Free Hybrid by Greg Ballan

agency.
    “Neal, I understand, really. Don't blame yourself. Your sister and her husband have nothing to apologize for. Actually, I really can't blame them. If my daughter were missing, I'd want lots of qualified people with lots of resources on her case along with the police,” he said as he stood, offering the older man his hand. “I need to get back and prepare for this meeting.”
    Both men clasped hands, and then Erik headed back home. He needed to pick up the clutter in his office and make it look as presentable as possible.
    * * * *
    Steve arrived at Erik's now pristine office and seated himself on the couch against the far wall. Erik had ordered a pot of coffee for the two men as they prepared to discuss the items Erik found earlier.
    “Okay, Erik, what have you got?” Steve asked.
    Erik walked over to his desk and took the sealed plastic bag from its resting place and tossed it to his police counterpart. Steve caught the bag and carefully studied the objects sealed within the plastic. Erik could see Steve scrutinizing the evidence, examining each button and fiber.
    After five silent minutes, he looked up. “They could be buttons from a child's shirt, or it could be anything. What makes you so sure that they're from the Reynolds girl?”
    “Call it a hunch, my friend. I have it on good authority that they are.” “That's not much of an answer, Erik,” Steve chided his friend.
    “I know, but right now it's all I have.” Erik then remembered something: “Oh, by the way, the Reynolds’ have hired Halls Investigation Agency from New York yesterday. Some of their investigators will be joining the couple this morning. Before you bite my head off, I didn't find out ‘til just yesterday, so save the speech. I just figured that you guys should know that it's no longer just an investigation within our own community. The Reynolds’ have brought in the big guns now.”
    “Oh, bloody marvelous.” Steve sighed heavily. “You realize what's going to happen next, don't you?”
    “Yeah,” Erik answered. “Publicity and exposure, just what this investigation doesn't need.”
    Steve hesitated momentarily, weighing something in his mind. “Erik, I'm breaking procedure by saying this, but I know you'll probably find out eventually. I took a missing persons report last night; this will be the second one in a week. A woman in her thirties never came home from her afternoon jog.”
    Erik's extra senses suddenly triggered. Intuitively he knew. “Let me guess.” He took the bag of evidence from Steve. “She was jogging in the town forest.”
    Dumbfounded, Steve stared at his friend. “Yes, that's what her boyfriend claimed when he and her parents filed the report. How the hell did you know that, Erik?”
    Erik looked at him, his eyes alight with fire. “I found these buttons and fabric outside the gateway into the town forest,” he answered in a low and deadly tone. “Steve, I think we may have a problem, and I have a feeling that it's just beginning.”
    “Now, hold on; let's not jump to conclusions just yet. Let's investigate all avenues before we cry wolf,” Steve countered.
    “That's why you're here, Steve. That's why you're here.”
    Erik's heightened senses were buzzing in his head like an angry wasp. It told him that there was a connection, as remote and unlikely, the two events were connected. Unfortunately, he was off this case, unemployed.
    * * * *
    Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds arrived promptly at noon, escorted by three men dressed in business suits and tan overcoats. Two of the three men were in their early fifties, the other in his mid-twenties, Erik guessed. All three had short-cut hair and wore identical sunglasses. He could tell by the barely noticeable bulges on the sides of their overcoats that each man was armed. There was another man with them; he wore a blue suit that didn't fit him well.
    Alissa escorted the party into Erik's back office. She stared at him with something akin to awe as he