What happened to Grace Sinclair? (Friday Barnes)

~21~

'That was weird' Ian said later that night.

Friday was sitting on the couch in hers and Melanie's apartment, Mel's head on her lap. She was awake, watching Ian in the bathroom as he brushed his teeth. Friday was scrolling through Grace's phone.

'Do you think Grace and Lilith had something to do with each other?' He asked, spitting into the sink.

'They'd have to' Melanie said thoughtfully. 'Bonnie's number was in Grace's phone but when Bonnie picked up she asked for Lilith, so there would have to be a connection.'

Friday let their conversation fade away, tuning out the noise.

She went over everything she knew.

Bonnie had thought that someone called Lilith had called her when she answered the phone. She said that she lost contact with Lilith 4 years ago, which is how long Eden said she'd known Grace. Grace had Bonnie's number in her phone but Bonnie said she's never known someone called Grace. And Lilith dad, according to Bonnie, was Jack Sinclair.

So...what was going on?

Could......no.

That was ridiculous. She pushed the thought aside, trying not to think about it.

Ian and Melanie spent the rest of the night tossing ideas back and forth, and Friday tried to listen, but her brain kept trying to make the dots connect.

That night, sometime close to midnight, Friday kicked back the covers on her bed, abandoning the idea of sleep and picked up her laptop.

She also collected Grace's phone, sliding up the lock page and opening the phone to the home page. She clicked on messages and opened the chat with Bonnie.

                           Bonnie
                          
                        11:47 pm
                       
                         Hi.
                        What was Lilith's last name? I 
                         want to do a dig in the records  
                         and need a last name . (This is      
                          Friday)
                                            

She didn't expect an answer for a very long time since it was almost midnight. But she was surprised when she got an almost immediate response. She opened the chat again.

                         Bonnie
                          
                        11:47 pm
                       
                         Hi.
                        What was Lilith's last name? I 
                         want to do a dig in the records  
                         and need a last name. (This is      
                          Friday)
                      
                       11:49 pm

Hi Friday,
Her last name was Chen I think. And I don't remember her middle name, but it started with an A. She hated it tho.

                            11:55 pm
                                             
                                                            Thanks

She made a google search for Lilith A Chen.

The feed gave her random answers and articles about other people called Lilith or people with the last name Chen. She kept scrolling.

The blue light from the screen in the pitch black room was making her head hurt and she rubbed her eyes.

She kept scrolling, her aching eyes flicking over the words on the screen. She scrolled faster, skipping most of the words now.

But then large bold words caught her eye as she scrolled past them and she went back up the page.

      '19 year old school girl goes missing'

It was an old news article. She clicked it, her eyes scanning the words.

19 year old school girl Lilith Chen went missing yesterday after school. Her friend, Bonnie Carter was the last known person to see her after walking back to Lilith's home with her when they then parted ways.

The rest was nonsense about who to contact if they found her. She kept scrolling, then found a photo at the bottom of the article.

Jack Sinclair stood out front of a house with his hand on a girls shoulder. The girl looked like Bonnie's description of Lilith, but younger, around 14. Jack was smiling, and the girl looked like she was trying to force hers.