The rational part of me said to drop it. The other part wanted to know.
So, when I returned to my cubicle, I got in front of the computer, opened a new tab, and typed:
Warren Chen, Sofia
Nothing. Not a single relevant link. No lawsuit. No article. No HR gossip blog. Just a black hole.
So, I removed his name and typed only Sofia. Lots of different Sofias came up, and most of them weren't even from our city. So I tried again, this time typing Sofia and the company name, Kaleo Public Relations.
And finally, jackpot.
Unfortunately, I was less than thrilled to see the various missing person reports and police interviews that now populated my screen.
Turns out Sofia Alvarez, an employee at Kaleo Public Relations, had gone missing six months ago.
I read through some of the reports, most of them mentioning how her car was found, how there's been no sign of her, how some suspect the brother-in-law. None of the reports mentioned anything about Warren. So why did Tiana bring up Sofia in relation to Warren?
After a bit more googling, I found nothing about Warren being involved.
I sat back, feeling almost relieved. Maybe it was all rumors. Maybe Tiana was giving me trouble for no reason. Maybe she enjoyed scaring Warren's romantic interest. Maybe she was jealous. Was I really doing the whole typical-blame-women thing?
Either way, something didn't sit right with me about this.
On a whim, I switched to the internal company directory. The search bar blinked, waiting. So, I typed again:
Sofia Alvarez
And there she was. Sofia Alvarez. Former administrative assistant. My stomach tightened. When I tried to open the file, all I got were the blinking, bolded words:
[Access Restricted]
Maybe that dead end should have been where I let this go. But I couldn't quite sate my curiosity. So, I copied her name and pasted it into the employee directory until I found her phone number, address, and, more importantly, emergency contact. It took a bit more sleuthing, but by the time I was done, I had her sister's address on my Google Maps.
Why the hell was I doing this? Why was I wasting time looking into some missing employee? And why couldn't I shake the feeling that something terrible had happened?
Before I could second-guess myself, I grabbed my bag and told myself I was just going for a walk to get some air.
Yeah. Right.
~
The house was in a quiet suburb, one of those cul-de-sac neighborhoods where every lawn looked exactly the same. White picket fences. Old-school mailboxes. And the smell of pesticides.
Jenny's house was small but tidy: peach-colored siding, flowers in the window box, very homey.
I second-guessed myself every step of the way and took a minute to earn the courage to actually knock. When she opened the door, I wasn't sure what I expected.
She was short, maybe five-foot-one, with olive skin and brown hair pulled into a low braid. Her eyes darted like a cornered bird's. She couldn't have been much older than me, but she looked worn, like life had scraped her down to the bone.
"Yes?" she asked cautiously. It caught me by surprise, her tone. These past days, I was getting used to people being all too excited to speak to me. But she seemed scared of me. To her, I was the most beautiful woman she could imagine, and she found that frightening for some reason.
"Hi. Sorry to bother you, um… Jenny? I work at your sister's firm. My name's Kassie."
Her expression froze. "Why are you here?"
"I wanted to talk about Sofia."
For a moment, her whole body stiffened, like I'd said something obscene. Then her hand went white around the doorknob. "Is this a test?"
I blinked at her, unsure what to make of that. "A… test? Why would this be a test?"
"Did he send you?!"
"No one sent me. I… I was…" Not knowing how to lie or what lie to even tell at the moment, I opted for the truth. "A co-worker told me to be wary of my boss, Warren Chen. She told me she didn't want me to become 'another Sofia.'"
That seemed to make something click for Jenny, as her eyes widened a second. She hesitated a moment more, then opened the door wider. "Come in."
The living room smelled faintly of lavender cleaner. The walls were painted a soft cream, cluttered with family photos, wedding pictures, a little boy in a soccer uniform, vacation shots that looked ten years old. Maybe older.
It was cozy nonetheless. And somehow unbearably sad.
Jenny motioned for me to sit on the couch but didn't join me right away. Instead, she straightened a stack of magazines on the coffee table three times, aligning the corners each pass until they were perfectly square. When she finally sat down, her fingers went to work on the hem of her sweater, twisting the loose threads into tiny knots, then undoing them, then starting again.
She didn't seem to notice she was doing it. Her gaze was somewhere far away, her voice quiet when she finally spoke. "You're dating Warren?"
"Well, no. I had drinks with him at his office last night."
Her eyes closed for a second. "And do you like him?"
"Does it matter?" I asked softly.
She didn't reply, staring at me rather intently, as if she was trying to gauge something. I returned the favor, trying to look into her eyes, trying to understand her. But my Insight ability, however it worked, refused to cooperate. I wasn't sure how to make it listen, wasn't sure how to control it. So far, it had been happening automatically. But now that I needed it, it was rather silent.
So, I decided to tell her the truth. "We had drinks," I repeated. "And he kissed me."
She was quiet for another second, and then, with a voice so meek, she said, "Don't date him. Stay away from him."
"I… I need to know why."
She didn't say anything to that.
"Jenny…" I let the name hang in the air for a second as I tried to think of what to say next. "The co-worker I mentioned, she told me what happened to Sofia might happen to me. I need to know what that means."
Jenny was tugging so hard at her sweater now that more threads were coming loose than she could put back together. "He… took an interest in Sofia. First, it was hellos, then it was conversations over the water cooler. He started giving her flowers. Inviting her to stay late at the office." She gave a small, bitter laugh. "Sofia was ecstatic. She was so happy. She thought he loved her, that she was going to be the wife of a famous politician. She was so stupid."
"That's not stupid," I said. Speaking from experience, I knew it was all too easy to fixate on Warren Chen.
She shook her head. "You don't understand. He made her feel seen. He made her feel so loved. She broke up with her boyfriend for him. She cut off contact with everyone, stopped eating, stopped going out." Her fingers trembled. "But then he lost interest, and she just… she couldn't let it go."
I stayed quiet, trying not to read into the way her lips were trembling as she spoke. She looked even smaller, as if she was trying to sink further back into the sofa. As if she was trying to disappear.
"When he wouldn't return her calls," she whispered, "she got upset, angry even. She left him a voicemail; she told him she was going to the press. She was going to tell him about… I don't know, some secrets of some sort."
She was silent for another few moments, and I felt that haunting feeling sinking deeper into my stomach. That warning feeling that had been a tiny thought in the back of my head was now getting louder, feeling stronger.
"I never saw her again after that night," she said finally. "I haven't seen her since."
I swallowed hard. "Did you tell anyone?"
"My husband," she said. Her tone cracked on the word. "I thought we should go to the police with it, but my husband told me that was a bad idea. He spoke with Warren instead, made some sort of agreement. We signed NDAs. My husband bought a new truck." She gave a humorless laugh. "That's the silver lining. That he's happy now."
I leaned forward. "What do you think happened to Sofia?"
She looked at me for a long time, then whispered, "You need to stay away from Warren."
Before I could answer, footsteps thudded down the stairs.
A man appeared at the bottom, mid-forties, unshaven, wearing a stained T-shirt and track pants.
"Why the hell are you talking so loud?" he muttered, rubbing his face. "Some of us have to sleep."
"Sorry, Carlos," Jenny said quickly, standing. "We'll keep it down."
He squinted at me. "Who's this?"
"A co-worker of Sofia's," she said.
Carlos frowned, then smirked faintly. "Since when do Sofia's ex-coworkers visit you? Thought I was the social one."
He took his sweet time walking over to us, itching his inner thigh as he stared far too brazenly, considering we just met. He reached the living room and gracelessly flopped onto the couch, legs spread, grabbing the remote like it belonged to him. Well, I guess it did. But still, quite an attitude. "Get me a beer, yeah?"
"Of course." Jenny hurried toward the kitchen.
I stood awkwardly, clutching my bag. That must have been my cue to leave. "I'll get out of your hair."
"Sit down," he said without looking at me.
I hesitated.
He glanced over, eyes sharp now. "I said sit."
So, feeling awkward and out of place, I just… sat down. I would have to work on being less of a doormat moving forward.
"So," he said, leaning forward. "You work with Sofia's old boss?"
I nodded.
"Is it about the NDA?"
I looked at him for a moment. From his tousled, greasy hair to the lazy look in his eyes, there was something about this man I just didn't like at all.
"It was nothing, a minor system glitch I had to sort out."
Jenny returned with a beer and handed it to him. Her hand shook slightly as she set it down.
What did she want?" he asked her.
"She was asking about Warren and Sofia," Jenny said quietly.
The man laughed, deep and throaty. "Figures she'd want to talk about him. Ladies can't keep their mouths shut about that man. So, what did she want to know about Warren?" He was talking to his wife now, and I felt like nothing more than an awkward bystander.
"Warren's taking an… an interest in her, and she just wanted to know-
"Oh, you're kidding," the man laughed again, taking the beer he had been handed and downing a hefty helping. Then he turned back to me. "It's not rocket science, sweetheart. If Warren's giving you trouble, just keep your legs shut. It's that easy. I swear, women overreact the moment a man pays them a compliment."
I felt my nails dig into my palms. I didn't like this man at all.
Jenny's face went pale. "Carlos, stop."
He ignored her. "Sofia was a psycho. She couldn't handle rejection and probably wandered off to start her life somewhere new without the embarrassment. Just don't be a psycho bitch and you'll be fine."
That hunger I had been feeling all this time thrummed up again. But this time there wasn't a semblance of lust in my being. Just rage, a desire to devour violently, a desire to make a mess of a man. I felt… murderous. It took everything I had not to show him what I'd become.
Jenny must've seen the look on my face because she stepped between us. "Kassie, come on," she said softly, her voice shaking. "Let me walk you out."
Carlos snorted as we passed. "Guess you're a fast learner after all."
Outside, the porch light buzzed overhead. Jenny's shoulders slumped, small and trembling in the cold glow.
"You don't have to put up with that," I said quietly.
She gave me a tired smile. "It's easier if I do."
"It shouldn't be."
She didn't answer. Just stared at the street.
"Jenny," I said the thing that was on my mind the entire conversation, "do you think Warren killed Sofia?"
She didn't reply, simply staring ahead and undoing the knots in her sweater.
I dug into my bag, fishing around until I felt the familiar paper edge of my business card. Pulling it out, I pressed it into her hand. "My number's on it. If you remember anything else, about Warren, about Sofia, call me. Or if you just need to talk."
"Oh, okay, sure," she whispered.
I made it off the porch, hearing the door click into place behind me before my phone buzzed. Glancing down, I saw the familiar number of Warren Chen in the notification bar.
Despite the dread in my stomach, I pulled it down to read the message.
I'll pick you up at 7 for dinner. No excuses tonight, baby doll.