Platypus

Chapter Twelve

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Fenton. "Hey, Fenton." Rafi's other hand dug its fingernails into his palm, so that his voice wouldn't quiver. "Was Albert here this morning? ... No? Do you happen to have Juliet's number?"

Melissa folded her arms. She had to think. Albert researched a lot of things, and none of them were legal. Ways to contact the outside world, positions of the cities, who their political leaders were... The police weren't going to care about Albert. They weren't going to look for someone who would cause more trouble if he was found.

She rushed into his room and began to dig around freverently. Luckily, Albert was an organized guy who didn't think people ever entered their apartment uninvited. His research notebooks neatly were lined up on his desk.

Finding the phone he used to contact his brothers was another story. Chosen issued phones all operated on the city's network. The one Albert had was rigged for a satellite connection, but he was worried about it being traced. It was kept in a homemade faraday cage and only used for a few minutes at night, when the delivery trucks came in from the outside.

Melissa grabbed one of Fenton's gym bags and stuffed all the contraband in. She then looked around one last time to see if there was anything she missed... The map. Moving quickly, she began to rip out thumbtacks and switch their positions.

Silicon Valley, Munich, Victoria, any place that Albert had mentioned wanting to visit. If the police asked, they could just mention that it was a wishlist for vacationing, even though none of them were ever allowed to vacation. Hopefully, they wouldn't bother to check where all the little leftover holes were.

She opened up a window and slung the bag out of it. There were cameras inside the halls of the building. The police would ask her why she carried out a large bag of materials. Melissa couldn't lie and say it was Albert's porn collection, because it would be obvious that she didn't bother to touch it.

Rafi was already on the phone with the police. He tilted his head to the side when he noticed Melissa bundling back up. A hand waved about gesturing that she should stay put.

"Fenton might be able to track Albert's phone," said Melissa.

Fenton had a find phone app that allowed him to track multiple devices. Like any completely normal platonic couple, Albert and Fenton tracked each other's belongings. Mostly in case one misplaced their bag, but Melissa still thought it was weird.

Rafi shook his head and told her to stay place. The oddity of the disappearance victims was that all trace of them vanished. Even their phone and tablet signals. Searching out in the snow would be useless.

"They're a married couple," replied Melissa. "Albert and Fenton always check in on each other. Fenton would've texted Albert a few times, but he only called us an hour ago about Albert's phone not being charged. All of his texts up until that point must have gone through to something."

Rafi didn't want her to go alone. He widened his eyes and shook his head.

"I'll drive by on the scooter. Just a look." Melissa tightened the scarf about her face. "I'll be right as the police get here."

Melissa rushed downstairs and retrieved the bag she had thrown into the alleyway. This was hitched on her bag as she called Fenton.

"Please give me good news," whispered Fenton. It sounded like he was on the verge of throwing up.

"We've called the police. After we've talked with them, Rafi will pick you up and take you to our place. Do you have Juliet's contact information?"

"... No. Albert might have it on his phone," muttered Fenton.

Melissa settled onto the scooter. "You sent him a text earlier, right? Did that go through?"

"I didn't get a notification that it didn't."

"That's great!" The news lifted a great weight off of Melissa's shoulders. "Listen, that hasn't happened before. All of those other men, everything on them vanished overnight. I need you to text me the location of where his phone was last on. The police will need it."

Police be damned. If it happened to be the place where Albert was, she was going to march in there and bop him in the nose. He deserved that much after all the worry he put her through.

But that weight once again came bearing down when she saw that it wasn't that far from her place. Even more so when she reached the place, and saw that it was a fenced-off building.

She couldn't find a way in. Melissa began to pace back and forth along the aluminum fencing. Eventually, she noticed a strange lump in the snow, just on the other side.

Her hand reached into the lump and felt around until she managed to snatch onto a backpack strap. She managed to yank the bag between the bars without tearing it, and opened it up. Inside was Albert's belongings, along with the notebook he kept on chosen cities. This was quickly stuffed inside her jacket.

Melissa stood back up. Around her, the snow had started to fall again. It trickled down in large clusters. She set her phone to dial the last number she called.

"... Hi, Fenton. Look, I'm... I'm sorry, but I don't have good news."