The four Harmonies came around Michael to study the footage, and they all refused to let Pitch’s escape discountenance them. Collectively, they rewatched the video in silence until someone found something that clicked in their worn-out minds. At one point, Ricky, Demetrius, and Ashley glanced at each other with brows raised, and concern flickered on their faces.
When the video ended, Michael leaned back in his chair and asked, “Well, did you spot anything?”
The three of them hesitated. Ashley was the one to spill the tea: “So, it’s strange that Thomas Pitch stated to Timothy about second chances.”
“And?” Kate grated, wanting her to get to the point.
Demetrius noticed his sister had become irritated too easily by her personality. He guessed because, no matter how late the night was, she was exhausted and her brain begged to go to sleep. Being a Prowler, she trained seven days a week and hardly took breaks from exercising or going out on missions.
He handed a notepad to his boss. "Here's the list of names of those who crossed paths with Pitch during his three-day stay. So, the videos we have are his execution and his cell.”
Michael scanned the thirty-seven people who met the High-warlock before his supposed death.
“Did you watch the tapes?” asked Demetrius.
“I haven’t had time,” Michael replied, placing the note on his desk with a sigh.
Ricky rubbed his neck and stuttered, “You see, the first visitation Pitch had was Michael, Kate, and Sara.” He held his breath tentatively at what he would say next: “Your daughter, sir, had expressed wishing Pitch to have a second chance.”
“Now, we didn’t see her visit him again and dismissed what she said as nothing,” Ricky added hurriedly as his boss’s brows shot up, “but what Pitch just stated tonight, hinting at Timothy, ‘don’t you like second chances,’ is bizarre.”
Claiming that his daughter had possibly aided in Pitch’s escape was the worst news they could’ve delivered. After Ricky’s statement, Michael blocked out everything else he had to say. A surge of disbelief bitterly chilled him to the bones.
"No!" Michael shouted and rose to his feet. “My daughter would…never…do that.”
Why the hesitancy in his voice; why the doubt coursing through him? He had always told Sara to believe what was right in the deepest part of her heart and dismiss what everyone else had said. Do what is most important and ignore the lashes. Did she do what she thought was good?
Did she think saving Pitch made her a hero? Saving him from redemption.
Nevertheless, throughout these chaotic days of dealing with him, Sara had never been cautious or hidden from doing anything wrong, contrary to what Michael sensed.
Shaking his head dubiety, Michael had also witnessed the warlock saying ‘a second chance’ before the incident happened; of course, Timothy had accidentally blocked what Pitch had done to destroy the magical barrier.
Michael wished he had more than those two cameras facing the cell on the empty corners. Thinking they weren’t needed when the Choirs built the room, he was certainly regretting his decision.
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He rubbed his temper in weariness. Replying, he chewed on his bottom lips and said, “It’s Sara’s birthday.” Even with all going on and needing answers desperately, and his daughter getting accused of aiding in Pitch’s escape, he would hate to wake her up, especially on her birthday.
“I’ll talk to her in the morning.” Michael nodded, but his face wasn’t confident. He was startled by Ricky’s assertion.
Demetrius and Ricky gave worried glimpses at their sister. Before Ashley left with them, she hoped, “I highly doubt that Sara had anything to do with this.” She swayed away from locking eyes at her boss’s hardened stare. “We have to keep all opinions.”
Agreeing with her, he disliked the fact that his daughter was one of the suspects. Kate looked pale from the news. He comforted, “We don’t know anything, so let’s not jump to conclusions. Go back to bed. Thank you for your help.”
Kate smiled weakly. “Get a break when you have the chance. She accompanied her brothers and friend out of the office, leaving the breathless Archangel.
Looking up at the plain clock, it read twenty minutes past midnight. He swore it had been more than an hour since Pitch’s renewed freedom. Pacing in the room, he debated what to do next and glanced at the telephone on his desk.
He had to make two calls, which he wasn’t too ecstatic to do. Either he called Lucifer first, telling him the High-warlock escaped once again, and endured the mockery on the other end of the line; or he could call his siblings, the highest authority besides him, and break the news of Pitch being alive—which they should know by now from the gossip spreading after he appeared in the Heaven and Hell Bank.
Gripping the red telephone, Michael spun the rotary dial, and after a couple of rings with tensed shoulders, a Seer answered. He started to explain what had occurred and held his voice firm.
There were rules he had to follow by his four siblings. He had to report any big issues that might cause damage or harm. The Seers watched other Sanctums around the world. They assisted during calamities.
The night would be painfully long while Michael prepared for them to come over. Wondering if his daughter had aided in Pitch’s flight from death, there were critical missing pieces if she had done that. Hopefully, his siblings will be able to figure out what to do.
Michael was determined to finish the job—to eliminate the High-warlock who had broken the sacred law by being unbiased between the Galas. There would be no breaks until Thomas Pitch was dead.
***
With the unsettling information about Sara possibly helping in Pitch’s escape, Kate struggled to fall back asleep. Her boyfriend had woken from his slumber because she kept tossing and turning and accidentally kicked him on the leg.
Andrew asked groggily, rolling over to his girlfriend, “What’s wrong?”
“I…” started Kate, shaking her head dumbfounded. She was unsure how to begin. Explaining to him why she left because she heard unusual activities outside the bedroom door, Kate told him what transpired and raised the question of whether her friend had truly given Pitch a second chance.
Barely wrapping his head around what happened, Andrew tried to support her. How tonight unfolded dawned on him like a light bulb turning on, and he did his best to understand the situation.
Uneasiness coursed through Kate’s already tired body. She leaned her head on Andrew’s shoulder, worrying what her boss was up against. With belly aches from stress, the cat had been let out of the bag.
If Michael was a human with the job he worked relentlessly nonstop, he would’ve had white jet hair, ten thousand ulsters, and canker sores in his mouth to describe how hard his work was.
The Prowler’s heart squeezed as she wondered if little seven-year-old Sara had done something phenomenally wrong. Don’t conclude anything without any evidence, she reminded herself.
After forty-five minutes of worrying the world was about to fall apart and being unable to relax, Kate eventually drifted off to dreamland in hopes of having everything resolved soon.