The Engine What Runs the World: Chapter 2, Page 6 (Unedited)

“It’s a wonder you managed in the underground,” Smoke muttered under his breath. He didn’t think she heard him, if she had she showed no expression.

He looked around the room for anything out of place or odd and found nothing. Everything was immaculate, the bed was perfectly made and the floor showed no sign of dust or dirt. He sighed and shook his head, “Did she have any money on her when she left?”

Marla shook her head, “Not a whole lot. She’d be able to live comfortably for a few days on some of the upper underground levels, but she’d be out of money by now.”

“Well that’s a plus and it confirms what I’d thought before.”

Marla gave him a confused look, “What do you mean?”

“She wouldn’t be able to leave the area. I only have ten miles squared on each level to search. It seems like a lot, but when it comes down to looking through nine underground floors as well as the surface I’d rather search one area than the entirety of the planet. It just really narrows it down.”

“So you have everything you need?”

“I think so yeah,” Smoke said placing everything back in his pockets.

The bedroom had been a bust. The tower’s obsession with cleanliness had removed any possible chance he’d have had of finding a clue. A part of him even believed the room had been cleaned several times before he’d been in. A thought in the back of his head even told him several personal belongings had been removed from the room. If that were the case, the investigation may be a fool’s errand. But, on the off chance everything was true; he couldn’t turn the job down.
“Wonderful,” Marla said showing a look of superiority, “I will ask you then to please leave our home. Sport will be waiting by the door with your jacket and hat.

In a blur of moments Smoke had been shuffled out of Blue’s room, down the hallways and out the door. He put his jacket on and placed his hat on his head. He put his hands in his pockets and angrily proceeded toward the elevator.