Brutal

7

"See, I know you wouldn't believe me, but still I have to say it, I am sincerely sorry for your loss. I know how it is, first-hand."

He didn't say anything, just nodded. She wondered where all that anger had gone. The lethal way he'd had just minutes ago—before she mentioned Jade, to be precise—had vanished.

"So, Mr. Radcliffe. When was the last time you spoke to Jade?"

"Three days ago. Before my mock tournaments started and I had to leave for Chicago."

Cooper choked on his coffee, and in a desperate attempt to swallow his laughter, ended up coughing due to lack of air.

Ford knew exactly what had caused such a reaction from Cooper. She knew him all too well. Her single, stern "Cooper" was enough to knock some senses into his clouded thoughts.

"Was anything funny?" Hunter asked in a rather irritated tone.

Cooper opened his mouth to spill out everything, but Ford pinned him down with one lethal glare.

"No, Mr. Radcliffe. Excuse him, please. Getting back to our earlier conversation, had Jade mentioned anything? Anything tiny mention, anything that rings even a distant bell?"

"No, I don't believe she did."

"Okay, this might be rather personal, but I need to know. Your parents...?"

"We only had our mom. Single mom. She died about two years ago of Renal Cancer."

"Sorry." He merely nodded. "Anything disturbing that Jade might've casually mentioned, earlier perhaps?"

"Nothing as such."

"Anything else you found particularly amusing, regarding Jade—behavior, social circles, etc.?"

"Yeah, once. Three years ago, this one friend of Jade's—what was she called?—yeah, Marine... Mare. She just disappeared into thin air."

"What do you mean disappeared?"

"That's the best reasoning for the way she just... died out."

"Can you explain?"

"Probably. Mare was a really good kid. Well mannered, socially aware, nice to speak to. She knew what she was doing, plus she was an orphan, so she took extra care. She was sensitive... in a compassionate way. Always placed others before herself. She was Jade's best friend. The two were inseparable. Always did every damn thing together. But then one fine day, I don't have any clue why or how, Mare disappeared. Stopped showing up, stopped calling, stopped being seen. And, surprisingly, Jade wouldn't even talk about her anymore. Whenever we asked her where Mare was, she either dodged the question or merely walked away looking dejected."

"I see." She turned her attention to Cooper. "Get me that photo."

"The one we recovered at Jade's?"

"Yeah."

"Be right back."

She nodded and smiled. "Mr. Radcliffe, I will show you a picture, just tell me if you recognize any one."

"Sure."

It was quiet for quite a few moments, before Hunter broke the silence.

"Lieutenant..."

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Earlier, you said, you know how this feels... first-hand. What did you mean?" He looked at her, only to see her warm whiskey eyes to harden and go cold.