Later that day, I finally made it ho.
The trip from Japan had drained whatever energy I had left, and by the ti I stepped through the front door, all I wanted was a hot al and several hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Luckily, Yuki was ho.
"Hey, Yuki," I called as I dropped my bag near the staircase. "Could you ask the cook to co in and make sothing? I haven’t eaten properly since the flight."
"Of course," she replied before disappearing toward the kitchen.
I made my way upstairs, pushed open my bedroom door, and collapsed onto the bed without bothering to change clothes.
The mattress sank beneath .
For a few monts, I simply stared at the ceiling.
Japan.
Grandpa.
Felix.
Kuro.
The thoughts chased each other around my head like a storm that refused to settle.
Eventually my mind drifted back to my conversation with Ethan at Parallax.
Then to Kuro.
Then to the ssage.
see ....I’m his very good friend and even you can’t change that .
I frowned.
The words had bothered at the ti, but now that I was alone, sothing about them felt wrong.
Not the threat.
The timing.
I sat up slightly.
Kuro hadn’t just been threatening .
He had been responding to sothing.
Sothing Ethan and I had said.
My eyebrows slowly knitted together.
No.
That couldn’t be right.
Could it?
I replayed the conversation in my head.
The elevator.
His promotion.
His comnts about Ethan.
Then Ethan’s office.
The entire discussion had happened behind a closed door.
Just Ethan and .
No one else was there.
Then why had Kuro’s ssage felt like a direct response to that conversation?
A cold feeling settled into my stomach.
I sat upright imdiately.
Then grabbed my phone and called Frank.
He answered before the second ring.
"Hey, boss."
"Frank, I need to ask you sothing."
His tone imdiately beca serious.
"Go ahead."
"How difficult is it to listen to sobody else’s conversation without them knowing?"
There was a brief pause.
"Not very difficult if you’re using the right equipnt."
I frowned.
"What kind of equipnt?"
"Micro caras would be the easiest option."
I blinked.
"Micro caras? Aren’t those illegal in Harrington?"
"They are."
Years ago, Harrington had been flooded with hidden cara scandals. Videos had been leaked across V-Tube, private monts had beco public entertainnt, and the backlash had been severe enough for the mayor and local police departnt to push through legislation banning the devices completely.
"That law still exists," I said.
"It does," Frank replied. "But illegal doesn’t an impossible. People still buy them online. Most get smuggled in through black-market channels."
I leaned back against the headboard.
"What about listening devices?"
"Possible, but unlikely."
"Why?"
"Because those are even harder to get."
His voice lowered.
"Most professional audio surveillance equipnt is restricted nationwide. And only available for Military use & Law enforcent use. Getting one without connections is nearly impossible."
"So your money is on a cara."
"Absolutely."
I rubbed my temple.
It fits
Too well.
Kuro sohow knew things he shouldn’t know.
He always seed one step ahead.
Almost as if he was sitting in the room whenever conversations happened.
The thought irritated more than it frightened .
I hated being watched.
More importantly, I hated not knowing how long it had been happening.
"Frank."
"Yeah, boss?"
"I need you to look into this."
"Done."
"I want one."
There was a pause.
"You want a micro cara?"
"I want to know exactly what I’m dealing with."
"Fair."
"And I need equipnt that can detect one."
Frank whistled softly.
"That’s a little harder."
"I don’t care."
I stood and walked toward the window.
"I need sothing that can scan a room without attracting attention. Offices. Apartnts. Anywhere."
"I’ll ask around."
"Discreetly."
"Always."
The corner of my mouth lifted slightly.
Frank could be reckless sotis, but when it ca to gathering information, there weren’t many people I trusted more.
Then his tone shifted.
"Seeing as you’re giving assignnts again..."
I already knew where this was going.
"...does this an you’re back from your little vacation?"
"Yes, Frank. I’m back."
"Good."
His answer ca imdiately.
"Things have been boring."
I shook my head.
"I’ll talk to you later."
"Take care, boss."
The call ended.
I placed the phone on my nightstand and stared at it for several seconds.
There was no way Kuro could have known about that conversation otherwise.
No way.
Unless he had sohow been listening.
Or watching.
The realization settled heavily in my chest.
I lay back down and closed my eyes.
"God, I’m tired."
The last few days finally caught up with .
Within minutes, sleep dragged under.
The shrill ringing of my phone pulled awake.
I groaned and reached blindly toward the nightstand.
The screen showed several missed calls.
Who keeps calling this much?
Still half asleep, I accepted the call and pressed the phone against my ear.
"Hello?"
"Raina."
The voice instantly woke up.
I sat upright.
"Malcolm?"
"Yeah."
My expression darkened.
"What do you want?"
For a mont he didn’t answer.
When he finally spoke, his voice sounded strained.
Uneasy.
And that imdiately caught my attention.
"I need your help."
I frowned.
"My help?"
"Yes."
The words ca out quickly.
Too quickly.
Sothing was wrong.
"With what?"
Silence.
Then Malcolm spoke again.
And this ti there was genuine fear in his voice.
"Rhonda is missing."
Every trace of sleep vanished instantly.
"What?"
Rhonda stein Malcolm’s wife .. the woman we spent a lot of ti a while ago searching for....
" My mum called and said she can’t find her "
Though I told Malcolm to leave Harrington completely..I wasn’t so heartless as to deny him from contacting his family . I instructed frank to provide him a secure way for him to be able to communicate with his wife and his mother . Because I know how important family’s is. Now laying in here hearing that his wife was missing when I have absolutely nothing to do it , surprised greatly .
"What do you an she can’t find her?"
"I an she’s gone."
His breathing sounded uneven.
"She never ca ho."
"When?"
"This morning."
Alarm bells started ringing in my head.
My voice slowed.
"How long have you been looking?"
A pause.
Then:
"Since noon."
I looked at the clock again.
Nearly ten at night.
My chest tightened.
Because Malcolm wasn’t the type to ask for help.
Not unless he’d already exhausted every other option.
And the fact he was calling ant he was running out of them.
"Raina."
Sothing in his voice made stop.
"What?"
Another pause.
Longer this ti.
Then he said quietly:
"I think sobody took her."
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