She sat next to him as he flipped to the first book in the New Testament and began scouring the pages until he found the 22nd chapter. She didn't miss the slight fingershake as he located the 14th verse.
"Matthew 22:14," he read aloud, "For many are...
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"HELLO. Hi, hey, uh, thanks for calling me. I mean this is Nyla. White. Leave a message or just text me like a normal person. Not that you aren't normal. I don't know. Azaire! CAN YOU HELP ME RECORD THIS STUPID MESSAGE PLEA–" Azaire sighed and ended the call. "Every time I call her it goes straight to voicemail."
The guy in front of him sat in a half-reclined desk chair, leaning back with one leg balanced on the other and his fingers intertwined. "Hm...and she went missing when?"
"Three days ago, I think."
"You think?"
"Well it's the last time I heard from her," he answered, bouncing his leg nervously. "I was in DC on a trip, and when I got back home my parents didn't seem bothered that she was gone. But..."
"Go on."
Azaire hesitated. "It didn't feel right. Her bags weren't packed. All her stuff is home – even her car. Something happened and they're not being honest about it." He sat forward. "You can't talk to them, Derek. I'm serious. If they find out I hired you to figure out what happened, they'll do something crazy. That's why I came to you in the first place."
Derek Atwool wasn't technically his brother, but they were Godsiblings–Godbrothers?–Whatever. And even though they hadn't hung out since they were young, despite being enrolled in the same college, Azaire was pretty positive they still shared some sort of connection. Hopefully. Even if they were literally complete opposites and hardly ever talked.
Derek nodded a few times. "Okay. So Nyla has been missing for a few days, there's no leads, she won't answer her phone, and your Mom's still the most shady lady on the block. Right?"
Azaire nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."
"Tell me about the last time you talked to her."
"Mom?"
"Nyla."
"She was FaceTiming me from some weird place...Mom sent her to get something. It was called Angel House? Wellness or something like that."
"Interesting."
Azaire took a look around the room. It was a tiny office, with a single poster on the wall labeled 'Derek and Steve's Detection Agency' with a painfully cheesy photo of the two on the front. Other than that, there was one more desk, empty, and an unopened box of Fruit Wheels on the floor. He frowned. "Aren't you gonna write this down or something?"
"Oh, I'm taping this whole convo, don't worry about it. I got you, bro. If anyone can find her, it's me."
Azaire stood and pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket. "Alright, then. Here's a partial down payment, so you take me seriously. And don't...don't mention it to your Dad, either. I just want to make sure she's okay and I don't think we can trust a whole lot of people."
Derek's eyes bugged for a moment at the sight of the cash but he managed to regain control of himself. He cleared his throat. "No worries, man. I'll find her. I promise. She's kind of my sister too."
