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Missing

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Chapter 10: Missing (Dante's POV)

Within a few hours of investigating together, both of us had reached our limit and could no longer tolerate one another. We couldn't agree on a single thing, and everything started to go off the rails once we started arguing in front of the officers and giving them different directions. 

Someone at the scene had called Marshall without informing us, and when he walked into the gallery and saw us arguing, he decided enough was enough. "Stop it, both of you!" he said sternly. 

"I'm not the one who started it," Anastasia said, staring at me. 

"No, but you've certainly decided to be the one to finish it, haven't you?" I asked, lifting a brow as I looked down at her. 

"Neither one of you will be starting or finishing the rest of this case if you continue," Marshall warned. 

My hands flexed into and out of fists at my sides until I pocketed them for good and let out a breath, taking a step away from Anastasia, suddenly very aware of the mere inches that were keeping us apart. In the heat of the moment and the anger surging through us, we hadn't noticed how close we had gotten. 

Huffing, she ran a hand through her hair, tugging it out of the bun it was in, and spun around, pacing back and forth for a moment. 

"If the two of you want to work on this case, then you better stop acting like children. An officer had to call me here because you two wouldn't stop going at each other. Do you hear how ridiculous that is?" Marshall stared at the two of us in disbelief. 

I turned to him. "It's impossible for two people who are working together to agree on everything, Marshall. But at times like this, people compromise and meet somewhere in the middle. Someone here clearly doesn't want to." I glanced at Anastasia. 

"Someone here," Anastasia said mockingly, glaring at me, "is being far too unreasonable. For a case like this, one can't jump to conclusions. We have to be thorough, and if he won't let me, I'll do it myself." 

"This is not a case you're solving yourself, Anastasia," Marshall told her. He then turned to me, "And this is not a case you can wrap up within a few days by cruising through the rest of it." 

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and remained silent. 

"I know you like working on your own, not being told what to do," he said to Anastasia. "And I know you're known for solving cases quickly and efficiently," he said to me. "But this is not child's play. Don't get overconfident in your abilities, Dante. And don't be so stubborn, Anastasia. If you two continue like this, neither one of you will work on this case. I won't repeat it again, so have I made myself clear?" 

Silence. 

"Have I made myself clear?" he asked, louder now.

"Yes," we muttered in sync, glaring at one another. 

"That's enough for today," he announced. "Both of you, come back to the office right now. If there's more to cover here, come back tomorrow. For now, start on the paperwork for this case." 

There was no room for arguing or refuting, so we wrapped things up here and left for the office. Anastasia wordlessly slipped into Marshall's car instead, and I was finally relieved to have a moment to myself without her presence haunting me. That was precisely what it did to me. 

When Anastasia was near, I was aware of every little thing about her, every detail, and especially everything she ignited within me. There was nothing and nobody who vexed me as much as she did. If she was around, I would feel it before I knew it and far before my gaze landed on her. 

I would hear her footsteps if she walked into the room and feel her presence lingering long after she walked out. The smell of her perfume would be stuck in the air, and if I stayed long enough, it would suffocate me simply because I would let it. Anastasia was the kind of person I could drown in, that too because I wanted to. 

She drove me insane as it was, but with this case resting on our shoulders, it was ten times worse. I expected her to be stubborn, but not to this extent. If I let her take the reins, we would be investigating every minor detail for days, and we couldn't afford to waste that much time. 

She thought I was rushing her, being irrational, and looking over things, but she didn't understand that time was of the essence. If we waited too long, someone else could be killed. Anastasia's stubbornness truly would be the death of me, and if not me, then certainly someone else. 

An agitated sigh escaped me as I parked the car in the lot, just as Marshall and Anastasia started walking toward the entrance. I lingered in my car for a few minutes, drumming my fingers against the wheel, watching them until they disappeared. 

I couldn't stand being in the same room as her right now, and the small enclosed space of an elevator would certainly push me over the edge, even in Marshall's presence. 

After a while, I got out of the car and headed upstairs. Just my luck, the moment I stepped out of the elevator, I crossed paths with Marshall. "What took you so long?" he questioned. 

"I had a smoke," I lied, rolling my eyes behind his back as I followed him into Anastasia's office. In the short time span, I was downstairs, they had gathered photographs of the scene and evidence obtained so far and wheeled in a large whiteboard. 

Her eyes briefly cut to mine as I entered the room, but she wordlessly continued preparing. 

Marshall handed me the file in his hand and patted my shoulder. "Make yourself useful," he said before leaving the room altogether. 

I eyed the scattered pictures and the sticky notes with names of guests and possible suspects. "What if the culprit attended the party?" I questioned, flicking one of the sticky notes. 

She released a breath as she continued taping pictures onto the board and sticky notes onto the pictures. "It's possible," she said, "but it's not likely. That's not to say he or she wasn't at the scene." She turned to me. "Any theories, Mr Rossi?" 

"There are no leads to follow. But I'm sure you have a theory based on that little hunch you always have, don't you? Go ahead, amuse me." 

Her eyes narrowed at me. "I know what you're thinking," she said. 

"What's that?" 

"The culprit is someone we all know. They were a guest who escaped right under everyone's noses. It was an act of revenge, the culprit wants attention, blah, blah, blah." She rolled her eyes. "It's not likely. It's too obvious." 

"Any better ideas?" I mused. "Let me guess. You think it's a nobody with a burning hatred for people in our world, correct? Someone who's an outsider, someone who lost it all. Am I close?" 

Her jaw ticked. 

"It's rather cliche, don't you think?" Setting the file on the table, I stepped forward, inching closer to her. "There's no way to know yet, Ms Vitalio. We have to explore all possibilities. I suggest you stop ignoring my words and trying to solve this on your own like you do with everything and start working with me instead." 

I wasn't giving her room to argue, not yet. "You want to be thorough, I understand. But we don't have time. The longer we take, the more lives are at risk." 

"You can't jump to conclusions. You've already decided the owner is somehow involved," she scoffed. "You're moving too fast, Mr Rossi. It's careless of you." Moving to the table, she began shuffling through papers and photographs again. 

I let out a small sigh and moved forward. 

Her movements slowed as she felt me come closer, and she spun around with every intention of snapping at me, I was sure of it. But when her eyes met mine, I decided I wouldn't let her. 

"Why do you always have to be so difficult?" I asked, leaning forward and bracing both hands on the table behind her, cornering her. "Do I have to remind you I've been an agent for seven years? I have five years' worth of experience on you, Ms Vitalio. If I say something, I have good reason to believe it to be possible." 

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Do I have to remind you that I'm not here to learn from you this time around? I've worked my ass off these past two years just like you have, and just because you've worked longer than me and are older than me doesn't make me any less capable." 

I held her gaze. "You are beyond capable," I told her, "you're simply incapable of working with anybody else. You think you can do it all on your own." 

"I just don't think I can do it with you," she snapped. "In case you're forgetting, the last time I trusted you to work with me, you went behind my back and went rogue. You put both of us at risk." 

"And is that what bothers you? That I went rogue?" 

"Of course, what else would it be?" 

"It's not the fact that I didn't tell you? That I hid the truth from you when you were expecting me to be honest? Or the fact that I left you without an explanation? It's not because I hurt you?" 

Her gaze hardened as she stared back at me. I'd hit a nerve, hard. If Anastasia hadn't already hated me enough, this certainly pushed her over the edge. 

"People only hurt you if you let them," she said sharply. "Whatever we had wasn't worth it. It would only hurt me if it meant something, and it meant nothing to me." 

I felt my jaw tighten and my knuckles grow white as the blood rushed to my fingertips with my tight grip on the table. 

Bracing her hands on my chest, she pushed me away and slipped out from beneath me. "In case you're forgetting, we still have plenty of work to do. We have a possible missing victim... or a possible missing accomplice," she added the last part reluctantly. 

"We should focus on finding her. I'd rather not waste my time talking about irrelevant things of the past," she muttered, brushing past me as she left the room.

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Chapter 10

I took a break for a few days cuz I was feeling a bit demotivated, so bear with me if I don't update as much lately

I was also supposed to introduce Kai in this chapter, but I thought I should save that...

I would really appreciate it if you guys commented a bit more lately <33

next ch: fight