Every forty seconds, a child goes missing in the United States.
By the time the sentence has been said aloud, it has already happened twice.
Eighty seconds ago, Bailey Ramirez was the person who went missing.
Looking back, I should have seen it co...
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Friday, October 28, 2016 Suspect 03: Cameron
By the time Nicolette Wyatt walked into the room, Bailey was convinced it had become the worst Halloween ever.
He'd clashed heads with her from the moment they met because Nicolette was always Team Aleigha and anyone who wasn't was a problem. So, when the Ace of Space symbol flashed on the television screen, Bailey knew that Nicolette was debating on if she was going to reveal her sins or someone else's secret to stick to that code.
"Secret," Nicolette closed her eyes as the screen began to morph again.
She turned around to face Bailey and their friends. She had barely said a word to them all night, but they all understood that was just the loner in her not wanting to be at the party. She hadn't sent a message in the group chat in days, but no one blamed her. Outside of the Emerson siblings, Nicolette was the closest person to Aleigha. They were inseparable.
Choose a card.
Letter by letter the words appeared on the screen as if someone had been sitting at a computer typing them. Fifty-two cards appeared face down. Nicolette glanced back at the group, but there was nothing they could offer her other than looks of confusion. Facing the screen again, Nicolette closed her eyes and reached out, tapping the card in the bottom left of the screen.
Jack of Spades. Good choice.
Bailey's eyes grew large as Christee's cursive handwriting began to appear in loops. It didn't take a forensic scientist to know it was her handwriting. Christee had been signing fake doctor's notes for everyone they knew since middle school. It was in the way all of her words looped together like those little paper chains they were forced to make in elementary school.
Nicolette crossed her fingers as she walked over and stood between William and Bailey. William opened his mouth to speak but Bailey shook his head. Whatever he had to say, Bailey was not trying to hear it until the screen was done being the bearer of bad news.
Dear Diary,
He did it. For the first time, he followed through with his vague threats and empty promises. The girls weren't around this time for him to pretend like he did last week at the Emerson 4th of July cookout. Liberty asked me today where the bruises on my arm were from. I told her it was from cheer.
I should have told her it was him.
Why didn't I tell her it was him?
I wonder if they knew just how bad Cameron was.
The handwriting stopped looping across the screen as all heads turned to face Christee. Her face was redder than the bean bag that sat in the corner as she tried not to look away from the ground. She was embarrassed. Aleigha opened her mouth to say something but a voice in the back of the room stopped her from speaking.
