Chapter Thirteen

 The air was still and warm, disquietingly so, in spite of the thick blanket of clouds.

Adira, after much contemplation, decided that Ramon was right and that it was better to attend her classes rather than sit in his apartment all alone, waiting.

She took her time getting to her college, and tried talking herself out of going to the one place where she had been condemned and labelled as a harlot.

But when she couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse, she dragged her feet up the stairs to the entrance, and prepared herself to have a bad day.

When she looked up from her shoes, she saw Neil waiting for her and felt her spirits take a dive.

"There you are," he complained, and she almost turned around and headed in the other direction. "I've been calling you. Why won't you pick up?"

Adira sighed and decided to let her bad day roll over her. Tomorrow would be better, she hoped. By tomorrow, she would know where Sibyl was. Because today...

But she wasn't allowed to complete her thought. Neil started to list his complaints about her being irresponsible and of him doing all the work in a project they were supposed to work together on.

"Will you stop making a scene?" Ruby intervened.

Adira hadn't even seen her; she had been so engrossed in her own thoughts.

Ruby looked beautiful as ever, even more chirpier. She had every reason to be happy, her life wasn't spiralling into a pit of the unknown and her family members were safe. Not kidnapped and held to ransom.

Ruby put a hand on her shoulder and was saying something kindly but Adira couldn't bring herself to pay attention. She nodded and stared into her thick mascara - laden eyes. Her lipstick too, was a deep red. Ruby red.

"Good luck for your test," Ruby said.

Adira blinked, the world around her suddenly seeming too vivid.

"What?" Her head felt light from daydreaming too much.

"Your economics test. She's wishing you luck," Neil said a bit insultingly. "Right after, we are going to the library to work on the project. We have the presentation tomorrow."

"And the prom!" Ruby squealed. "I'm so excited. Did you find a date yet or should I set you up with someone?"

Adira ignored Neil's roll of eyes and shook her head. "See you later." She headed to her economics class and sat down.

The teacher was already present, standing in the corner of the room, waiting for the minute hand on the wall clock to reach eleven o' clock. When it did, she handed out sheets of paper.

"You have half an hour to complete your test, " She told them.

Adira eased when she saw it was multiple choice, but her heartbeat quickened when she found she knew none of the answers.

Glancing around, she saw her classmates quickly ticking away the answers and she risked a peek at the paper of her neighbor.

The teacher cleared her throat and Adira clutched the side of her desk with one hand. The other, curled around a pen. In the acute silence of the room, Adira was no longer thinking about the test before her, but let her thoughts sway her toward Sibyl.

The flash drive. Ramon. The police.

Who is he going to meet? What friend? Is he going to help me find my sister?

Tears brimmed to her eyes and she looked at the teacher, like a kid who wanted someone to help them because they had still not learned to take care of themselves.

"You have ten minutes left," the teacher was looking right back at her, her eyebrows raised and her eyes stern behind gold rimmed glasses.

Adira shuddered and stared at the paper before her, knowing that she wasn't going to pass the test. But she was going to hope for a fluke and began ticking away random letters without even reading the questions.

It was pointless anyway, she hadn't attended any of her classes.

By the time the teacher announced for the students to put down their writing Implements, Adira had finished drawing a tick around a random letter.

As soon as she had given up her paper and avoided looking at her teacher, who no doubt would see the wrong answers and deride her, Adira collected her things and headed out.

She met Neil outside. He was with Ruby, reading the notices on the board.

Ruby was glowing and giggling as she pointed at the announcement of the charity prom.

"Okay, my class is over," She said a bit grimly.

Neil studied her for a second and she was afraid he would ask her how her test went. And then she would have to lie and feel bad about it.

"Let's go to the library." Neil had barely taken a step, when Ruby tugged at his backpack, making him pause and turn around.

"The dean is here," She said. "He looks serious. And who are those men in suits?"

Adira too followed Neil's gaze and saw the dean Mr. Howick walk down the corridor with two men walking right behind him. The two men looked in their forties based on the lines on their faces and the lightness of their hair. One of them was wearing a gray suit, the other, beige.

The dean pointed at Neil and Adira felt her heart stop. Something had gone wrong. Maybe Neil did something... Illegal, her mind tried to compose itself.

"Neil Stambs?" The man in the beige suit asked.

"Yes, who are you?"

The two men flashed their badges. They were the police.

Adira stared at Neil, dumbstruck, unable to put together why these two men had come here. What could Neil have possibly done?

"We have a few questions. You'll have to come with us. And we will need your phone."

"What is this regarding?" Neil asked.

There were other students in the corridor and now all of them had turned quiet and were staring at them.

The detective in gray, turned to her. "And you are Adira Ravenson?"

She did feel her heart go cold and she felt as if someone was choking her windpipe.

She simply nodded.

"You have to come with us as well."

"What is going on?" Adira demanded to know.

"Come outside and we will explain everything." The detective had already started walking, confident that she would comply with his order.

The cold numbness, tugged at her heart and her mouth opened as she struggled to breathe.

All around her, the other students were watching her, judging her, probably wondering what terrible thing she had done now.

Once again, Neil and her were at the centre of another scurrilous incident. Everyone already thought she was a harlot, now they would think something even worse.

It was when she stepped outside, and the cold winds pushed at her, that all thoughts of what she would be perceived as, washed away.

Ramon was standing by a police car, and when he saw her, his demeanor changed. No longer did he look arrogant or self-assured. His eyes bore a dark nervous look and she saw the slight tremble in his hands as he leaned against the car.

Adira almost stumbled down the stairs and caught the detective's wrist before she could fall over. The detective looked offended when he turned his head and she apologised quickly.

"Are you okay?" He asked, a little sympathetically.

She shook her head and looked at Ramon again.

As soon as they reached the last stair, the detective in the beige suit, took Neil aside while the one in gray, led her to the police car.

"What's going on?" She asked more to Ramon than the detective.

He looked incapable of talking as his focus turned to the road beneath his polished shoes.

"Are you related to Sibyl Ravenson?"

The detective asked.

Adira felt like she was falling into a cold, dark hole. She stared at the detective, every breath leaving her body. And suddenly she knew. Knew why Ramon looked like he was falling apart. Something had happened to Sibyl. Something terrible.

I'm never going to get to see her again!

"Last night, we found a body..."

Adira felt her legs giveaway and Ramon had to catch her before she fell down. His hands on her arms, she listened to the detective as he talked, though she couldn't understand a word.

All she could see in her mind, was the pretty picture of her sister who had been brave enough to run after a dream, but a coward when it came to approaching her own family.

"Adira?" Ramon asked, worried.

"It can't be her." Her voice sounded alien to her. She slowly turned to him, wishing the next words he would tell her was that her sister was fine and the detective hadn't just told her that a corpse was found that was identical to Sibyl.

"You said you were meeting a friend."

Ramon exhaled and closed his eyes briefly. "Yes. Detective Handler is my friend. I was going to talk to him about Sibyl. And if he was willing to keep it off the record. He agreed but before he could advice me, told me about what he found at the docks last night.

Adira shook her head. " It can't be her. The docks is at the other end of the city. Sibyl lives here, nearby."

"They said that the woman they found had been murdered a little more than a week ago. Her description matches that of Sibyl."Ramon's voice shook as he spoke the next words. "They won't let me see her. It has to be a family member."

"Why are they taking Neil?"

"They need his phone. They're trying to figure out who send him those lewd pictures of you."

"You said we weren't going to the police." Adira wanted to scream and fight with him. As if winning the argument would somehow mean she could twist fate and make it so that Sibyl was safe and alive.

"I didn't want to chance it. It's Sibyl. No one else was going to know except for Handler," he explained. "I just wanted advice."

"Get in the car," Detective Handler said.

"I... Can't..." She turned to Ramon who went to the detective and said a few words.

"I'm coming with you," He said when he finished having his private conversation.

She didn’t look at him when she got in the car. Her breath was sinking inside her, and her muscles felt taut. Adira felt Ramon get in beside her, abandoning his own car so he could be with her. The detective got in as well and started the car.

Adira’s eyes were on the road, her mind completely blank. She couldn’t even bring herself to pray that it not be Sibyl. That it wouldn’t be her sister who was laying in a morgue.

Her hands between her knees, a dreading thought entered her mind: she would have to be the one to tell her parents that their elder daughter was no more.

The car stopped and Adira held back a sob. The detective opened his door and stepped out. Beside her, Ramon too, was too frozen to move.

The detective knocked on her window, beckoning her and with stiff, cold fingers, she pushed open the door and got out.

The sinking sensation was now swirling into her heart.

Ramon joined her moments later, walking close, but seeming so distant she might as well be alone.

The detective was talking. Saying that ‘she was here’ and that they needed to see the body.

Sibyl.

She was led down a corridor, smelling of antiseptic. The floors appeared to have been washed just now. The wet streaks of a mop, still visible.

She heard a door open and the detective talk to the mortician. Ramon was told to stay and she barely gave him a glance as she entered the cool room.

Her eyes fell on the table where a woman’s body was kept, wrapped in a white sheet.

And just like that she knew.

“It’s not her.” The words rumbled out of her mouth.

“We need you to see her and confirm.” The detective apparently didn’t believe her, but she knew. She had sensed it. The woman didn’t give her the feeling Sibyl did when she was with her- that inexplicable sisterly bond, the familiarity of being with someone you loved and trusted.

Adira dragged her feet ahead. Her mind telling her not to believe her heart, that it could be Sibyl. She hadn’t seen Sibyl for more than ten years after all.

One look at the pale woman’s face, and bluish lips, Adira looked up at the detective and shook her head. “It’s not her. It’s not Sibyl.”

“Perhaps you’re in...”

“My sister is about five-six in height. This woman is shorter, skinnier. Her nose is too small. My sister had thicker lips. She looks, kind of like me.” Her voice sounded oddly emotionless, even as she tried to make a convincing argument that required a calibrated tone.

“Ramon said you hadn’t seen your sister in ten years,” The detective said.

“She could have changed her face, is what you mean?” Adira shook her head. “Sibyl couldn’t have become shorter.”

“Ms. Ravenson...”

But Adira wouldn’t listen. The detective was trying to tell her she was wrong and she couldn’t listen to it. She walked out, and then ran down the corridor. Ramon was leaning against the wall, looking anxious. When he saw her, he straightened and she saw him studying her, looking for hints that she was going to deliver bad news.

“It’s not her.” She ran over to him and paused, panting. “It’s not her. It’s not Sibyl.”

Relief washed over his face and he fell back to the wall, putting his hands over his eyes. “You’re sure?” He asked.

She nodded, and started to cry. When he had collected himself, he looked at her and reached for her hand. Adira put her arms around him and sobbed.

 

***

Afterwards, Adira realised she had never felt so disengaged from everything as she did just now.

It hadn't been Sibyl and she should have been grateful, but now the question was, was she safe wherever she was?

After what had happened today, she just wanted to contact the mystery messenger and give him the flash drive. Whatever choice was left?

Overhead, light drizzle fell, chilling the air even more. Adira put her arms around her, waiting outside a joyless brown and gray building that was the police station.

When Ramon too confirmed that the woman in the morgue wasn't Sibyl, the detective had taken them both to the station to lodge a missing person report.

It was of no use hiding secrets anymore, the police had inadvertently been informed that Sibyl was missing. If the woman on the table wasn't Sibyl Ravenson, then where was she?

Ramon had pleaded with his friend to keep it all off record, but it was no longer in the detective's hands. Though, a promise had been made to be discreet in the investigation.

Questions had been asked, and Adira had stared blankly, still seeing the woman in the morgue, still imagining it to be her sister laying helplessly.

Ramon had answered for her and assured the police that she would be more able when she had some time to rest.

Then, he had taken her outside, told her to wait and went in to talk some more to the policemen. Probably because he thought she couldn't take any more trauma. She overhead one of the policemen discuss Neil being sent home after questioning and after having taken his phone. Adira numbly promised to call him to make sure he wasn't too mad at her for dragging him into her problems.

A cold wind swept her and she shivered again. Her mind still felt oddly heavy, as if she had just awoken from a deep slumber infested with nightmares.

Even when Ramon finally came out to talk to her, she couldn't make sense of his words. He was touching her elbow, patting her shoulder and she could do nothing but stare at her sneakers.

Then he was calling a taxi and telling her to go to his apartment and get some rest. She sat inside and just when he was about to close the door, he told the driver to wait and then came around to sit beside her.

They said nothing through the whole trip. Adira just looked out at the city, engulfed in a steady downpour. The roads were instantly clogged with traffic and it was a good forty-five minutes before they reached the building.

"At least it wasn't her." His words gave evidence of his own relief, but to Adira, they were frightening. Wherever Sibyl was, she prayed feverently that she was fine. If anything happened to her, and she had to see her on that table...

The taxi stopped and Ramon opened the door for her. She realised that she had been just sitting, not responding and Ramon had to pull her out.

She walked in silence to the elevator as he announced he had to go to work.

She wanted him to stay, but couldn't bring herself to impose.

Ramon pressed the button to his floor and just when they had reached the twentieth floor, Adira instinctively reached for the button below.

"What are you doing?"

Adira finally found her voice. "I want to be around... Her things today."

"I told you, it isn't safe."

"I just want to be in her apartment, around her things." She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "She's my sister."

And that was when she saw how exhausted Ramon looked too. He had suffered his own trauma today. The girl he had liked was nowhere to be found. His face had paled and his eyes had sunken in weariness.

When he didn't argue with her, she confirmed that he was too tired. It had been a long day for him too.

He removed the key and entered the apartment. She followed, feeling at ease almost immediately, as if she had just received an embrace from Sibyl herself.

She sank into the couch and leaned her head back, while Ramon turned on the lamps . Pulling her legs up, she adjusted the cushions behind her head.

"Are you okay?" Ramon asked.

Adira didn't look at him. She wasn't. But she also wished she was strong enough to be okay. "I will be. I just want to sleep."

"You haven't eaten anything." He was twisting the key chain between his fingers.

"I don't feel Iike it. I just want to sleep." She yawned and Ramon stopped playing with the keys. He exhaled and came to sit beside her, handing her another cushion.

"It's too late to go to work now. I'll call and let them know I had an emergency." Ramon stared ahead at the door and Adira wondered if he was considering staying or going to his apartment.

He turned and caught her staring. "You should lie down."

"Are you going to bed as well?"

Ramon nodded. "In a little while."

Adira didn't like the thought of being all alone.

"I'm staying here," He said, as if reading her thoughts.

She smiled and lay down as he moved to give her legs space. "Thanks."

Ramon didn't smile back but leaned his head back, still staring at the door, though Adira felt his mind was elsewhere. Probably with Sibyl.

She closed her eyes, and let herself drift off, hoping her sleep would be free from nightmares.

***

 

Sometime after she had fallen asleep, Ramon must have switched off the lights because Adira woke up in darkness. Her chest tightened with fear immediately and she sat up, breathing heavily. Beside her, the moon let in some light through the window and she clutched the edge of the sofa as her eyes darted around her surroundings.

Memories of yesterday came flooding in.

The woman in the morgue. The detective asking her if she was sure she wasn't her sister. Ramon telling her he had gone to the police even as he had adviced her not to.

She blinked rapidly, adjusting her eyes to the dark room. Ramon had been sitting beside her before she had fallen asleep. Now, he was further away from her on a sofa chair.

His head was turned sideways and she saw his chest moving steadily. He was asleep and she crept on her couch to sit nearer to him.

Even in the inadequate lighting, she saw how uncomfortable he was sleeping on that chair. One of them should have taken the bedroom, she thought wearily. At least the other could have lain on the sofa. Looking down at herself, she saw the blanket draped over her and she felt a small glow in her chest.

Then, looking at him, she felt a twinge of guilt.

Here she was, sleeping peacefully while he was all crammed up on a chair that didn't fit his height.

She pulled the blanket over her and put it over him.

The rain had stopped and the clouds had cleared away to reveal a starry night, but the air was still cold and in the apartment, somehow it was even more chilly.

Sighing, she put her head down, near him, and lulled herself to sleep. It was a miracle really, that after spending months suffering from insomnia, she had finally slept.

Probably something to do with the trauma I suffered yesterday, she told herself.

Her eyes went over to Ramon's sleeping form.

And the fact that she felt safer in his company.

Her eyes fluttered close and she was drifting off when she heard a tinkering sound.

At first, if sounded like it was coming from another dimension, as if it was part of a dream inside a dream.

Opening her eyes, she stared into the darkness and then out the window.

The clink of metal returned. Then a rustling sound.

Adira rose slowly and caught her breath. The sounds were so low that she thought her breathing was too loud in her ears.

There was another definite metallic sound and then a loud click.

Adira gasped and instinctively reached for Ramon's wrist.

She stared at the door that had a line of light around it, coming from the corridor.

As she watched, the border of light started to widen.

Her hands squeezed his wrist and suddenly his other hand was on hers.

She silenced her yelp with her other hand.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Shh." She pointed at the door.

He must have not been accustomed to the dark room yet because he asked again, "Did you have a nightmare?"

"The door," she managed to wrench out of her strained throat. "Someone is breaking in."

That pushed him into action mode. He turned around, saw the door and then grasped her wrist, pulling her close. "Get behind the sofa." then he reached into his pocket. "Call the police."

"I..." but she didn't get a chance to ask why he wasn't calling the police himself. He pulled her to her feet and pushed her behind the sofa, handing her the phone at the same time.

He returned to the sofa chair and pulled out the bottom cushion.

"What are you doing?" She asked in a terrified whisper.

Ramon brought out an object and replaced the cushions. When he held it up and she heard a clicking sound, she finally made out what she was seeing.

A gun.

Her breath caught in her throat. "Ramon, why do you have a gun?"

"For moments like these, " He replied. "Now stay put." He went over to the door and positioned himself behind it.

When the door opened, Adira put her head down and waited for Ramon to pull the trigger.

Instead, she saw Ramon pushed himself further into the dark corner as the intruder, dressed entirely in black, moved inside.

What is Ramon up to?

The door closed, and once again the room was plunged in darkness. Her mouth went dry and she clutched the phone as if it was some sort of a weapon. In a way it was. It could protect her by making an emergency call. If only she could bring herself to do away with the paralyzing fear.

She peeked from over the sofa, saw the intruder remove something from his trouser pockets- a small light. She bent her head, counted till ten and risked another peak.

Whoever he was, was looking for something specific. He didn’t walk around the living room, searching for things to steal. He moved into the passage and she heard soft footsteps. She turned on the phone Ramon had given her and quikly dialed three digits.

A voice spoke on the other end, but her focus was momentarily on another silhouette who was tiptoeing behind the intruder.

“There’s some at the apartment,” she whispered into the phone. “He seems dangerous. Please send someone.” She gave the address, the floor and the flat number as well. “Come quickly.”

“Ma’am please find a hiding...”

“I am hiding. Please hurry!” She cut the call and rose from her spot. Ramon was acting weird. He could have used the gun, turned on the lights, exposed the intruder. What was he doing?

She slithered around the sofa, glad she wasn’t wearing her boots. With hurried steps, she stopped by the passageway and saw one of the doors open. Sibyl’s bedroom.

Adira choked on her breath.

The room was lit by a small white light that came from the intruder’s flashlight, so could make out Ramon entering surreptitiously, behind the intruder. The room brightened even more and Adira’s curiosity grew.

When she peeked in, she saw Ramon standing right behind the intruder who had turned on Sibyl’s laptop and clicking away.

And then she understood why Ramon hadn’t made a move yet. He was trying to find out what the intruder was up to. Soft-footed, she moved herself into the room, her fear giving way to inquisitiveness.

This was the man who had taken Sibyl. And now he was here. Searching for something. A file, that was probably in the flash drive and he must have thought she had a copy on the laptop.

Ramon suddenly moved. Apparently, he had seen enough. His gun pointed straight, he pressed it against the intruder’s back.

“Don’t move. Turn around slowly.”

The intruder stiffened and from the light of the laptop, she could now make out that he was shorter than Ramon and skinny.

In a flash, the intruder had his hand behind him and around the gun. He twisted the weapon and turned around at the same time. Ramon must not have been expecting a man of this physique to retaliate, because he stumbled backward and lost his grip on the gun.

The intruder took it and pointed it at Ramon.

Adira almost let out a scream when she heard a click, but managed to muffle it. Picking up a pillow from Sibyl’s bed, she flung it at the intruder.

It hit him right on the side and he let out a surprised cry. Ramon took advantage of this and lurched at him. The gun flew from his hand and landed on his feet.

Ramon picked it up, but the intruder had seen her and charged at her. Adira did scream then, as he grabbed her wrists. Then turning her roughly, he put one arm around her throat and reached into his pocket with his other hand.

“If you shoot I’ll kill her!” He threatened and Adira felt a cool sharp metal against her neck.

“Who are you?” Ramon asked.

The masked intruder breathed heavily but didn’t reply. Ramon moved to the side and turned on the lights.

Adira blinked rapidly, surprised at the sudden brightness, but the intruder didn’t even flinch. His grip around her neck tightened and she couldn’t breathe properly.

“Stay back!” The intruder warned and pressed the blade closer to her neck.

Adira clawed at his arm, but he was wearing a shirt of thick material. Ramon didn’t lower his gun. He didn’t even look at her. He just glared at the masked intruder.

“What do you want?” He asked.

The intruder stepped back with Adira in tow. “I want that laptop.”

Adira stopped struggling. That voice was no longer hoarse. It was familiar.

Ramon squinted and then did glance at her. His expression changed and he lowered his gun. “Fine. Take it.”

“Hand it over.” The intruder growled. “Throw it on the bed.”

Ramon looked down and nodded. Then suddenly, he had raised his gun once more and took a shot.

The sound reverberated all around the room but it was pierced through by the intruder’s wail as his knees buckled. His arm loosened around her throat and Adira pushed him away. She went over to Ramon and saw the intruder clutching his leg as blood oozed rapidly from his wound.

“The police are coming.” Ramon readied his gun again and put it at his head. “Now, tell me, who are you?”

The intruder merely grunted and fell to the floor, crying out in pain. Ramon reached for his mask and pulled.

Adira let out a gasp. “It’s...”

“Keith?” Ramon looked dumbstruck. “You’re the kidnapper?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Keith pressed down on his wound. “I need the ambulance.”

“You tried to kill me.” Adira stared at him in a daze.

“Where is Sibyl?” Ramon clutched at Keith’s short hair and tugged. “What did you do to her?”

Keith let out another pained cry. “I don’t know where she is!”

“Liar!” Ramon pressed the gun harder against him.

“I came for the laptop. Sibyl was working on a story. She hid it from everyone at the Lion’s Den. I just wanted to know what it was!” Keith sobbed.

Ramon bunched Keith’s shirt in his fist and pulled him up to his feet even as he let out a shrill cry. “If you laid even a hand on Sibyl...”

“I swear I have no idea where she is,” Keith said. “I just want a story. If we don’t find a sensational news soon we’ll have to close down the office.”

“You were about to kill us!” Ramon roared. “For a news story?”

“I wasn’t really going to hurt any of you. I was going to make a run for it. I swear!” Keith pressed his hands together. “Please let me go.”

The doorbell rang, followed by rapid knocking. Adira didn’t even wait to be told. She ran past them and to the front door. Pulling open the door, she almost burst into tears when she saw the police.

“He’s in there.” She pointed. Two police officers- one woman and one man- entered the apartment, guns ready.

Adira followed them, turning on all the lights of the apartment. “Ramon has him.”

The police officers went into the room and ordered Ramon to step back.

“He has Sibyl!” Ramon screamed. “You have to interrogate him.”

“We will do what needs to be done.” Adira heard the police officers say. “Please step back.”

Adira leaned against the doorway, watching as the police officers handcuffed Keith who begged them to take him to the hospital.

“Who is Sibyl?” The woman officer asked Ramon.

“A friend. She was kidnapped. He’s taken her!”

The woman officer nodded. “And a missing person report has been filed?”

“Yes. Tonight.”

“Sir, we will look into this. Is that gun registered?”

Ramon looked at his weapon. “Yes.”

Keith was taken past her and Adira moved closer to the doorway, not wanting to come in contact with him.

“Sibyl was kidnapped?” Keith asked.

“I didn’t want this to get out,” Ramon told the officers. “It’s a sensitive case. Detective Hargon is handling the case.”

“Was there a ransom?” Keith kept asking.

Adira cursed him in her mind. Even while he was wounded, being arrested, he was still haggling for a story.

Ramon spoke to the officers while Adira dragged herself back to the living room. She sank into the couch and watched the officer lead Keith out. Fifteen minutes later, the other officer left as well.

Adira bowed her head and put her hands in her hair. She let out a breath and squeezed her eyes shut, wishing all of today had just been a nightmare. She would wake up and none of it would be true. She would be back home and Sibyl would be right beside her.

Ramon closed the door and came to her. “You okay?”

“Hm.” Adira didn’t have the energy to give a coherent reply.

He took her wrists and pulled them away from her face. He pulled up her chin and checked for wounds.

“Does anything hurt?”

Adira looked up at him, saw the worry in his eyes and felt a wrenching pain in her chest. She shook her head.

Ramon’s fingers traced a line down her neck. “Nothing?”

She pushed his hand away. “I’m fine.”

He sat down beside her. “That was...unexpected.”

“Do you think Keith has anything to do with Sibyl’s disappearance?”

Ramon furrowed his brow. “No. The officers will interrogate him anyway.”

Adira bit her lip. “I kind of want it to be him. I just want Sibyl to be found.”

“Me too.”

Adira looked at him. “You’ll do anything to find her, won’t you?”

Ramon nodded. “Sibyl is my friend. I’ll do anything for her.”

Adira felt relieved at his reply, but she felt that weird twinge in her heart again. She looked away and clasped her hands. “Thanks for saving my life.”

“You saved me too...with a pillow.”

Adira put a hand on her forehead and giggled. “That was, ugh, I don’t know what I was thinking. I just acted.”

“He didn’t expect it. So it was a good thing.” Ramon grinned.

Adira looked at him and her smile dropped. She put her arm around his shoulders. “Thank you. Thank you for being there. Thanks for helping me find my sister.”

Ramon patted her back, but said nothing.