The Night They Went Missing

Breonna

As I was leaving the house, George gave me the address to Tanisha's job. I guess that would be a good place to start. Once I had said goodbye, I sat in my car going over everything that I had found out from George. It seemed as though Tanisha didn't do much after the accident and seemed to live a calm and peaceful life. She would go to work at 9:00am and would always be back home before George, who came home at 07:30pm. One thing I knew I needed to find out was when she finished her shift.

 The question that stayed in my mind, was what reason did Tanisha have to disappear? Yes, her life wasn't perfect, but it wouldn't make someone runaway, right? On the other hand, she might not have ran away at all and instead had no choice. Was she kidnapped? All these questions and thoughts swam round my head, making me feel like it was about to explode. That was the worst thing about thoughts, they had no where to go but your head, and they were forever stuck inside, torturing you every second.

 After being sat in my car for a long time and remembering everything George had said to me, I figured it was time to talk to Tanisha's boss and see if she turned up to work. Twisting the key in the engine, the car roared and I set off to the address.

 Pulling up into the car park next to the book store, I placed the notepad and pen back into my pocket and set off to the book store.

 People were standing around the entrance, walking up and down the street while giving a small glance to inside the store. As I walked inside, few people were buying books and reading them, but it looked stunning. Out of the few bookstores I had been in, this was the best. The giant chandelier hung gracefully from the ceiling, glistening brightly. 

 Walking around the bookstore, admiring the shelves and neatly ordered books, I saw a small counter at the other side of the bookstore with a man in a wheelchair handing a man a bag full of books. Walking over, he smiled at me and brushed his blonde hair out of his eyes.

 "Hi, my name is Alton. How may I help you?"

 "My name's Breonna and I'm looking for the owner of this store. Do you know where I can find him?"

 He smiled widely with an amused look.

 "That would be me. What do you need my help with?" he asked kindly and beckoned me to come with him so other customers could pay for their books.

 "I was wondering if you could tell me if Tanisha came to work today." 

 Shaking his head, he responded, "No, which is strange because she is never late to work. Are you a friend of hers?"

 "Something like that, yeah." I lied as I didn't want him to know I was a private investigator and think something was wrong when there might be nothing wrong at all. He narrowed his eyes and looked me up and down as if to wonder why someone like Tanisha might be friends with someone like me. I had got this look from people many times; it was starting to get on my nerves. I knew I wasn't pretty or as out going as other people were, but that didn't mean I should be judged for it. 

 "What was Tanisha acting like this past week? Was she acting differently or any reason for her not turning up to work?" I asked, trying to break the silence that formed.

 "Tanisha was one of a kind. She was so kind, never late, and never missed a day off work apart from birthdays, no matter how many times I offered her more days off, she would never take them. She had two days off this week though, for her birthday and another day afterwards."

 "She had another day off? Did she say what for?" I asked, wondering why George didn't tell me or if he knew at all.

 "Yes, two days off. I obviously allowed her to have them off, after all we all deserve a break from time to time. She always hated asking for anything, she would feel like a burden to people."

This I could relate to. Asking for things from people always made me feel like I was annoying them, which was why I would always do things on my own. Alton took a deep breath and moved another strand of his hair out of his eyes.

 "The last few days well she seemed on edge. She was always checking her phone and looking over her shoulder as if she was expecting someone to be there. The amount of times I caught her on her phone was unbelievable."

 "Did she tell you why she was always checking her phone? Do you have any idea why?"

"No, she never told me, like I said she didn't want to seem like an inconvenience, so she never asked for help or told me much."

 Suddenly, he stopped talking and gazed up at me. He was thinking of something, and I knew it was what I said earlier about being Tanisha's friend. He was wondering why I was asking him all these questions when I should have known them myself. 

 "When did Tanisha usually finish working?"

"She usually finished around 5:00pm. That's when we finish, you see, and she would always make sure everything was ready for the next day before leaving."

 As he said this, I wondered what she would usually do after work. If she finished work at 5:00pm, and George got home at around 7:30pm then that's 2 hours and 30 minutes that Tanisha could be doing something that would cause her to disappear. In that large amount of time, she could be doing anything and maybe she didn't have such a plain life as her husband had painted out to me.

 "How well did you know her like did you know her well enough to know where she would go after work?"

 "Me and Tanisha were close, but I never saw her outside of work and never talked about our personal lives. I feel like that's best, you know, to keep everything professional."

 So far, the only new piece of information I had learned was when Tanisha finished her work shift, but at the moment, Tanisha's boss would be no help.

 "Thank you for answering all those questions and if you hear from her then please, give me a call." I asked as I passed a card with my number on it into his hands.

 As he took the card and placed it into his black trouser pockets, his eyes widened, and he placed a finger up, initiating me to stay, and he wheeled away. A few seconds later, he came back with a book on his lap. It had a blue cover with patterns around the edges with bold white writing in the middle. 

 "I'm not sure if this will be any help, but she would always be carrying this book around with her and reading it at any chance she got. She never went anywhere without it. The only reason I have it is because she placed it under the counter yesterday." he announced and passed me the book, which I placed under my arms.

 "Thank you for all your help."

 "No problem, now I really must get back to the store, if you don't mind." 

 As he went back to the counter, I walked out of the store and back into my car where I placed the book in the passenger seat next to me. Looking at the time, it was only 2:00pm and I knew I had enough time to interview my next suspect before I would go back home.

 Researching her name, it appeared she worked in a small art gallery not far from here, but sadly it was closed and even if it wasn't I knew they wouldn't give me the address where she lived.

 Ringing George up again, I told him that there wasn't much luck at work and that she hadn't showed up. His voice cracked as he spoke to me, and I wished I could find his wife quickly. Once the call was ended, he told me where I could find the person I was looking for and started the engine to my car. It was time to see what ... Aura Blake had to say.