Wilting Rose

The colossal investigation board had never been so empty. No previous crimes, no affiliations; only a missing woman and her children, grinning. The four pairs of eyes looked carefully at the board, frowns set on their foreheads, fingers intertwined. Elizabeth loomed in the center of the room, pacing slowly, her eyes set on the screen as she bent over slowly, draping her shoulders across the chair. “Allison.” The agent looked up, pushing her glasses to the bridge of her nose, “Intel?” Nodding slowly, she marched to the board, files and pointer in hand, opening the first file. A flurry of certificates seemed to flood the tiny area they were contained to. “Rosalyn Salvador. 37. Triple Major in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Graduated top of her class at the Hudson University. Won the National Medal of Science in ’93 and the Waterman award in 2003. ” “God, she’s brilliant.” Zachary Knight gasped. “Your habit to state the obvious irks me, Mr. Knight.” She said, smirking as he rolled his icy blue eyes at the nickname. “We all know she’s brilliant. The question is, why haven’t I or any one of us ever heard a mention of her?” “See that’s the thing. At the age of 24, Rosalyn married Business Tycoon Sebastian Reed.” A handsome face dominated the screen. Cold as loveless duty done. The metaphor raged in her head as she saw the iron jaw of Sebastian Reeds, frozen chaos solidified in his lifeless grey eyes. “For about a year after her marriage, she continued her research on Transmutation, after which her work completely disappeared, and all that was left for her was smiling in the background during her father’s speeches and her husband’s ventures.” Silence enveloped the white room as the team was lost in deep thought. “When the Hollywood moment gets over, do let me know.” Elizabeth grinned across the room, making everyone smile sheepishly. Zach pulled her hair affectionately, making her smack his hand away, a half smiling scowl on her face. “My god, guys, get a room.” “Shut up, Dustin.” “But-“ “When you all find it in yourself to work, please just let me know.” The team erupted in a compilation of nervousness, feet scuffled, throats were cleared. “If I am not wrong, we have two more missing people. What do we have on them?” “Yes, yes, we do.” Allison giggled, before projecting their images. “Alexandria Salvador and Alicia Reeds.” “Okay, if I’m not wrong, high school?” “Alexandria’s 12 and Alicia’s 10.” “Let’s start with Alexandria.” “Alexandria Salvador. Exhibiting her mother’s brilliance, Alexandria has accelerated through high school top of class.” Allison murmured, focusing on the smiling teenager, dimples lightening up her face- her golden eyes peering at them. Elizabeth sighed at the innocence in her smile, her mother’s eyes copied into her face perfectly. “Alicia Reeds.” Allison continued, “10. Her last appearance was in an interview where she talked of her plans to pursue politics.” Elizabeth’s eyes wandered to the 10 year old, her brown eyes touching a locked corner of her heart. And soon, the picture turned to a time machine, its cogs slowly churning and she was 10 again, peering into a mirror, her eyes fluttering in worry. The train of thought derailed as Dustin’s voice broke into her reverie. “Politics at 10? And I thought my family was half mad.” Elizabeth grinned, rolling her eyes, noticing faintly the sparkling blue eyes on her. “Maybe that’s just it. Maybe this is a crime of the sciences. It’s an extremely high achieving family, this could be someone taking out the threat.” “Unlikely. Rosalyn’s contribution has been stagnant for over a decade, and the children could not be patented to work on something of consequence at this age.” “Alright. What else?” “That’s all.” “That’s all?” “That’s all our Intel indicates.” “Any past police cases?” “None serious whatsoever.” “Medical history?” “Still being processed.” “That isn’t much to go on.” “It is what it is.” “Alright. Zach, Contact Hudson University, I want to know everything she was researching on. Oh, and tell Keith to search the database, I need every medical report and recent bloodwork of the victims if they have it- everything from diseases to complaints I need them. And get me as much as you can about Sebastian Reeds and his family.” “Got it, Boss.” “Thanks, Zach..” She smiled, sipping her coffee. “Alright team.” She sprung on her feet, facing the grinning faces in front of her, her own face forlorn. “What we have next on our plate, is a task I cannot ask all of you to do. It is something agents before you have dreaded, and I shall not be surprised shall you do the same.” Tense murmurs filled the room, as the fear became evident on some faces. “What’s the task, Captain?” Dustin Kingsley frowned, his stature poised for attack as his eyes flickered around the room with suspicion. Elizabeth smiled at his preparedness, before frowning at him glumly. “Why, Mr. Kingsley. We’ll be…” “We’ll be?” “We’ll be talking to the family.”