"Hey, have you seen Mirana or Lucy this morning?" Jackson asks. "Lucy didn't come home last night and I haven't seen Mirana this morning either"
"Lucy may have gone home with her date,"
"Mirana probably went back to Tim's. I'll ask him," Jackson says.
"Tim's already here which means Mirana didn't go to his,"
"Harper!" Nolan calls. "Did you see Mirana or Lucy in the locker room?"
"No why?"
"We can't get ahold of either of them, their phones are dead. Lucy's bed wasn't slept in," Jackson says.
"Sergeant!" Nyla calls and Grey looks over. "Tell him"
"Lucy didn't come home last night and she didn't bring Mirana back either," Jackson says as Tim joins the conversation. "No calls are going through, they're not responding to texts"
"They went to the bar," Tim says. "Caleb bought a friend for Mirana to sit with so Chen would feel more comfortable on their date. Caleb Wright with a w but I don't have a name for the other guy"
"When did you last see them?" Grey asks.
"I saw Mirana just before she left for the bar, she was going to call me once she was done but I assumed she may have gone back to your apartment with Chen if the date didn't go well," Tim says.
"What do we know about these guys?" Sergeant Grey asks.
"Caleb Wright works at a medical supply company," Lawrence says. "He said that's where he met the friend that joined them. I saw a video of Caleb playing with a puppy. Chen was stalking his social media page"
"Alright," Grey nods. "Take West, do background checks. Find out everything we need to know about these guys before we go knocking on their doors. And someone find Armstrong"
"I'll run a trace on their phones, get them into MUPS and NaMus systems," Nyla says.
"Sergeant!" Nolan runs over. "I just spoke to Nell, a call made to 9-1-1 from Mirana's phone last night"
"Can she send the recording over?"
"Already done,"
"Nice work Nolan,"
"Everyone listen up!" Sergeant Grey calls over the general buzz of the station. "Officers Mirana Cabrera and Lucy Chen have not been seen for approximately thirteen hours, given the circumstances we cannot rule out abduction. So stop what you're doing, I want all available personnel on this case"
"GPS disabled since last night," Nyla says. "Last tower ping was on 6th and LaBrea at 9:07 last night when-"
"Mirana called 9-1-1," Grey says. "Nell sent the recording file over"
"Caleb's social media pages are gone," Tim fumes as he walks over. "All of them"
"Mirana called 9-1-1 last night at 9:07," Nyla says causing Tim to stop.
"Let's listen,"
"My office,"
Nolan, Jackson, Nyla and Tim all stand in Grey's office as the Sergeant plays the recording of the call.
"9-1-1, state your emergency?"
"I need help-" There's a clatter on the call.
"Hit her phone away?" Nyla suggests.
"Most likely,"
"Ma'am, can you hear me? Can you tell me your name?"
"It's okay, just sleep," A distant voice says before Mirana speaks again.
"He'll kill you. Tim will kill you"
Tim straightens up at the mention of his name and how weak Mirana's voice sounded. He could hear her strength in her voice but it was barely above a whisper.
The man clenches his jaw to prevent any emotion from slipping on his face but that breaks once the male voice on the other end of line becomes clear.
"Tell Tim Bradford that she'll be dead long before he has the chance to kill me,"
︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵
Mirana's eyes flutter open and she registers stinging pain in her side. Her ribs now bore an inflamed, bloody tattoo with the letters DOD and the date. Her eyes move around the room and she spots Lucy, out cold on the table as Caleb tattoos her.
"Leave her alone," Mirana's voice is hoarse but it catches Caleb's attention.
"James! Number One has risen!"
"Number One?"
"Because you're going to be first to die," James says. "Lucy will watch it all before she dies"
"Great," Mirana murmurs. "Can I at least have some agua?"
"Spoil her James, after all, she is going to die soon,"
"You two are the least scary killers I've ever met," Mirana laughs after James pulls the water away. "Both of you are pathetic. Don't tell me, Rosalind told you both that you were so special. Her prodigal return from prison. Am I right?"
"You don't know what you're talking about," James hisses.
"Oh, it's so sad," Mirana laughs. "You know eventually she's going to have to pick a favourite, one she loves more. One she's more proud of. I bet whoever kills Armstrong will be her favourite, am I right? God, I love being right"
"Even facing death, you don't know when to shut your mouth," James sneers.
"Well, I'm going to die either way," Mirana shrugs.
︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵‿︵
Lucy had finally awoken, about half an hour after Mirana and after a brief conversation with Caleb and James, the two men had left, giving the two women enough time to escape their restraints.
"You run like hell," Mirana whispers.
"I'm not leaving you,"
"Yes you are," Mirana hisses. "If you don't go now, both of us die. So go now, watch the trip wire, saw it when I came to being carried in"
Lucy nods hesitantly, turning on her heel and running out of the house and Mirana quietly closes the door to the house before scanning the room for a weapon.
Her eyes lock onto a plank of wood that is resting against the wall and she grabs it before hiding near the bookcase.
"Where the hell did they go?"
Once James is close enough, Mirana leaps out from behind the bookcase, slamming the piece of wood down over James' head.
Part of it snaps off, sending the man crumpling to the floor and Mirana raises the piece of wood before ramming it through the back of his neck.
"NO!" Caleb roars, backhanding Mirana which sends her crashing to the floor. "What did you do?"
"I gave Lucy ample time to run like hell and killed your friend. Don't worry, he didn't feel anything,"
"You're still going to die," Caleb says before howling in pain as Mirana slams her foot against his knee.
"I know but now it's even," Mirana replies. "I'm going to die, he's dead. Lucy's alive, you're alive. Rosalind is going to be so disappointed in you"
Caleb doesn't say anything else, opting to limp forward and grab Mirana's hair to yank her to her feet which makes her grit her teeth. She wasn't going to show any pain so he couldn't get his sick satisfaction.
The woman goes stumbling back, crashing against the bookshelf which gives Caleb time to subdue her once again. He presses a rag against her face and holds it there as she struggles against him.
As the minutes of struggling tick by, Mirana can feel herself growing weaker as she inhales the sweet-smelling vapour of the chloroform-soaked rag. Her eyes begin to flutter as her legs buckle beneath her.
"That's right," Caleb murmurs. "Just sleep"
"Vete al diablo," Mirana's slurred retort is muffled by the rag and Caleb chuckles.
"I'll be joining you there,"