Mildly drunk and dog-tired, Levi was tempted to sleep in his office after the phone call with his parents.
The idea of spending the night on a couch that wasn't as comfortable as his king-size bed, though, did not make business sense, whichever way he looked at it. So he threw on his jacket, grabbed his bags and headed out.Dozing off in the lobby in one of Mark's new fancy chairs, Sol jerked awake at the sound of his footsteps, smiling sleepily. "Mr Van Holt, are you off, sir?""Yes. See you later, Sol!" Levi waved goodbye, pushed the emergency exit door and ran down the two flights of stairs to his reserved parking spot in the basement.His Porsche Cayenne didn't look too bad for a car parked in a dusty basement for over three months, but stopping by the car wash one of the days wouldn't hurt.Twenty minutes later, Levi was at his penthouse in Green Point, a plush neighbourhood north of Rock Castle.He hadn't been home in a while, but the place looked as pristine as he'd left it months ago, and his fridge was fully stocked with precooked meals, thanks to Mrs Ackerman, his housekeeper.As he made his way to his bedroom, Levi made a mental note to give her a raise. He'd called her just before he boarded his homebound flight to let her know he'd be arriving soon, but he never expected her to handle everything so quickly.After a long shower and a shave, Levi made himself a sandwich and took it to one of the four barely-used guest rooms he and Mark had turned into a situation room when the tips and leads were still promising.Levi paused outside the door, afraid to step in and confront his failure. Six months on, other than Seth's lead, they were still nowhere close to the truth.He took a long, deep breath and pushed the door wide open, regretting it immediately when the first thing his eyes found was his twin's photo connected by multi-coloured strings to numerous Post-It notes and clues on the whiteboard.A searing ache—like someone had shot him in the chest with a poisoned arrow—pierced his heart as he walked up to the Polaroid and stared at his sister.He'd seen this photo at least a million times. But every time he looked at it, he was struck anew by how happy and radiantly alive Colleen was as she smiled brightly at him, the pair of grey eyes they shared twinkling with amusement.Colleen—his Leeny—always looked secretly amused in photos, like she knew something the rest of the world didn't."Where are you?" Levi asked the empty room as he placed his plate on the desk and turned to the clues on the board.Mark had stopped by a few times and added a few more leads. Judging by the cross marks, none had checked out, though.Levi picked up a marker, moved Colleen's photo to one side, wiped off the dead-end clues and scribbled the word 'Dreams' at the centre of the board.He took his sandwich to the window, and as he watched the sun creep up the sky, he thought about Colleen's digital trail and her constant need to post every little detail of her life on the internet.Could that be the reason behind her disappearance? Had a psychopath stalked her on social media? Did she fall prey to an internet predator?As the CEO of a gaming studio, Levi made sure his digital presence was purely for promoting the company, and even so, he was careful about how much he shared. He never posted photos of himself or told the world what he ate for breakfast, let alone where he vacationed.He didn't think of the internet as a bad place—heck, people needed an internet connection to play his games—but it was easy to lose oneself in it. And he suspected that was how his twin had gotten lost.When Colleen vanished a little over six months ago, besides his best friend, everyone around them thought he was blowing things out of proportion since his twin was used to running off, disappearing for months on end, and showing up like she never left.The longest she was away was two months, and it turned out she was backpacking in the Blue Mountains with a group of hippies she'd met at a commune. She'd stayed in contact during that time, popping him an occasional call or text.But this time was different.The last text message he got from her before she disappeared was a bunch of random letters everyone—including the police—had told him meant nothing.A pocket dial, that's what they'd called it.But random or not, pocket dial or not, the text didn't stop Levi from agonising over its meaning.He still spent nights trying to decode it, more so because growing up—from around four until they were ten—they had a secret language and made-up words they'd used when they didn't want their parents to know what they were talking about.His hopeful twenty-eight-year-old self kept thinking there was some hidden meaning in the text and he'd figure it out with enough time.But time had become a luxury he could no longer afford.Levi munched his bread and let his mind wander to Dreams.The site was their only promising clue so far.With all these new internet privacy laws and acts being written left, right, and centre, though, he was pretty sure what he and Seth were doing wasn't entirely legal and could earn them a hefty fine or possibly land them in jail if they were ever caught.But what other choice did he have?His father's highly specialised team had done shit, and the police lacked the motivation to find his sister. If he hadn't kept up with his relentless pursuit of progress on the case and checked in with the detectives every couple of days, Colleen would have joined the million other cold cases as soon as the ink in her file had dried.Having spent the last few months living out of a suitcase, chasing down every possible sighting of his twin only to end up at yet another dead-end, Levi was truly out of options. Turning to her internet life was the only key to uncovering her disappearance.Mark had warned him not to go down this road, though. The truth might be far scarier than any of them could handle. But not knowing where his twin was or if she was still alive was a far worse fate.Plagued by worry for her brother and tempted by Emily's offer, sleep didn't come easy for Natalie that night.She wriggled about in her bed for a while, trying to get into a comfortable position before giving up any illusions she had about getting a peaceful night's rest.She sat up, turned on the light on her nightstand, and reached for her phone, her heart bleeding a little at the massive crack on the screen. She still had eighteen months of payments left on the contract, and now with Jamie's medical expenses, it would be a while before she could get it fixed.The group chat with all her friends back home was dead. Nothing new in Sparrow Beach. No salacious gossip or groundbreaking scandals.Disappointed, Natalie scrolled through the Hot Connexions App.Only one of the eight 'connexion' suggestions was her type. Swiping left on her screen, she turned down the seven and focused all her attention on Lucas Southey.Not his real name, of course.They never used their real names.But he t
Recruitment exceeded Natalie's expectations with their turnaround time.The owner of Dreams personally called her from an undisclosed phone number hours after she sent through her application. But thinking it was a sales consultant trying to sell her life insurance she couldn't afford, Natalie ignored the three consecutive calls and poured all her energy into the graphs and pie charts in her report.Around midday, as she was about to head to the staff canteen on the ground floor to grab something to eat, her phone rang again.This time she picked up, and she wasn't very nice. "No, I don't want any life insurance, and I don't have any friends I can refer you to. So can you please stop badgering me with all these calls?""I like your fire, doll!" A breathy voice purred on the other end of the line. "This is Aunty Viv. I've tried three times this morning to reach you.""Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I thought it was the telemarketers," Natalie apologised, convinced she'd blown her chances
When the clock struck 5:00 PM the day after Natalie met with Aunty Viv, she was thrilled to finally lock her work laptop away in her cabinet.She'd had a mother of a day with too many reverts on her reports and didn't plan to work overtime tonight. She'd given Chassis enough of her time already."Atta girl!" Emily nodded her approval. She never worked overtime.She dropped Natalie off at a boutique in Rock Castle for the start of her three-day program.As Natalie tried on the outfits Aunty Viv had picked, she wondered if all escort agencies offered training or only those catering to a wealthy clientele.The clothes were stylish and elegant. Nothing like the slutty dresses Natalie had imagined she would have to wear. But the price tag on each outfit was enough to send her into a mini-crisis and the nearest Medi Clinic for heart failure."I can't afford this!" she told the store clerk when she saw the invoice."Don't worry; Vivienne took care of it.""Thank you!" Natalie nodded as she re
Emily was pretty smashed when they left Crush, the upscale nightclub where she'd blown thousands of rands on drinks and food in a matter of hours.No matter how loudly she proclaimed to be 'super', anyone with a shred of common sense could see she was in no condition to be behind the wheel.Natalie couldn't take them home either since she couldn't drive. It was one of the things she always meant to learn, but like her new sofa and wallpaper had somehow slipped further down her bucket list."I can take us home, I promise!" Emily teetered on her feet as she reached up to snatch back her car keys.She would have fallen face down if it wasn't for Natalie's quick reaction time. The two cocktails she'd nursed throughout the night hadn't dulled her senses. She caught her swiftly and propped her up against the pole light on the pavement."Sit here and be good," she said as she glanced around and bit her nails, thinking up a plan to get them home.She'd already taken too many Ubers this week be
The jarring sound of a phone vibrating somewhere in the room jerked Natalie awake. Eyes still tightly shut in an attempt to hold on to sleep, she reached out from underneath the covers, her fingers fumbling on the nightstand.Bleary-eyed, she peered at her phone, frowning when all she saw was a black screen. The darn thing had died at some point between arriving home and passing out after settling a rowdy Emily in for the night."Em, can you get that, please?" she said, nudging her friend with her elbow.Emily groaned and pulled the duvet over her head, making no effort to silence the offending noise."Ugh, you need to leave. You've overstayed your welcome!" Natalie snapped when it became clear she wouldn't go back to sleep anytime soon.She leaned over and snatched her friend's phone from the side table. "Hello, Natalie speaking, Emily's sleeping.""Natalie, it's Aunty Viv. Why are you answering Emily's phone?"Natalie spent a few minutes explaining to her new boss that they'd gone h
Emily's phone conversation didn't seem to be going well when Natalie returned to the room forty minutes later, wearing a fluffy white robe and a matching towel wrapped around her head.From the way she frowned, pouted and gestured wildly with her hands as she launched into a lengthy explanation of why she had to drop the gala at the last minute, Natalie figured she was chatting with Paul, and he was giving her a hell of a time.She pulled away from the conversation long enough to fangirl over Natalie's colourful unicorn slippers."Aw, unicorns! They're so pretty. I want them!" she gushed, blowing kisses at her feet as she left the room to continue her chat in the lounge.Natalie laughed and turned to her closet. The slippers were a farewell gift from her brother. They were supposed to bring magic into her life. She was still waiting.She sighed with despair as she scanned the row of inexpensive clothes hung in a neat line. Half of the outfits were corporate wear, and the other, a bunch
Pushing her uneasiness aside, Natalie walked around the room, trying out the shoes. They were more comfortable than any pair she'd ever owned.Now that she knew the difference between cheap and expensive shoes, there was no going back. But after she got Jamie a new kidney."I feel like a princess!" she giggled, giddy with excitement and anticipation. "Where's my tiara?""Coming right up."But it wasn't a tiara. It was a statement necklace.Natalie had never seen so many diamonds in one place, so she had to ask. "Is it insured? What if I lose it?""Of course, Paul's insured it!" Emily nodded. "But I doubt Clooney and his crew plan to stop by The Empress tonight to pull off the heist of a century.""But—""Stop worrying and be good. Let's put this on."The necklace felt heavy and cold on her bare skin, but Natalie loved how it glistened in the afternoon sunlight. She liked shiny things. They were her favourite."Now, let's go over tonight." Emily led her to the bed and told her what to e
After working through the night to catch up on three months' worth of reports, Levi was too tired to return to his place, so he passed out in his office.He slipped into a long dreamless sleep for twelve hours straight. It would have been longer if Mark hadn't pitched up.His partner let himself in and nudged him awake, his voice unnecessarily cheerful for the time of day, "Van Holt, wake up! Time to suit up!""God, no!" Levi groaned, pulling his Chassis hoodie over his head to block out Mark's voice."God, yes! We have a thing in two hours!" Mark held up a black and gold invitation card in one hand and a suit bag and shoebox in the other. He placed everything on the coffee table and drew the remote-controlled blinds, instantly flooding the room with sunlight."What thing?" Levi asked, narrowing his eyes to block out the glaring light as he sat up."The charity gala. Your father couldn't get a hold of you.""Oh, shoot!" Levi reached for his phone on the coffee table. He remembered hear