The Missing Link

018. Anonymous Client

"Oh, come on. You literally just said, 'Anyway, I have a new case! Care to come?'" Andrea retorted.

"Wait, you're not the victim of that—" Raine started, then abruptly stopped. "Oh, never mind. It was someone else."

"What are you on about, Ms. De Verra?" Andrea asked, clearly confused.

"It's nothing, just some names," Raine answered quickly, though her response only deepened the puzzled frowns on Andrea and Zane's faces.

"Uh, what?" Zane asked, his confusion clear.

"Andrea," Raine replied. "You and the last victim from last month share the same name—Andrea. Are you two related?"

Andrea raised an eyebrow. "I haven't got a clue what you're on about, Ms. De Verra. What I do want to know is this new case you mentioned."

"Never mind that," Raine said, brushing it off. "Anyway, what do you think this new case is?"

"A case. Like you two will go off and solve crimes again," Andrea replied, her tone skeptical.

"Uh-huh?" Raine said, raising an eyebrow. "You want to see the new case I just bought, then?"

Both Andrea and Zane furrowed their brows as Raine set her fork and spoon down. She pulled her phone from her blue, thin checkered jacket, unlocking it to reveal a peach-coloured case from her gallery.

"Well?" she asked, eyes fixed on Andrea. "Was it worth it?"

A strange look crossed Andrea's face, as if the thought of What is she doing? What is this? ran through her mind.

"Oh, so that must be the delivery that came before we left the apartment," Zane said.

"Yes, that's it. Now, do tell—what do you think?" Raine asked.

"Well, it's good. Right, Ms. Mercado?" Zane replied, prompting Andrea to force a smile.

"Yeah, it's good," Andrea said, nodding before taking a spoonful of her fried chicken and rice.

"Now that everything's settled, we should get back to eating," Raine said, slipping her phone back into her jacket after turning it off. "We've still got plenty of paperwork to tackle."

While Andrea wasn't looking, Zane opened his mouth, silently mouthing the words for Raine to read: THAT'S REALLY THE NEW CASE?

Raine rolled her eyes and reached for her phone again. She unlocked it and typed a quick message:

A new client. Said we'll meet her this Saturday when we're free from classes. Wanna come?

Zane's phone vibrated, and he glanced at the message. His brow furrowed in confusion as he quickly typed a reply:

About what?

Raine, with a smirk, grabbed her phone and replied:

A private client. The police will take care of the rest. The client said we'll have another job.

"Uh... Why are you two on your phones? We're eating," Andrea snapped, clearly a little annoyed.

Oh, right. She's the traditional type, Raine thought to herself.

"I'll just send one last message to say I'll reply to this anonymous texter later, after lunch," Zane said, quickly typing his final reply.

Keep me posted. Ttyl.

"Ttyl? What does that even mean?" Raine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Andrea replied, confused.

"It's just something people say," Raine muttered. "Where does anyone even come up with that?"