The next day I stood in front of Alicia, the executive assistant from hell, waiting for her to acknowledge me. Very few people in the world intimidated me. Unfortunately, Alicia was one of them. Eventually, after I had time to check my fingernails for dirt, smooth my shirt, and subtly shine each shoe on the back of my calves, she looked up and asked how she might help me.
“I’m here to see Deputy Commissioner Hanson.”
She frowned at me before asking if I had an appointment whilst pointedly tapping her fingers on the blank line of the appointment book.
I straightened my shoulders, feeling yet again like I was standing in the principal's office.
“I was asked to come in at midday.”
I waited. Five seconds. Ten seconds.
She sighed. “I will explain to him again what an appointment book is. You may go in.”
Once I was in the office and the door was shut, I exhaled a long breath. David laughed at me and waved his arm at a seat.
“You know she only does that because she loves flustering you, right?” he asked with a laugh.
“Yeah, knowing doesn’t stop it. She makes me feel like I’m a delinquent teenager again with one look.”
He laughed softly. “You were never a delinquent teenager. She takes great sadistic pride in the fact that you rarely get flustered. Not even Ian or I get a response, but she frowns at you, and you start quaking like a child. Of course, she may be less likely to treat you like a child if you didn’t come in here with Nutella on your face.”
I swiped at my face in horror, only to discover I did in fact have Nutella on my chin from my hastily eaten snack driving back from the school. As he continued to laugh at me, I slumped into the chair.
Eventually, David finished typing and turned his attention to me.
“Detective Harris from Castle Hill Station is working temporarily with the Drugs and Firearms squad and has a bit of an overlap with your Short case, so he’ll be here in a few minutes, and I would like you to catch him up with your case.” I nodded right as there was a knock on the door and a man who I assumed was Detective Harris came in.
After brief introductions, I gave the detective an overview of our case. “Fifteen year old Aimee and six year old Bailey Short were reported missing four weeks ago, both previously unknown to us. Aimee left a note to her parents saying she was sorry, but she couldn’t leave Bailey behind. She couldn’t do this anymore, and there was no point in looking for them. No one will ever find their bodies. None of their friends have seen them, and there has been no activity on her bank account or social media. No history of self-harm, no known mental health issues.” I ran through a summary of the people we had spoken to and how little we had to go on.
Detective Harris nodded through the information but didn’t add anything. I glanced at David, who had remained quiet but was watching us both intensely. “Can I ask what the crossover is?”
Detective Harris frowned before answering. “Stacey Tarong’s name came up as a contractor with a company I’m looking at with regards to potential drug imports, and the name came up as being linked to your case. I gather her niece is one of your missing kids. I’m not even sure she’s relevant to mine. She is one of ten or eleven contractors linked to my company, but her name came up on several occasions, and we are looking at all their staff, so I wanted to see if there were any links. I really appreciate your time, and if you think of anything that could be relevant to me, please let me know.”
I asked a few more questions about his case to see if there were any other links, and he gave me a brief rundown of the direction of their investigation. David jumped in and asked a few questions, none related to my case. I had already been a little familiar with the case because it had been discussed a few times in various meetings, and David had introduced me to the lead detective on the case months ago at a social event, where we had chatted about it. It didn’t sound like they had made much progress. I had heard through the grapevine that the few times they got close to anything, evidence or people of interest had disappeared, especially in the last few months. After coming up with nothing useful, we exchanged quick handshakes and goodbyes, and David and I were left alone in the office again.
David began typing as if I wasn’t there, and I studied him for a while before asking the question I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer to. “Are you unhappy with how I’m handling this case?”
His eyes shot up to mine quickly with a frown. “No of course not.”
“So why did Detective Harris and I both come to the deputy commissioner’s office for a conversation that should have been a quick email?”
A bit of a pause was followed by a small smile.
“Ky, I have absolutely no hesitation about how you do your job. You are incredibly good at what you do, and both Ian and I are more than happy with your performance. You have good instincts, and you are a good team leader. You have an amazing ability to judge people. It’s an important skill. Don’t underestimate it.”
Frowning, I left the office, still with no idea what that meeting was about.
After yet another day of dead ends, paperwork, and thinly veiled homophobic comments from Detective Grayson, otherwise known as Detective Dickhead, I turned into my street and decided to park out on the road, since I would be leaving again well before parking inspectors did rounds. As I shut the car door, a light went on in a car across the road, and the door opened. I leaned against my car while Tim, my stepfather, made his way across the road. We didn’t bother with hellos as he put his arms around me and held me for a moment.
“How long have you been waiting?” I murmured.
“Not long.” I pulled back and looked at him. “Okay, I got here about two hours ago.”
“Sorry.” I grimaced. “You should’ve texted me.”
He smiled and shoved me towards the door. “You mean so I could be told you would call tomorrow?”
I cringed. “Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing. I know you’re tired. I’m not staying, just wanted to check on you. We’re worried.” He glanced sideways at me as we climbed the stairs to my apartment. While I opened my door, he continued. “You need to look after yourself, Ky.”
I sighed. “I know.”
He continued to talk, pulling a few containers out of a bag I hadn’t even noticed and popping them in the fridge. One he put in the microwave. “Go have a shower, put your PJs on, and this will be ready.”
“Yes, Dad.” I smirked but turned to do as I was told. I was so grateful this man was in my life.
After chatting light-heartedly over dinner, I felt marginally more human.
Tim cleared the table and got back to the purpose of the visit. “When was the last time you did something fun?”
“I do fun stuff all the time,” I retorted.
“Okay. What and when?”
I must have paused for a while because he started to frown. “Okay, you can’t even remember when. This needs to change. Your mum still wants to set you up with that guy in her yoga class. How about that?” A glare had him continuing quickly. “He would be flexible. That’s a good thing!”
I chuckled but shook my head.
Tim sighed. “Okay, but you need to do something. Working the hours you have lately is not healthy. Before I see you next week, you need to do something fun, or I’m letting your mother loose.”