A phone was left idling on a table. It let out a single buzz, making it wobble a centimeter counter-clockwise. Melissa set down her tablet and picked it up. The text was still on the front screen.
"Tell Albert to charge his phone."
Melissa frowned to herself. She unlocked Rafi's phone and texted Fenton back. "Isn't he with you?"
A moment before it buzzed again. "Can't travel in snow. Staying overnight at Professor Song's. Didn't Albert spend last night with you?"
"He went home. I'll drive over and check your apartment." Melissa sent off the text and set the phone down.
Rafi's head appeared around the corner. "Something up?"
Melissa stood up. "I don't think Albert went home last night."
Although Rafi wasn't worried about Albert, something about Melissa's expression whispered that he should be. "I can pack some food and we can take my bike over."
Melissa folded her arms and thought about it. She then nodded to herself. "Let's go."
They bundled up and took Rafi's scooter bike over to Albert and Fenton's apartment. Melissa headed up the stairs, ahead of Rafi. She had a sinking feeling in her gut, like she wasn't going to like what she found.
She quickly typed 1214 into the door lock and opened it. There was no sound of Albert greeting them or his odd choices in music blasting over the speakers. Simply silence.
Rafi caught up with her and entered first. "Hey, Albert?" He handed the bag of food to Melissa and signaled for her to wait.
But no one was inside. Fenton's bed was unmade, as it always was, and there were dishes that were waiting to be cleaned in the sink. No signs of trouble, or unturned furniture, or anything unusual.
Melissa entered and put the bag of food in the fridge. The first thing she checked was Albert's hat rack and his closet. Albert was a fan of switching accessories on a daily basis. His hat and backpack from yesterday were absent, and the lime green polka dot shirt wasn't in the laundry hamper.
He didn't go home, but he didn't tell Fenton where he was heading. Either he thought it was going to be a quick trip, or the worst had happened. She continued to dig around the room while Rafi leaned against the doorframe.
"Should we call Juliet?" He asked.
"I don't have her number," muttered Melissa.
"We'll find her on True," replied Rafi. "Unless there is an army of Juliets in Blue Ginger, it should be a cinch, eh?"
A sigh escaped Melissa's lips. "Her name isn't Juliet. It's an insult Albert made up because she immediately ran off to find her Romeo... I don't even know what her real name is."
The weight of the situation was beginning to sink in for Rafi. He had to walk over and sit on the couch. His face became buried in his hands as he tried to rationalize what was happening.
Melissa struggled to distance herself emotionally. Both she and Rafi had come up with the same conclusion. That Albert was the next victim in the disappearance cases. All of them were men with partners who were on a "journey."
It was Rafi who broke the silence first. "We need to call the police."
"He's dead in two days," replied Melissa. She felt sick just saying that.
Rafi didn't know what to say. He didn't want to lie to her and himself. There was no saying that the police were going to find Albert, or that Albert went somewhere else.
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."