Blood and Snow

Chapter Thirty-One

Richard waited by the front door of the house, looking for his sister. 'C'mon, Lil... You said you would be here...' Richard sighed. Perhaps Lillian wasn't coming after all. 'Maybe she just couldn't come... but she promised...' he closed his eyes and shook his head. The party was at a police officer's house. He threw it to celebrate his friend coming in from England, and made sure to invite literally everyone in the entire department (and gave Richard special permission to invite Lillian, knowing that she was going through some hard times right now). Just as he turned to go back to the party, there was a knock at the door. Richard literally did a 180-turn on his heel and opened the door quickly. "Holy hell, Richie, where's the fire?" Lillian greeted him, startled. Richard smiled at her, "I literally just gave up waiting for you to arrive, and then you show up at the door. I was concerned."

"Yeah, well, I'm here now." Lillian pointed out. "Quick, let me in before I get frostbite! This dress isn't exactly meant for the snow, you know!" She added half-jokingly, half seriously. Richard nodded and stepped aside, letting his sister in the house without complaint. He led Lillian to everyone else, happy to introduce her to the others. She met the host and his wife, a few different officers, and she even met the hosts's friend from out of country. He was a polite and well-mannered man named Kenny Baker. Kenny had silver-dyed hair and bright amber eyes, much like Richard. It unsettled her, but she also liked it. He also had an accent, which she definitely wanted to hear more of. While everyone else was inside munching on unhealthy amounts of pizza, Lillian was talking with Kenny outside. "I gotta say Ken, you're a pretty chill guy." Lillian said with a smile. Kenny smiled back at her, "Why thank you, you are rather enjoyable yourself. You must have a lot of friends."

Lillian nodded, then her eyes slowly dulled for a second. Kenny frowned at the hollow look she had in that moment. "Is something wrong, Miss Foxxe?" He asked. Lillian hesitated before answering, "Yes..."

Kenny raised an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. The blonde sighed. "Has anyone told you about Scott City's recent missing person case?" She asked. Kenny nodded. "Yes; the one about the young lawyer, right?" He confirmed. Lillian looked outside a sad frown on her face. "... The lawyer's name was Belle... She was my best friend..." she said in an empty tone. Kenny put a hand on her shoulder, quickly predicting where this was going. "You think she's dead, don't you?" He asked. Lillian's silence was his answer. The man sighed, "There are things in life that we can't control, Lillian. Whatever happened to your friend was out of your control. She hasn't been missing for that long, I'm sure, so you must stay positive. She could still be alive."

"It's been two weeks, Ken." Lillian argued, "When someone is abducted, their chances of surviving are cut in half every twenty-four hours. Do you know how many times Belle's chances have been cut in half?"

"Not off the top of my head, but trust me when I say that it's always worth it to keep hoping." Kenny said back gently, "Perhaps the reason why there isn't a trace of your friend is because her abductors didn't want her to be found. Perhaps she knows something that they want, so they keep her hidden and alive. Her abduction was clearly organized from what I've heard... maybe whoever has her is keeping her for a reason? Is there anything that could tie in with this case?"

Lillian thought about what Kenny was saying. "... You're right..." she realized slowly. "... You're right, Kenny! Maybe that is why there's no trace of her! Not because they don't want us to find her body, but to hide that she's still alive!" She cried happily. Lillian jumped up and hugged Kenny tightly, "Thank you, Ken! Really; thank you! This is exactly what we needed! You're a genius, my guy!"

Kenny chuckled, "Well, it was more of a passing thought, really... but you're welcome."

"C'mon, we gotta go talk to Richard about this!" She said, excitedly pulling him by the arm. Kenny went with it, happy that he practically breathed life into the sibling again. Lillian really did think that Belle was dead, but what Kenny said back there had her thinking. Maybe Belle really was still alive. Maybe some of the seemingly normal or harmless or random things are connected to what happened to her. 'If there's a chance that she's still alive, then I have to keep holding on. Not only that, but we can uncover so much if we just knew where to look.'

}-----{

"I can't believe we didn't think of this sooner." Richard facepalmed. After being told of Kenny's "theories", Lillian convinced Richard and Kenny to go back to the police department to look for things potentially connected to the case. This ranged from court cases to simple theft reports to recent murders or suspicious activities by some really shady people. Richard also took a deeper look into police reports regarding offenders wearing colorful animal masks. "Don't beat yourself up, Richie, we're just not as smart as Kenny over here is!" Lillian said with a small smile as she looked through unusual thefts and disappearances. Kenny smiled. "Thank you for the compliment." He winked at Lillian. Lillian cracked a smile back at him. "Hey, quite subtly flirting with my sister and look for clues." Richard scolded them. Lillian snickered.

The three worked throughout the night and looked at what they gathered early in the morning.

"So, this is really what we were looking for? We actually found it?" Lillian asked with hopeful eyes. Richard looked at Kenny, the proudly at the case records and photos of men wearing animal masks. "Oh yeah," he said, "these are definitely what we were looking for."