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For the last week, Erica had been away on vacation, well kind of anyway. While it was nice to spend time with her parents and see their new home, it was by no means fun or relaxing. If anything she had put in more work trying to help them pack up their house and drive through several states to Arizona then the Star Festival where she had to chase down those magic-wielding terrorists.

It was exhausting and she hurt in places she didn’t know was possible considering how active of a lifestyle she already had. But man, those bruises on her shins were not going to be going away anytime soon that’s for damn sure.

Needless to say, her ability to answer her phone was spotty at best since a grand portion of her trip had her coasting along the freeway through dead zones that lasted a solid hour before the next rest stop or gas station came into view. If anything important was going on back in Destiny City she was definitely last on the call list to try and reach. As such Erica had no idea that Jeremy had been missing for the last several days.

“God, he’s back again?” she heard one officer mutter as they poured themselves a cup of coffee. Officer Griffin glanced over her shoulder in curiosity but ultimately shrugged and went back to her desk assuming they were probably talking about some druggie that had been picked up for indecent exposure in the park again.

But then she saw a familiar face and paused. “Myles?” Her voice was full of concern as she set the manila folder down on her desk and walked over to the young man. “You look like death warmed over. What happened? Are you ok?”

Erica was back. He almost breathed easier--and Drew was there, though he'd clearly seen better days. Myles' brows were knit as he looked the man over quickly. He wanted to worry, to fret. He didn't have the energy. All he could think about was Jeremy.

"Actually, I'm just here to ask about Jeremy," he mumbled. His lips were numb and his tongue felt like lead. He forced a smile but it never reached his eyes and just looked sad on his face. He was trying, and failing, to pretend like everything was all right.

His voice was too quiet, too stressed. His hands were in front of him and he had tugged at a loose thread on his sleeve so much that it had badly frayed. "...I guess there's no update on any of that, then?"

It was dejected acceptance, and though he seemed to have expected it, he deflated all the same.

"...Nobody here...is really looking, are they?"

Officer Drew Bones took the napkins gratefully. He patiently listened to Myles, as he got the worse off his uniform. With a little prodding, he also got his leg out of the concrete - fortunately it was still wet. Then he took the seat next to Myles, his face creased in worry.

“I’m so sorry, Myles. I should have known. I mean,” he glared around the other officers. “If he was here, he would be protecting me from this crap.” He flicked some bird poop from his shoulder. Unaffected by the pun he just made, he continued.

“I mean, he’s always here for me, and when he wasn’t, I should’ve known then.” He looked furious with himself.”

“So Officer Griffin,” he said after a moment. “What’s our first move?”

Officer Griffin took in the information and once Myles was done she placed her elbows on her desk, laced her fingers together and closed her eyes for a moment as she processed what she had been told.

In Jeremy’s absence both Miles and Drew were her responsibility and while it could be dangerous to bring his brother along, leaving him here didn’t seem much of an option either. “The only reason I can see them not tracking a GPS is if he is assisting in an undercover case.” Problem with that was that Jeremy wasn’t one to offer to do something so dangerous, not when he had Miles to consider.

Erica sighed then stood up from her seat. “Ok, Drew. I want you to go to the locker room and get cleaned up. They should have spare uniforms available.” As he was, there was no way she was letting him in her patrol vehicle

“Myles, I’m not going to sugar coat this. I don’t know what happened to him. I can follow up with the police chief but he may end up telling me the same thing as he did you.” Her heart went out to the kid, well young man, but in her eyes he was still stumbling his way through life. He was far more mature now than when she had first met him but there was still room to grow and this concern he had for his brother was definitely a step in the right direction for him.

“If you’re going to accompany us on a ridealong then you need to eat something. I don’t care if you’re hungry or not.” Her voice was firm in that statement.”Arguing won’t sway my mind, I can’t have you passing out on me. Deal?” There was a basket of fruit in the kitchen area and some muffins she could grab him. Assuming Officer Sanders didn’t polish off the last of the coffee there should be at least one cup left.

Myles had been visibly distressed when Drew mentioned that he'd been told Jeremy was off, and he squirmed in his seat, trying very hard not to look sick. When Drew left, he had confirmed to Erica that he would eat--he'd do whatever it took to let him go along with her.

He had remained seated in the waiting room; after she brought him a muffin, a banana, and a cup of coffee, he had scarfed it all down. She was barely out of sight by the time he'd dutifully finished. He clutched the empty cup and had waited, eyes darting up every time there was movement in the room.

When Drew returned, he was anxious again--but Erica appeared back from around the corner with a folder and Myles nearly stood up to ask if she had any updates. Instead, he just seemed to shrink into himself and look up pleadingly.