"Hello Moira, nice to see you," You manage to say without showing how annoyed you are at her greeting.


"Wow, who are you and what have you done with Ben?" Moira responded, getting you more annoyed.  "I mean not only did you leave your house, but you're talking without sounding like a dick."


"Look, I can't find Victoria, can you tell me where is she, she's not answering her phone and I just want to make sure she's alright."


"Will you relax, she's probably still at Steve's house, they left here together last night."


"Who the hell is Steve?"


"You mean you don't know, wow just wow, Victoria always said you were a bit obvious to things, but I didn't know it was to the point where she can date a guy for a month and you remain completely clueless."


The mention of Victoria having a boyfriend caught you off guard. You're pretty sure Victoria never mentioned him, maybe she was worried you'd get upset or maybe simply she never told you because you never asked. Are you really that withdrawn? Now is not the best time to worry about this, it's better stay focused on finding her.


"Are you sure she's there?" You ask.


"I'm not positive but it makes sense, last night Victoria was here for a bit then Steve came and picked her up, I assume she spent the night there since she isn't at your house," Moira explains.


"Why would she spend the night there?"


"Jesus, are you really that socially inept, do I really have to explain why she would spend the night at her boyfriend's house?"


You ponder for a second and then as the realization hits you, a look of disgust appears on your face.

You demand to know where Steve is

You need to tell me where Steve is," You demand while rising your voice a bit.


"Now there's the Ben I know, but I don't think it's a good idea to have you go to his house while you're acting like an asshole, maybe when you learn proper etiquette I'll tell you," Moira says while clearly have too much fun with this conversation.


"Why are you doing this, you know going out and talking to people is not an easy thing for me to do and yet you decide to make it worse for me."


Moira seemed slightly bothered by this remark as if noticing she was beginning to take things a bit too far. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you what, you go home and in a bit I'll swing by Steve's house and let Victoria know you're concerned," She says in a softer tone.


"Fine," You reply as you turn around to head out.


Once back in your house, you sit at your kitchen table staring at your phone waiting for Victoria to respond. You're beginning to get impatient as you want to put this ordeal behind you and return to your regular routine. After waiting for almost an hour there is finally there is a knock at the door, it must be Victoria, you wonder why she didn't call, still you're glad this is over with. You walk up and open the front door only to find it's not Victoria, but Moira. Tears are flowing her eyes and her sclera's have turned red.


"Ben it's terrible," Moira bawls as she lets herself in your house. She puts her head on your shoulder as she begins sobbing uncontrollably.


"Moira, you need to calm down and explain to me what's wrong," You say, dreading finding out what caused Moira to act like this.


Moira lifts her head up off your shoulder and wipes her tears with her sleeve. You grab the mug that is the least dirty from a cabinet above the kitchen sink and fill it with water. You hand it to her as she sits down at the table, you take a seat opposite of her.


"Now Moira, I need you to tell me in a calm manner what happened?" You say politely but firmly.


Moira takes a sip out of the mug and begins to explain "I went to Steve's house and the police, they were...they were taking his body out, I think, think someone killed him," Moira begins crying again as you too begin to become overwhelmed with fear.


"What about Victoria?" You shout, instantly realizing that yelling at someone overcome with grief isn't the kindest thing to do.


"I don't know, she wasn't there if that's what you're asking," Moira answers before taking another sip of the water.


You take out your cell phone and call the police, hopefully they will able to find Victoria. "911, what is your emergency?" The voice on the other end inquiries.


"Yeah, um, I recently found out my sister's boyfriend has been murdered and I can't find her anywhere," You reply hoping that you don't come off as suspicious.


"What's your name, sister's name and her boyfriend's name?"


"Uh, my name is Ben Higgins, my sister is Victoria Higgins and her boyfriend's name is Steve."


"What's his last name?'


You have no idea, it most likely would've been smart to know this before you called. You turn your attention to Moira. "I need to know Steve's last name," You say rather impatiently, still the not best way to talk to someone who is somewhat traumatized.


"Upton," She informs you while still weeping a bit.


"His last name is Upton," you tell the operator.


"So your sister Victoria Higgins is missing and her boyfriend Steve Upton has been murdered?"


"That's about it."


"I need your address."


"219 Okonedo Street."


"Alright, I'm sending someone over." The operator hangs up and you really hope they don't think you're behind this. Moira has somewhat calmed down.


"Will they find Victoria?" Moira asks sounding worn out.


"I sure hope so" you say with obvious uncertainty in your voice.


Several minutes later a police car pulls into your driveway shortly followed by a knock at the door. You open the door to find a women slightly older then you with light brown hair in a bun and matching colored eyes. You would find her pretty if wasn't for the serious look on her face.


"Hello, I'm detective Carla Northcutt are you Ben Higgins?" She asks you with a no non-sense demeanor.


"I am, come on in," you respond in a direct way.


Carla walks in and sees Moira sitting at the kitchen.


"Who are you?" Carla begins questioning as if doing an integration


"I'm Moira Estacado, Victoria's my best friend you need to find her," Moira pleads while beginning to cry again.


Carla sits down at the table and turn her attention back to you, you figure she thinks you'll be easy to get information from. "So start from the beginning, from when you noticed your sister was missing to when you called the police."


"I woke up, found Victoria wasn't home, I tried to contact her phone, got no response, I went over to Moira's place, she said she was at her boyfriend's and would go over there to let her know I was worried, then Moira came over here saying Steve, Victoria's boyfriend is dead and then I called you."


Carla looks back at Moira with suspicion. "When did you notice Steve was dead, you called the police not long after the incident was reported and the news hasn't picked up the story yet," Carla quizzes in an accusing manner.


"After Ben came into my restaurant looking for Victoria, I offered to see if she was at Steve's house, about twenty minutes later I headed over there and saw police at the place and they were taking his body out on a stretcher, there was a sheet but a hand was sticking out and was wearing a ring that Steve always wears, I knew it was him," Moira explains before sobbing again. 


You walk over to Moira and put your arm on her shoulder to comfort her. Carla stops looking at Moira with distrust, you guess she could tell Moira isn't the killing type. "Ben why didn't you just go to the house to check on your sister yourself?"


"I had recently found out Victoria had a boyfriend in the first place and Moira thought she should do it since she's better with dealing with people."


Carla doesn't look at you with same suspicion she had given Moira, you figure she knew you were telling the truth. "From what I know, I believe Steve was killed by Westfield's gang and it is most likely the gang is connected to Victoria's disappearance as well," Carla mentions.


"Who's Westfield?" You ask, completely puzzled.


Carla and Moira look at you as if they are unsure your question was serious or not. "You're telling me you've never heard of Westfield? The most wanted man in county if not the state," Carla's queries as her disbelief overpowers her seriousness.


"I don't get out much" You confess.


"Trust me he doesn't" Moira confirms.


"Westfield is a crime lord, illegal gambling, drug dealing, prostitution, armed robbery, human trafficking, extortion  and of course outright murder, Westfield's gang has done it all, the worst part is we don't know his real name, what he looks like or even if he is a he at all" Carla explains.

You say "What makes you so sure this Westfield guy did it?"

"What makes you so sure this Westfield guy did it?" You ask Carla.


"His MO is that his gang carves a 'W' on their victims, which Steve had, Westfield wants people to know when he has someone killed." Carla reveals to you. Moira sobs upon hearing about this brutality.


"What's to prevent someone from doing the same thing and having look like Westfield has done it?" You continue with your questions.


"That would piss Westfield off and only an idiot would that" Carla says confidently.

You say "What does this crime lord want with my sister?"

"What does this crime lord want with my sister?" You ask with grave concern.


"My theory at this point is Steve was the target and Victoria was at the wrong place at the wrong time, hopefully I'll be able to figure out why Steve was killed in the first place, I don't know what Westfield plans to do with her, rest assured I will do everything I can to find her," Carla says rather sure of herself.