Nightmare

Chapter 3.

“Rise and shine, darling!” The bright sunshine pierced through the curtains and into Marcia’s eyes. She rolled over sleepily and saw Niall moving around in her dorm, picking up her clothes from the previous night and putting them on hangers. Marcia scowled. 

“Don’t touch my clothes.” Niall looked at her in surprise and let out a little giggle. 

“Good morning to you too, wow.” Marcia rolled her eyes and sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes. Niall finished and sat down beside her. 

“Listen, last night I didn’t sleep right away, so I called the police. They actually set up a meeting today for us, and it’s in,” he quickly checked his phone. “An hour, and it takes a good half hour to get there so get moving.” And with that he got up and walked out of the dorm. Marcia got up and walked over to her closet, picking out a simple chiffon dress and her favourite MK purse. She slipped on her flats, brushed her teeth and hair, slapped on some mascara and lipstick and left. She knocked at Niall’s door and entered, immediately noticing the pleasant smell that was quite different from Liam’s. 

“Lets get this over with.” She said, crossing her arms and standing in front of the closed bathroom door, which she suspected Niall was hiding behind. 

“Hold on a second.” Marcia heard some fumbling, a soft swear, and the door opened to a rushed Niall, dressed in dark jeans, a white shirt and a leather jacket that looked amazing on him. 

“You ready?” He asked. Marcia frowned. 

“Are you ok?” Niall gave her a tight smile. “Yeah. You just scared me and I almost dropped my cologne, nearly breaking my hand in the process of saving it, but I’m fine. Let’s go.” Marcia stared at his lean muscular back as he marched towards the door, grabbing his keys, wallet and phone on the way. He was so gorgeous she had to dig her fingernail into the palm of her hand to stop from staring. They walked out of the building and towards the parking garage, Marcia unable to stop looking at his frame.

"He is no good for me. He is no good for me. He is-"

"What’s that, babe?" Marcia blushed furiously, having realized she was mumbling out loud. Niall grinned and held the car door open for her, and she climbed in without saying a word. He chuckled to himself and climbed in on his side, turning the engine over and driving away.

☪

The ride to the police station was short, which made them early for their appointment. Marcia went to sit down in the waiting area right away. Niall shook his head. It was like the girl was scared of him or something. He blew out a sigh and went to sit on the opposite side of the waiting room. 

"Two can play this game, honey." he mumbled, laughing quietly. Niall felt her eyes on him as he sat down and pulled his phone out, and heard her give a very loud sigh, almost as if she was begging for his attention. She was too easy. He’d make her learn.

A secretary appeared at the doorway.

"Mr and Ms Horan?" she asked, looking in confusion as the two of them stood up at separate ends of the room. Niall looked at Marcia and smirked at the look on her face. As they followed the secretary to the investigator-in-chief of the case, Marcia elbowed Niall in the ribs and scowled.

"What the fuck!" she whispered. Niall bit back laughter.

"I said me and my sister wanted to find more information about our missing friend because I didn’t know what to call you." he explained. Marcia looked at her feet for a moment, thinking, then turned to him and gave him a sly smile.

"We could not look further from brother and sister. Anyways, you could have just lied and pretended we were friends."

☪

She could see that there was a bit of hurt in his face, but didn’t regret it. That idiot was making a fool out of her, and she didn’t like it. They were ushered into an office and were joined by a short man with a badge and a coffee seconds later. He pointed to the two chairs in front of his desk and sat down himself.

"Hello. As you probably know my name is Detective John Rogers, and I’m in charge of the Liam Payne case. We have recently received some information about the case that you might find of interest." Niall leaned forward in anticipation, and Marcia, before she could register what her eyes were doing, found herself staring at his smooth back, punctuated with muscles and shoulder bones. She cursed at herself and zoned into the detective’s information.

"… and they’re saying that it’s his brother’s fault, because he can’t keep up. So they took him as a kind of deal maker." Niall leaned back and put his hands under his head, his eyes flashing.

"So you’re saying the idiot’s Liam’s brother buys drugs from took Liam to make sure that his brother pays them?" he said slowly. Marcia looked in horror from Niall to the detective, and back.

"That’s nuts! Where is his brother?" she asked. The detective blew out a sigh.

"Miami."

☪

"That’s fucking crazy! Miami is on the other side of the world!"

"Marcia! Calm down! I know!" Niall yelled, and abruptly jerked the car to a stop, then slowly crept to the side of the road. "Listen," he started, rubbing his temple. "I know what’s happening. You don’t have to tell me how fucked up this situation is. And there’s a problem too." Marcia slowly looked at him, her perfect mouth in a little "o".

"What is it, Niall?" she whispered. Niall looked at his hands that were gripping the steering wheel so tight the knuckles were turning white.

"The London police can’t afford to go to Miami and save him. Sure they can contact the Miami PD, but the priority might not be super high because of the whole drug dealing business." Marcia’s face registered comprehension, then shock.

"So you’re saying-"

"Yes. We have to go to Miami ourselves, find and rescue Liam."