Echoes of Resilience

23

"Alright, let's review the facts. Nicholls and Aria Thomas grew up together in West Virginia, their mom's met in college and have best friends ever since, the two girls were practically raised as sisters, Nicholls was engaged with Aria set to be her maid of honor, the engagement fell apart shortly after Aria's disappearance, and Nicholls has been independently investigating Aria's case on the down low for the past year. Am I missing anything?" Officer Jacobs summarized while making notes of the rogue agent's connection to Aria on a whiteboard.

"Originally there was a suspect in Aria's disappearance, that suspect being Kyla's fiance Lucas Williams. He was cleared rather quickly, but he matched the description of the man Aria was seen with at the bar and he and Aria had gotten into a public argument two days before she went missing. Within hours of the missing persons report being filed a facebook page was created to look for her, the page heavily accusing Lucas of being responsible, even after he was cleared. The page was both created and managed by Kyla Nicholls, no other admins are listed so every post was made by her." Officer Taylor informed her partner, pulling up the facebook page to show her. "She never should have taken this case, but I can understand why she did."

"I completely understand why she did, but if Shepherd's lawyer finds out about this, everything he told us during that interview becomes inadmissible in court. Honestly, she may have just flushed her career down the toilet which is really sad, but it's her own doing." Jacobs sighs and runs her hand through her hair tiredly. "I'm trying to put myself in her shoes to figure out where she could have gone. My first thought would be that she went to look for Aria's body, but Shepherd said he threw her off the pier and she would need a team to search there, when you go off grid you're not going to use your contacts to assemble a search team."

"I let her supervisor know that we found a connection between her and Aria, he said that had he been informed that Aria was even on our radar he would have insisted she pass the case off, which is probably why Kyla didn't report it. Apparently she went off the deep end with her drinking and was out of work for two months. She insisted that local police weren't trying hard enough and that Lucas knew more than he was telling. He ended up having to get a restraining order against her because Kyla was harassing him, demanding he tell her what he did to her sister. Lucas filed a report about his car being vandalized and although he had no proof that Kyla was behind it, he was positive it was her. There's even police reports of Kyla showing up to his work drunk and publicly accusing him of murder."

"This could be a long shot, but maybe we should start searching local bars and just ask if anyone's seen her. She knows what happened to Aria now, I wouldn't be shocked if she went to search for comfort in the bottom of a bottle. It certainly sounds like it wouldn't be the first time." Jacobs suggested, gathering her belongings to head out without giving Taylor the opportunity to respond.

"I think we should start with the bar across from the hospital, she probably figures that's where the hospital staff goes to drink and is likely going to want any information she can get on the man that killed her sister." Taylor suggests as she runs to catch up with her partner. Jacobs nods, knowing that Taylor is probably onto something and the two start driving towards The Emerald City Bar.

Addison carried a sleeping Meredith off the ferry and back to the car, ignoring the sounds of Arizona laughing as Cristina played whipping sound effects on her phone behind her. She rolls her eyes as a smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. They may be annoying but she's happy that they are actually getting along for once instead of bickering like children, even if it is at her expense.

"You know, you could have just woken her up! It's not like her legs are broken." Cristina teases the redhead, mirth evident in her voice.

"I also could have made you pay for your own ferry ticket, if only I had a time machine." Addison tries to bite back but is unable to keep the playfulness out of her tone. She carefully puts Meredith in the passenger seat, buckling her in, and gently shushing her when she whimpers in her sleep. "You're okay sweet girl, I'm just getting you situated for the drive home." She whispers in a soothing tone, kissing Meredith's temple before shutting the door.