SOUL

main suspect

They had been chasing leads for days, but it wasn't until they started noticing the same man showing up at multiple crime scenes that things began to click. Each sighting had been subtle—a man in the background of security footage, lingering near the periphery of each area just before or after the crimes took place. Once they confirmed it was the same person, they dug deeper and managed to uncover his name, along with his home and work addresses. When Mary arrived she overheard them talking about the prime suspect, saw the addresses, she felt a sense of urgency boiling inside her.

"We need to talk to him now," she said, her voice firm as she faced Harris and Leo. "If he's the guy, then we can't waste any more time."

The detectives look at her in shock, as she shouldn't have heard that information. Leo shakes his head in annoyance and crosses his arms.

Harris sighed, shaking his head. "No. We can't do that."

"Why not?" she snapped, her frustration bubbling over. "Every second we wait is a second we might be losing Janel. What if he's got her tied up somewhere, and we're just sitting around doing nothing?"

"It's not that simple," Leo replied, trying to keep his tone calm. "If he gets spooked or feels cornered, he could panic. If he thinks we're onto him, there's no telling what he'll do. He could kill Janel before we even have a chance to find her."

She opened her mouth to argue, but he cut her off. "Listen to me. I get it, alright? I understand that you want to help. But we have to do this carefully. If he bolts, we might lose him, and if he catches on, he might do something drastic."

She clenched her fists, her mind whirling with the possibility that they were missing their chance to save Janel. "Then let me be a distraction," she blurted out. "I'll go in, talk to him, keep him occupied. You guys can—"

"No!" Leo's voice was sharper now, and she flinched. "Absolutely not. We are not using you as bait."

"But I can help!" she insisted, stepping closer to him, her eyes pleading. "I can distract him, buy you some time to get what you need. I don't want to just sit around and do nothing while. Janel—"

"Stop!" Leo's hand came up, and for a moment, the tension between them was palpable. "You're not going anywhere near him, and that's final."

"Don't you get it?" she shouted, her frustration finally boiling over. "She has four more days. That's it. If we don't find her by then, she's dead. The timeline fits—the other victims were kept alive for seven days before... before he killed them. We can't afford to wait and play it safe. We have to do something now!"

Leo's expression softened, but his resolve didn't waver. "And you think I don't know that?" he said, his voice low, almost a whisper. "I know exactly how much time we have left. But rushing in there isn't going to save her—it's going to get you hurt, or worse. You need to trust us to do our job."

She felt like she was suffocating under the weight of his words. "So that's it?" she said, her voice trembling. "I'm just supposed to sit back and do nothing?"

"You're supposed to go back to my house, stay safe, and let us handle this," Leo said. "I need to know you're out of harm's way so I can focus on finding Janel. If I'm worried about you, I can't do my job. Please, just... let me do my job."

Her jaw tightened, and she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She hated how powerless she felt, how he was treating her like she was fragile, like she was someone who needed to be protected rather than someone who could help. She was about to argue again when Harris stepped in, his hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Let's take a minute," Harris said, steering Leo away. "Cool down."

As Harris and Leo moved a few steps away, she stood there, her heart pounding, her mind racing. She watched them talk, but she couldn't hear what they were saying. All she could see was the image of Janel, trapped, alone, running out of time. She glanced at the address on the paper Harris had left on the table. Before she could think it through, she made a decision. She grabbed the paper, stuffed it in her pocket, and slipped out of the building.