One missing agent. One renowned detective. And an agency at the brink of tearing apart.
The circumstances surrounding Carmen de la Croix's disappearance are dubious at best. As the agency's top agent, Carmen has made powerful allies, but equally po...
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On the morning after Carmen's disappearance, Eleanor Banderas woke up as she always did; in a pool of her own sweat. Without an air conditioner, her apartment would always find itself as the victim of New York's sweltering summer heat. She had shelled out some money for a nice fan but was always too exhausted to turn it on when she got home from work. Instead, it sat and collected dust in the corner of her tiny bedroom.
After throwing her suffocating covers onto the floor, Ellie rolled over and grabbed her phone from her bedside table, intent on turning off her notifications and spending the day doing nothing but relaxing. But to her surprise, Ellie had a missed call. From her supervisor.
Her brows furrowed. As far as she knew, she wasn't scheduled to work today. Maybe Supervisor Ramirez called because she wanted to congratulate her on her superior office work. Ellie called her back.
"Hello?" She cleared her throat in an effort to reduce the raggedness of her morning voice. How embarrassing would it be if her boss were to hear all her voice cracks?
"What's going on, supervisor Ramirez?" She asked. As she listened, a lump wedged itself into her throat. Her expression of confusion quickly morphed into one of panic.
"I'll be right there." She croaked, before abruptly hanging up.
Three nerve-wracking subway rides later, Ellie stood at Bardot Enterprises. Upon entering the lobby, she was greeted with a swarm of police, reporters, and agency employees dressed to the nines.
"Sorry- excuse me- sir, can you move please?" She pushed her way through the sea of people in suits and ties.
A man with a camera pulled her back by her messenger bag.
"Eleanor Banderas! Have time for an interview?" Ellie flinched when he shoved the microphone right up to her face. She ducked away, muttering a small 'no thank you sir' and dove back through the crowd.
Reporter after reporter that tried to bring her aside, all saying the same thing about wanting an interview. The fact only made Ellie more concerned. She was a low-level employee at Bardot Enterprises, the reporters should have been harassing the executives instead. Ellie clutched her bag a little tighter as the reporters started getting more aggressive.
"What is going on Mr. Redfern?" She asked once she reached the receptionist's desk. The man was gaping at the sight before him, twitching slightly. Ellie pitied him; this amount of people in one space was likely a receptionist's nightmare.
"No idea, Ellie." He admitted, rubbing his temples. "But it must be something big. Need to clock in?" She gave him a nod as she swiped her keycard and pushed through the gate. Unfortunately, the madness didn't stop once she was inside.
In every public space, office, and corner, agency employees were gathering and conversing. Correction, arguing.
