose around the other rooms, even if it wasn't explicitly stated. The Caeplin's place was not as neat as Icina's frantically cleaned house, but tidier than the Aberdas; it was a nice home, even.

There was nothing that stood out. As I washed my hands, I checked the bathroom cabinet; recently prescribed sleeping pills were given to both parents, along with a recurring prescription for citoxotine. I often saw of bottles of the stuff when I searched bathrooms now- It was a standard dextro antidepressant, and Gods know in the past years we could all use a serotonin boost.

Sully caught my eye and I gave her the look of 'we should go' when I got back to the kitchen. As we said our farewells, I offered my hand again; this time Teus shook it.

"We will let you know the minute we find anything," I said.

"Contact me whenever you need to," Sully added. Teus closed the door on us, and as it went past in a hiss, I could see the relief etched on his face at being left alone.

"I'm off to speak to your pyjack fancier," I said, once we were further from the house. Sully rolled her eyes at me but matched my grin soon after. "You're with the families. I trust your judgement in how you handle it, but don't give them false hope. Stick to facts, please."

She nodded. "Yes, sir. Know where you're going? Hex is through the forest path."

I followed Sully's vague pointing towards the trees; it would be nice to go for a run through the forest, I was getting bored of the lake. "I have a gods damned VI under my scales. I should hope so."

"Rather you than me," she replied, shuddering. "Don't know how you C-Sec lot cope."

We don't is the short answer, but I didn't want to get into Citadel politics right now. "There's a reason we're striking," I said and left it at that.

I found Hex's address on my omni-tool and memorised a route. Sully waved me off as I left her, and I was glad for the walk to go over my thoughts on the families. All three handled grief in their own way: the Aberdas buried themselves in distractions; Icina Duvitus keened and cleaned in her solitude; the Caeplins with work and sleeping pills.

The forest path had been recently coppiced, the limbs of the strange red trees hacked into shape to promote growth. Tall grass grazed my knee as I reached a clearing, and I pushed aside a memory of running through my parent's garden as child.

Was Pacus Hex telling the truth? Sully told me she thought Icina Duvitus's reaction was normal, but something about her obsessive behaviour set me off. I looked through his record on my omni-tool; not clean by a long shot. Bar fights, assaulting a police officer and handling stolen goods, as well as an arrest for reckless skycar driving. That in itself was a feat, considering the VI overrides in place to stop DUIs.

I split a stem with my nail as I idled my way towards the house of Pacus Hex, hands smelling of sap. It was a strand of salarian burn grass; the stuff was used to aggressively seed even dextro-based colonies, thanks to its fast growth. Oriana in my life meant I absorbed everything from how to slot a prefab together to the best irrigation systems for farming.

Perhaps colony life was not so bad, especially if you had someone to share it with. I wondered if I could stay somewhere like this with Ori, if I would be content with statue vandalism and petty thefts as my day to day-

-no harm in looking, though?' she said, showing me the plans on the datapad. I mumbled a noncommittal hum as she nestled into my side. 'This planet has a desert belt, and you could build a house that's like, five times the size of this apartm-

"Now what's a weird looking drell like you doing in a place like this?" I looked up and saw the reporter from yesterday. She was sitting on the fence that divided the forest from the houses into neat lines, fiddling with her omni-tool. "Detective Investigator Krios. Got time for a chat?"

Gods curse my daydreaming. I tossed the stem I'd mangled, annoyed I'd been caught out. How in the universe did she find me? "You," I said.

She grinned and mimicked my exasperation. "Me."

I looked down the path where I came from and towards the dead end I was walking to. Either she knew I was coming here, or somehow cut through the forest to head me off. "I can say 'no comment' for you very nicely if you ask," I said.

"Cute," she replied. "But that's not what I want to talk about." I had received Menetina Abicolus's plea for help over email this morning but only saw it as bait. I couldn't dismiss her claim outright, though; a lead was still a lead.

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

She shrugged, as if the breach of tailing a police officer was an everyday occurrence for her. "You know what? I could ask the same," she replied, hopping down the fence. Ms. Abicolus looked me up and down, measuring her words carefully. "So. Why are you here, Krios? In Epiteia, I mean."

Thrice fuck it, journalists were lampreys stuck to my scales the past month. "Doing my job, Ms. Abicolus. That's the short answer."

"Most people call me Abi, but whatever," she said, her turn to look down the lonely path I came from. "No Adaraka this time? Shame, he's my favourite."

The intimacy I saw between them was not a figment of my imagination, then. "Does he return the nepotism or is that a one-way street?"

"Oh, it's returned. He's a good lay, you know." Abi looked me right in the eye as she said it, hand on her hip. "First time we fucked I was walking side by side for days after. He liked it rough."

All I could do was snort. What did she expect me to do, clutch my torc and beg for gossip? If it was true, then Adaraka was driven more by his groin plates than I thought. "Fascinating. But unless you have something substantial related to the case, then I suggest you contact the-"

" -the press department, I know." She looked around and sighed. "You're kind of an asshole. You know that, right?"

"No need for flattery," I replied. It was as I thought; she really had nothing, and this was another attempt at an interview. "Much as it's been a pleasure talking to you, Ms. Abicolus, some of us have to work for a living. I'm still on duty."

Abi narrowed her eyes. "Right, so journalism isn't a job, got it. Let's make this official and I'll turn my mic on, how about that? Want to test my professional integrity there, Krios?"

"What was it your email said again?" I couldn't help myself; what I should be doing is walking away, mouth shut. "'We really need to talk,' you said. 'I don't know who else to come to with this- it's big, and I don't trust anyone at the station. I won't ask you about the Ward Killer stuff, I promise.'

"And I won't," she said, arms crossed. "It's unrelated, I swear."

I looked up at the treeline before speaking, huffing a sigh. "Don't you have a lost glove to report on? I'm sure there's an amusingly shaped vegetable that can make your delightful newsletter, if you look hard enough."

"Ah. So this is how you want to play?" Abi seemed too pleased with herself. "Got it."

I walked fast to get away from her, but she still nipped my heels. "I'm not playing anything. Go away."

She laughed once. "I know a lot about you, Krios. I know that you live in Zakera in the Mid-Ward district, and have a piss-poor social life. Somehow you manage to have a girlfriend despite it all, though having met you I now wonder if she's drugged."

It was nothing, she had nothing. "Wow, 'Citadel Cop Has A Personal Life.' I can see the article now."

Abi quirked a smile at me. "You sure about that? You've been with C-Sec officially since you were eighteen, it's like you bleed police. You were some kind of protege to Commander Bailey, who apparently took you under his wing early. Before that, you did 'voluntary' community service, whatever that means. Aren't most applicants meant to have five years of military experience? What was so special about you to skip all that, I wonder?"

"Go away." I smashed my anger deep down into my chest before it got the better of me.

Of course, Abi ignored my protests. "You own three properties. Two on the Citadel, one in Kahje. You inherited quite the property portfolio, but you sold most of it when you were nineteen. Then there's your 51% share of the Kepral's Research Trust; you helped create it, even."

When dealing with journalists, we were schooled in C-Sec to say 'no comment,' and 'wait for the press release,' but Abi made it hard to reply with either. "There a point to all this?" I asked.

She whistled, scrolling through something on her omni-tool. I refused to look. "That's a lot of money you've donated to your Trust- it's almost sickly how charitable you are. Unless you're fiddling your taxes. Are you fiddling your taxes, Krios?"

Gods thrice fuck journalists, and the depths take gods damn journalism. "All of this is on public record," I replied. "Congratulations, you can use a database search."

Abi was still a lamprey at my side. "I suppose it all makes sense, what with your father," she said. "What was it like growing up with a literal war hero?"

I glanced her way once. "You tell me."

It was a good enough to deflect her. Abi narrowed her eyes again and aimed another jab. "What about your girlfriend? Oriana's an interesting one. My sources were very keen to point her out when I mentioned you. That her connections were, hm, dubious. That was the word they used."

I knew she was fishing; she had to be. Abi had nothing on Ori, Miranda had made sure the Lawson connection had disappeared twice over. But this had gone on long enough, and that Oriana was now dragged into her game had made me boil over.

"This is the third time I've told you to back off," I said, pushing her back with a finger. It took a flick of my wrist to pull out the omni-cuffs in my hand. "After that. we can take this to the station, and I'll read you your rights." The threat was enough to muzzle her. Abi looked away, jaw tight in annoyance. "That's what I thought."

I was minutes away from Pacus Hex's house, but Abi couldn't remain silent for long. "Krios, wait," she said, hot on my heels again.

I showed her the cuffs one more time. "I meant it, Ms. Abicolus. As I've reminded you three times now, I have a job to do. Do not get in my way."

She waved my threat away. "I didn't plan for this, ah, fracas," she said, gesturing between us. "It just happened. I'm sorry. Can we start over?"

An apology? Interesting. "Ms. Abicolus-"

"You baited me. You're too much of an asshole for your own good, you know? You just have this face." Abi squinted at it, then shook her head. "Seriously, it's so smug."

"I think we're done," I replied and shoved my hands in my pockets before I shoved her into the bushes that lined the path.

"It's just-" She rubbed her crest, nervous now. "I don't know if I can trust you. I don't know if I have the luxury to chose if I can, but you're all I have. I don't know where else to go."

I would dismiss her for a drama queen, if it wasn't for the very fact her subvocals thrummed with anxiety. "Get on with it, then."

Abi leaned down, and I felt her hot breath on my frills. "This goes all the way to top, and I am in shit if they find out I know." She whispered the words now, still frightened by something. "Like, Blackwatch secret service levels of shit."

Blackwatch. There is no such thing as coincidence. What did she mean by invoking the big, bad boogeymen? Was she telling the truth?

Time to get to the point. "Does this have anything to do with the missing children or the murder of the Kaeruns Abtion?" I asked. She opened her mouth once then shut it. "Abi- if you know something, tell me. Three children are missing because of this. I can protect you from whatever it is you think is out to get you. Let me help."

I said the wrong thing. Abi straightened, then dusted an imaginary speck of something from her armour. "I'm not telling you shit," she said. "First, I'm going to see if you're connected to them. And if you're not, I'll come find you. I know where you're staying."

What a pointless exercise indulging her had been. I huffed out all the air in my lungs, annoyed at the waste of my time. "Fascinating," I replied. "I'll wait on the shore for your return from the sea, heart in my hands. Now, fuck off. You're in the middle of a homicide investigation and a triple kidnapping case, and I've reached my limit."

She threw her arms in the air in frustration, as annoyed with me as I was of her. "Seriously, how are you still alive? The sludge from the hydroponic farms has more charisma than you do."

Why, why was she still here? "Goodbye, Ms. Abicolus. And this better be one."

Abi snorted. "Whatever. But I can give you one hint, yeah? Watch the local news tonight. Pay attention to what is said." More vague nonsense, delightful. I refused to look back and carried on walking, but Abi hadn't finished. "Oh, and Krios?" she said.

I sighed, stopping in my tracks. "Which part of fuck off was so hard to translate?"

"Have some free advice; don't trust anyone here, not even the cops. I don't know how deep this goes."

She left me then, walking back the way I had come. A feeling of cold dread sunk in my gut, a knife to my plans. To the ocean floor and back, I wanted to say to her. That's how deep it usually is; there was always something out of my control, no matter the plan.

This time I wouldn't sink like stone.