"Life is like walking against the current."

~ @deepxsnaps // Twitter

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Alice's P.O.V

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    "What's wrong?" Ray asks, peeling his eyes away from the twins.
    "Cassie. He's gone!" I exclaim, scanning the skate park of any sign of the colourful eyed blonde.
    "Is he with the twins?"
    I shake my head. "No, I don't see him."
    I bring my hands to my head, standing up. "He was just here. I swear I only looked away for a minute!"

    "Okay, calm down, Alice. Did Cassie say anything in in the time you looked away?"
    "No," I say, panic obvious in my voice. "I would've heard him."
    "Maybe he saw Jerome or one of the guys?" Ray suggests.
    I shake my head. "It's not like Cassie to walk away without telling me."
    "Do you want me to tell the twins to help us look for Cassie?" he offers.

    "No, let them have their fun. You watch over them, I'll look for Cassie."
    "Are you sure?" he asks.
    I nod.
    "Okay, call me when you find him," Ray says as I walk off.
    "I will," I reply walking as fast as my injured leg would let me.
    "Cassie!" I cry out, scanning the crowded skate park for the blonde toddler.

    A few curious teenagers look up from their phones at my voice, but look back down realizing that it doesn't affect them. My eyes dart at the faces of the many people in the crowd, stopping when I spot a blonde haired toddler pushing past a group of cyclists. A brown skinned girl cries out, swerving her bike to the right to avoid colliding into him.

    I call out the toddler's name but he doesn't hear me. Cassie runs off yet again. I nudge past the group cyclists, not bothering to apologize. Now's not the time to do so.
    I wave my hand as I run, trying to catch the toddlers attention. "Cassie!"
    I must look like a mad woman as I run across the street shouting my baby boy's name. But my appearance is the least of my worries.

    Cassie turns a corner, disappearing behind a building. I wrap my jacket tighter around my body as I near the building. I slow down when I reach the corner. I swallow nervously, placing my hand on the brick wall as I turn the corner.
    I hesitantly place my hand on the toddler's shoulder. "Cassie?"

    I smile as he turns around. But the smile is immediately wiped off my face when I see that he's not Cassie. In fact, the toddler isn't even a boy. The little girl looks up at me with her big, blue eyes.
    She blinks. "Do I know you?"
    "Sorry," I apologize. "I- I thought you were someone else."
    "It's alright," she assures me before walking off.

    I scan my surroundings in hope that I'd see Cassie on the streets but he's nowhere to be seen. I cover my mouth with my hand, chocking on a sob. "Fuc-"
    "Alice!"
    I turn around to face whoever's calling my name. I don't remove my hand from my mouth when I see that it's Tia.
    "How are you?" she asks cheerfully.

    Her brows furrow with concern when realizes that I'm in no mood to talk. "Are- Are you alright?"
    I let out a shaky breath. "No. No, I lost him."
    "Who? Lost who?"
    "Cassie. He was here a second ago," I tell her.
    "Are you sure he didn't just wander off?" Tia asks.

    I shake my head. "No. Cassie's not the type that would do wander off on his own."
    "Do you want me to accompany you to the police?" she asks.
    I begin to nod, but stop when I spot a familiar black motorcycle parked by the side of the road pavement.
    Tia trails off when she notices that I'm not paying attention. "Alice?"
    "Is that yours?" I ask, pointing at the ominous vehicle.

    Tia follows my line of sight then furrows her eyebrows. "No."
    Then who-
    "Why? Does it have any significant meaning to you?" Tia asks.
    "Um, kinda," I say. "That's the bike that Will always waits for in the morning. He drove it to the forest to pick me up but he never really told me where he got the motorcycle."

    Tia glances back at the motorcycle. "Are you sure that's the same bike?"
    "Yes, why? Do you know who it belongs to?" I ask, hoping that might give me a clue as to who Will's been hanging out with.
    Tia hesitates for a second before answering my question. "I don't know. I can't be sure."
     "Could whoever owns that bike be the person who took Cassie?" I ask.

    "No." she shakes her head. "He'd never come here."
    "He?"
    Tia cocks her head to the side, confused. "I'm sorry?"
    "He," I repeat. "You said he."
    "I- I did?" she stutters. "It must've slipped out."
     I narrow my eyes, not believing her lie.

    I always suspected that it belonged to her but I never thought that she'd be a friend of the person who owned it. Let alone a friend of someone who'd kidnap Cassie. Could she really know this guy?
    Well, there's only one way to find out...
    "Who's bike does this belong to?" I demand, pointing at the motorcycle.

    "I swear, I don't know," she replies, keeping her composure.
    She may be a good actress but her little facade doesn't fool me.
    Two can play at that game.
    I cross my arms. "Tell me who it belongs to or I'll call the cops and have you arrested for being an accomplice for kidnapping."
    Tia gapes at me. "You- You can't be serious."

    "Oh, I am," I reply.
    "This is absurd!"
    "Well, you'll see just how absurd this whole thing is when I get to the cops," I say, turning around to walk off.
    "Wait!" Tia exclaims, grabbing me by the wrist.
    She slowly releases her hold on me as I turn around to face her.

    I cross my arms over my chest, tapping my foot on the ground as I look at her expectantly. "I'm waiting."
    Tia exhales deeply, realizing that there's no point in lying to me as I'd inevitably find out the truth. "This'll probably take a long time. We should sit down."
    "No," I say firmly. "I don't have time to wait, I need to go to the police now. It's not like whoever took Cassie would be having a causal chat."

    "His bike is still here. He definitely isn't planning on leaving anytime soon."
    I mull the thought over for a sceond before nodding. I then sit on the pavement beside her. "Okay, talk."
    "Where do you want me to start?"
    "Who owns that bike?" I ask, getting straight to the point.

    Tia looks towards the bike. "His name is Ethan Rodriguez. He used to be an old friend of my brothers'."
    "Wait-" I hold my hand up. "Brothers as in plural?"
    Tia nods, not taking his eyes away from the motorcycle. "Yes, brothers."
    "You said you only had one."
    "Yeah, that's because only one of them is still alive," she replies.
    Oh.

    "My oldest brother, Joshua didn't hang out with the right crowd. He was introduced to this gang, The Scorpions, by Ethan. One day the gang was attacked and it turned into a huge gunfight. He got caught in the crossfire."
    Oh.

    "Josh was immediately rushed to the hospital. My parents dropped everything to check up on him so my brother and I were sent to my late aunt's house to stay the night." Tia pauses, fidding with her thumbs and I patiently wait for her to continue, which she does. "They never made it to the hospital. In the heat of the situation my father wasn't paying attention to the traffic."

    "I lost both my older brother and my parents because of Ethan Rodriguez."
    How do you know that the motorcycle belongs to him? I want to ask, but I don't get the chance to as Tia is already answering me.
    Tia clenches her fists. "I know that bike is his because I saw the blasted thing at the outside my house every day."

    "Rodriguez would always wait until my parents left for work to take Josh for a "field trip". He corrupted Josh and till today I still don't know how he managed to do it. Josh was the nicest and smartest kid in my hometown. He knew better than to get involved with people like Rodriguez. That bastard got to live but my family was torn apart. I only was eight years old."

    I stare at her speechless. "I- I'm sorry. I didn't-"
    "It's alright," Tia assures me, shaking her head. "How would you have known? I don't tell people these things."
    "What happened to him?" I ask.
    "He got away," Tia says bitterly. "He killed two cops in the process."
    "I hate to ask but what makes you so sure that this Ethan guy would come here?"

    "Because my brother and I were the reason he got thrown in jail in the first place," Tia says. "We testified against him. Rodriguez was livid. He swore that he'd get even with us when he got out."
    "Is that why you and your brother moved here? Because you wanted to make sure he couldn't find you guys?"
    Tia nods. "That was the plan, yes."

    "So what are we waiting for?" I ask, standing up. "Let's go find this son of a bitc-"
    "No!" Tia exclaims. "No, we can't do that."
    "Why not?"
    "Well, for one thing, he's a highly trained killer and if he did manage to brainwash Will, then we're screwed," she states.
    "How do you know that Will's been brainwashed?" I ask.

    "Does he leave the house early and come home late?" Tia asks. "Started keeping to himself lately? Mysteriously changed his style all of a sudden? Doesn't reply to your phone calls?"
    "You can't be serious," I state. "You can't actually think that Will would join a gang."
    "I didn't think that Josh would join a gang either, but yet, here I am, ten years later, on the run from his gang leader."

    "He wouldn't-"
    "Why don't we find out?" Tia suggests. "I'll go ask my brother if he knows where Rodriguez's whereabouts are."
    "Okay, but I'm not just going to sit around and wait for answers to what can I do I tell the police?" I ask.
    Tia gives me a grave look. "Tell them that we need an APB on an Ethan Rodriguez."
    I nod. "Anything else?"

    "Yeah. Tell them Rodriguez is probably armed and very dangerous." Tia pauses, then says something that makes my blood freeze. "And if Rodriguez is here, they authorizes should expect to run into his whole gang, too."

****

    "Woah, back up a second," Jerome interrupts. "Cassie's been kidnapped by a gang?"
    I regain my composure before nodding. "That's what Tia says."
    "Did you ever think that she could be lying?" Hunter asks. "She admitted that she knew who owned the motorcycle and that he was a gang leader."
    "She also accused Will of being in a gang," Lewis points out.

    Jerome nods. "Exactly. For all we know she could be in on the whole thing!"
    "Don't you think I'd know if she was lying?" I snap.
    Rays grasps onto my hands. "Alice, that's not what he meant. Cassie's just been kidnapped. Your judgement right now might be a bit a... Clouded."
    "So what do you suggest we do?" I ask him.

    "How 'bout going to the sheriff's office?"
    I exhale, exasperated. "I told you, Drew, I already tried it. The doors were locked and the office was empty."
    "Why don't we just call uncle Will?" Isaac suggests. "I mean, if he really does know this Rodriguez guy he should know where Cassie is."
    "Because if uncle Will does know this Rodriguez guy, as you so nicely stated, there's a chance that he might be in on it."

    "Why would he be in on it? He's family for God's sake," Isaac shouts at his twin.
    "It's just a theory, you nitwit!" Asa yells. "God, you can be so daft sometimes."
    Isaac stands up from the couch, fuming. "I'm the moron? Who's the git who got himself stuck on the rock climbing walls last year?"
    "The ropes got tangled, idiot!"

    Isaac shoves Asa, who stumbles back at the impact. "You're the idiot for accusing uncle Will for betraying us!"
    Asa glares at his twin. "It's just a theory, pea for brains!"
    "You fu-"
    "Shut up, both of you!" I yell, surprising the both of them. "Your baby brother is missing and the two of you are squabbling like a bunch of immature kids!"

    "Alice." Ray tilts my chin up so that I'm looking at him. "Do really think that Will's in on it?"
    I sigh, shaking my head. "No. The twins are both partially right. Will might be in Rodriguez's gang, but he'd never hurt anyone. Especially Cassie."
    "So how are we going to get him back?" Andrew asks.
    "We need to find out where Rodriguez is," I reply.

    "But no one knows where the sheriff is," Ray points out. "And the doors are locked."
    "Exactly. So we can't check to see if Rodriguez is here or not," I say, dejected.
    "That's not exactly true."
    The six of us turn to face Asa.
    "What do you mean?" Hunter asks.
    Asa's eyes glint with mischief. "We could always break into the sheriff's office."

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This chapter was so hard for me to write, you have no idea how many times I had writer's block for this one chapter. The next chapter is probably going to give me an even bigger writer's block so wish me luck. And a little heads up, you'll probably cry so grab yourself some tissues cause you'll need it. Trust me.

I've found a couple of songs that I can use for Checkmate but I think I'll wait until I'm done writing this book to update the completed playlist. Anyway, the big reveal (who Will is hanging out with) is going to happen soon so tell me who you think it the person is or if you think Will's turned bad or smth. I'm looking forward to reading your comments.

The love pentagon is probably going to start around chapter 25, but I could be wrong though. I hope I won't ruin the love pentagon bc of, um, many many many reasons which you guys'll see soon enough... Well, that's all of this A/N, bye, guys.

~ Alice xx

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Do you think Will's in on the kidnapping?

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