The Hunt

Chapter 2 - The First Clue

Jordan's POV

I pulled Shade Me out of the book and opened it. There was a note.

Well done, Jordan. Where did I go with Finn when they let me out for the day?

I decided to call Finn.

Hello?
Finn, it's Jordan. I need to know where you and Baylie went on her day out?
Uh, it was a river. A discrete one, too. I think it was the Harlem.
Thanks Finn, bye.

I grabbed my keys and ran outside. I hopped in my car and drove there.

I hopped out of my car and ran over to the river bank.

Oliver's POV

Turns out Winter is just fine. Thankfully.

Then, Ella Gates entered. She's the sister of the dead cop.

She was five five, and contrasting to Baylie's, she had elbow length black hair, and blue eyes. She was very pretty, and I liked her. A lot.

She sat down. I turned to her and she smiled. I returned the gesture, smiling brightly.

"Hey, Ella. Would you maybe want to go on a date with me?" I asked nervously.

Ella smiled lightly and took my hand in hers. "Of course."

Amanda's POV

We all knew Ella had a different schedule because of school, so when she came in early, we were shocked.

"I had study and free last. Anyways, I've told Liv the brief story to get me on this case. I think it's time to finally let you into the full story of Baylie's life."

She explained. "Okay." Nick answered.

She nodded. "You're going to want to sit down. This WILL take a long time."

Ella's POV

"Okay. So, as you may or may not know, there was five of us, and our parents."

"Woah, she had 4 siblings, and you now have 3. Dang." Dominic said, shocked.

"Yes. In order of oldest to youngest it went Kelsee, Ashleigh, Baylie, Me, and Eli. Kelsee is now 21, Ashleigh 20, Me 15, and Eli is 8."

"Baylie had a great life. She was the youngest, so she was favored, but they were all loved. Baylie never cried, never complained."

"See, that sounds like Baylie." Liv said.

"Then, a year, 3 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days later, I was born. Things went south for Baylie. She and Ashleigh were the middle children, but Baylie was the younger so she was kinda there, kinda not."

"Well, even when she was working here, she kinda faded in and out." Finn said.

"Yes. Fading in and out was Baylie's specialty. Any way, like 7 years later, here comes Eli. She was dead center middle. She was Forgotten." I continued.

"She began to slowly fade into the background. And the only one who wasn't foolish enough to not notice, was the only other one that had experienced the middle. Ashleigh."

"But, by the time she noticed anything was wrong, she was gone."

"Wait, Baylie ran away?! Please tell me she lived with a friend?" Dom asked.

I slowly shook my head. "Streets. For a year. Half of which, spent working here."

"You mean that she was living on the streets and we didn't even notice!"

I nodded. "Like I said. Fading in and out. Anyways, soon, she found a house, was finally stable. Or so Ashleigh thought."

"What?" Captain asked.

"She changed. She changed a lot. She had different hair, a different style, different hobbie. She wasn't Baylie Elizabeth Gates anymore, no, she was Samantha Ashlyn Otero."

By now, all of our eyes were watering. It wasn't pretty, but neither was the sight in front of Ashleigh and I's eyes.

"That, that must've been horrible. Finally tracking down your sister to find that she wasn't even your sister anymore. Almost as if Baylie never existed." Captain said, looking down as he finished.

"It was. Eventually, however, we convinced her to change her name back to Baylie Elizabeth, but no matter how hard we tried, no matter what we did, she absolutely refused to change her last name back to Gates. Then again, who could blame her." I replied, the dam finally breaking, the flood released.

"I will finish the story later. I need a moment." I grabbed my phone, and my jacket, then walked out of the station without another word.