OBSESSED

35

JARROD

"Come in."

The man with the thick accent motioned for us to come inside. He hardly even looked at us before pushing the door open.

I glanced at James. His jaw clenched but he took the initiative to step into the apartment. The guy didn't even ask who we were.

Who just invited strangers into their place?

Of course, this guy was clearly on something. If his severely dilated eyes weren't a dead giveaway, his odd behavior was.

I regretted not bringing any form of weapon in case this went downhill. Steeling myself, I followed after my brother.

The entry led into the living room where a group of three lounged on the mismatched furniture. A heavy smog of weed soaked the walls and hung between us.

I coughed as I took in my surroundings.

The furniture was mostly torn and sagging under blue neon lights. Frames on the wall hung crookedly and there were even holes through the plaster.

This place was a literal shit hole. How much effort did it take to straighten a picture frame?

James seemed to read my mind as he studied on for the frames and straightened it. He turned to the three spread out. Surveying the group, he cleared his throat. They all looked at him and tensed.

"Who this?" asked one of the other guys to the man who let us in. He didn't sound foreign.

"I saw . . . I thought they were one of yours?" the man said with a shrug.

The other guy jumped up from the sofa, sending the girl on his lap sprawling across the floor. I couldn't help but picture that girl as my sister. Scalding fury ate a path up my spine and into my face.

"Who the fuck are you?" he barked. Any calmness from his drug-induced high vanished.

"We came to ask some questions," James told them. He sounded calm and collected but firm. "Do any of you know a woman by the name of Julia Muller?"

They all looked at each other with palpable tension. My jaw ticked.

"Answer the fucking question!" I snapped.

The angry man glared. "You don't look like police."

Sensing my impending meltdown, James took over. "Why would the police be looking for Julia?"

"Don't know." He shrugged. "Jules left us. She and Toby decided to go out on their own for awhile."

"Who—" I started when James cut me off.

"Why are you telling us this?" he said. His eyes narrowed on the man who'd spoken.

The man glanced at the others with a confused look. "Uh . . . because you asked?"

"You wouldn't betray Julia's confidence. She was one of yours. I know you aren't going to give in that easily. Tell me what happened to her."

James was keeping his cool better than me and I was quite annoyed by that. Then again, intelligence was what he did for a living. He found a way to collect information. I imagined that sometimes doing that wasn't easy.