Lara’s hands trembled as she clutched her phone. The headline on the news app blurred through her tears: “Dr. Steve Missing; Student Arrested.” She replayed the broadcast. Alex Carter was the prime suspect in her uncle’s disappearance.
“No,” she whispered. Alex was no criminal. He was her closest friend—practically her brother. She couldn’t sit idly by. Grabbing her bag, Lara flagged a taxi to the police station. Her mind raced as she remembered her uncle’s cryptic warnings about his work. He’d always been secretive, but lately, he seemed almost paranoid.
“You’re working on something dangerous, aren’t you?” she’d asked him once. “Lara,” he’d replied gently, “some things are better left undiscovered.” Her stomach twisted at the memory. She hadn’t pressed him further, but now she wished she had. As the taxi pulled up to the station, Lara steeled herself. She would get answers.
The taxi pulled up to the station, jerking her back to the present. Lara paid quickly, her heart pounding as she stared at the imposing building. Alex was in there somewhere, and the truth about her uncle was buried in the chaos.
She took a steadying breath, her resolve hardening. She would get answers-whatever it took. The station buzzed with a muted energy. Officers shuffled papers, phones rang incessantly, and the faint smell of stale coffee lingered in the air. Lara stepped inside, her nerves on edge as she scanned the room. To her left, a pair of detectives stood by a whiteboard covered with photos and notes, their voices low but intense.
“She says she’s here to see Alex Carter,” an officer murmured to the lead detective, a sharp-eyed woman with a badge clipped to her belt that read Detective Rhea Saunders.
“I’ll handle it,” Saunders replied, her gaze flicking briefly to Lara before returning to the board. Lara’s fingers tightened around the strap of her bag as she waited, pretending not to notice the quick glances cast her way by the officers. She was determined to see Alex, to hear what had happened from him, but as she stood there, fragments of the detectives’ conversation reached her ears.
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“The vault was completely obliterated,” one of them said.
“Whatever caused that explosion wasn’t from any conventional tech,” another chimed in. “And what about the readings?”
“We’re still trying to make sense of them. Radiation spikes, electromagnetic surges-it’s like nothing we’ve seen before. It’s almost….” The voice dropped lower, but Lara caught the word: alien.
Her pulse quickened. Radiation spikes? Electromagnetic surges? This wasn’t just about her uncle’s disappearance-it was tied to his work.
Lara leaned closer, pretending to adjust her bag as the detectives continued. “And the item retrieved from the scene? What was it?”
“Its under analysis. Whatever it is, its not ordinary. Maybe a prototype he was working on?”
Lara’s breath caught. They had found something-something from the lab. Her uncle’s vault wasn’t just destroyed; it had left behind traces of whatever he’d been working on.
“Miss?”
Lara jumped as Detective Saunders approached her, clipboard in hand. “You’re Lara Winters, correct? Dr Steve’s niece?”
“Yes,” Lara said, her voice steady despite her racing heart.
“We need to ask a few questions,” Saunders continued, motioning toward an interrogation room. “If you’ll come with me- “
“I-I need to see Alex first,” Lara interrupted.
“That won’t be possible right now. He’s under investigation, and- “
But Lara didn’t hear the rest. Her mind was spinning, piecing together the fragments she’d overheard. Whatever was in the vault, it had drawn the police’s attention, and they weren’t telling her everything.
“I’m sorry,” Lara said quickly, taking a step back. “I just remembered-I have somewhere I need to be.”
“Miss Winters, wait- “
Before Saunders could stop her, Lara turned and slipped through the bustling station, weaving between desks and officers. She pushed open the door and stepped into the cool morning air, her heart pounding.
She needed to get back to the lab.