Walking into Alex's house, it was not like they expected it. The entire house was clean, nothing out of place and no dust in site. It was almost as if Alex was a clean freak or had someone do the cleaning almost every hour.
"Tea?" Alex asked as he headed to the kitchen.
Both Jenna and Ethan shook their heads, for a no. Alex disappeared into the kitchen for a while as they took their seats. After around ten minutes, he came back out with a tea cup in hand. The scent of rosemary filled the room as soon as he walked into the living room.
"What do you want to know?" He asked Ethan as he sat down opposite to them. However, Jenna didn't seat down, instead, she remained standing behind Ethan.
For a split second, Alex watched her in amusement as she was scanning the house and he already had her scouted. From the way she composed herself, he could easily tell that she was still new.
"Everything that you know. I have reason to believe that this could be related to the disappearances that happened while you were in the department." Ethan answered.
Alex looked at Ethan and tried to see if he was still trying to push him into the case that they were handling. From what he could tell, Ethan was saying what he believed. The only problem was, it didn't make sense.
Before he quit his job, Alex had one active case that never seemed to have any signs of being closed. Seven abductions in Gryfton and none of them had any leads as to who or what was taking them.
As he investigated, none of the cases had actually physical proof that the victims were taken. All that the could go with, was the family and close friends of the victims reporting them missing. Their phones went dead around the same time that they were reported missing.
It was almost as if they just vanished into thin air, never to be seen again.
Never was there any proof of the kidnapping but Alex knew that seven people can't just disappear without a trace. He believed that everything had an explanation, you just had to know where to look and the right questions to ask.
The only problem was, he couldn't ask those questions if he didn't know who to ask.
"Like I said, there's no relation to the case that I was working on. Seven people went missing, ages twenty to thirty five, none older than that.
There were no leads of any kinds, whether physical or digital. They just disappeared, never to be found. We looked everywhere. Morgues, mental facilities, hospitals. We even dug up fresh graves all over Gryfton. Not a single trace of evidence, so there's nothing I can give you to start with." Alex finally informed Ethan.
Ethan sat there for a while as he kissed his teeth in frustration. Not only was in unsuccessful in getting Alex Kane to join him as the commissioner had asked, but he had nothing to go by in the case.
"Besides, like I've told you before, the disappearances or kidnappings never included individuals who were over thirties. So I can guarantee you that your victim won't be the eighth victim to disappear without a trace." Alex added, hoping to make it easier for Ethan to work the case.
"And they never took anyone from The Heights," Ethan commented as he leaned back into the chair in disappointment.
Alex shook his head in agreement but his eyes were on Jenna.
"You can drop your guard now," he said to her, much to her surprise.
"Pardon me?" She asked, not sure she heard him right the first time.
"I said, you can drop your guard," Alex repeated, as Ethan was turning to Jenna wondering what Alex was referring to.
"What's up?" Ethan asked Jenna as he turned to Alex, hoping to get some clarity.
"She's new to the force, I could tell from the start. That's why you used her to get me to open the door. You knew if I saw your face I wouldn't even bother with you." Alex stated as he looked at Ethan who looked at him with the look of defeat.
"How long since you graduated?" Alex asked, directing his attention to Jenna.
"Three months," she responded.
"Makes sense. As I was saying, you can lower your guard," Alex reiterated as Ethan eyed him curiously.
"What's he talking about?" Ethan asked Jenna, hoping that she knew what was happening. She responded by shaking her head.
They both turned to Alex, who in a calm tone said,
"From the moment you walked into my house, she has been on the edge. It didn't make it any easier when she saw the shotgun mounted above my fireplace. The entire time she's been standing behind you, she's had her hand to her hip, ready to reach out for her gun should it be necessary.
It's not a veteran move but a rookie's move. If you go with her anywhere else, be sure that it's somewhere where you identify as police from the word go. Otherwise, if you need to blend in, she'll blow your cover and you'll be picked out from a mile away," Alex finally explained.
When Jenna and Ethan looked at her hand, it was exactly where Alex had said it was. She was clutching at her waist, and her gun was barely covered up by her top. Given that they didn't visit Alex in their official duty cars or didn't brandish any of their cop gear, Ethan understood Alex's intention.
He was just looking out for him and giving the rookie some advice.
In a last attempt to see if Alex would give in, Ethan pulled the desperation card.
"We should get going, but before we do that, I need to tell you something. It's not just the commissioner who asked that you to be in this case. It's Mrs O'Daniel herself, she requested your presence in handling her husband's disappearance," Ethan said, trying to see if it would work.
Jenna watched both men get up and knew exactly what Ethan was trying to do. Surprisingly, Alex already knew that they would try something like that.
"I didn't think you'd stoop that low just to get me on board," Alex answered as he walked them to the door.
"He isn't lying, she asked that you join the team. She's confident that you'll bring her husband back." Jenna chimmed in, hoping to help.
"Well, I hate to be you since you have to tell her that unfortunately, I can't do it," Alex stated as he closed the door as soon as they walked out.