(Casey’s POV)
________
There was a long silence on the line. One of those silences that stretches out just a second too long, heavy with thought, uncertainty, and the weight of sothing unspoken. Then, finally, her voice trickled through the speaker—hesitant, almost distant.
"Paragon Park?" Janet repeated, her tone uncertain. It sounded like she was chewing over the na as if it had only just registered, or worse, as if it ant nothing to her at all.
A bolt of frustration lit up inside .
"Co on, Janet," I snapped, sharper than I intended. "You need to keep up. I already told you—I need you to do sothing for . Sothing important."
There was a rustle on her end, the sound of movent—maybe shifting in place, or adjusting her grip on the phone. Then she echoed, confused and wary, "Do sothing? Sothing very important? What are you talking about, Casey?"
"I’ll explain everything," I said quickly, my voice softening just enough. "Just answer my question first. Please. I promise I’ll make it all clear afterward."
The line fell quiet again. But this silence was different from the first—this one was thoughtful, deliberate. I could practically hear her gears turning, the ntal calculation happening on her end. I could almost see her squint her hazel eyes as she tried to think hard, wondering what the hell was going on. And who could bla her? This was the first ti I’d contacted her directly. The first ti I’d demanded anything from her. She didn’t trust the shift in tone, but as things stood, I was desperate. I could feel her trying to decide whether to lean into the unease or hang up and pretend this conversation had never happened.
Then, finally, a quiet sigh escaped her lips.
"I’m less than three minutes away from Paragon Park," she said at last, cautiously. "I’m near the bus station—just running an errand."
Relief hit like a rush of cold water. I sprang to my feet once more before I even knew what I was doing, pacing the narrow length of my office like I could walk the tension out of my bones. With the amount of pacing I had done this morning alone, I was sure that by the end of today, my shoes would be worn out completely. The grip I had on my phone loosened slightly, but my fingers still trembled. We were close. So close.
"Perfect," I said, nodding even though she couldn’t see . "I need you to get on the next bus and get off at Paragon Park."
There was a sharp inhale on her end, followed by an incredulous, "What?"
"I need eyes there, Janet," I said, pacing faster now. "I need soone I can trust. I can’t explain it all over the phone right now, but I need you to go. You’re already close."
A pause. Then, her voice cracked slightly with unease.
"Casey, I can’t do that," she said, apologetic but firm. "Like I said, I’ve got an errand to run, and I need to pick up my kids from school in a little while. I don’t have the ti, and honestly... this is starting to feel strange."
I stopped in my tracks, staring blankly at the floor, my breath shallow. This couldn’t be happening. Not now.
"Janet," I said carefully, pressing a hand to my temple. "Listen to . This isn’t just so favor, or so weird whim I’m chasing. This is serious. Kira is missing, or I believe that she is. I haven’t heard from her for a while now. No one has. And I’m scared. I’m terrified that sothing terrible has happened to her. Do you understand ? And right now, you’re the closest person I know who can help. Which is why I need you to go to her house in Paragon Park. Take a look around. Tell what you see."
There was a low murmur of voices on her side now—background chatter from the station, the rush of a passing vehicle, a child crying sowhere in the distance. Life continues as usual for everyone else. But not for . Not for Kira.
Janet hesitated, then said in a smaller voice, "What if sothing happens to ? You’re being vague, Casey. And it’s making nervous."
I closed my eyes. God, she’s right. I was being vague. Because the truth—whatever it was—was too tangled, too terrifying to speak out loud. And because saying it might make it real. However, her question raised a terrifying thought in my head: what if sothing did happen to Janet? What if Kira was ho all along, but she was actually being held captive in her ho by Maven? By sending Janet, I was basically sending her into a trap.
"You’ll be okay," I said softly after a while, but it was more to reassure myself than her. "I’m not sending you into anything dangerous, I promise. Just get off at Paragon Gates, look around, and call back. Five minutes. That’s all I’m asking."
She didn’t respond.
"Okay, no need waiting for five minutes... just call when you get there, I’ll be on the call with you the entire ti you’re there."
She remained stubbornly silent.
"Janet..." I began again, quieter now. "Whatever this costs you—your ti, your errands, anything—you have my word, I’ll compensate you. Handsoly."
"I don’t care about the money," she said suddenly, her voice tight with emotion. "I care about not walking into sothing I don’t understand. I don’t have powerful friends like you guys, I don’t have billionaire fiancés in my corner. If things go wrong, I could lose everything. You have to understand."
That hit . Hard.
"I get it," I murmured. "I do. But please—this is soone you’ve worked for. Soone who’s looked out for you. You’ve been inside Kira’s ho. You’ve seen her when the caras were off. You know she’s not the kind of person to just... vanish."
Janet was quiet again.
"What exactly am I doing at Paragon Park?" Janet’s voice ca through the phone after a while. It was thin and uncertain, like she was trying to convince herself this wasn’t a mistake.
I clenched my fists, a wave of adrenaline surging through . That was it—the crack in her resolve I needed. "Thank you," I breathed, letting the words slip out like a prayer. "I need you to go to Kira’s house."
A pause. I could hear her breathing—tight, uneasy, bracing herself.
"Kira’s house... I already know that, but what exactly do you want to do there? How do I get in? Am I just going to look around?" she echoed, voice rising with confusion.
"Yes," I said, urgency creeping into my tone. "That’s all I want you to do. You need to make sure that Kira isn’t ho, then I’d figure out the next thing to do. I know you have a spare key. You’re going to go inside... and you’ll tell exactly what you find. That’s all I need from you."
The silence on the other end of the line stretched out like a rubber band pulled too far. When Janet finally spoke, her voice was laced with alarm. "What?" she gasped. "Miss Casey... this is starting to scare . What’s going on? Did sothing happen to Miss Kira?"
"Are you even listening to at all? I already told you that I suspect she’s missing, but I don’t know for sure, and that’s what I’m trying to find out," I said, my voice low, trembling under the weight of truth I couldn’t fully say aloud. I was getting frustrated by the constant barrage of questions she was subjecting to. "She’s been unreachable for way too long. No texts. No calls. No signs of life. I’ve gone through everything, every breadcrumb I could find. This is the only lead I have left. You are the only lead I have left."
There was a strange rustling on her end, like she was shifting the phone nervously between her hands. Her breath hitched, and I could feel her beginning to retreat from the edge. "But... I don’t know. Breaking into her house—even with a key—I don’t think Miss Kira would like that very much."
"She’d understand," I said imdiately. "You’re not breaking in, Janet. You’re checking on soone who might need help. You’re doing what anyone would do if they truly cared."
"But... what if nothing’s wrong?" she asked, still wavering. "What if she just needed space?"
"If that’s the case," I said, my voice tightening, "then we’ll both be relieved. But right now, every second that passes is making it harder to believe that’s all this is."
There was another long pause. I could practically hear her heart pounding through the phone, feel the fear inching up her spine. And still, I pressed forward.
"I told you already," I said more softly now, "I won’t let anything happen to you. You’re not alone in this. I promise."
The line went still. I closed my eyes, waiting. Hoping. I had noticed the way she had started referring to as Miss. Casey, while she referred to Kira as Miss. Kira. This was a new developnt, but at the mont, I didn’t even want to think through it all. I didn’t have the ti for that.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she sighed. "Okay then," she whispered, almost as if she didn’t trust the words coming out of her own mouth. "I’ll do it. I’m getting on the bus right now."
I closed my eyes as I silently said a prayer of thanks. Finally, I was going to be able to save Kira!
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