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She needed to talk to someone.
Taking a shaky breath, she opened her phone and scrolled through her contacts. Her dad’s name stood out to her. She hadn’t shared with him her struggle with drinking, and she still wasn’t ready for that conversation, but she knew he was a rock of support nonetheless. Holding her breath, she pressed the call button and raised the phone to her ear.
"Hello?" came the gruff voice on the other side of the line.
"Dad, it's me...Sheila," she began, her voice trembling slightly.
"Sheila? Did you find Star?"
"Yes. There was actually an incident with her dad."
"What kind of incident?"
Sheila waved it away. "It doesn't matter. The important thing is she's safe now. She's staying at my place, just until I can figure something out for her. She can't go back home."
The line went silent for several moments.
"Well," Gave finally said, "you just let me know if there's anything I can do to help."
Sheila's gaze wandered over the bustling city. "Thanks, Dad. Honestly, right now, I could just use someone to talk to."
Gabriel Stone was a man of few words, and Sheila knew he wasn't much for emotional conversations. Still, he was her father, and he loved his children fiercely.
"So talk to me, sweetheart," he said. His voice was firm but comforting, and Sheila felt herself relax slightly at the sound of it.
"I'm just having a hard time with...everything.” She leaned against the cool stone wall of the building, pulling her free hand through her hair. She didn't know where to start or how to explain everything that was happening—the unsolved murders, her own demons, her fear—it was all too much.
She heard a sigh from the other end of the line. "I know things have been tough for you," he said. "Losing Natalie…it’s changed all of us.”
“It’s not just that. It’s also this new investigation—the Antelope Island murders.”
The line was silent for several long moments. “I didn’t realize you were working that one,” her father said quietly. He sounded troubled. “Have you hit a wall?”
Sheila paused, biting her lip as she considered her father's question. It was more than just hitting a wall. It was the overwhelming feeling of failure that seemed to haunt her every move. The world of kickboxing had been simpler, more straightforward. You trained, you fought, you won or lost. But this...this was something else entirely. This was a dance with death itself, a grim waltz she felt ill-prepared to lead.
"I'm scared, Dad," she finally admitted. Her words were barely a whisper carried away by the wind. "Scared, I'm going to fail. A woman's missing, and I'm scared I'm not going to find her in time."
She could almost see her father on the other side of the line, the stern set of his jaw softening as he listened to his little girl confess her fears. "It's okay to be scared, Sheila,” he said gently. “It means you're human. And it means you care about what's happening."
Several moments passed in silence. Sheila waited.
"And it's okay to fail, too," he continued, his voice sounding as if it were coated with years of hard-earned wisdom. "It doesn't mean you're not good enough or that you're destined to let everyone down. It means you're learning and growing."
Sheila took a deep breath, allowing his words to soak in. She had often been told the key to success was relentless pushing and an unyielding resolve to overcome obstacles, but hearing her father talk about acceptance and growth from failure was strangely soothing.
"But what if someone else gets hurt because I couldn’t find the answers quick enough? What if my mistakes lead to someone’s death?"
Gabriel was silent for a moment. "That...that is a possibility," he admitted. "But Sheila, you're doing everything you can. You're working harder than anyone else to solve this case—I know that because I know you. If someone else gets hurt, it won't be because of your lack of trying."
Sheila listened to her father’s words, and something inside her unclenched slightly. She knew he was right. Her best was all she could do, and if it wasn’t enough...well, she would deal with that when the time came. She had to trust that she was doing everything in her power to solve this case and stop any more women from getting hurt.
"Thanks, Dad," she murmured, a faint smile touching her lips despite the heaviness in her heart. "I really needed to hear that."
"Anytime, sweetheart," Gabriel replied, warmth seeping into his voice. “You’re tough, you’re relentless. Think of the previous cases you’ve solved. Remember that time you chased down that perp on foot for almost five miles? You're one of the strongest people I know, Sheila."
His words weaved a sense of reassurance, reminding Sheila of her own strength and tenacity. She had spent so much time training to be an Olympic kickboxer, but now, she was an investigator staring into the abyss of human cruelty. The battlefield had changed drastically, but the warrior was still the same. And just as she conquered her fears back then, she would do the same now. She would face the fear of uncertainty and failure head-on.
“I just wish I knew who I was chasing now,” she said. “I wish it was just a matter of effort.”
