"So, who exactly are you?" Autumn asked after they sat down on a park bench.
"I'm Jessa and I'm part of an investigation that involves you, which is why I had to go undercover at your school."
"How does this involve me?"
"I will explain that to you in a little bit, but I need you to trust me here."
Autumn stared at Jessa before her face softens. "Okay. I trust you. Now, what do you need me to do?"
"I'm not responsible for assigning you stuff. We are going to be taking you back to a place where we are staying at the moment."
"Again, who's we?"
"A group of people working on a case. I'm one of them, then there's another teenager and three adults."
"Okay. So how exactly are we getting to this place?"
"One of the adults that's part of this is parked by the road by the playground. He just told me that."
"How'd you know he was there when you haven't checked your phone this whole time?"
"Well, I'm wearing an earpiece, as well as a camera and a microphone this whole time."
"So, everything you've said and everything I've said is being recorded?"
"I don't know if it's being recorded, but since I turned it on, the others have been able to see and hear everything."
"Oh. Let's go then."
The two girls walked up to the car, where Malachi was waiting.
"Is this Autumn?" he asked. Jessa nodded. "I'm Malachi. Nice to meet you."
"This is the person you're working with?" Autumn asked Jessa.
"Yup."
"He seems like a wuss."
"Hey!" Malachi shouted.
"That's what I first thought," Jessa said. "We'll get along just fine."
"I really want to drop both of you off on the side of this road but I can't," Malachi said.
"Damn straight," Autumn said. "Apparently I'm the only one who is able to help you."
"You are, but you have an attitude."
"When you're raised in an environment that's toxic and it's hard to actually get along with a lot of people, you develop an attitude and multiple personalities, and everyone will think that you're an absolute bitch with no care in the world."
Once they arrived back, they sat in the living room.
"Someone please explain to me what's going on," Autumn said.
"Basically, since your dad's brother was murdered, we're suspecting that he did it. We are still missing some information so tell us what you know first. Does your family have any history with crime or have any beef with people?" Cody said.
"I know that my uncle was murdered along with his wife years ago. My dad always hated him for some reason. Some drama thing that happened before I was born. I know about something along the lines of a restraining order. And my cousin was kidnapped when the murder happened," she said.
"You know the basics. I'll let Jessa explain the situation to you."
Jessa hopped of the kitchen counter where she was sitting. "We're trying to solve the murder case from 6 years ago. The reason you're here is because your dad is one of the biggest suspects. We are missing some information that we're hoping you can provide us with. We already had your cousin's half-sister come in and give us some important key points. I guess she's also your cousin. We need your help because you're the only person that we can trust with certain things here."
"What do I get out of this?" Autumn asked.
"Answer this question for me first. What do you think about your family?" Malachi asked.
"What does that have anything to do with this?"
"Just answer the damn question."
"I love my mom and dad, except for the fact that they yell at me a lot for skipping school and stuff. My grandparents on my dad's side are dead, but they were nice and always spent time with me. I haven't seen my grandparents on my mom's side in forever because they live in England. I never really got to spend that much time with my uncle and his family because of the drama and stuff, but I wish I could've. I wanted to be able to spend more time with my cousin MJ. I only got to see her a couple of times, before she was taken," Autumn said.
The other 4 looked at each other with smiles.
"One of your wishes came true," Jessa spoke up.
"How?"
"I'm MJ. I'm going by a fake name now for investigation purposes."
"Actually? How do I know this isn't a joke?"
"Does this line sound familiar? 'When we grow up, I'm going to take over the world with orange juice.'"
YOU ARE READING
Cold Case
Mystery / Thriller6 years ago, MJ Phoenix Lopez witnessed her parents' murder. She never wanted to be involved with it, so she ran away and didn't look back. Years have gone by. She's was reported missing and her parents' murderer has never turned up. The cases aren'...
