text: [Themes: mystery / thriller, romance, drama, RPG]
  
  "Stop." Ross did and turned to you inquisitivley. "Something...something doesn't seem right to me."
  
  "What do you mean?"
  
  "I'm not sure. I feel like....I don't think we're alone out here."
  
  Ross tentativley traced his fingers along his holster. "Trust your instincts." He said in a lowered voice. "If you sense danger, you're probably onto something. We're getting close, stay alert." He lead you cautiously through the woods even deeper.
  
  As you inch closer to the spot where the victim was found you feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. You grab Ross's arm and he sees the expression on your face and nods. Slowly he peers out and into the clearing. He visably tenses up and pulls out his firearm. You follow suit and try to steady your breathing. You sneak a peak into the clearing and see a man kneeling there in the center, he has a gun, and is not wearing a shirt. His back heaves with every breath he takes. Ross signals for you to move left and you do so silentley. You both raise your weapons towards the mans back.
  
  > shout out to the man
  "Stay right where you are!" You call out and the mans back stops heaving. "We're SEPD, put your hands where we can see them!" The man makes no attempts to move, rather he stays frozen in place.
  
  "No one has to get hurt!" Ross adds. "Put your hands behind your back, we just need to talk to you."
  
  The man starts to laugh. You share a brief look of concern with Ross. The mans laughing growns louder. You and Ross begin to close in on the man guns drawn.
  
  "Drop. Your. Weapon." You command. The man continues to laugh manically. He is now shaking with absolute laughter. His voice grows shriller as he carries on.
  
  "NOW!" Ross barks at him.
  
  In an instant, the man stopped laughing and turned his gun on Ross not even hesitating before pulling the trigger.
  
  > FIRE BACK
  You shoot at the man, but you're not quick enough. He scurries off into the forest.
  
  "Are you okay?!" You shout to Ross.
  
  "Yes, I'm fine, he missed. Let's go!" He pulls himself to his feet and you both take off into the woods after him.
  
  "I think I hear him to my left!" You tell Ross and he follows you down a trail. You go as fast as you can trying not to trip over raised tree routes and random rocks protruding from the earth.
  
  "Do you see him?" Ross asks after a few minutes of aimless running.
  
  "No." You both stop running and wait a moment to listen. "How big is this forest anyways?"
  
  "Big." He answered. "I'm going to call this in. Stay where I can see you." You nod and Ross takes a step back to call on his cell for backup. You scan the woods eagerly searching for any signs of movement. There aren't any.
  
  > Backup Arives
  "I didn't even get a good look at his face." You mutter defeated. You and Ross shared a rather awkward ride back to the precinct after not finding your suspect and not finding anything of interest back at the scene.
  
  "No. But they're running balestics on the bullet as we speak. As soon as we find a match, that'll be something more to go on. Plus, we konw the suspect is white, approximatley 5'9, slender build."
  
  "That is surprising though."
  
  "What?"
  
  "Well, he was a small guy, yeah? These women were of average size, none of them were bodybuilders or anything, but geez, they probably could have taken that guy down in a fair fight."
  
  "So we know the fight wasn't fair..." Ross started. "That means.."
  
  > He probably had a ruse
  "Think about it. If he was able to make them feel safe, let their guard down, and lure them to the same location, in northern seattle, he could have taken them all there."
  
  "That makes a lot of sense Alison." Ross started. "But what could his ruse be?"
  
  "I don't know, but I think it's more important than ever to delve into the victims last few days before they got taken. I'm gonna head to Sharron and Harriet's work locations. They were only a few miles apart. I suggust you hit the other two that were in town and see what we can come up with?"
  
  "Call me if you find anything,"
  
  You nodded and left out the door.
  
  > Sharrons work
  "I still can't believe she's really gone." a short boy named Ben mumbled for the third time since we'd begun questioning. He stared past us vacantly, his mind obviously elsewhere, with her.
  
  "Ben, I know this must have been a very trying past few weeks for you, but we need you to focus right now, the more answers we get, the closer we will be to finding her killer."
  
  "Yeah." He answered noncommitally.
  
  > ask about Sharron's Love Life
  "Was there anyone whom sharron was romantically involved with?" you asked. This illicited a responce from the boy.
  
  "She was single. Had been the whole time I'd known her."
  
  "Which was how long again?" Ross asked, jotting down Ben's answers. He'd allowed you to take lead on the interviews for the most part, which was slightly intimidating. You knew he'd intervene if necessary, but you weren't completely confident in your own abilitites and were anxious that you might miss something.
  
  "A little over two years. She started coming in to the restaurant as a regular before joining the crew. She practically lived here."
  
  "And in that time, she didn't have a boyfriend or anything like that?"
  
  "Guys would ask her out all the time, girls too even. She was gorgeous and smart and funny, of course she got asked out. Always turned 'em down though. I think she was waiting for someone special or something. She didn't talk about dating much, but she was the kinda girl who wasn't easily impressed. For her to get involved with someone, they'd have to give her magic." he chuckled softly. "She deserved magic."
  
  > ask about Sharron's behavior
  "Did you notice anything odd about Sharrons behavior in the dahs leading up to her disappearance?" you asked studying him inquisitivley. He seemed saddened by your question and didn't answer straight away.
  
  "What is it?" Ross asked after a respectful moment of silence.
  
  "Nothing odd. She was just...happy. Excited." He paused a moment, seemingly holding back tears. "Her birthday was coming up." he whispered. "That was all she was talking about, she was planning this big party, she was very popular, and knew a lot of people. She was just...happy....and now..." he trailed off lost in thought again.
  
  You shared a look with Ross. This interview wasn't going anywhere, you realized. You only had time for a few more questions before the kid checked out entireley.
  
  > ask about North Seattle
  "Do you know of any particular reason Sharron would have gone to North Seattle on the day she went missing?"
  
  "Honestley, no. She was definetley a downtown city kinda girl, there's nothing too exciting, that im aware of in northern seattle. And as far as I know, most of her friends are around the downtown or western parts of the city."
  
  > ask about Sharron's interests
  "What did Sharron enjoy doing outside of work?" you'd asked the same question to her family just the day before, but you were hoping a new perspective from a different person might shed some brighter light on Sharron's life....and death.
  
  Ben shrugged and sniffled. "Um, she was kinda... well not a loner exactly, she had a shit ton of friends, everyone loved her, but like, i don't know she was....independent."
  
  "What do you mean?"
  
  "She'd go to parties and stuff and hang out with all us like once every few weeks or something, but other than that, she liked to spend time alone. Said isolation was her therapy." he smiled at the memory. "She believed in pampering herself, she was always raving about her latest spa day or big shopping splurge."
  
  > leave the work
  "Well, that's one more thing the girls had in commoon. They all spent quite a bit of time alone." You say on the walk back to Ross's car.
  
  "Yet nowhere specific enough for us to follow up on. This case just keeps getting more and more dead ends." He replied.
  
  You nodded sadly then stopped walking. "There's gotta be something more that we're missing. Some other connection."
  
  "If you've got any theories, I"m all ears because I'm at a loss so far."
  
  You think this over. And you take a look around you. Up ahead a block north of Sharron's work is a coffee shop. To your right is a yoga studio, across the street is a bookstore, and behind you is a bus stop.
  
  You go
  
  > To the coffee shop
  "She passed this place every morning before she went to work. Chances are she stopped in at least once."
  
  The vibe inide was a cold and corporate one and a barista greeted you from behind the counter with an annoyed sigh."
  
  "Thank you for coming in, what can I get for you two?" she drummed her fingernails across the counter impatientley."
  
  "SEPD." Ross announced showing her his badge. She raised her eyebrow and suddenley seemed more interested in us.
  
  "Cops. That's new."
  
  "What's your normal shift like here?"
  
  "Uh five to noon most days. I'm part time." she answered slightly on edge. If Shannon had stopped by on her way to work, chances are this is the barista she would have encountered.
  
  You pulled out a photo of Shannon. "Have you ever seen this woman?" you asked. The girl took the photo from your hands and squinted at it analytically. After a moment, she handed it back.
  
  "No, sorry. What's this about anyways she in trouble or some shit?"
  
  "Nothing to worry about. Have a good day." Ross answered dismissivlety and you followed him out of the cafe.
  
  "Well that was a waste of time." you noted.
  
  "Wait a second, did Shannon have a car?" Ross asked. You shook your head. "i have an idea."
  
  You followed him down the street slightly.
  
  > To the bus stop
  There was a bench and a bulletin board and Ross made a B-line towards the latter. You followed behind him.
  
  There were various flyers for classes and activities and you both scanned the board eagerly.
  
  "Wait." Your hand reached up instinctivley as soon as you saw it. You pulled it off and read it outloud.
  
  "Are you stressed out? Do you need a break? First massage free with mention of this flyer. Call the number below to schedule your relaxing escape."
  
  "A massage?" Ross scrutinized.
  
  "Ben did say Shannon splurged on herself. They all did, in fact."
  
  > It's probably nothing though
  "No, it's a solid lead. The first so far. I'll call the precint and try to get a name to the number. You try and schedule an appointment."
  
  > call the number
  Ross took a few steps away and made his call. Your hands were sweating. Try to sound aloof you reminded yourself, just breathe. Act natural. You're just a stressed out woman trying to find a way to relax. You've got this. You pulled your phone out and dialed.
  
  Ring.
  
  Ring
  
  Ring....
  
  "Hello?" a womans voice answered. You were taken aback and were shocked silent. You were convinced there would be a man on the phone- a killer! Not a woman... "Hello?" the voice asked again in a sing songy tone. "Is someone there?"
  
  "Yes, Hi." you croaked. "Sorry, I didn't hear you very well."
  
  > Who is this?
  She laughed. "You tell me. After all you're the one that called?"
  
  Right.
  
  "Yeah, I saw a flyer for a free massage and was wondering if i could redeem it?"
  
  "We're currently not accepting new clients unfortunately. What is your name? I might be able to put you on a waiting list."
  
  > give her a fake name
  "Jane." You spurted out and Ross raised his eyebrow, his phone call complete apparentley. "Jane Thompson."
  
  There was a pause on the other end. "Okay, Miss Thompson, I have your number here from caller ID. I'll reach out to you if we have a new opening. Goodbye."
  
  The line clicked. She hung up.
  
  "She hung up." You told Ross.
  
  "She? Huh, maybe this was a dead end after all."
  
  The phone came back registered to a disposable phone. You tried to reach the number again the next day, but it had been disconnected. There were no other leads to follow and eventually, the trail ran cold.