M-13

Searching For Answers

Lincoln's POV:

"Lincoln, get your ass back in your office!" Mr. Mora says, glaring at me. "I'm dealing with your appointments today because you're not in a healthy state of mind, but you need to stay in your office and keep away from this situation."

I pout. "Silas is probably in danger! I can't just sit here!"

"Atticus and the OSIU are working to find him, I'm sure," Mr. Mora says, patting my shoulder kindly. "Lincoln, you are a good person, but you cannot go interfere in the investigation. It's better if you stay here until Atticus comes to get you."

Atticus drove me today because we only had one car at Jared's house and I'm pretty sure he wants to keep me in one place. He knows I want to find Silas, and I want to be out searching for him, but Atticus is more levelheaded than I am, so of course he's going to keep me at my job to take care of my adult-y responsibilities.

"Fine," I mutter, walking back to my office and sitting down, going back to my emails.

Once Mr. Mora has disappeared, I look around and open the window, because our building is only one story. I climb out, but as soon as I hit the ground, someone clears their throat loudly beside me.

"Hey, Beni..." I trail off, looking at our receptionist. "I just wanted some fresh air."

She raises an eyebrow. "Okay, liar," she says, grabbing my hand and dragging me back into the building through the front door. "You were right, Mr. Mora!"

"Seriously?" our boss asks, sitting behind the desk. "Lincoln, come on, man. My next appointment is in twenty minutes and I can't babysit you."

I groan and stomp back to my office.

Beni follows me. "I heard what happened," she says, because she's only been here for about an hour. "I'm really sorry, Lincoln."

Tears well in my eyes. "I'm so scared, Beni," I whisper, trying to keep from crying. "How are we supposed to find him?"

"Atticus is a pro, Lincoln. He'll find him." Beni looks around, as if checking to make sure no one is watching. "If you have any details about who may have taken him, I can try to see what I can find."

I forgot how good she is with tech. Even though we couldn't find anything on The Onyx when we looked into it not too long ago, maybe Beni can.

"The Onyx. A group that the girl, Andrea, mentioned before she committed suicide in our living room. I don't know what it is, but she sounded terrified of it."

Beni nods. "I'll look into it," she promises, disappearing and leaving me alone in my office.

Once she's gone, I go back to my online work, which basically means organizing my schedule and occasionally googling "The Onyx" in hopes that I'll find something, despite my lack of success so far.

The time goes slow, but at five when everyone else gets ready to leave, I hear the front door open and Atticus shows up in my office.

"Hey doc. There's something wrong with my dick. Could you take a look?" Atticus asks, and I feel a smile pull at my lips for the first time today.

I get up and Atticus pulls me into a hug once I'm within arms length.

"How was work?" I ask, and Atticus knows I'm really just searching for any updates or answers that Atticus can offer me.

Atticus kisses my forehead. "We didn't find any blood and no bodies have turned up, so we at least can assume that Silas, Jared, and Aviana are alive," he says in a sad voice. "But nothing else has turned up. All of the files on The Onyx either have gone missing or were never there to begin with. The security guards didn't see anything."