“Look, I don’t want to be the asshole here, Elijah, but this whole thing might have been her needing space to decide what she wanted. It’s shitty, I know, but its women for ya’,” he tried to joke, but the humour fell flat. “Besides, she could be anywhere by now. Even further by the time you get down there. Look at it this way. We know she’s alive, and she’s okay.”
Elijah nodded, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth as he pondered over Paul’s words. He agreed with everything he said. All being well, Delores would be back in a couple of days—a week max—and she would have made her decision.
“Is that what you really believe?” Elijah asked. Because although everything Paul had said made the most sense, and his heart wanted to believe it, his cop’s head was telling him that something still wasn’t right. “Because I don’t think I do.”
“So, what do you think?” Paul asked, frustration in his tone. “I mean, look at the facts. What do we really have to go on? Michael found out about you and his wife having an affair, and she decided to leave for a couple of days to get some clarity on the situation—to maybe decide who she wants to be with. You rushing down there like a wannabe prince charming might not be what she needs right now.”
Elijah dragged his hands down his face. “I don’t know what to do for the best, Paul. My head’s seriously fucked up by all of this. But if she’s not taking care of herself—if she’s a danger to herself—,”
“I know what you’re saying, I do, but this is probably all some big mix-up, like I said,” Paul interrupted. “Just maybe give her some space to sort her head out and she’ll come back to you. I’ll keep the feelers out and if I find out anything else, I’ll let you know straight away. I’m not dropping this, Elijah, I’m just saying we need more to go on right now,” Paul said his tone thoughtful. He stood up. “Can you do that, buddy? Can you maybe think things through before you rush off down there? Because not to be an asshole with you, but this station is already catching shit because of your personal life mixing with your professional life.”
Elijah steepled his fingers together and looked down at the map on his desk. He knew Paul was probably right, but his instinct was screaming at him to find her. But, he surmised, perhaps that was just his broken heart speaking and not his head.
“Alright,” Elijah finally replied. “I’ll give it a couple more days.”
“There you go. I bet she’ll turn back up here full of apologies and ready to leave her husband for you. It’s a real-life Romeo and Juliet story, buddy,” Paul laughed playfully. Elijah didn’t join in. “Come on, it’s going to be fine.”
“What if she’s not taking her meds?” Elijah asked, his gaze still on the spot on the map where Delores had been sighted.
“She will be, she wouldn’t want to put anyone else in danger,” Paul replied. “Look, I’ve got to write up my report on all of this. But, if you hear anything, or she gets in contact, you let me know okay? You know I’ve got your back on this, buddy.”
Elijah nodded. “And vice versa.”
Paul walked to the door and opened it, the noise from the busy station infiltrating the office immediately. “Goes without saying. Now get your sorry ass back to work.”
Elijah looked at the stack of brown files on his desk. “Christ, yeah, it never stops does it?” Elijah forced a smile. “Paul?”
Paul turned back. “Yeah?”
“Thanks, thanks for—,” Elijah shrugged. “For everything.”
Paul smiled and left, clicking the door closed behind him. Elijah stared down at his desk in frustration. He was missing something in all of this, he knew it. He just couldn’t work out what it was.
A cop’s instinct was always something to trust, especially one as good as Elijah’s, but deep down he knew it was more than that. He was attached to Delores in so many ways, his heart connected to hers like ribbons tied in a bow, and deep down he knew that she was in trouble. It was almost an instinctual thing, and the fear he felt for her was lodged at the bottom of his throat.
Elijah ran his hands through his hair and stared down at his desk. Paperwork had piled up over the last couple of days, regardless of what had been going on. It was funny, he thought, how things just continue on. The world keeps revolving, and people keep on working, slogging away at their caseloads no matter what. One minute he was pining after a woman he thought had rejected him, next he was a person of interest in her disappearance, and now… now what? He was supposed to just get on with work until she was found?
Pushing back from his chair he stood up, his body feeling wired and irritable. He needed to do something. He couldn’t just sit here waiting for her to come home from whatever strange journey she was on.
He looked down at one of the bulging brown files, glancing at the scrawled handwriting on top, and seeing that it was a case he’d been working on right before he’d called in sick. He pushed the file to one side because the idea of working a homicide case right now was too much for him to comprehend.
Elijah picked up the next brown file, seeing Officer Miles’ signature on top. He flipped it open, his eyes grazing over the contents. The local pharmacy- Medco’ had opened Tuesday morning and found that they had been broken into. One small security window at the back had been smashed in and the wire mesh that held it in place had been pulled out. It wasn’t the first time that the place had been broken into. Officer Miles had worked the initial callout and had taken extensive notes. But Elijah worked best on a first-hand experience and right now he needed to get out of this office and into the field.
“No rest for the wicked,” he muttered as he headed to his door. Officer Miles was at her desk, furiously typing away as he exited, but she looked up as he made his way towards her.
“I’ve been checking out the Medco’ case, I want to head down there if you’re free,” he asked. Officer Miles was already on her feet and closing down her aging computer.
“Did I miss something?” she asked as she locked her desk drawer.
“No, you did good, I’d just like to speak to the manager myself.” Elijah flipped open the file as the two of them walked to the patrol car. “Says here the manager thinks the numbers haven’t been right for a few months.” Elijah spoke it as a question, his eyes still reading over Miles’s notes.
“Yeah, she said she’d noticed some irregularities, but nothing that she could be sure of. They’re short staffed and have had to bring on some temp staff to cope with the demand, and at first she put it down to that—the temp staff not logging the numbers correctly.” Miles started the engine.
“But then something made her think otherwise?” Elijah asked.
“Exactly. Though she wasn’t sure what. Just a feeling she said.” Miles quirked an eyebrow. She smiled. “I tend to trust those gut feelings after working for you.”
The car lapsed into silence while Elijah continued to read through the case file. When he’d finished, he looked up, his thoughts going back to Delores the way they always seemed to whenever he didn’t keep his mind occupied.
