The Academy: Detective Stories - Part II

Chapter 20. Lost in Words

"What do you mean she'll never come back?" Elisa sat at the table in front of Urchin, her eyes glaring at him.

They failed to find Jackie. After the ball in a Guardian House, she disappeared with Urchin, so everyone assumed they went back to the dorms not to cause suspicion. Only in the morning Theo discovered that she left in a different direction, and they used a Searching spell to get to the place where her energy trace led – to the nightclub.

Now, they were back at the Academy. The kitchen table where they sat was lit with bright sunlight, and they sat around, arguing about their next move.

"That's what she wrote." Urchin crumpled a piece of paper with Jackie's farewell note and threw it on the floor. The paper ball rolled to the chair leg and stood there.

Theo put his palms together, thinking. "It can't be that simple. She never spoke to any of us before her sudden departure. Why would she do that?"

"I don't even know." Urchin raised his dull eyes to Elisa. "Maybe because she broke up with me."

"She did what?" Theo gasped.

Elisa placed her palm on her chest, her heart pounding. Urchin definitely knew something important about the actual reasons for Jackie's decision, but he kept silent.

"I mean, I'm sorry," Theo eventually said. "But it's so illogical. What about her career? Would she give up on everything because of a failure in a relationship?"

"It was more than that." Urchin ran his fingers through his hair. "To make a long story short, everything between us was built on lies. But I won't discuss it now. We need to focus on what she figured - the dealers will be in the club at five tonight, so we need to be there to catch them."

Elisa and Theo exchanged glances. Urchin was right – their love drama could wait until they completed their mission of catching the drug dealers.

"So, as I understand, she told you that the chief is clear." Elisa summarized. "And then, she gets to the club in the suburbs and leaves a note that the criminals will be there."

"Exactly." Urchin nodded. "I assumed she read someone in that very club last night. That's why she hid the message under the bench - so only we could find it."

"It makes sense." Theo agreed.

Elisa looked at the floor, where the crumpled piece of paper rested by the chair leg. "Can I read it?"

"No." Urchin stood up. "She wrote it for me."

"But you could miss something –"

He picked up the paper and put it into his chest pocket. "Can I have at least one thing that doesn't involve you?!"

Elisa narrowed her eyes. "What do you point at? Should I stay aside because you have a heartbreak?"

Theo moved his gaze around them. "All right, calm down, you both. We need to get to Don now and brainstorm the operation."

"Sounds good to me." Urchin gave her a disappointed look and walked away.

Elisa rose, her hand touching a warm table surface. It was their special place where they sat with Jackie during their first months of studying, every morning at breakfast and sometimes at dinner. Here, she took a potion on their very first day here when Don ran his quest. It was weird to think they would never sit here again, chatting and laughing.

"Don't get upset because of Urchin," Theo said. "He is just too distressed now. It will go."

She turned to him. "Why was it him? Why she never said goodbye to me?"

"I guess it was too hard for her, too." Theo shrugged. "But does it really matter now?"

"I just realized that I might never see her again." Her voice trembled. She raised her eyes to the ceiling to not drop her tears.

Theo came closer. "Whatever happened, give it time. I'm sure she had a reason to do so, so you must trust her now. Can you do it?"

Elisa nodded. "I'll try."

* * * * *

At five in the evening, they were in the club. Elisa sat at the bar with Laura, who came here to help with an undercover operation. They ordered two cocktails with bright paper straws and now looked around, searching for any suspicious guys. For now, all the visitors behaved normally.

Urchin was at the table with Theo, pretending to have a friendly meeting, and it was good to keep a distance from him for a while. Don was hiding outside with the small group of guardians, ready to burst inside.

"So, they broke up, huh?" Laura twisted her straw, mixing a drink in her glass. Her curious eyes locked with Elisa's.

"It seems so," she said. "But it doesn't change anything."

"You are still going to leave the city?"

"I don't know what to do, honestly." Elisa placed her empty glass on a table, and the barmen approached to refill it.

Laura looked at her drink with disapproval. "Drinking won't cheer you up."

She snickered. "We'll see."

Laura leaned closer. "You know what will be good? If I steal the note that she wrote to Urchin."

Elisa glanced at the guys. They were at the table, chatting and dropping occasional looks at the visitors. Unlike her, they stayed fully focused. She turned to Laura. "No way. It's in his chest pocket."

"Just watch." Laura winked at her and stood up.

Fixing her hair, she moved to the table where the guys sat. After short flirting with Urchin, Laura asked him for a dance. Theo stood alone at the table, sipping his beer with a grumpy face. Elisa smiled. After all, he was jealous, and it was a good sign.

The barmen approached the man nearby, and Elisa switched her attention to their talk. She moved closer to hear their voices.

"Ok, someone will be at the backdoor in a minute," the barmen said.

The man in front of him wore a black leather jacket. A star tattoo on his neck moved as he turned his head around the crowd, and his eyes stopped at Elisa.

She mustered an innocent smile and asked the barmen to make another drink. When a suspicious man left, she walked to the crowd and moved to the front doors. One of the guardians was waiting for her, and she waved her hand, sending him a signal. He nodded and moved to the street.

Now, everything was in their hands.

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