Later that hot afternoon, Elijah Langston arrived at the DiLaurentis Medical Center in the Old Central District.He looked nothing like he had that morning. He was in his regular clean casual outfit and a pair of old sneakers. The state of his face and the other exposed parts of his skin was the most striking thing about him. They were completely healed. Not a single trace of the burns or wounds from the night before remained, not even the faintest mark where the damage had been worst.Anyone who had seen what he looked like that morning would have been shaken to their toes by the transformation. Even the parts of his hair that had been burnt had restored themselves, leaving his hair sitting slightly longer than usual.He reached the top floor of the building to find Secretary Lisa fully absorbed in whatever was playing on her phone. Her head was down, and her mind was completely elsewhere. Only when he reached the CEO’s door did she look up.Her expression turned cold immediately, a

Serena DiLaurentis’ BMW came to a stop at the popular West Crest Restaurant in the West District.She stepped out with Elijah, who looked around in confusion, trying to understand where they were.During the drive over, he had tried to get her to tell him where they were going, but she had kept her attention on the road the entire way without a word. Since she seemed to have a lead on her father’s disappearance, he could only follow quietly behind her.They entered the luxurious restaurant together, and the chime of the doorbell announced their arrival as they walked in. The restaurant was packed and busy at that hour. Several waiters in uniform moved between tables under the sharp ordering voice of a chubby man who was keeping every worker on their toes.Manager Rufus.The moment his eyes landed on the approaching couple, his body shivered, and he almost lost his footing. It had nothing to do with the young miss of the DiLaurentis family

Once Elijah was outside with Serena, she got into the car. He remained standing on the pavement, a particularly clueless expression settled on his face.“Julius!” she called out sharply from inside.He turned toward her. “Wifey, why don’t you go ahead while I look around?”“Look around for what?” she demanded, her eyes narrowing on him with that scrutinizing gaze she reserved specifically for moments when she was certain he was up to something.That made Elijah actually look around, his eyes moving across the surrounding street with exaggerated consideration.“Well...” He turned the thought over slowly, searching for the perfect excuse, then settled on the only one available. “Who knows what I might find? I won’t stay long.”“Suit yourself.” Serena’s expression went as cold as ice as she reached up and slid the window closed.She reversed slowly out of the spot. From behind the rising window, her eyes stayed on him without him knowing. When she saw that he was genuinely not moving fro

Sophia moved back toward the waiting SWAT squad and the line of regular officers gathered in front of the warehouse. Elijah followed closely at her side. The standing officers gave him narrow, curious glances as they passed, clearly wondering who the ordinarily dressed civilian walking beside their Chief was supposed to be.Among them stood Officer Tiffany, and her expression twisted the moment her eyes landed on the one person she had not expected to see today, let alone walking next to her friend.She crossed the distance toward them quickly, her voice carrying louder than it needed to. “You! What are you doing here?”“Tiff, Julius is with us.” Sophia stepped in immediately, cutting off whatever was about to follow.Tiffany nearly stomped her foot. “Huh? I don’t understand you, Boss. He should be sitting in a jail cell right now for thinking he can take the law into his own hands.” How could she forget what this insolent civilian had done? Putting Sophia in harm’s way, and causing

Sophia had regrouped with the other officers outside, and even those who had remained on standby drew in close, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The officers who had gone into the warehouse had been cut nearly in half. The ones who made it back out were not the same men who had walked in. Only the Chief stood untouched, the only one not carrying blood somewhere on her uniform.That was when Officer George came running from the rear of the warehouse, with only three officers trailing behind him. None of them carried their shields or rifles anymore, and their faces were swollen and bruised. One man’s arm hung at an angle no arm should bend.“Chief, we had to abort. My radio fell off; I couldn’t tell you.” George spat blood onto the ground as he spoke, doubling over slightly.Sophia didn’t need the words to know the second team had been ambushed too. Their numbers had been cut down to this. But then something else hit her.Her face went ashen. “Where is Tiff?!”George st