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“Maybe we shouldn’t have told her anything,” Rei says. “Or talked about how we were going to break it to her before we did.”
“Trine’s a grown-up,” Misha says. He’s putting files back into boxes after snapping pictures of them with his phone. I kneel down next to him so I can help him put the boxes back in place as Rei busies himself with tidying the rest of the room, which is an absolute mess.
They’re both good at their job, so it doesn’t surprise me that their research was thorough. I just wish they were a little bit more careful about how they organized things. In the distance, I can hear the sound of sirens driving past the main road, disturbing the quiet peace of the nice little suburban street Aura Dawes and her husband live on.
“I get that,” Rei replies after a bit. “I just don’t think she should be left alone right now. She’s obviously feeling really vulnerable already.”
“I know you just want to make sure that she’s okay, but if she wants alone time, we should give it to her,” Misha says. “She’s going to feel suffocated if we chase after her.”
Rei sighs. “I guess, but I would rather she feel suffocated and be okay than not feel suffocated and be in danger.”
Misha finishes taking pictures of the files, sticking his phone back into his pocket and then doing up the laces of his boots. “You can go after her. I’m not stopping you.”
“I think you might be right. Luke?”
I shrug. “Honestly, I don’t know,” I say. “I expect she’ll be back eventually, so maybe Misha is right and we should just leave her alone for now. I’m sure seeing her mom can’t be easy for her. Hearing about the files her mom kept of her can’t have been easy, either. Did you find anything else?”
“Nothing about Trine,” Misha says. He stands up and walks toward the window, his arms crossed over his chest.
I sit down on the office chair, using my feet to roll myself around so I can look at Rei when he speaks.
“There were a lot of other records, though,” Rei says. “You might want to go through them. They seem pretty legitimate.”
“Potential subjects?” I ask.
“Not exactly, more like something to keep in mind for others,” he says. “She’s very thorough. Keeps files on almost everyone.”
“It’s a little creepy,” Misha says. “The only person we couldn’t find a file on was her husband. Maybe it’s on her computer, but she seems to really like keeping physical files, so I legitimately don’t think she has one.”
“Ash?” I ask. “Or Trine’s dad?”
“No, there’s a file on her dad,” Rei replies.
Misha takes his phone out of his pocket again. “Yeah, I’ll email it to you,” he says.
“Right,” I reply, grabbing my phone.
Rei is straightening a box on top of another one. There are a lot of boxes, lining up the entirety of the wall up to where the windowsill is. There is a large bookshelf next to the computer desk, which also looks like it’s full of binders and folders rather than books.
There’s another bookshelf next to the door, this one full of published books with her name on the covers. There are a bunch of other books in the bookshelf, mostly from authors I don’t recognize.
I’m waiting for Misha to send me the file when his phone rings in his hand. I watch as he looks at the screen, his brow furrowed. “I think it’s Aura,” he says. “Hold on, I’ll put her on speaker. Hello?”
“Hi,” Aura says. She sounds like she’s out of breath. “I just got a really scary call from Trine. Is she with you?”
“No,” Misha says. “She went to find you. What kind of call?”
Aura swears under her breath. “She said she needed help, and then the call was cut off,” she says. “But not before I heard sirens. I can’t shake the feeling that something is horribly wrong. How long ago did she leave?”
“Only a few minutes,” Misha says.
She doesn’t need to say anything else. We’re walking toward the door, waiting for Aura to say something else.
“Just find her, okay?” Aura says. “I’m really worried about her.”
“Yeah, of course,” Misha says. “We’ll call you as soon as we know something.”
“Thank you. I think…wait,” she says. “I’m getting another call. It’s from the hospital.”
