The police station waiting room smelled faintly of old paper and disinfectant. Palo sat alone on a plastic chair that wobbled every time he shifted, the uneven leg tapping softly against the tiled floor. He hadn't noticed at first, but after twenty minutes the sound became unbearable.
He forced his foot still.
He forced everything still.
Except his mind.
His thoughts jolted and collided like pieces of glass inside a shaking box—chaotic, sharp, impossible to separate. He kept replaying the walk here, the officer's drawn expression, the way Ash kept glancing at him like he already knew what Palo would find.
And the strange detail that refused to leave his mind:
Why had Audrey's house been silent?
Not quiet.
Silent.
The kind of silence that felt like it was covering something.
He sucked in a breath and held it. His fingers tightened around the armrest until his knuckles went pale.
It's going to be fine, he told himself.
But the words felt borrowed. Someone else's hope, someone else's certainty. They didn't belong to him.
He looked at the clock again.
9:12 p.m.
Audrey had been missing for seven hours.
A door clicked open behind him.
He jumped.
Ash walked into the waiting room, shoulders stiff, expression unreadable. Even under the harsh fluorescent lights, he looked composed, almost calm—but there was something in his eyes that betrayed him. Not fear. Not panic.
Something heavier.
Something resigned.
Palo stood. "Did they find her?"
Ash didn't answer immediately. He took a slow breath, the kind that looked practiced, like something he had done far too many times.
"No," he said quietly.
Palo's chest tightened. "Did they find anything?"
Ash hesitated.
And that hesitation was worse than an answer.
"There were… signs someone left the house in a hurry," Ash said. "Her window was open. Her bag is gone. Her shoes too."
Palo swallowed hard. "So she left on her own?"
"Maybe."
"But you don't think so."
Ash's gaze lowered, the shadows under his eyes deepening. "I think someone wanted it to look that way."
The chair behind Palo wobbled again as he stumbled back into it.
Before he could ask more, the officer from earlier stepped out, his expression softening slightly when he spotted the boys.
"Palo. Ash," the officer said, nodding to both. "Audrey's mother gave us permission to ask you a few more questions. Separately."
Palo felt the sharp pinch of dread in his stomach.
Separately?
Why?
He nodded, forcing his breath steady. "Okay."
Ash remained silent.
The officer motioned for Palo to follow.
As Palo walked past Ash, he stole a glance at him. Ash didn't return it. He stared forward, jaw tense, hands in his pockets like he was bracing himself for a storm.
Or already standing inside one.
The officer led Palo into a smaller room—a plain table, two chairs, dim lighting, no windows. Palo sat down, palms sweating against the cold metal surface.
"We're not accusing you of anything," the officer began, "but we need to know everything you saw today. Everything Audrey said or did. Anything out of the ordinary."
Palo nodded shakily.
He told them everything.
The canal.
The conversation.
Ash's strange behavior.
Audrey saying she felt watched.
The moment she touched his shoulder and froze, like something in the air shifted.
Her last smile—tired, thin, but still hers.
When he finished, the officer leaned back.
"Thank you," he said quietly. "We'll talk to Ash too."
Palo hesitated. "…Do you think she's in danger?"
The officer didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
His silence did.
When Palo was dismissed, he stepped back into the waiting room, expecting to see Ash still waiting for his turn.
But the chair Ash had been sitting in was empty.
Gone.
The station door creaked shut, the night wind spilling in.
Palo took one step toward it.
Then another.
The officer's voice echoed down the hall.
"Palo? Where are you going?"
Palo didn't look back.
"I need to talk to Ash," he said, already pushing through the door.
But when he stepped outside, the street was empty.
No footsteps.
No shadows.
No sign that Ash had ever been there at all.
Just the cold night, and a single unsettling question forming slowly in Palo's mind:
What does Ash know that he's not telling me?
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