Feeling his heart sink a little, Kazimir shakily sighs.
"Thank you for the memo, Khristina. I'll check with them as soon as I can."
The small girl nods and continues to stand beside him as Kazimir takes his cell phone from his pocket.
He quickly dials his parents' number and waits for someone to pick up.
"Kazimirie!"
Sighing in relief, the young detective slightly smiles.
"Hey, mama. I was just calling to see how well you and dad are getting along in St. Petersburg."
"Oh, we're getting along just fine, honey. You sound as if something is on your mind. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just a bit tired from work, that's all."
The older woman chuckles.
"Oh, I understand! Just don't overwork yourself and make sure you're getting enough sleep at night."
"Can I talk to your mama, too?!" Khristina whisper asks, tugging on the young detective's sleeve.
"Sure." Kazimir says, handing her the phone.
Happily taking the phone, Khristina begins to yell into it.
"Hi, Mrs. Kazimir's mama! This is Khristina-Bella La'rine and I think Mr. Kazimir already told you about me!"
Mrs. Cizetto laughs.
"So this is Khristina? Kazimir's told me a lot about you, sweetheart!"
The little girl smiles up at Kazimir.
"I hope I can meet you soon! Bye bye!"
"Bye bye, Khristina! And please make sure Kazimir's attending to your every need!"
Giving the phone back to Kazimir, Khristina excitedly jumps up and down as the young man finishes up on the phone with his mother.
"Mr. Kazimir, when can we visit your parents?"
"I don't know yet. I'll need to check my schedule."
Entering the house, Kazimir follows Khristina out to the patio where everyone else sat. The smell of food masked the air as most of the other little kids happily ran around in the backyard.
"Out of all the people there, I didn't identify one to be the man who abducted you all." Laurenté says, taking a seat next to the young man.
Kazimir shrugs.
"He probably just wants to play mini games with all of us until we give up from being too tired to continue. He looks the type."
Deep down inside, the young detective couldn't shake off the fear that something was terribly wrong. First thing in the morning, he was headed to St. Petersburg.
"Mr. Kazimir, come play basketball with us!" Khristina says, dribbling the orange ball. "You can be on my team!"
She throws him the ball and he chuckles, following the young girl onto the court.
"Okay, what're the-
Seeing a flash of white, Kazimir looks down to see the ball gone from his hands.
"It's a free for all!" Khristina says, running with the other kids. "We gotta catch Alexei before he scores!"
Running after the young law student, Kazimir attempts to knock the ball from his hands, but fails.
"That's 30 points!" Jai yells.
The game continues and Kazimir immediately knocks the ball from Alexei's hands, a little girl catching it.
She passes it to Khristina, who passes it to Kazimir and he scores for them.
"That's 3 points for Khristina's team!"
The game continues, ultimately resulting in a draw.
"I didn't know you could play basketball, Mr. Kazimir!" Khristina says, swinging his hands.
Kazimir softly chuckles.
"That's all thanks to my friend. He used to force me to practice with him when we were younger."
"You and Khristina's brother should go one on one!" a small girl says, twirling around. "And we can cheer from the sidelines!"
"How about another time, my sweet?" Alexei asks, wiping his face with a towel. "Mr. Cizetto and I are a bit tired right now."
The two young men sit down as the other children continue to play.
"So, I guess I should tell I you I'm headed for Russia tomorrow. Khristina told me about Haruki who is apparently wanting to kill my parents and I just wanna make sure they're safe." Kazimir explains.
Alexei turns to Kazimir and nods.
"Of course. If it's possible, I'd like you to ask for the original documents regarding your sister's case. The town hall is very close with the police department and may not give me all of the papers that I need."
"Uh, why don't I let you meet them for yourself? It'd be kinda weird for me to just ask for the documents out of the blue." Kazimir suggests.
"I suppose that makes sense. Well, I'd better start packing." Alexei says, getting up.
Looking down at the phone, Kazimir reads the message telling him his flight had been successfully booked.
"Can't wait until this bastard is done with."
-------
"Good evening, Mr. Mondalle. You'll never believe what happened this morning; my car ran over a box of nails which spilled from a truck. I think that's the most random thing that's ever happened to me!"
Milette sits down next to the man, putting her things down on the tabletop.
"I hear that tomorrow we're going to be assigned to a case where two kids were found dead in their parents' house."
"Yes, we are." Kenneth replies. "Talked to your boyfriend recently?"
"Kazimir's not my boyfriend just yet, Mr. Mondalle. He's only a love interest as of now."
Kenneth puts his pen inside of his notebook and closes it. He turns to Milette, noticing a slightly sad look on her face.
"I'm clocking out for the day, kid. Would you like to come to my place for dinner?"
The young woman's eyes beam in happiness and she nods.
"So, how far do you live?" Milette asks, walking alongside the taller male.
"Not far. Probably around 15 minutes away." Kenneth replies, as he opens the passenger door for Milette.
As the man closes the door, Milette looks behind her, nothing the initials S.M. on the headrest.
"Awww, are these your wife's initials?"
Kenneth nods as he starts the car.
"Yes, I personalized that for her when we first got married."
"It's adorable." Milette says, smiling.
The short drive to Kenneth's house was mostly silent.
"Oh, you have a pretty house!" Milette says, stepping out of the car.
"Thank you, I try to keep it up as best as I can."
Unlocking his door, Kenneth lets Milette go in first, telling her to just make herself at home and offering her a few drinks.
"If it's alright, Mr. Mondalle, I'd like to help you cook!"
"Guess it wouldn't hurt."
Following the man into the kitchen, Milette stands next to him as he begins to pull out ingredients for dinner.
"What're we eating tonight?"
Kenneth pulls out a frying pan before answering.
"Steak and rice."
"Oh, I know a really, really good steak sauce recipe. Could I make it?" Milette asks.
"Be my guest."
Milette looks down at the ingredients she'd taken out for her sauce recipe. Maybe she was annoying the man since he'd only reply with about a maximum of five words
"I'm sorry if I'm annoying you, Mr. Mondalle. I just really don't have anyone else to talk too."
Looking down at the young woman, Kenneth frowns. Sure, the girl was extremely talkative, but he didn't mind it.
"Annoying? I actually like listening to you speak, young lady. I usually don't have company over a lot, so I'd say you're talking is actually keeping me somewhat sane."
Milette smiles as the man walks over and hands her a spoon. For the next hour and a half, they'd spend the majority of the time in the kitchen cooking.
"Mr. Mondalle, this is really good! Have you ever thought of becoming a chef? You'd sure make it far!"
"Maybe, but I think your famous steak sauce does most of the talking, kid."
Milette shakes her head.
"I don't think a kid could make that. A young lady, on the other hand..."
Kenneth chuckles and takes a drink of his water.
"Well, young lady, I think if I were to ever consider becoming a chef, you could be my partner. However, I'd probably get annoyed with you calling me Mr. Mondalle."
Milette smiles and nods.
"I do think that sounds like a great idea, Kenneth!"
After eating, the two wash and dry dishes together, before sitting down in the living room.
"So, do you ever think about finding a new life partner from time to time?" Milette asks.
Kenneth looks down at the ground and sighs.
"Sometimes, but I just don't want to move on. I mean, she was my world, basically. I don't want to end up marrying again and then potentially losing another woman I care about."
"Well, I could say the same thing about all my past relationships." Milette says. "They didn't work out, but that doesn't stop me from going after what I want. It's all about hope and trust!"
The older man sighs and shrugs.
"And where would I start searching for another woman?"
"At the park! There's lots of single women there who are probably going through the same thing as you." Milette happily replies.
Kenneth nods.
"I see where you're coming from, I guess I should start this weekend then."
The young woman watches as the man stretches a little, before standing up.
"I think it's probably time for me to drop you off-
A bright flash of lightning quickly interrupts Kenneth and the power suddenly goes out.
"Well, maybe until the storm passes."
"But it's already 9:38!" Milette says, a little panicked. "I usually get ready for bed around this time."
"Alright, alright. I understand, but it's a little dangerous to be walking around anywhere outside right now."
"So, does that mean I'll have to stay here for the night?" Milette asks as Kenneth looks out of the window.
"It seems like that. I'll take you to the guest bedroom and you can wear some of my wife's pajamas."
Milette enters the room and looks around.
"It's very airy, I like it."
"Here's a couple of her pajamas. You can just pick which one suits you best."
Thanking the man, Milette puts on a white t-shirt and some black pajama pants, before climbing into bed.
But she couldn't sleep. She didn't like storms and usually grabbed a stuffed animal to keep her company. Unfortunately, there were no stuffed animals here.
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
"Come in." Kenneth says, turning over.
"Kenneth, I can't sleep. You see, storms make me nervous. I know it sounds stupid since I'm a young adult, but I just don't like them. Usually, I sleep with stuffed animals to comfort me and I don't have any. So, I was wondering; could I sleep with you?"
"Uh, well, I guess it wouldn't-
Feeling Milette crawl under his arm, Kenneth mentally sighs.
"Thank you very much, Kenneth!" Milette says. "I feel very warm and snug now."
"No problem-
Interrupted by light snoring, the man looks down and softly chuckles.
"No problem, young lady."