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“What messages?” Nate asks and leans in. Moshi’s claws dig into his shirt; he doesn’t even flinch.

“As I said, it’s an unknown number, but they seemed familiar with Rosy. Based on the way they speak to her, it does seem as though they were interested in her. We can’t confirm they were stalking her. Unofficially…it seems like it. Rosy didn’t respond to any of them. We’re going to investigate it more and see if we can find out who was sending them.”

“What about the flowers? She received some once, but she didn’t know who they were from. Did she ever find out?” Bry interjects, looking at each of us.

“What happened?” Logan asks, and we all shake our heads at Bry’s question.

“Flowers were sent to her home, although I don’t think they had a note. She thought one of us had sent them. But we hadn’t. She didn’t seem too worried, so I thought it was just a delivery mix up,” Bry tells him.

“Okay, that’s useful to know. I’ll send that back to Felix.”

“What about the cameras near her office?” Nate presses.

“We got access and checked through those. There aren’t as many as we’d like, and they only cover part of the building, but we could see her near the office on Friday. However, that whole area had a system update, so some of the cameras went offline briefly that evening.”

Max makes a pained noise, but Logan continues. “We aren’t ruling anything out, and we are still looking at every avenue. However, at the moment, we don’t have enough concrete evidence for anything.”

Max’s mouth falls open, Bry’s face pales, and Nate’s knuckles whiten. I quickly take Logan off loudspeaker.

“I’ve known Felix a long time, and I appreciate everything you’re both doing to help with this. But Logan, Rosy means everything to us. We need to find her. Every day that we don’t…it’s hard to think about what that might mean.”

He exhales, rustling in the background before his usually gruff voice manages to soften. “I understand, but there’s a process, Noah.”

He doesn’t, though, not really. He’s not sitting here wondering if the person he’s falling in love with is alive or…not.

I’ve mourned both my parents’ deaths, and it was hard learning to live without them. Losing a loved one is something we’re all aware will happen throughout life—there isn’t one person that grief won’t touch. It’s something that intrinsically binds us all together in this world. No matter how we choose to grieve, we all take that journey.

But even the slightest idea that something so final has happened to Rosy has a burning sensation racing through my veins. It’s as if my mind can’t accept it. It’s not an option for me, or for any of us.

I end the call with Logan and turn to face my family. The words that come out of my mouth next surprise them, just as much as me.

“We need to do something.”

“Are we sure about this?” Bry asks as he pulls into a parking space a short walking distance from the building.

“Yes,” Nate answers before I can voice my doubts.

The whole plan’s insane to even entertain. I’m a teacher. Yet for some crazy reason, I’m going along with the idea. Apparently, we all are, regardless of any doubts or hesitations we have, because the inkling that something is wrong is stronger than anything else. Something is not adding up, and the only thing we have to go on is this being the last place we know Rosy was seen.

So, we’re doing this. Regardless of the risks if we’re caught.

“Let’s run through the plan again. We can’t risk this going wrong. Max and Nate, you’ll both head around the back and wait.”

“Still not sure why I can’t go in and do the sweet talking,” Max interrupts me.

“Because you riled him up before, and not everyone thinks being insulted is charming,” I remind him, more tersely than I usually would. “I’ll head in and find Peter. Once I do, I’ll keep him distracted whilst you both enter and search the upstairs.” I point at Nate and Max.

They both nod.

“Are everyone’s earbuds connected?” I ask, pulling mine out and connecting it to my phone. “Also, remember to be as quick and tidy as you can. See if you can find anything that might indicate Rosy was there. Her bag is still missing, so that should be the main priority.”

“Then, once we’re finished, I’ll come back in the front entrance and create a scene so you can search the offices,” Max adds.

I sigh. “No, not a scene. Just a minor distraction, Maxi. We don’t want things escalating or getting out of hand,” I reprimand, not that I have any delusions he’ll listen to me when the time comes.

I fit the earbud snug into my ear. Max and Nate do the same, then climb from the car and casually walk in the direction we already agreed upon earlier.

“How’re you doing?” I ask Bry, as I pull up our group chat and press the button to audio call them all. The others all join, and the faint sound of their breathing and footsteps filtering through.