Pact (1 of 6)

The phone's loud ringing woke Dante up. Glancing at the clock, his first thought was

"Dante Harsher speaking"

"Hello Mr Harsher. My name is Richard Green. I'm not sure if you're the right person to call. I was looking for a private detective in the phone book and I found your number, but I wasn't sure..."

"I'm a licensed investigator." Green made a relieved noise down the phone. "How can I help you Mr Green?"

"My daughter disappeared a few days ago. She just didn't come home from school one day. We've spoken to the police and filed a missing persons report, but they said they can't do anything unless there's some evidence that something happened to her."

"How old is your daughter?"

"She turned 18 a couple of weeks ago. The police think she's just decided to leave."

"And you don't believe that?"

"We don't know. But we just want to know where she is and if she's alright."

"Alright Mr Green. I think you'd better come into my office and we'll have a talk."

"Oh, thank you Mr Harsher. I can be there in hour."

"Just before you go Mr Green. Why did you decided to call me, given that you weren't sure if I was a detective?"

"Oh, well, um," Dante could almost hear his eyes darting wildly around "It was your ad - it says 'theological specialist'."

Dante gripped the desk as another wave of dizziness hit him. His silence made Green uncomfortable enough to keep talking.

"You see, after she didn't come home, I looked around her room. I wanted to try and find phone numbers of her friends or something. But in her school bag I found... Something else. And so when I saw your ad, I thought maybe you would know what it meant."

"What did you find?"

"I, I'm not sure. But I think my daughter may have been involved with satanists..."