"Cull me V"

'Dude, didn't you hear what I said?!'

He quickly shoved it into his pocket. 'What's going on?' he asked her panicking.

She lowered her head towards him. 'The letter's from your moms.'

'What…how…?'

'You know Nurse Flo?'

He nodded quickly.

'Her full name is Florence Jones. She my aunty. From my pops' side.'

Sineas looked beyond bewildered.

Bubblegum girl went on, 'When you visited your moms in Breechwood Asylum, your moms told my aunty Flo that you was learning here. So my aunty told me ta take care of you. And since your moms can't cull you on the phone coz the feds could track it, it means I'm gonna have ta be the middleman or middle chick between you two.'

Sineas still looked baffled. He was trying hard to understand. He smiled. 'Thank you but…where is she…now?' he asked her anxiously and impatiently.

She shrugged. 'I actually don't know that, Murph. Your moms is supposed to write the letters, gives them ta my aunty and I hand 'em over to you.'

He nodded delightedly.

She grinned down at him. 'Name's Viola Jones, but you can just cull me V for short.'

Alright, Bubblegum girl, Sineas thought. 'Sure thing, V,' he replied. Still grinning, he added, 'So, you haven't seen my mother?'

She looked puzzled. 'I thought you had.'

'I did, but only once. She called me first and then we met at the park on Sunday. But that was the last time. She gave me a number to call her from that same day. It's from an untraceable phone. I'm scared to call her though because at this point, the police could have bugged my phone.'

'Trust me, Murph, wherever she is, she's safe. From what my aunty tells me, your moms can take care of herself. And oh, my aunty says don't trust anyone. The feds will definitely catch your moms if you make one silly mistake.'

He solemnly nodded in agreement. 'So, what now?' he asked her. 'What do we do next?'

She looked to the door. 'Just sit tight. Everything will come together, the way it should.' She reached into her left jacket pocket. She pulled out a tiny flip phone and slid it towards him with lightning speed.

'What's this?' he asked her, his hand catching the phone before it reached the floor.

'Throw that in your pocket, pronto. It's a burner. If you do decide that you wanna cull your moms, use that phone. Only that phone. You can't take chances, Murph. You can only cull her once, for not more than twenty seconds, just ta be safe so I suggest you wait. You can't afford to take risks, understand?'

He nodded, terrified.

'Remember, Murph: don't trust anyone.' She jumped off the desk and turned towards her seat.

'V.'

She spun around.

'Thank you.'

She winked at him then began walking towards her chair.

Inspector Charles was on the phone with Deputy James. He was walking back and forth on a pavement along Reinhan Road, one of Janice's jogging areas. Or suspected jogging area. Parked a few metres just by the side of the road was the patrol car.

Now he knew why people liked jogging through these parts. The sides of the road were lined with beautiful trees and it was a quiet neighbourhood. Only a few people could be seen outside. Further down the road, the inspector could catch a good view of the supermarkets.

'Any luck?' the inspector asked James through the phone. His left knuckles were on his hip. He was tired.

'Not really, sir,' James answered. 'So far all I've gathered is that she takes jogs sometimes from her house almost to her workplace, The Coffee Kings. She never takes any breaks. Talked to her workmates and all they could tell me about her was that she's too withdrawn…reserved…introverted. The manager had nothing worth chewing on either.'

The inspector placed a hand over his eyes. 'So we're just walking on water here?'

'I'm afraid so, sir. Any news from the men about Priscilla Murphy?'

'They say they're still looking. It's like she's invisible.'

'So what now, sir? Do we call the big boys?'

The inspector shook his head. 'James, James, James. How many times do I have to tell you that we got this? And now that the psycho almost killed my daughter, it's way past personal now!'

'Sir, we're not even sure if what Sabrina saw was really the killer. You said it yourself. You said she saw a shadow. A shadow! We can't seriously consider her statement.'

'James; you don't have a daughter, that's why you're talking like a fool right now. If you did, you'd know how far a man is willing to go to protect his own family!'

'I'm sorry, sir. I understand.'

The inspector began to walk back to the patrol car. 'The best thing we can do now, James is wait and see what our men come up with in the search for Priscilla.'

'And Janice, sir?'

'We'll also have to wait until something turns up. How far with the medical records?'

'Dead-end, sir. There are no medical records of this woman at all. It's like she's never been sick. The only thing I thought that could have been worth looking for was her ex-husband…'

'Ex-husband?' The inspector narrowed his eyes as he opened the car door. 'Janice was married?'

'Yes, sir. To a…Ishmael Wallace.'

The inspector looked over the car. 'And why have you been sitting on this information for so long, James? And here I thought we hit a brick wall with Janice but you kept your mouth shut. Why?'

'I'm sorry, sir. I thought if I said it last it could lift your spirits a bit. I don't know, I wasn't thinking clearly I guess.'

'And where does this Ishmael live?'

'I'm sure you're familiar with the neighbourhood, sir. Highest crime rate in the city: Belvet. About a fifteen-minute drive out of Malrich.'

'You met him?' the inspector asked James.

'No, sir, but I figured you'd want us to, so I took the pleasure of booking a sit-down with him.'

'When?'

'Tomorrow at 2 P.M. He says we better come then because that's the only time he's free this week. And remember, sir, the mayor gave us until the end of this week to bring him results.'

'I know, James, I know,' he said rubbing his face. 'So what does this Ishmael do for a living?'

'He's a bricklayer.'

'Freelance or..?'

'Contract. So you can understand why he's willing to only meet with us tomorrow.'

The inspector nodded. 'Good work, James. If we can't find anything from this guy then we're going to have to scratch Janice off the list. That will only leave the kid and his mom.'