Page 178 of Steel Queen

“She was supposed to be home three to four hours ago. Our brother, Noah, who’s supposed to be with her is also missing. Can you track them down? We’re just hoping they didn’t get into an accident or some shit.”

“I guess I could look into that,” Murray said thoughtfully. “Send me their cell phone numbers. It’d also be helpful if you have any idea about the route they were supposed to be on. I can narrow down the area and check the CCTV footage. Also, do you know if they were driving a car? If I have the number, it’ll be easier to track them.”

“I’ll text you their numbers and I believe they were in my brother’s car. I’m sending you all the info right now. Please, Murray. Find them for me.”

“Will you pay me the same rate as before?”

“I’ll double it if you can locate them.”

Murray went silent for a moment. “Send me everything.”

A heavy breath left me as I switched off the call. “Thank fuck Murray’s on duty tonight,” I said, my gaze still fixed on my phone’s screen while my fingers tapped out all the info Murray needed to track Milla and Noah.

“What did he say?” Corey asked in a worried tone.

“He asked for their phone numbers and stuff. I’m texting him the route they were supposed to be on tonight. Hopefully, he can catch a glimpse of their car on one of their CCTVs or trace their phones or something.”

Corey ran fingers through the dark locks of his hair. “Thisfuckingsucks. How long do we have to wait?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Depends on how long it takes Murray and his team to track them down.”

“Where could they be?” he muttered. My brother looked like a mad man as he paced up and down before me. He clutched at his hair, glaring at me from time to time but I ignored him.

My own anxiety was at its peak. It wasn’t like Noah to disappear this way without a word to us.

The house was quiet and still at this late hour. Everyone was already asleep.

Neither Dad nor Irene suspected anything. They were safely tucked in their beds.

I didn’t even want to think about explaining Milla and Noah’s disappearance to them in the morning. Dad would freak out and Irene would be in tears if someone told her Milla was missing.We have to find them tonight, I decided, hoping Murray would prove his worth.

My phone rang about forty minutes later.

“Murray?” I answered immediately.

“I don’t want to freak you out but something odd did happen with your brother’s car,” said Murray in a grim tone.

Cold washed over me. “What happened? Did they get into an accident?”

“I’m not sure about that,” he replied. “But, here’s the odd thing. Noah’s car followed the route you mentioned. He was seen driving through Raydon Street, Jamaica Street, Charleston Avenue, and Elkhorn Road. His car vanished at a particular blind spot right after crossing Elkhorn Road.”

“Vanished?”

“The CCTVs don’t spot him beyond that point. Is it possible they stopped there for a reason?”

I gave it a moment’s consideration. “No,” I said. “There’s nothing there that’d make them stop there for so many hours.”

“All right,” said Murray. “Here’s the next strange thing about this disappearance. Twenty minutes after Noah’s car entered the blind spot, a single SUV and six trucks drove through Elkhorn’s crossing.”

My mind whirred, wondering if that had anything to do with Noah and Milla’s disappearance.

“Can they track the car’s license plate?” Corey asked from beside me. He’d been intently listening to Murray on ‘speaker’.

“Can you do that?” I asked.

“It’ll take a while,” said Murray. “In the meantime, can you guys check out that area? It’s possible the car met with an accident at that particular blind spot. It was pretty late when they were driving. All shops in the area are closed as well. There’d be no one to help if they did get into trouble with their car.”

“We’ll check it out,” I said, receiving a confirming nod from Corey. “Thanks.”

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