Forces Beyond The Grave

11.4

"Maybe he's busy." "Last I checked he was busy." "Don't stress, he's busy but he'll get back to you okay?"

By all accounts, Jay was the busiest man alive. Yet, having called everyone she thought might know where he was, all Lennox had been told was that Jay was busy; none of them could actually say what he was busy with. In fact, as if by some deliberate act of humour, it seemed as though they were all being as vague as they possibly could. As if they'd all been coached. Lennox's phone was clear the next morning too, and as the deep-seated feeling of doom set itself into her chest like stone, she decided to bail on her lecture in hopes of getting somewhere at the precinct. When she arrived it was as though everybody knew who she was and that she had just lost Kaila, so she walked with haste over to the front desk through the looks of sympathy she was receiving from everybody in the vicinity. Sergeant Truman was on duty, and she smiled at Lennox after seeing her across the desk. 

"Lennox, hiya sweetheart long time no see." 

"Yeah, hi Sergeant Truman." 

"How are you? Listen I'm so sorry about Kaila, she was such a sweet girl." 

"Thanks." 

"What can I do you for?" 

"Actually I came in to talk to Casey, is he here?" 

"He's upstairs, I'll page him down." 

"Thank you."

Within minutes of Truman paging upstairs, Sergeant Casey had come down in the elevator and was glad to see Lennox by the desk. 

"Lennox, how you doing kid?" 

"I'm doing okay Sarge." 

"Good, good. So what's up? What brings you by the precinct?" 

"Actually I was hoping you could help me look for Jay." 

"For Jay?" 

"I know you said he was busy, but he still hasn't called and I need to know if he was here working last night." 

"Last night? No, I didn't see him, he was still busy when his shift ended so I didn't talk to him before I called it a night." 

He had this polite smile on his face that didn't seem to fade, as if he wasn't concerned at all with the fact that someone had come in to make sure the man he saw as a son was okay. Lennox looked him up and down, stepping back slightly as she felt the energy surrounding Casey. There was something different, something...wrong, with what she was looking at. In the many years she'd known Casey, he had always been the straight-shooting arrow worthy of his icy nickname, only ever rumoured to show a smile to those he considered family. But it was like he was stuck with that face, and it made Lennox more nervous than she could describe. Something about his energy felt like...like magic.