Puzzles: The Missing Piece

Chapter 28: The Missing Piece

I woke up five hours later after I slept on a couch. A soft, warm blanket covered me. I checked my wristwatch. 10 am. I was exhausted from the mission we did just a few hours ago. I looked around. The basement was empty. Katy wasn't on her desk. Garry was not even playing the PS4, which, by the way, was very rare. I quickly ruffled my hair and headed straight to the door leading to a staircase which leads upstairs. As I walked up the stairs, I could hear the sounds of laughter. When I finally reached upstairs, everyone was sitting on the dinner table. They greeted me. I looked at the table. Everyone was happily eating their breakfast. Then, I realised someone was missing. I frowned.

"Where's Emma?" I asked them.

"She went to the police station to see her dad," said Garry as he ate his fried egg.

"She what?" I cried out. "There are corrupt policemen in this city working for John Doe! Isn't that the reason we didn't tell them about the kidnap?"

Everybody froze. Katy stood up. "Didn't think about that! Zuku, can you drive us there?" she asked.

"Sure!" he replied, with his mouth full of cereal.

"Kallus will stay here," ordered my mum.

"What? No!" I objected.

"It's dangerous!" she insisted.

"Mum, please? I'm old enough to make my own choices," I explained. Technically, I was just sixteen years old, but you know what I mean.

She stared at my eyes. "Fine. But be careful!" she said.

"Thanks, mum," I hugged her.

A few minutes later, we were on the road. After 10 minutes on the road, we saw Emma walking nonchalantly on the sidewalk in front of a rundown house. We stopped her.

"Emma," I said, "thank god you're okay. We were so worried."

But, instead of talking or responding to me, she just walked past me with a nervous smile. Confused, we blocked her path.

"Emma, is everything okay?" asked Katy.

She smiled, "Why wouldn't it be."

"Emma..." I stared into her blue eyes. They were trembling with fear. But, she did something unexpected. She clenched her right hand, and placed it on her left palm. She then raised both hands upwards. It was then that I realised something was up.

"Zuku, start the van, now!" I ordered.

When Garry, Katy and I entered, I slid open the side door. Immediately, Katy hooped in and Zuku stomped on the gas pedal. We zoomed passed the houses like a crazy roller-coaster.

"Kallus. What happened?" asked Garry, confused.

"Sign language. She did the sign language for help," I explained.

Immediately, out of nowhere, Emma wrapped her arms around me. She had a sweet scent like flowers during spring time.

"Thank you," she said, tears escaping her eyes. She rested her head on my chest. "They threatened me. They told me to sabotage all of you. If I didn't, they will kill my father. They told me he was a traitor. I wouldn't do that sort of thing, obviously. But, what did they mean about my father?"

I stared into her teary blue eyes. I then placed my hand on her shoulders, "Emma, stop worrying about it. You father didn't do anything wrong. He just did what he had to. It was, after all, to help you."

She sat beside me, her head on my shoulders. Ten minutes later, we arrived back at Katy's house. Unfortunately, we didn't like what we saw.

The house was burning. Black smoke filled the air like, well, black smoke. Two firetrucks were parked outside. One of the firemen, talked with Mr Caine, Anton and my mum. We quickly exited the van and went to them.

"What happened?" asked Katy, tears filling her eyes.

Mr Caine trembled with fear, "John Doe. He trashed the place. Fortunately, we survived. But, Katy. The stone. He took the stone. He has the missing piece."