“Let me lead, but feel free to use the information you gathered to pose questions.”

I nodded at Detective Hudson Rowe as he found us a parking space outside the residence of the latest petrylle to be taken.

Francyn, Zxe, and Ozmo also mirrored the nod from the backseat.

This was going to be our first official interrogation of a family member directly tied to one of the missing petrylle, thanks to the research the team had concocted and showed me right after my romp with Wrex.

Up until now, the board had been fielding questions from the local area, the local petrylle, and people outside the area in which the victims had last been seen.

Now, we were about to interrogate the family and my stress levels were sky high.

Honestly, I was just glad that Wrage hadn’t been part of the investigation team.

He’d discovered that I’d been having sex with his brother the day before and he’d been avoiding talking to me since.

Which I guessed I should have anticipated, but it didn’t make it any less awkward to skirt.

I knew time would eliminate the weirdness, and I just wanted to shed it so I could appropriately focus on the task at hand .

Getting out of the car, I breathed in the crisp morning air, a chilling bite surrounding me as I absently pulled my navy trench coat tighter. It would keep me warm for the time being, but in typical Virginian weather, I’d be more comfortable in shorts by the afternoon.

As the five of us approached a quaint little standalone home in a beautiful cul-de-sac, I tried to picture petrylle getting kidnapped within a community like this. It didn’t seem likely, but then again, it never did when bad things happened in seemingly nice neighborhoods.

Hudson knocked on the door, the rest of us waiting and holding our coats close to us as our breath was visible in the air.

Soon enough, a lovely petrylle woman with dark raven hair answered the door.

Her eyes were a brilliant grey, almost giving off a sheen to it that I’d never seen in a petrylle before.

She looked over us with caution and fear. Her nostrils flared like an accordion in unskilled hands. “Can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Pomini?” Hudson barked with a gentleness I’d hadn’t known him capable of.

“I’m Pomini,” she nodded. “Is this about Prescel?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The detective gave us a sweeping gesture. “I’m here with ORBIT who are looking into the petrylle disappearances.”

“ORBIT, yes!” Pomini beamed, clasping her hands together across her chest. “I heard about it on the news. Oh please, come in, come in.”

We piled into the quaint home, finding ourselves being led to a sizable living room with enough seating for everyone.

I recalled Wrex mentioning that petrylle tended to have big families.

Just the mention of Wrex in my mind was enough to turn my thoughts down naughty corridors, but I shooed them away and put work back on the front burner.

Once we’d all found a seat on varying furniture in the living room, Pomini stood awkwardly in the center of the room between all of us. “Can I get any of you something to drink or?”

“No thank you, ma’am.” Hudson stated, speaking for all of us. “I don’t want to waste your time today, so I’ll just get right to it, if you don’t mind.”

“Please,” Pomini nodded, taking a seat in a solitary chair right next to Hudson and myself. “Anything to help find my daughter.”

Hudson cleared his throat, shifting into detective mode. It was interesting to watch him steel his body to engage in questioning. I wondered if he was always so guarded or if the passing of his late wife had made him rigid in all areas of his life.

“Prescel lives here with you?”

Pomini nodded. “She does.”

“And does anyone else live in the home with the pair of you?”

“No,” Pomini had tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

“It’s just me and Prescel now. Her father passed when she was little.

My other children…they’ve all died.” A full blown sob lobbed out of Pomini, and I caught the somber facades of the other board members as they witnessed Pomini’s emotional break.

“Prescel is the only one left. I can’t lose her too. ”

A severe change in atmosphere was felt by everyone, and we all wore masks of melancholy as Pomini did her best to compose herself. Hudson drifted a hand to place on top of one of Pomini’s, and she started to sober from the emotion at the physical touch.

“We’re going to do everything in our power to bring your daughter home, Pomini. That’s why we’re here. We just need a little bit of information from you so we can try to find who’s doing this. Do you think you can do that?”

Pomini didn’t voice an answer, but she nodded her head as she reached over to a nearby table and plucked out a tissue to wipe h er face with. While she tried to plaster on a different face, Hudson cleared his throat again.

“What happened the night Prescel went missing?”

“We’d gotten into a fight about her going out,” Pomini admitted with a sniffle.

“I know she’s grown, but I’m her mother.

I was only looking out for her and I didn’t think those friends of hers would do her any favors.

” Pomini sniffled again, wiping the tissue under her nose as her voice shook. “Clearly I was right.”

“Are these new friends of hers that she went out with?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’d only seen them from the driveway, but it looked like the same group as usual from what I could tell.”

“Great,” Hudson gave her a smile. “That actually helps us a lot. Were the friends of hers all petrylle? A mix of different Orbs? Humans?”

Thinking about the question thoroughly, Pomini tilted her head a few times with her eyes closed.

“A caeboros and a hjarq were always in the car, that I know for sure.” She opened her eyes, recognition flashing across them like lightning in the night.

“And two humans. Or I guess they could’ve been olatsma. But they definitely looked human.”

“And which one was usually driving, if you can recall?”

“Always one of the human looking ones.” Pomini nodded.

“Would you recognize these humans if you happened to see them?”

“I think so,” she nodded with purpose.

“Do you know anyone who might know any of Prescel’s friends?”

“I’m sorry,” Her tears slid down her grey skin even though her chest wasn’t racked by wild sobs any longer. “I don’t know her friends names or anyone who might.”

“That’s okay,” Hudson smiled, tapping her hand affectionately. “You did great. ”

Hudson looked to us, my best guess that he was silently asking us if we had any questions we had to ask. I had nothing. Anything that I would have asked was already covered. Luckily, Francyn shifted in her seat.

“Pomini,” She said with her thick accent. “Were any of Prescel’s friends petrylle?”

“I know she had friends that were petrylle,” Pomini answered. “But the friends she went with the night she disappeared were the ones she usually hung around with.”

“Are they newer friends, by any chance?” Zxe asked.

“Yes, now that you mention it.”

Hudson looked impressed that members of the board had asked questions that he hadn’t gotten to yet.

Assuming that he was well on his way to ask a similar line of questioning.

I had to give Francyn and Zxe props. They were doing the work ORBIT was made for, and it warmed my heart to see it in action.

“How new?” Hudson interjected.

“The past few weeks, I’d say? Maybe a month or two.”

A question bubbled in my brain and I blurted it out in case I forgot it. “Had Prescel changed in the time she’d been hanging around these new friends? Acting differently than she normally would?”

“Same old attitude,” Pomini huffed, half-annoyed and half-sad, like she missed the annoyance her daughter tended to give her. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Hudson stood, which made us all ascend from our seats.

The detective had a way of letting you know that things were wrapping up even if you didn’t think they were.

If the others had any more questions for Pomini, they didn’t act like they were in a hurry to utter them.

He gave Pomini a nod, shaking her hand as she quickly molded her hand into his.

“Thank you for speaking with us, Pomini.” He told her. “We’re going to add what you discussed with us today to our report and see if we can find some type of connection between your daughter and the other missing petrylle.”

“Thank you so much,” Pomini said, walking directly from the detective to me to shake my hand.

I hurriedly shook it, not expecting the contact.

“And thank you, Mr. Watson, for sticking to your word on wanting to help all creatures and aiding in the recovery of the missing petrylle like my beloved Prescel.”

“Of course,” I said automatically. “Like Detective Rowe said, we’re going do everything we can to make sure we find the petrylle and bring whoever’s causing this to justice.”

She quietly thanked Francyn, Ozmo, and Zxe as we filed out of the house. With one final goodbye, Pomini closed the door and we slowly made our way back to Hudson’s car.

Ozmo had been weirdly quiet during the whole ordeal, and I realized that they were glued to their phone, aggressively swiping through it like they were going through Tinder. As soon as we all made it back to the car, they pipped up.

“There’s a connection between all the kidnapped petrylle,” Ozmo nodded, giving us all an even look when we glanced at them. “Every single one of the petrylle that have now gone missing had a new friend group that formed within the last few months.”

Hudson jerked to a stop, giving Ozmo an exhilarated look. “Can I see that?” He walked over to Ozmo, who offered their phone without fuss as the detective scrolled through it. “Well I’ll be damned.”

“I cross referenced the notes that the others made during canvassing, just in case we came across a similar story with the latest vic.”

“The latest vic,” Hudson laughed, a deep roll that caused Ozmo to jump. Their body stirred even more when Hudson clapped a hand on Ozmo’s shoulder. “Someone’s been doing their homework. ”

Smiling, Ozmo shrugged uneasily. “I wanted to be prepared.”

“Well then,” Hudson smiled wide at me. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”