Crises in Love (Zora and Jaylan)
Chapter 520

We had played the footage over and over again. If you didn't look closely, to be honest, you'd miss the figure. She darted so fast, a clear attempt to dodge the surveillance cameras.

It meant she knew about the cameras, but not that the power had been out that night. The cameras were off.

Without that GPS snapshot, we'd be clueless, unaware of this whole scene.

"It's gotta be Fidelia!" Camilla nodded emphatically. "I'd recognize the way she runs anywhere."

"Are you sure, Camilla?" I squinted at the screen, still uncertain. "But the figure looks like a kid!"

Hannah snorted. "I can't believe the nerve of that child. Alone in the dead of night, she just takes off! But hey, at least she's alone."

Camilla shot her a questioning look. "What do you mean by that?"

Only I got the subtext in Hannah's quip.

"She means it's easier if she's by herself," I explained to Camilla. "Our theory about her being taken... it doesn't hold up. This is good news!"

Relief flooded through me. As long as she wasn't snatched up by some creeps, we had hope.

I turned to the young officer. "What's our next move?"

He signaled for me to wait, then took out his phone and reported back to the station-"they'd confirmed it was the kid."

Camilla's expression darkened, and there was a flicker of something fierce in her eyes that made me shiver. That wasn't a look I was used to seeing on her.

After the call, the officer said to me, "Ms. Wilburn, we've got people on the search now!"

Hannah pointed to the screen. "She went across the street... Why? Why'd she do that?"

Then she turned to me. "Allie, we should get Monique to come with us. She knows these streets better than any of us."

I immediately agreed with Hannah's suggestion. "Let's find Monique, get her on this. Maybe she can shed some light."

Hannah stood up. "I'm on it."

Ever since Monique and Probert came to town, they'd ditched their phones, sticking to the area between the Damon family's place and the Wood Manor, never venturing beyond Oldtown Avenue without checking in.

But Hannah was gone for over half an hour, and when she came back, she asked, "Have Monique and the others returned?"

I was taken aback. "Weren't you looking for them? You didn't find them?"

Hannah looked stunned. "I... I couldn't find them. They weren't at the Damon's today? I looked all around the neighborhood, they were not in the courtyard either. Thought they might have come back here!" I was speechless, puzzled. They didn't go to the Damon's? That was out of the ordinary. Why wouldn't they be there?

I pondered for a moment. "Not at the Wood Manor either?"

"I checked there, nothing!" Hannah was getting frantic. "I'll look again!"

"Hold on," I called out. "Check the upstairs rooms in the back!"

Hannah nodded and hurried off.

Even Camilla was at a loss. "Could they have not gone out at all? Where could they be?"

It didn't take long for Hannah to reappear, empty-handed. "No sign of them!"

My heart clenched, and our eyes met. We both thought back to the morning, the girls' behavior, when exactly they had left, something we'd all overlooked.

I quickly asked Helga, "Helga, when you came down with Carl this morning, did you see Monique or Probert?"

Helga replied in haste, "No, they'd already dashed downstairs when I came with Carl."

"That's weird!" I muttered, then instructed Hannah, "Check the cameras, see if they caught them leaving."

Hannah grabbed her laptop, opened the surveillance folder, and clicked. But to our dismay, the screen was dark.

I cursed under my breath, annoyed. "Perfect timing for maintenance!"

Just then, Brenda walked out from the back and asked my mom, "Ma'am, is it time for dinner?"

A lightbulb went off in my head, and I quickly told everyone to wait just a little longer.

Hannah looked at me with a puzzled expression. I glanced at the clock and said to her, "Our family always eat like clockwork. Just wait a bit longer." The penny dropped for Hannah, and Camilla's eyes lit up too.

My point was, they always showed up for meals on time unless they were stuck at the Damon's.

Well, today, I was keen to see if they'd return for lunch.