Nonchalantly taking a sip from his mug, Chris kept an eye on the office across the street. Umbrella operatives had been visiting the small office, and Chris wanted to know why. His hand clenched the mug tightly for a moment. With a sigh, Chris relaxed his grip. Cass had been missing for over two months now. They suspected that Umbrella was behind it, but there was no evidence. Of course.
Chris pretended to be reading a book as the operatives walked out of the building. He had to fight the urge to follow the men. It would completely blow his cover, and he doubted that they'd know anything about Cass anyway. As the men got into a car and drove away, he flipped to the last page of the book. He'd have to choose a different disguise next time. One of the operatives' eyes had lingered on him for a moment. Removing the fake glasses, he set them on the table and rubbed his eyes. Jill would be joining him soon. Hopefully, she would have information on Cass' disappearance. Unfortunately, they couldn't relay anything over the phone or online as Umbrella would most likely be listening in on them.
Chris got up and started the walk back to his apartment. The sound of screaming jerked him out of his funk, and he looked around to see children playing a game. With a sigh of relief, he watched them for a moment. A little redhaired girl ran by him to grab the soccer ball. After yelling at her friends, she ran back to the group with a laugh. A small pang of guilt troubled Chris as he left the park. Everything seemed to be reminding him of Cass. A bit of karma for leaving her behind.
He'd known that Umbrella had been interested in her, but he'd still left her behind. Even after what had happened to Raccoon City, he hadn't returned to see if she was alright. At the time, it had seemed to be the right decision. He had been so close to finding the leader of Umbrella… or so he had thought. It had turned out to be nothing. He had lost Cass and gained nothing. Gats and Jill had been secretive on the details of Cass' disappearance just in case Umbrella was somehow listening in on them. As he reflected on his mistakes, a passing shadow caught his attention.
Chris turned sharply into an alley hoping to catch sight of the mysterious figure, but his stalker had disappeared. With a sigh, he headed into his hotel. Someone had been trailing him for a couple days now. He doubted that it was Umbrella. If they knew where he was at the moment, then he would have been captured already. As he unlocked the door to his room, he turned around quickly to an empty hallway. Something felt off.
Satisfied that no one was hiding in the shadows, he opened the door and locked it behind him. Setting down the book on a table, he scratched his head and wandered into the bedroom.
"You really need to be more careful, Chris," a voice said from the corner of the room.
Chris' eyes widened as he saw Jill standing in the corner of his room with a tired but joking smile on her face. He let out a little laugh and pulled her into a hug, which she reluctantly returned. Gesturing to a chair, he took a seat on the bed. Jill sat down and looked down for a moment.
"I don't know how to tell you this… We still have no idea who took her," Jill said with closed eyes.
"What happened? I thought that Gats had sent her to a place that no one else knew about. How did they find her?"
"We still don't know… Gats suspects that someone had followed Cass and waited until her guard was down, but we don't know how or why."
"Then what do we know?!" Chris asked irritably.
"The front door was bashed in. The car was destroyed. It couldn't have been done by a human."
"A Tyrant? Hadn't Cass said something about a man being able to control one?"
"Yes… probably. All footage had been erased by the time Gats' team had gotten there. So it could have been that 'Daniel' she spoke of. Kevin is looking into him at the moment."
"Kevin? …Ryman?"
"Yes. After Cass' disappearance, he got into contact with Gats and immediately got to work. He's currently leading the team working on investigating Daniel."
Chris buried his face in his hands as he tried to fight against the surging guilt. It should be him leading that team. Cass was in danger, and there was nothing he could do about it. A thought shook him out of his pity party, and he gave Jill a suspicious stare.
"Why investigating Daniel? Who's in charge of finding Cass then?"
Jill looked away guiltily and said in a hesitant tone, "She didn't want me to tell you this… we were afraid it would make it hard for you to concentrate on investigating Umbrella. They found her blood. A lot of it. Near where the shotgun had been kept. They think she had tried to go for it when she was found inside the house. We don't know for sure that she's gone, but… it's not looking good."
Chris stared at her in disbelief before he rose from the bed and walked out of the room.
"Chris…" Jill started, but Chris interrupted her in a harsh whisper, "Why the hell wouldn't you tell me?! What were you waiting for?! After I gather enough information? After Umbrella is taken down?"
"I'm sorry… I know how much she meant… means to you. But right now… stopping Umbrella is more important. It's what she would want."
Chris scoffed and asked, "And how would you know that?!"
"Because she's my friend too," Jill said with pleading eyes. "I wasn't as close to her as you, but we were together that day… when it all fell apart. She told me to protect as many people as I could… and she would take care of herself. Making sure what happened to Raccoon City never happens again is what she would want."
A single tear leaked from his face, and he turned to one of the people he trusted most. "But why couldn't you tell me? Did you think I would abandon this mission?"
Jill gave him an understanding look and replied, "No. But I know you want to. Plus there are some things that don't fit."
"And what is that?"
"Well… after Raccoon City, Cass had gone to a hospital for treatment. While there the doctors noted that her blood count was low, even for someone with a bullet wound. There was a theory that Daniel had put her into stasis while he'd run some tests. It's possible that Umbrella planted the blood to make us think that she was dead, so we'd stop looking. But that's just a theory… or rather a hope. Plus… the doctors had noticed something else that was strange. Something that could help with future Umbrella viral outbreaks."
"What?" Chris asked holding onto the thin thread of hope that his best friend was still alive.
"Her blood already contained antibodies to the virus. It had actively fought against it and won. It might be why Umbrella and Wesker were so interested in her. After the dog attack, she'd been admitted to the hospital. Umbrella probably had gotten access to her tests. Wesker had seemed much more interested in her after the attack… so he probably had seen her results."
Chris nodded in agreement. Wesker's attitude had changed after the incident. He had gone from treating her like a colleague to treating her like a friend. He'd even been protective of her. Likely protecting a potential asset. Chris' hands clenched as he tried to process the new information.
"Chris… it still doesn't look good, which is why we didn't want to tell you. We don't have all of the facts yet, but we still have hope. I just… didn't want you to feel like you didn't do enough. She wouldn't want you to feel that way."
Chris walked back into the room and collapsed on the bed. Jill sat beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"If she's still alive… I'm going to find her. After I take down Umbrella… I'm going to find her."
"Yes. Without a doubt," Jill said as though it was simply a fact.
They sat in silence as Chris tried to collect himself. At least now he had a partner. After taking care of Umbrella, he would find Cass and bring her home.