16. Miles
Sixteen
Miles
Hayden's words follow me up the stairs to my room. When he came to Grounds he told me. One of the girls is connected to Lincoln. That's why Cain took it.
Lincoln, Cain's right hand man since he came back, he’s the man who sat in that office through everything, who knows where everybody is buried because he helped put most of them there. He’s loyal which only comes from shared history and mutual necessity.
One of the girls in all of these files has something to do with Lincoln. The question is why didn’t Cain just tell me, because she would be the first one I would be looking at?
I close my bedroom door, sit on the edge of the bed and open the partition on my laptop and pull up the files.
All of the ones I’ve recorded are on there.
I still have more to read through. Their photographs, names, ages, and last known locations are arranged across the screen in the order I built them.
Which one is it?
Amber Reyes. Phoenix. I run her against Lincoln's known associates, his family contacts, and the names in his file that Cain gave me access to years ago when I was first brought in properly.
Nothing.
Jade Coleman. Colorado.
Nothing.
Renee Park. Nashville.
I stop and run it again.
Renee Park's mother's maiden name. A sister who moved to Nashville eight years ago. The sister's married name is different, easy to miss, but the maiden name sitting in Lincoln's family record as a cousin on his mother's side.
She’s his second cousin. That’s close enough for Cain to take the case as a favor to the man who has given him years of loyalty without question.
I make a note, tag it, and cross-reference it against everything I have on Renee Park. Then I let the system run the connections while I sit back and think about what this means for the shape of the case.
There’re too many questions in my head, and too many images of girls being hurt. I need to take my mind away from it.
I think about Grounds this morning, Sadie smelled like strawberries. I’ve smelled strawberries whenever I’ve visited her. She smelled like the angel she is. I wanted her to move closer to me, I wanted her to talk more, but the best part was that she called me sexy, and that made me smile.
I pick up the burner phone.
Miles.
Are you still with your friends?
I watch the screen. Nothing.
Miles
I've been thinking about you.
The message sits unread. She's either still with her friends or she's made a decision. I already know which one is more likely after last night. The bracelet she’d left on the counter, the bin bag with all the flowers, and the residence office visit where the building logs flagged to my system at nine this morning.
She's pulling back, but why? I didn’t do anything she didn't want me to. I asked her, and she said yes. So where did I go wrong?
I put the phone down and turn back to the laptop.
The third video is in a separate encrypted folder, the one that was flagged by the algorithm at the party, it queued while I was in the pool, waiting. I've been putting off opening it because the first two took something from me. The image of those girls crying and beaten just won’t leave me.
Mason told me to sleep. I would fucking sleep if I could, but I can’t. I can’t get the images out of my head.
I open the file. It’s forty seconds long. I watch it once with my hands flat on the desk, I force myself not to react. I’m angry, and feel sick watching it. It’s not going to help me find the girls if I don’t watch it and stop this. Finding what’s hidden in the footage will definitely help.
There’re three girls this time, not one.
It’s in a room I don't recognize, it’s different from the first two videos, a different background, and a different quality of light.
The same raised platform is used and it’s the same voices.
But there’s something else in this one, it’s a background detail, which is easy to miss, I almost missed it on the first watch.
There’s a window which is partially obscured, and the edge of something outside it.
I pause the frame, then zoom in, and run the image enhancement on it twice.
The building is more visible; I can see the partial signage. There’re three letters that are visible before the frame cuts.
I write them down. It's not nothing.
It's the first concrete locating detail across three videos. They can’t be this smart, they have got to mess up somewhere. But how many more girls have to go missing until I figure it out?
I open a new window and start working on the images and the videos.
On my other screen, the CCTV feed from Sadie’s dorm room waits quietly.
I’m not a creep. I only have cameras in the bedroom, kitchen, and sitting area.
I just need to see that she’s thinking about me, that throwing the flowers away was a momentary lapse. A mistake.
I lose myself in the case for hours. There’re Romanian audio clips, financial trails, timestamps, and missing girls. When I finally glance at the clock, it’s past nine. I haven’t eaten since this morning, and my stomach is hollow.
I push back from the desk and head to the kitchen, grabbing the cold pizza from the fridge and shoving two slices into the microwave. I don’t have time to make anything or go out for food, so this will have to do.
The moment I sit down, the live feed catches my attention.
Sadie walks into her dorm, drops her bag by the door, kicks off her shoes, and collapses onto the couch. She looks tired. Beautiful, but tired.
I set the pizza aside and pick up my phone.
Miles
You’re home. You look like you had a long day.
She stares at her phone for a long moment, then puts it face-down on the coffee table without replying. I watch her pull her knees to her chest.
I wait. Ten minutes. Fifteen. Still nothing.
Miles
I saw what you did with the flowers. It hurt more than it should have.
Still nothing. She gets up, walks to the kitchen, and pours herself a glass of water. Her movements are sharp, and angry.
Miles
Talk to me, Sadie. I know you’re upset.
She finally picks up her phone. Types. Deletes. Types again.
Sadie
Leave me alone.
My chest tightens, but a dark smile pulls at my lips. There she is.
Miles
I’m only here to care for you. Even when you push me away.
Sadie
Caring for me doesn’t mean breaking into my room and watching me sleep. It doesn’t mean hacking my laptop or leaving gifts like some fucking ghost. This is insane.
Miles
Is it insane that I know you better than anyone else?
That I see how hard you push yourself and just want to make things easier for you?
The flowers were because I know you like them.
The coffee was because you forget to eat after practice.
I pay attention, Sadie. No one else does.
School work, I only want you to finish with the best grade you can get.
She reads the message. Her thumb hovers. She doesn’t reply for several minutes, but she doesn’t block me either.
Sadie
You scare me.
Miles
Good. You should be scared of the world. It’s ugly. But you don’t have to be scared of me. I would burn the whole world down before I let anything touch you. I thought you understood that after the other night. After the way you came for me.
Her head snaps up and she looks straight toward the hidden camera in the living room like she can feel me watching. She wraps her arms around herself.
Sadie
Stop. Just… stop. I don’t know what I was thinking. This has to end.
Miles
You don’t want it to end. That’s why you’re still texting me. That’s why you wore the bracelet for the day straight before you took it off today. You like knowing I’m always there. You liked my voice in your ear telling you exactly what to do. You liked coming while I listened.
She stands up and starts pacing the small living room, running a hand through her hair.
Sadie
You’re dangerous. This isn’t normal.
Miles
Normal is overrated. Normal is lonely. I see you, Sadie. The real you. The girl who smiles for everyone but cries in the shower when she thinks no one can hear. The girl who’s exhausted from carrying everyone else. Let me carry some of it. Let me take care of you the way you deserve.
She stops pacing. Sits back down on the couch and stares at the phone for a long time.
Sadie
Why me? Out of everyone… why are you obsessed with me?
I lean forward, elbows on the desk, pizza forgotten and cold beside me.
Miles
Because the first time I saw you, something clicked into place. You’re not like the others. You’re soft in all the places the world tries to make hard. And I knew I was supposed to protect that softness.
Sadie
That’s not love. That’s control.
Miles
Call it whatever you want. But tell me honestly… when you threw the flowers away today, did it feel good? Or did it feel like you were throwing away the only person who actually sees you?
She doesn’t answer for nearly ten minutes. I watch her bite her lip, glance toward the kitchen where the flowers were.
Sadie
I hate that you know me this well.
Miles
You don’t hate it. You’re just scared of how much you don’t.
She reads the message and lets out a shaky breath. On the feed I watch her pull her knees tighter to her chest on the couch, one hand rubbing her temple like she’s trying to push me out of her head. She looks small, vulnerable, but perfect.
The three dots appear. Disappear. Then appear again. She’s fighting herself, and I like the idea of her knowing she shouldn’t want me but is now starting to crave me being around her.
Sadie
Maybe I am scared, but that doesn’t make this okay. You watch me when I’m sleeping. You touch my things. You were in my room after I came… you tasted me on my fingers. That’s not normal. That’s fucked up.
I smile in the dark of my room, leaning closer to the monitor. She’s still typing.
Sadie
I threw the flowers away because I needed to feel like I still have control. Like I can say no to whatever this is. But then I sat there staring at where the flowers were for twenty minutes feeling… empty. I hate that too.