The first thing Titus did was head back to his desk to book himself a flight. It was a business trip, so the department would reimburse him for expenses. Well, within reason, at least. He wouldn’t be able to fly first class or eat out at an expensive steakhouse or anything like that. But he booked himself a direct flight to San Diego leaving at 8:15 that evening and a shuttle to get him there on time. A rental car on the other end and a hotel near where the bus had supposedly dropped the teen off were secured as well. He also looked up some info on the police department he’d be working with, then emailed their chief a request to meet in the morning. No sense in dropping in unannounced.

The remaining hour of Titus’ shift was spent reviewing the information in the file. As he’d noted previously, the missing Lyco girl was sixteen. Her name was listed as Corinne Montgomery, but she was also known to use her middle name, Alyssa; it was listed officially as an alias. She had a history of mental health issues including self harm, an eating disorder, and clinical depression, with a short stay in an institution just two years ago for a suicide attempt, and her therapist had identified her as a risk for further attempts. The file informed Titus with clinical coldness that she was 5’3” and weighed in at 135 pounds, last seen wearing a pair of black leggings under a short red and navy plaid school uniform skirt paired with a short sleeved navy shirt. That didn’t mean a whole lot, though, as she could easily have changed her clothes. Her parents described her as “difficult” and “rebellious”. But really, what kid wasn’t at 16? A separate report from her probation officer revealed that she’d been picked up for skipping school and shoplifting a package of mini donuts and an energy drink from a gas station mini mart; the owner had tried to press charges for less than $15 worth of merchandise. Titus shook his head as he set that page aside, reading between the lines to understand that she’d probably just wanted to put anything in her empty stomach and the store owner had tried to make an example of her. At least the store owner hadn’t gotten his wish that she be charged as an adult. It meant that when she turned 18, the incident would be sealed and she’d have a chance to escape the stigma of being labeled a criminal. Well, if she lived that long. Her mental health might make that less likely than it seemed.

A photo of Corinne showed piercing grey eyes that glowered at the camera from beneath the shaggy monobrow that was common to Lycos and further deepened by the heavy black eyeshadow smudged around both upper and lower lids. Prominent upswept eartips ended in slightly tufted points poking out of lank, dark brown hair that looked like it hadn’t been properly washed in at least a couple of weeks, and she had filled the exposed cartilage space with a variety of piercings. Prominent cheekbones cut across her face high above the razor edge of her jaw and emphasized hollow cheeks dusted with too much rouge. Her lower lip held a slight bulge on each side of a central piercing that was likely the result of covering up the pronounced lower fangs that came with her heritage, while a soft peach fuzz feathered across the space between her upper lip and wide flared nostrils. A stud pierced into the left side of her broad nose, while a chain draped from her right eyebrow down to the lobe of her ear on the same side. She was boldly flipping off the camera, as well. Her whole demeanor in the photo screamed, “Try me, motherfucker.”

More pages in the file informed Titus that she lived with a human father and Nostu step-mother in a two bedroom apartment with two other siblings, one of which was listed as also being a Nostu. That meant it was highly probable that the father was a Simp addict; Nostu saliva was addictive when injected directly into the bloodstream by a bite and so named because that’s what it turned the addicts into. It was also an aphrodisiac, so it was popular as a drug with teens and young adults. Not to mention the ne’er-do-wells that used it as a date rape drug, slipping it into someone’s drink of choice so they’d get overwhelmingly horny after about half an hour. At least the addictive properties weren’t a problem when it was ingested. Hell, the damn energy drink companies had adapted it somehow to be legally salable in grocery stores and mini marts, right next to the energy boost shots and questionable vitamin pills. 

But what it meant for Corinne was that she was even more likely to be written off as a lost cause. Cops and bigots everywhere would see her as just one more Lyco scum leeching off society as a future Simp addict, if she wasn’t one already. Alternately, the bleeding hearts might take the tack that she was a victim of the illegal Simp trade and try to paint the father as a neglectful junkie that was forcing his daughter into a life of crime against her will. Titus was pretty sure that no one was forcing this girl to do anything she didn’t want to, based on her photo.

Thankfully for this teen, Titus wasn’t just any cop. Despite the questionable moral character of most of the country when it came to the Lyco and Nostu populations, Titus viewed them just the same as any other individuals. Mama didn’t raise no bigot, and he’d have felt a leather strap across his backside if he’d acted like the vast majority of society. And while it had earned his family more than one egging of the house, Titus’ parents had taken in more than a few runaway Lycos in need while he’d been growing up. 

And he was determined to do right by this girl. She may not realize it, but all her actions to this point were a cry for help to Titus’ mind. He tried to think like a teenager again, to try and figure out what might have motivated this girl to run away from home like this. Under ordinary circumstances, Titus would’ve liked to have had enough time to go interview the parents. Their insight could have helped him understand Corinne better and to give him information on what her home life was like. Was there actually abuse or neglect going on? Were there financial hardships in the family? Did the siblings get more attention because they biologically belonged to the step-mother? There were just so many things Titus didn’t know, and not enough time or resources to find out. Or rather, not enough other officers that were willing to put aside their biases and do the legwork, Titus thought bitterly. 

And that was the root of Titus’ frustration. Not just with this case, but with this whole precinct. The officers here were, unfortunately, some of the most openly bigoted law enforcement in the state. Still, he had no one to blame for that besides himself. He’d been the one to apply for a position at this division. He just hadn't thought it would wear on him this much, this fast. How did that saying go? One bad apple can spoil the whole barrel? Yeah, try adding one good apple to a barrel of rotten ones and see how that goes.

These were the thoughts that lingered in Titus’ mind as he packed up for the day, securing his work computer and slipping the case file into a briefcase. He also mentally reviewed all the things he needed for the trip to California: what clothes he should pack, a couple of paperbacks to keep himself occupied on the plane, his laptop and tablet, chargers for all his electronics, and the security case for his service weapon as well as all the documentation to transport it legally. He’d have about an hour to get everything together before the shuttle arrived to whisk him off to the airport. 

The only thing that really bothered Titus was that he didn’t  know how long he’d be gone, and thus didn’t know how many days to pack for. The chief wanted him to close the case as quickly as possible, but the timeline he’d been given was the next best thing to impossible. Three days. What was the chief thinking? It wasn’t like the girl had simply failed to come home from school one day. She’d deliberately saved up, bought a bus ticket, and left town. That spoke of premeditated actions. She’d made a plan. Or at least as much of a plan as a 16 year old girl was able to think through and carry out. It also meant that if she’d been smart, she’d be trying to cover her tracks. All of which made Titus’ job that much harder. 

At 5:00 pm on the nose, Titus finally clocked out and headed for the door.