Chapter Six

“You’re here!”

Lila didn’t even have the chance to knock before Asher, still clad in his school uniform, flung open the front doors of his house that Lila was now acutely familiar with. Before she could react, he had managed to grab her around the wrist and pull her inside. Stumbling to get her shoes off, Lila’s mind scrambled to figure out what was even happening.

“Come, come,” Asher urged, bouncing on the heels of his feet.

“Where’s the fire?” Lila asked, bewildered. She neatly set her shoes aside in their now-usual place.

“There is no fire,” Asher replied, still bouncing. “Come say hi to Gabriel.”

Lila shuffled behind Asher hesitantly as he began to make his way to the kitchen.

“Gabriel!” called Asher, cupping his mouth with his hands.

Gabriel bustled out of the kitchen, his jovial smile widening as he laid eyes on Lila.

“Lila!” he said, hurrying forward to clasp her hands in his, shaking them firmly. “So good to see you again!”

“And you too,” Lila beamed, her confusion melting away as quickly as it had come.

“I think you’ll enjoy what’s on the menu tonight,” he winked.

“Colour me intrigued,” Lila said pleasantly.

“I won’t spoil the surprise,” Gabriel said with an air of mystery, winking at Lila again.

“We’ll see you later, Gabriel,” Asher interjected, walking off in the direction of the library. Lila gave Gabriel a small wave as she half-jogged to keep up with him. However, instead of heading into the library like always, Asher kept going, leading the way to a magnificent staircase with intricately carved wooden balusters.

“Where are we going?” Lila asked as they climbed the steps.

“My space,” replied Asher. “Dad’s taken over the library.”

“Oh,” replied Lila, taken aback. “I thought he wasn’t home much?”

“He’s been preparing to lead a pretty big workshop,” Asher sighed, “so he’s got all these worksheets and PowerPoint presentation papers everywhere. He’s been practicing setting up groups and things like that. He… also hasn’t been going into the study. Don’t worry, though, he’s not here now.”

Lila wordlessly continued on behind Asher as he made his way to a room at the far end of the bright, open landing. The carpet here was pleasantly springy and cream-coloured, with carefully curated décor sprinkled alongside various walls. It resembled something that you could find in an interior decoration magazine. All the doors along the landing were closed, and Asher was moving so quickly that Lila didn’t get time to ask about the other rooms.

Upon entering the room at the far end, Lila was surprised to see that it was a spacious rumpus room. A large TV was mounted to the wall to the left of Lila, with a sturdy-looking TV cabinet that had a Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 sitting underneath. A matching coffee table sat just before it. Lila could see Asher’s open school bag sitting next to the table. A plush, expensive-looking dark grey couch sat opposite the TV. Covering the right wall was a kitchenette with a small sink, fridge, and counter. Strip LED lights framed the ceiling but were currently off. A plate of snacks was placed on the counter, along with two cups and a couple of different bottles of assorted juices and sodas.

Dotted around the room were various posters regarding movies and video games, along with a few plants that were either incredibly healthy or artificial. There were also a few standing cabinets here and there filled with books, games, magazines, and figurines.

“Wow,” Lila couldn’t help saying.

“It’s nothing special, really,” Asher said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I much prefer the library for tasks requiring concentration.”

Lila simply nodded, still taking in the various curiosities within the room.

“That door there,” Asher said lamely, pointing to a door at the far-left side, “is the bathroom. And that door at the back is my bedroom. Oh, and on the right is the guest bedroom.”

Lila quickly glanced at Asher, trying and failing miserably to not be curious about his bedroom.

“This place has the added benefit of being one of the only spots where there’s no cameras,” Asher added. “At least, none that I know about.”

“Cameras?”

“For security. You’ve seen our intense front door. You’d be surprised how many people see our house and think we must be hoarding some secret treasure or something. We’ve had a couple of attempted break-ins over the years.”

“I see…” Lila trailed off, slipping her backpack off her shoulders and placing it down.

“It also means we can speak a bit more freely,” Asher added.

“Isn’t there a chance that Gabriel could just come and burst in here?”

“He doesn’t like coming upstairs. He usually talks to me through the intercom,” Asher replied, gesturing towards an intercom system that was behind Lila. Next to the system was a control panel that seemed to be for the air-conditioner.

“It seems like its own mini-apartment,” Lila commented, still looking about the room.

“I guess you could call it that,” Asher said with a bashful smile. He gestured to Lila to take a seat on the couch. Lila found the couch to be surprisingly comfortable and settled in.

“What would you like to drink?” he asked as Lila could hear him opening a bottle of soda.

“Oh, uh, anything’s fine with me,” Lila replied, somewhat awkwardly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. She started twirling the ends of her hair in her fingers as Asher began pouring drinks into cups.

“By the way, Asher… I couldn’t help but notice that you seem really…”

“Excited?”

“Y-Yeah, you could say that.”

Asher gave her a sheepish grin as he placed the opened drink bottles in the fridge. “For the first time, I’ve felt like I’ve been making headway. It’s put me in a better mood than I have been in days, or even weeks, to be honest.”

He made his way over, placing the cups on the coffee table before pulling out Lila’s significantly crumpled and scuffed notebook.

“Uh, sorry for all the creases,” he said, his cheeks reddening as he passed it to her. Horrified, Lila opened it up to find that it fell quite easily to the investigation pages. These pages were filled top to bottom with Asher’s notes, various diagrams, and question marks.

“It might be easier if I explain,” Asher said, averting his gaze as he drank from a cup.

“Please do,” Lila replied, still aghast. She placed the notebook gingerly on the coffee table and took a sip from her own cup.

“I’ve been taking it with me while out on my bike,” Asher began, putting his cup back down on the coffee table. “And I may have dropped it a couple of times.”

“… Are you riding your bike while reading my notebook?” Lila asked bluntly, placing her cup down.

“N-No. Not at all,” Asher replied, turning his body to face away from Lila and towards the door they entered from. Which was absolutely suspicious at best.

“Asher, are you still roaming around at night?”

He didn’t respond for a moment before nodding, still facing the door.

“When do you get the time to sleep?”

“I’m fine.”

“Asher, I think you should reconsider-”

“What if she’s hurt?” Asher snapped, eyes sparking as he suddenly whipped around and glowered at her. “I have to keep going.”

“And what if you get hurt?” Lila retorted, standing up suddenly, casting a shadow across his face, her arms folded and her own face stern. “Then what? Who’s going to look for her then? Not your Dad, not the police.”

She exhaled heavily, nostrils flaring, as his jaw flapped open, his eyes wide and unblinking. It felt like an age passed between them until Asher tore his eyes away from hers.

“… I know. Believe me, I do,” he murmured, clenching his fists. “I just… feel so godamn useless.”

He buried his face in his hands at these words and Lila unfolded her arms, slowly lowering back onto the couch.

“That’s okay,” she said quietly, reaching out a hand to touch his shoulder momentarily before closing it into a fist and dropping it back into her lap. Asher’s previous admonishment suddenly played back in her mind’s eye as she tried to focus on him.

“It’s not,” he choked. “I’m suffocating.”

“That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?” asked Lila. “That’s why you couldn’t hold onto it by yourself anymore, right? So that I can help you breathe again.” Lila cringed slightly at her proclamation but carried on earnestly. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Asher. Even if you think you’re useless on your own, together we can do something. I promise.”

Asher looked up at Lila, his eyes red and slightly puffy. Lila couldn’t decipher the look that he was giving her now – a mixture of pain and hope, perhaps? It couldn’t be admiration, but maybe it was something between all three.

He wiped his eyes on the back of his hands as he cleared his throat, straightening up his posture again.

“I… I’ve been wondering myself, why I told you,” he said, a grimace flashing across his face as he spoke. “It just came out so easily. And though I’ve been more stressed than I’ve ever been in my life… this burden… it feels lighter every time you help me come up with a plan, or something tangible or easy that I can do.”

Asher gave Lila a quick sideways glance as she nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“It feels like you won’t judge me,” he said quietly, staring at his hands as he picked at his nails. “And… like you’ll do anything to keep my secret safe.”

Lila bit her lip before interjecting with a trembling voice, “I… told Cecelia and Lucas about Holly.”

Asher’s eyes snapped to hers as she hurriedly continued. “They… thought we were dating. And I let it slip.”

Lila’s heart dropped as Asher didn’t say anything in response. Then, he gave her a smile that looked pained.

“I’m sorry I put you in that position,” he said, rubbing his forehead. “It seems I can’t keep to my own rule of respecting my relationship with Holly. Truthfully, Isaac cornered me yesterday – he said a bunch of people from soccer saw me with you behind the Bio lab. He… implied that they thought we were making out or something. I… forgot to tell you, actually. A lot of people think we’re dating. I’ve been hearing wild rumours all day, so I’ve been telling people about Holly so they’ll shut up. Isaac and I have been trying to do some damage control, so hopefully you won’t hear them too.”

It was now Lila’s turn to bury her face in her hands, though she was sure the heat from her scarlet face would burn them up. She hadn’t expected that Isaac would be involved, but she supposed that they hadn’t ended on bad terms, at least.

“I’m so sorry,” Asher said, his voice wavering. “I’ve been kicking myself all day and then when I saw you coming up the driveway, I forgot all about it.”

“It’s okay, Asher. I’m just relieved that you’ve been telling people.”

She felt Asher’s weight disappear from the other end of the couch and looked up to find him bringing the snacks to the coffee table.

“Feel free,” he said awkwardly before sitting back down. Lila grabbed a pack of mini-Oreos and bit into one, avoiding Asher’s gaze.

“I figured it out, by the way,” Asher said suddenly, also tearing into a pack of mini-Oreos. “That the secret of my relationship with Holly was exciting because I can let people in on the secret.”

“I see,” replied Lila, chewing on another mini-Oreo, still looking elsewhere.

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“I didn’t ask you to keep it a secret, either.”

“I still let it slip.”

“I still trust you.”

Lila pivoted in her seat to assess the truth behind Asher’s statement with a piercing look. Crumbs tumbled from his lips as he fought to swallow.

“I’m being serious,” he coughed, dusting himself off. “I can’t help myself from trusting you. I am truly grateful that, though I can’t figure out why, I did tell you.”

“Thank you,” Lila replied gently. “For trusting me. I promise this is between you and me. We’ll find your Mum, Asher. And… thank you for sacrificing your secret with Holly to combat the rumours. I haven’t heard any today, at least.”

“Good,” Asher said with a small smile, eating a mini-Oreo.

The silence between them returned. However, Lila could feel a certain warmth in this silence. She picked up her notebook.

“Can you promise me, Asher,” Lila said, turning the pages and skimming his notes, “that you’ll take care of yourself from now on? At least, stop going out every night and morning. Try and get some sleep.”

Asher stiffened, before nodding sombrely. “I… promise.”

“Thank you,” Lila gave Asher a reassuring smile. “I mean it when I say I’m getting concerned about your health. You need to help yourself before you can help your Mum.”

Asher wordlessly nodded again, and Lila turned her attention back to her notebook. He had certainly fleshed out the timeline starting from early December, though Lila couldn’t see that any of it was really relevant – it was a fact that Tabitha Wagner had been busily preparing for the Christmas season. All of her actions up to her disappearance neatly fell into expected duties – shopping at the mall, picking up guests from the airport, entertaining their guests, writing Christmas letters, calling family members…

“Hey Asher,” Lila said, tracing the words ‘Christmas letters’ with her index finger, brow furrowed. “How do you know she was writing Christmas letters?”

Asher spluttered for a moment before hitting his chest with a fist and throwing the rest of his drink down his mouth. “Sorry, wrong pipe,” he wheezed before shaking his head.

“Christmas letters… well, Mum was constantly in the study with the door closed when our guests were elsewhere, which was pretty often actually… With the pandemic, no one was able to visit for ages so our ‘out of towners’ would go to the city, or the beach or see some sights most days. When she came down to lunch one day, I asked her what she was working on and she said Christmas letters. She even showed me one to Aunt Madeline. She lives in Canada and couldn’t come visit. She’s just had a baby.”

Flipping through to a clean page and taking out a pen, Lila wrote a note – ‘Letter to Aunt Madeline.’

“Wasn’t it a bit late to write Christmas letters?” Lila frowned at her note, as though it had done something wrong.

Asher brought his right thumb to rest under his chin and pressed an index finger against his mouth, narrowing his eyes.

“Now that I think about it, it was a bit late…”

“Did she write them every year?”

“Well, she started it up when the pandemic happened. So it would’ve been the third year.”

“When would she post them?”

“I… feel like she posted them mid-November, to give it time to make it by Christmas.”

“What about last year?”

Asher brought his other arm to his right elbow, bracing it as he looked down at his lap.

“I… think she already posted them.”

“When was your Aunt Madeline’s baby born?”

“What does that have to do with-”

“Could it have been just one letter to Aunt Madeline, congratulating her on the birth of her child?”

Asher’s eyes sparkled with seeming understanding as he looked into Lila’s eyes. “What was she working on for so long?” he whispered.

“Is the study open?” Lila asked, standing up and dusting her own crumbs off her uniform.

“I think so,” said Asher, standing up as well. “And Dad’s not home still.”

Asher led the way again, out of the rumpus room and to the landing. He opened a door to the right. It was connected to a hallway, at the end of which was a set of double-doors matching those guarding the library.

“So, why does your family have a study and a library?” queried Lila.

“The study is where Mum usually works from home. It’s far cosier, she reckons, and Dad also has a desk in there but he’s not in there nearly as often as Mum is. It also means that if I need to study or something, I can do so without disturbing them.”

While not relatable in the slightest, Lila replied, “Makes sense.”

Upon reaching the doors, Asher twisted the doorknob on the right-hand side. He stood back for a moment, tilting his head slightly as if in confusion before trying the doorknob on the left-hand side. The doors remained steadfastly closed.

“That’s odd…” he murmured, pensively scratching the side of his head. “It should be open.”

Lila stepped past Asher and tried to twist the doorknobs and found the same result. Spying a keyhole under the doorknobs, she turned to Asher and asked where the keys would be.

“Keys? Hmm…” He began to pace in front of the doors as he continued to deliberate. “I don’t actually know where they would be, but I know for a fact that they do keep spare keys. If I had to guess… they might be in the safe in their bedroom.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to try,” said Lila, and off they went, back through to the main landing. Asher crossed the landing to a door on the opposite side and wrenched it open. There was another small hallway that opened into a bigger room. Similar to Asher’s rumpus room, a couch and TV were stationed here, and there was a mini-bar set up. Passing through this area led them into a spacious and lavish bedroom. A king bed with expensive-looking, lush silk covers and several embroidered decorative pillows sat proudly in the middle and the dark side tables held delicate, baroque-style lamps. To the left was a walk-in wardrobe that was at least the size of Lila’s entire bedroom and lined ceiling to floor in storage solutions which, in the small glimpse that Lila took, displayed opulent dresses, coats, and suits.

To the right was a bathroom with beautiful dark-emerald tiles and lighting that framed a large, free-standing bath. A large glass shower with two showerheads stood beside the bath. Lila was sure that along the wall would be an incredibly large mirror and most likely a double sink situation, but she couldn’t confirm this from her vantage point.

“Holy shit,” Lila said faintly, looking around the room to soak in more details.

“I’ll be quick,” Asher said, darting to the walk-in wardrobe and fiddling around the back wall.

“Do you know the combination?” Lila called, not willing to venture any further into the room.

“Of course I do,” Asher called back. “It’s my birthday. Huh… probably shouldn’t have said that.”

“… And what’s your birthday?” Lila asked, a cheeky grin across her face.

“Wouldn’t you like to know!” Asher laughed. A few moments passed and Lila heard a loud click.

“Got it!” Asher exclaimed. Lila could hear some assorted jingling before a slamming sound.

“Let’s go,” Asher urged, dashing out of the bedroom and towards the study again, Lila following behind at a similar pace. Finally reaching the study, Asher jabbed a key into one of the keyholes.

“What’s the rush for?” Lila asked, huffing to catch her breath from the sudden sprint.

“The CCTV gets sent to the study,” he said vehemently as he twisted the doorknob and threw the door open dramatically. “We need to delete the footage us snooping around.”

The thrum of a computer was the only sign of life within the study, which was in virtual pitch-black darkness. Asher switched on the lights as Lila stepped further in. Blackout curtains lined the windows within the study and two large desks sat along the back wall. One desk held the whirring computer, four monitors, an RGB keyboard, and matching mouse. Above the four monitors were two large TVs mounted to the wall. Asher pulled out the leather office chair that belonged to this desk and shook the mouse.

Almost instantly, life returned to the four monitors and two TV screens. Several small squares appeared on the TV screens showing different areas of the house and yard. One such square showed Gabriel dancing in the kitchen whilst frying something. There was no sound playing, but Lila could almost guarantee that Gabriel was singing his own soundtrack.

“Lila,” Asher said, mashing buttons on the RGB keyboard. “Can I ask you to keep an eye on the CCTV, please? Given the conference, Dad might end up coming home earlier than usual.”

“Roger that,” replied Lila, marching over to the other desk which held a more modest computer system of only one monitor, a simple black Dell keyboard and mouse. “Is this your Mum’s setup?”

“No,” replied Asher, peering at the bottom right monitor. “Dad sits there if he’s working in here.”

“Oh.”

Lila rolled Asher’s Dad’s desk chair over to behind the other desk and sat down.

“Don’t you think this setup is a bit intense for a social media marketing job?” she asked.

“Huh? Uh, maybe? I dunno, Mum’s setup has always been like this. She does heaps of graphic design stuff too.”

Lila continued to eye the CCTV screens. Nothing really changed about the scenery except that in small intervals Gabriel would seemingly have an epic solo with a spatula as a makeshift microphone and then return to subdued, serious cooking.

Lila giggled, “Gabriel is the best.”

Asher looked up and, upon seeing Gabriel break it down with an air guitar riff, grinned. “Yeah. Ever since I was little, he’d invite me into the kitchen for some rap battles and singing lessons while teaching me how to cook the basics. I owe all my finest sandwich combinations to that man.”

Lila chuckled and turned her attention to the items on Asher’s Mum’s desk. A ‘World’s #1 Mum’ mug and framed photo of Asher as a toddler in a sandpit were just underneath the bottom two monitors. Various books about traditional marketing and social media tips were piled upon the desk, as well as several colourful notebooks and novelty pens in a lumpy, clay, shoddily-coloured pen caddy.

“Did you make that?” Lila asked, pointing at the pen caddy. Without breaking eye contact with the monitors, Asher nodded. “Yeah. Grade Four art class. I keep telling Mum to throw it away but she calls it her little treasure from her greatest treasure. Ugh, sorry, that was way too sappy.”

“I think that’s adorable,” Lila cooed, smiling again as she continued to survey the items on the desk. Next to the pen caddy, Lila noticed something glinting in the light above.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be watching the CCTV instead of looking at embarrassing things on my Mum’s desk?” Asher asked, still not looking at Lila and clicking away rapidly.

“Asher, look!” Lila tapped his shoulder, pointing at the glinting objects. He glanced at Lila, confused for a moment before reaching forward and picking them up. It was an engagement ring and a matching wedding band.

“T-This is Mum’s…” Asher said in a hushed voice, inspecting it further. “It’s got Mum and Dad’s wedding date engraved in the band.” Asher passed it along to Lila in an apparent daze. “She never goes anywhere without them.”

The rings oozed classy, with a huge, solitaire diamond affixed to the engagement ring. Though Lila was tempted to put it on her own ring finger for a split second, she passed them back to Asher. He tentatively placed them back in their original position and continued with his work, though this time his breathing seemed slightly laboured, and his clicking was slower.

“… Are you okay?” Lila asked, rolling her chair slightly closer to his.

“I-I’m fine…”

Lila nodded and sat back, not wishing to push him any further.

Then, Asher suddenly piped up. “I mean, she even showers with them on. I can’t think why she’d take it off now.”

“Were your parents having any marriage troubles?” Lila whispered.

“I… don’t know anymore,” Asher breathed, his fingers trembling on the keyboard. “Was she leaving Dad that night?”

“Hey,” Lila said, shaking Asher’s shoulder as if to snap him out of his thinking. “We don’t have evidence that your Dad did anything. Don’t forget that.”

Asher gulped but continued working on the computer regardless. Lila glanced back up at the CCTV though she knew nothing had moved. She would have noticed it; the surveillance cameras were so clear.

Minutes passed in silence, with Lila not looking away from the CCTV footage before Asher stretched his arms to the ceiling.

“I’ve finally made it through to the CCTV holdings,” he said, his voice stronger than it had been minutes before.

“Cool,” Lila replied, looking down at the monitors. Asher clicked through a few folders before reaching the last modified folder. Upon opening it up, Asher scrolled down to the last saved videos. He played one and it showed Asher and Lila emerging from Asher’s rumpus room.

“That is so creepy,” Lila said softly. Asher continued to locate CCTV clips following their journey to the master bedroom and the study.

“The camera systems we’ve got saves clips in two-minute intervals,” Asher said, peering into the monitors. “They detect any movement, whether it be humans, trees, friends’ pets that come over, you name it. Then it saves the next two minutes of footage, even if nothing is in the frame anymore, and keeps recording until there’s no movement for two minutes.”

“I see,” Lila said, looking up at the live CCTV above the computer. Again, there was just Gabriel, grooving.

“I bet you have a ton of clips of Gabriel,” Lila laughed. She could see Asher crack a half-hearted smile as he continued diving through various folders. She stretched her own arms and swivelled around her chair, taking in the rest of the room. The décor generally matched that of the rest of the house, however mounted to the back wall above some grey filing cabinets were several framed certificates. Lila stood and moved forward to have a look through them. Two were for Asher’s Dad, but four belonged to his Mum.

“Your parents must be so intelligent,” Lila said softly. She couldn’t quite comprehend what Asher’s Mum’s degrees were for, except that one was in marketing.

“Yeah, they are,” Asher said distractedly.

“Your Mum seems like she settled for a marketing job,” Lila mused, sitting back down in the office chair and looking back up at the CCTV. “She’s so educated but chose marketing?”

Asher shrugged. “Probably likes it. Plus, it let her stay home and hang out with me when I was young.”

“Was social media marketing even a thing when you were young?”

“Nah, not really, but she was doing normal marketing back then. She then quickly moved with the times with the social media thing.”

“Has her work asked where she’s been?” Lila asked. Asher shook his head.

“Not that I know of. I asked Dad the other day about it, and he said he’s been handling it. She apparently has a lot of leave…”

Lila leaned back slightly in the office chair, lifting a leg up and leaning her head onto her knee as she continued to watch the CCTV. A bird flew into the frame of one of the outside cameras briefly and Gabriel looked to have settled down into some serious cheffing. Lila’s eyes glazed over as time passed even further before Asher spoke once again.

“That should be everything deleted. From the recycle bin too. I’m just going to have a look and find what she was working on over Christmas…”

“Didn’t you say she had a laptop?” Lila asked, straightening up her posture. “She might have used that?”

“They’re all synched up,” Asher said confidently, closing down the CCTV folders. “Mum told me about all that when I started high school. Apparently, OneDrive is really good like that, as long as you’re connected to the internet. Mum usually uses that laptop when she’s travelling or wants a break from the study. Otherwise, she’s always holed up in here on this computer.”

“I see…”

Lila rubbed her eyes and looked down at the desk again. Surprised she hadn’t noticed this before, she tugged at a folded piece of paper that was sandwiched between two textbooks next to her. Unfolding it, she began to attempt to read the list that was written on it.

Robin

Find below to-do list.

Dear sister IA.

Habitat to change in the night.

82-112nd, half past 90.

Contacts for Husaavi confirm – 0409928121630.

Keep safen these locked suns.

Yonder café.

Operation plain vanilla.

Currently 100oC.

Asher – optometrist req.

The note ended here but looked as though it was written in a rush – most of the lettering was smeared and it wasn’t signed. What did it mean?

“Asher, have you seen this before?”

Asher took the paper from Lila’s hands and blinked rapidly, shaking his head.

“What? I don’t need glasses.”

“Is that all you understood from that? Does your Mum have a brother or a sister?” Lila asked, taking the note back and folding it into its original shape.

“She’s got a couple siblings, but not one named Robin. It’s definitely Mum’s handwriting. Though her handwriting is usually neater than that. Could it be inspiration for a social media post?”

Lila reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

“I think I better take a picture,” she said, unfolding the paper again and taking a photo of it. She folded it once more and stuffed it between the pages of the top textbook. Lila switched her legs and continued to stare at the live CCTV, barely blinking. Though absolutely mind-numbing, at least she was confident Asher’s Dad hadn’t come home just yet.

Eventually, Asher let out a frustrated groan. “There’s nothing! How can there be nothing?”

“When was her last activity?” Lila asked, eyes still fixed on the CCTV.

“Mid-November. She took leave to prepare for our guests around then. So, what the heck was she working on?”

“Anything in the notebooks?”

Lila could see in her peripheral vision that Asher was now swiftly flicking through each of the notebooks on his Mum’s desk.

“Looks like it’s just graphic design plans and notes about trends at work,” Asher replied. Lila wasn’t entirely sure how he could have registered that with the speed at which he was going but question it as she continued to look at the footage. Eventually, Asher slapped the last notebook down on the desk and abruptly stood up.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

“Maybe it’s on her laptop and she didn’t sync it,” Lila reasoned. “We might be able to find some traces if we keep digging.”

Asher exhaled deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose before closing down everything that he had opened. He turned the computer onto standby mode and looked up at the TV screens as well.

“Nothing interesting I take it?” he asked.

“Well, I think I’ve learned a few new sick dance moves, but nothing else. Just us and Gabriel here in the house.”

“Good,” Asher nodded firmly. “Let’s go back to the rumpus room.”

Lila wheeled herself to Asher’s Dad’s desk and tucked the chair under, stretching her legs before turning to follow Asher out of the room. He flicked off the lights and opened the door before jumping back as though he had been punched in the gut.

“M-Marlene?” he stammered.