James glanced at his team, who were still working endlessly trying to find leads, and let out a sigh of relief before saying to Sophia on the other end of the phone.
" I am sorry, I have been quite busy today, but I am going to wrap up now and meet you. Please give me a little time," he said to her, and she agreed.
The call ended, and he asked his team to wrap up their search as all of them stepped out of the scene for the day. James dropped by his house first to change up from his work clothes, which he had been too busy that day and was already sweating.
After having refreshed, he was on his way to go and see Sophia at the location where she texted him. It was not a long drive as it was a popular restaurant in the city and even a child could point in its direction.
" Hello, Dr Petal,", he said to her as he got to the table. She was already seated waiting for him and he put himself in his seat.
"Welcome, James. I am so glad you could make it", Sophia said to him.
" This is important, doctor, and I am also curious to know more about this case. That is why I am going to give all the attention that it needs", James remarked.
Sophie nodded her head in appreciation, seeing the length that James was already going in the case. It gave her confidence and hope that Emma could be saved at the end of this.
" You said something about us looking away from the cases that we reported in the past and looking in another direction; what direction are you talking about?" she asked him with a look of curiosity on her face.
James straightened his shirt and adjusted himself on the seats as he spoke to Sophia." Yes, doctor, I was curious to know why the people who reported the cases all decided to drop them unsolved, and I think we have more chances of finding a solution to this mysterious case if we look away from the cases that we reported which all seem alike and try to find the people who reported these cases. I mean, if they are still out there, they are the ones who would have real answers to what is going on right now," James said, and Sophia could not agree less.
She agreed with everything that James had said, and she was not surprised because he had always been a smart one right from the beginning.
" That is a brilliant idea, detective. I know one of my patients who I think is entangled in this, but I cannot reach her because right from the moment she left my office that day, I have been trying to reach her, and it has not been going through", Sophia said to him.
" Is it the same patient who you asked me to help?" James asked with a look of concern on his face.
He could not hide his concern from Sophia, and she had seen him that way more times than now.
The other cases had stressed James out, but in all of them, he always came up with solutions.
In those times when it felt as if those cases were never going to end, she had always reassured him of how it was easier to take things slowly than doing them to rush them up.
Unknown to her, James was cleaving to those words each time he was feeling overwhelmed in his career, and they had helped him more times than he could remember.
" Yes, her name is Emma, and she is right young. I feel sorry for her because I cannot help her right now, and I can feel she is going through a lot of issues. I honestly wish that there was a way I could help this young girl, but since I cannot for now, I believe that you can help me find her, which is the very first help I will be rendering," Sophia said with a look of worry on her face as she spoke to James.
" I am sorry I got a little distracted after what happened to you last night, but I am going to inform my team, and we will focus our attention for the moment on finding these clients of yours," James said, and Sophia appreciated his help.
She knew that it was not going to be easy for James to find Emma, considering the way Emma left her office that day; she was on the run. However, he was a dictator, and these were the things that he did best. She could only hope that he was going to prove himself like every other time and bring Emma safely back.
The behind-the-scenes plan for that meeting was to have dinner and after their discussion on how to find Emma and how to look into the other people who had reported cases similar to that of Emma, they both ordered different dishes for dinner.
Sophia got home that day and was feeling a lot more relieved than she had the previous day. Even though the memories of what she went through that night and how something strange had come to save her from Mr Smith, she still managed to find her peace despite the chaos.
She was, however, playing smart with this as she did not mention to James that she had spoken to someone else about the case. She knew Dr Lee to be a secret detective, and he did not like his business to be made public as she could not tell James that she also had someone walking on the same case.
She sat on that couch that evening as she called Dr Lee's contact. He had told her that he was going to reach out to her once he found something about the case, but her curiosity was making her impatient.
" Hello, Dr Lee. It's Sophia" she announced on the phone