Creed of the Leviathan II

27 | E

Emmanuelle

Triingggggg....tringgggg

I took a break from typing the keyboard to its death and picked up my phone to see who was calling. I immediately answered the call when I saw his name, happy to hear from him again after about a week or so.

"Anth!" I smiled. He struggled to switch to videocall, but before he said anything, the sound of a baby crying came through. "You alright, there?"

"Yep, just give me a sec." He finally managed to get his camera working. "Say hi!" He showed me his little girl, who was just a few months old now.

"Hi, beautiful. What has your father done to you?" I could barely hear myself through her crying.

"What has she done to me?" He kissed her on the hand, "She's clean, fed and has slept. What else am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe, she wants to be held."

"Okay, we'll try that."

This was the most cautious I had seen Anthony handle anything. The birth of his little one had transformed him into a different person. The child settled down in his arms, quieting with each soft bounce he moved them around their living-room.

"How are you guys holding up?" He returned to his phone when she was completely silent.

"We're okay. You guys? How is Nessa?" He had been home in New York for a minute.

"Tired but great. She's having a girl's day with her mom and sister. Dom alright?"

"Uhhu," I nodded.

"So, have you opened it yet?" He finally asked what I knew he would. I opened the first drawer to my left and took out the brown envelope, containing the results of the DNA-test.

"Still sealed." I held it in front of my phone, for him to see.

"It's been almost three months. Maybe, you should just open it."

"Do you have any news?" I ignored what he said.

"No," he sighed. "Nothing. I've tried. I really have. But every lead has been a dead end. And if they do know where he is then they're keeping their lips locked for some reason. I'm sorry."

"Is there anything else we can try? Someone else we can ask?"

Anthony shook his head, "Listen. I think we should stop. It might not be safe to continue asking around, Nuelle. The cops are looking for him and who knows if," he looked down at his child. "I have a family now and you have Dom. I think it's best that we move on."

"How? How am I supposed to move on, not knowing if he's alive or dead— or being kept in a basement somewhere? I can't." I exhaled. "I can't make peace with this. Someone can't just fall of the face of the earth."

"Maybe you need to get out of Seattle for a while. Staying there, working at the office, being around his stuff; you need a break, Nuelle."

"I—"

"Emmanuelle," Celeste stood in the door opening to Dimitri's office, which I had been using as my own. "I'm sorry for barging in without knocking. There are two officers downstairs who want to speak with you."

"Again?" I could cry out of frustration.

"Ask them to come another time. You've already been for questioning. They can't force you." Said Anthony.

I took his advice into consideration and had Celeste inform the officers that I was not available at the moment and that they could schedule a meeting. In the meantime I texted Emillio and Christoph, asking for one of them to pick me up. Celeste held all calls and handled the messages, even covered for me when I slipped out the back entrance to avoid the press and photographers that had gathered in front of the building.