[|]

"Wait, Ruth has a girlfriend? Yet she's after my own man?" I angrily asked Andrea through the phone when the thought crossed my mind.

"I'm not sure you're aware that people cheat or plan to cheat on their partners. Look, we don't know how dangerous Ruth is. Well, she is dangerous from all indications but you need to be careful out there," she said and the noise of paper followed suit.

"Do you have any information about this Donatella fellow?" I asked and rose to my feet, fingers crossed. "Like where she leaves or her phone number?"

"What are you planning on doing?" Andrea asked in a suspicious tone.

I rolled my eyes. "Just tell me, Andrea. I need to know. I need to find Donatella and have her answer some simple questions about her girlfriend."

Andrea was quiet for some seconds, probably trying to convince herself to give me what I wanted. I heard a sigh and a mutter and I smiled.

"Fine. Donatella Adamson is seventeen, in the tenth grade, straight As student, a lesbian. She's been dating Ruth for a year now from what we gathered online. She's the daughter of Mr and Mrs Adamson, who own a car company. She lives with her parents in Carson Estate, house number 24. She goes to the same school with Ruth. That's it."

I thanked Andrea and ended the call then rushed to the door, only to step back when it opened. Jared was at the door, holding plastic bags filled with items from where he had bought them. He was eyeing me suspiciously which I did not like.

"I'll be back," I said and walked past him but he quickly blocked me with his body.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, glaring down at me.

"I have to find someone. Excuse me," I said and tried to get past him.

"No, you're not," Jared said and pushed me backward with his body.

"Hey!" I stepped away from him and crossed my arms in anger. "What's your problem? I just want to step out for a moment. I'll be back before you know it."

I watched through angry eyes as he dropped the bags on the table by his side. He grabbed one and raised it in front of him.

"I'm sorry but I won't let you do that," he said and walked up to me. "You will have to eat first before leaving this place."

"But I'm not hunger," I retorted, feeling annoyed. "I'll eat when I come back."

"Jackie," he said my name in a hard tone a no nonsense look on his face. "I bought you food and you're going to sit down and eat everything bit of it. You have pills to take."

I craned my head sideways at his statement.

"Pills?" I asked. "What pills?"

Jared scoffed and grabbed my hand then pulled me to the bed. He forced me to sit before he sat opposite me.

"Lucas called me a few minutes ago and asked about you. Don't worry, I didn't tell him you were in Redside. He sounded worried before he told me you forgot your pregnancy vitamins and all. He took a picture of the pills and sent me some money to get them."

I almost wanted to feel touched that Lucas did such a thing but when I remembered what he had done, I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"Ugh, you two are annoying. You're lucky he sent me money to get these drugs. You two be making me feel like I'm the sharperone in this relationship of yours. Y'all better pay me very well for all these headache you give me each time you two have a problem. Now, you better start eating or I'm going to tell Lucas you're here."

I quickly grabbed the bag from him and shot him a glare. He winked at me and laid on his back, sighing in a mannerless way. I looked down at the warm bag and spotted the medicines inside of it. I sighed and looked ahead of me, thinking of Lucas.

He still cared for me even when he was hung up on the fake pictures. It made me smile but I still felt hurt inside of me when I realized he no longer belonged to me.

"Eat your food or I'm going to help you eat it for two," Jared's voice rang in my ear.

Oh, shut up," I said and searched the bag.

[|]

Twenty minutes later, I was done with my food and had taken my medication. With the address given to me by Andrea, Jared drove me to the neighborhood and when I spotted the house with its number, I tapped him on the shoulder and he parked a few feet away.

"Can you tell me about what's going on? I feel left in the dark," Jared said as he turned off the engine of the car.

I looked at him in surprise as I had expected Lucas to have said something about this to him. I sighed and started to tell him everything from high school until now.

"You have been through a fucking lot," Jared said in shock. "I would have murdered that bitch upon seeing her after everything she's done."

I shrugged. "Well, she's missing. So, don't think you killing Ruth will happen. I have to go see if Donatella is back from her trip. Stay here."

He reacted as if he wanted to protest but I glared at him. He rolled his eyes and relaxed on his seat then I got out of the car. I looked around the serene place, the huge houses around looking like there were no signs of life even though I could hear voices and see lights within some of them. I took deep breaths and made my way to Donatella's house.

The moment I climbed the short steps, the front door opened and I stopped at the sight of a middle aged looking woman, holding a bag and dressed in an expensive looking dress.

"Who are you?" She asked, looking past me.

"Hi, I'm Jackie Garner," I said, smiling.

"And you are?"

I cursed inside my head at the question. I had to think of a believable lie because I was sure that this woman knew the people Donatella had as friends or associates.

"I'm looking for Donatella," I said.

"Okay? But you haven't answered my question."

"Uh... I'm Ruth Hamilton's friend and she sent me to get something from Donatella," I replied and the woman's face replaxed.

"Oh. Donnie isn't home right now. She will be back in two hours. Didn't Ruth go on a trip with her?"

I froze at the question and mentally kicked myself for replying in such a stupid way. I had to think fast so I would not look like the liar that I was to the woman.

"Yeah but Ruth had told me to get what she gave her before they traveled. I didn't know she wasn't back yet."

"Okay. You can wait for her inside or come back later?" She asked in a kind tone and I sighed in relief, thanking God she wasn't the rude type.

"No, I'll come back," I said. "Thank you. Sorry for any delay I must've given you."

"No, it's fine."

"Okay. Bye," I said and quickly walked back to the car. I got in and exhaled in huge relief.

"What happened? Did you see Donatella?"

"No, she isn't home but we have to wait for two hours for her return from Haiti," I replied.

"Let's go back to the motel then," Jared suggested and started the engine.

[|]

Two hours later, we drove back to the neighborhood and without wasting anymore time, I rushed out of the car and jogged to the house. I knocked on the door and waite for an answer while praying for her to be home. I was desperate to find Ruth at all cost.

The door opened, revealing a blonde haired girl wearing a black robe. Her long hair fell down to her chest, framing her face. I watched as she pushed up her glasses and squinted her eyes.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a low voice.

"Hi," I said with a smile. "Are you Donatella?"

"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow and eyed my body. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jackie. Can we talk outside for a moment? It's important," I said and she looked at me suspiciously before nodding her head.

Donatella walked out of the house and shut the door. I moved back when I noticed she was a foot taller than me and had an intimidating aura around her. She leaned on the door and crossed her arms.

"What is it?"

"It's about Ruth," I said and she tensed.

"Ruth? Do you know anything about her?" She sounded worried and even pushed herself off the door. "Tell me, please."

"Look, I'm looking for Ruth. Do you know where she is? I heard that she went on a trip with you or so?"

Donatella pushed her glasses up her nose and blinked.

"Oh, I thought you knew anything about her whereabouts. Listen, Ruth and I were supposed to go on a trip to Haiti. She had meet up with me a day before I left and she told me how she wanted us to leave for a while. I asked her why but she never said anything. On the day of the trip, she called me and told me she had an important business to do and that I should go on without her. She had said she'll join me on the next flight but I never saw her. I tried calling her phone yet she never picked up. As soon as I came back, I went to her house and her parents knows nothing about her whereabouts."

I rubbed my forehead in annoyance. I had expected to get answers but now I was more confused. It was obvious that Ruth was around Reside somewhere and it bothered me. Additionally, it scared me because I couldn't tell what Ruth could do.

"Thank you."

"Who are you to her though?" Donatella asked.

"I'm her brother's friend. He's been looking for her too," I said, knowing it was a half lie.

"Okay. If you find any news about her, please tell me about it?" Donatella pleaded with worry heavy in her tone.

"Of course," I said and walked away. "Where the hell is Ruth?"

[|]

As soon as we got back from Donatella's place, I called Andrea to tell her what I was told.

"There's basically no difference between what she said and the information my dad and I gathered," Andrea said in a tired voice.

"I wish there was someway to track her and..." I stopped talking when an idea hit my head. "Andrea, you said Ruth had used her card at an ATM, right?"

"Yes, I did."

"Every ATM has security cameras, right? I'm sure the bank or the building with the ATM has a footage of when she came to use it. There could be some clue that we could find through it," I suggested and she gasped.

"Oh, my God. How didn't I think of this? It's not going to be easy but with a time-stamp we should get a clip. I'll let my dad know about this and he'll use his connections to get the security clip," Andrea said and quickly ended the call.

I felt at peace a little, as if we were close to finding her with this very idea. I smiled and sat on my bed then raised my eyes to the door when it opened.

"Hey," Jared said, scratching his neck.

"What is it?" I asked as he looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"We have a problem," he said and I rose to my feet.

"Speak for heaven's sake."

Jared chuckled. "Lucas is coming to Redside. He just called me and he's on his way now."

I forgot how to breathe for some seconds at the news.