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"Cameron," my dad yelled at me, "Cameron." He began to shake me hard. "Wake up." I groaned sleepily. Right now, I didn't care if I was late for the first day of school. This growing girl needed her sleep.

"No," I mumbled. "Five more minutes." But the shaking didn't cease. "OK, I give up!" I cried when the shaking had become overbearing. I blinked, trying to get the room into focus. Where was I? Why is my bed so hard? What's going on? I rubbed my eyes and found myself on the floor. That's when I remembered what really happened.

I couldn't believe I fainted. That was so embarrassing. I couldn't be the weak fifteen-year-old I was. Not now, especially when I was supposed to be at the airport in about half-an-hour at the most. Good thing my dad taught me to drive (a tractor) when I was ten. Dad. A sob caught at the back of my throat and my eyes began to water. Stop it! I scolded myself. I needed to focus. I had to get on that plane. According the letter, I was in grave danger and since half of it was true so far, I was going to take it seriously.

"Ms. Morgan," the officer stood over me, trying to help me up. "Are you all right?" I nodded and pulled away, trying to be strong.

"What happened to my dad?" I demanded, strangely calm as I began to bombard him with questions. I thought I would panic, but I didn't. I don't know what was with me, but I felt different instincts--not mine--click in. "Where was he last? Who do you think took him?"

"That's confidential," he answered me. Was everything confidential? When I was out of this mess, the first thing I was going to was to get to the bottom of this. "Ok, we're going to go back to the station. Is that all right with you?" No. I couldn't miss that flight. That was probably the only plane that held my clue to whatever was next.

"Uh," I responded uncertainly, "could I just stay here? I'll be fine."

"Actually," he disagreed, "I'm to escort you to the station to contact any relatives to supervise you until we find your dad." I shook my head, not budging. Think Cammie think. Getting to the airport should've been easy. Finding the money and the next envelope should've been simple. It's a shame that I wouldn't be able to do either because it won't be simple or easy getting passed this guy. Hello! He wasn't a trained officer for nothing. He was going to see right through me. "Uh, what about your mom? You could stay with her instead," he suggested. I felt my face become blank and I looked the policeman right in the eye.

"I don't know anything about my mom," I told him. "She left when I was born or something. That's all my dad ever said about her." I crossed my arms, wanting him to know that I was done talking about her. He stood there, looking defeated and unsure about how to deal with a teenage girl. Perfect. I would use that against him.

I glanced around, calculating the time I would need to get the envelope from the cupboard and to get some things in a backpack before going to the airport. "Can I get something to eat first?" I asked innocently and on perfect cue, my stomach rumbled. He sighed before nodding and I walked up to the cupboard to get a plate. The policeman turned his back as he took in the house. I took those quick seconds to stuff the envelope that I had stashed in there down my bra (I didn't have any pockets) but that didn't work. It was way too obvious looking. What now?

"Officer, I don't feel very well," I mumbled. I saw him look at me in alarm, but I turned away from him and sprinted up the stairs and into my room. I threw the envelope into my book bag and attached the watch to my arm. "I'll be down in five minutes!" I yelled from the closed doors. I was giving myself one minute to get packed. One minute. I scrambled through my drawers, packing a few changes of clothing. I flew into the bathroom and got my toothbrush and things like that. I wasn't really worried about packing everything. If I forgot something, I can just buy it with the hundred dollars… crap! I forgot about the money.

My heart was pounding and my fists were sweating as I sprinted to my dad's office, heading all the way for the desk. The top of the desk was clear except for a broken light and a phone. Just to be sure, I picked them up to see if anything was underneath. Nothing. I pulled open the drawers, quickly shuffling through the papers to find something. I felt guilty for looking through his things. He never let me before and I never tried. After two minutes of nothing, I heard the policeman beginning to come up the stairs. Dang it! I needed to lie. That was something I never really did before, even though my dad said he had nothing against lying... strange, considering all my friends were saying that their parents thought that lying was wrong.

"Ms. Morgan?" he asked uncertainly. "Is everything OK?" My father is missing and no one is giving me an explanation. Yep. Everything is just fine and dandy.

"I just," I paused, trying to come up with a good cover. "Can I, uh, have a few seconds alone with my dad's stuff?" I pretended to mourn over his things but the policeman didn't think anything of it (maybe he's met crazier people than me). Instead, he gave me a quick nod and lumbered back down stairs. So far, so good.

I closed my eyes, using a few seconds to collect myself. Where would someone hide a hundred bucks? Maybe there was some secret compartment underneath, just like there always were in the movies. I dove beneath the desk, accidentally hitting my head. "Ow," I mumbled and looked up. That was when I saw it. No, it wasn't the hundred dollars I spent five minutes looking for. That would fill me with relief. Instead, this just made me want to cry all over again.

It was a picture...

...of my mother.

***

Suzy's purring pulled me out of my daze. Right. The money. I glanced one more time at the picture before stuffing in my backpack. Dad wouldn't mind if I took it, I think. Besides, I couldn't ask him, considering that he was MIA.

Three minutes passed and I was so frustrated, my clumsiness knocked down the lamp. Crap. Crap. Crap. I reached down to pick up the lamp, when my fingers felt something papery in the lampshade. Could this be…? I flipped it over to see five twenty dollar bills paper-clipped to the side. I could've kicked myself for being so stupid.

"Ms. Morgan?" the police officer's voice came from below. He had heard the crash obviously.

"I'll--" I didn't know what to say. "I'll be right down. Just give me a few more minutes. I have to clean this up." I ran back to my room, locking it. Maybe that would give me more time before he knew I was missing.

I walked toward the window that overlooked the back and an old willow that I've used it tons of time to sneak out and see Josh. But now I would use it for something entirely different.

I brought the thirty pound book bag around my shoulders and maneuvered my way through the branches. "You can do this," I said to myself. "You've done this before tons of times." But never with this much weight on my back.

I landed from the tree, for once thanking my chameleon-ish ways, and set out into the evening. I needed a car. There was no way I could take Dad's. The police officer would definitely notice a vehicle speeding down the driveway and not only am I running away, I'm also driving without a license. I knew what I would have to do now. I had to steal. Lying and stealing was not my kind of thing but sometimes, a girl had to do what a girl had to do. That's when a brilliant idea struck my head.

Dillon. He was my neighbor (unfortunately). That guy was such a jerk. I couldn't believe Josh kept hanging out with him. I decided for him that he could go without a car for the next week. I slunk through the bushes as I made my way to his house. Then I took out the house key he told Josh (who told me) that was under his front door mat. I opened the back door and found Dillon's precious van. That guy wasn't so bright. For one thing, he left his keys in the ignition. Perfect. Considering that I have no idea how to hijack a car.

The engine rumbled to life as I opened the garage door. Hopefully Dillon's family was asleep, even though it was only like--I looked down at my watch--20:00. Whatever that meant. I pushed onto the pedal and it rolled forward, nearly into the wall. Oh yeah. You have to put it into reverse. Oopsy Daisy.

But that didn't matter. Because I was out of there. I could now savor my freedom as I raced to the nearest airport. Victory! I'd worry about the consequences later.

Sorry Dillon.

***

I sat on the plane, my heart still pounding from today's events. I'm not proud of what I did, but sometimes it was necessary. I had ran away, stolen a car, and drove without a license! People don't get locked up for that, right? I didn't want to be on the run my entire life. Not that it wasn't interesting... "You can now unfasten your seatbelts and go about the plane," the mechanical voice announced. This was now the time to look for the red envelope. Good thing I was in the back by myself. Apparently, not many people were going to London tonight. In fact, I was the only teenager on there except for some guy all the way in the front.

I pulled out the picture of my mother. I had never seen this woman before in my life, but I knew it had to be her. How could it not be? My dad was standing right beside her, looking like the happiest man in the world and my infant self was in their arms. Strange. Dad said he never took that many pictures because he said he didn't want too much evidence (I have no idea what he means by that). But then again, he also said once upon a time that I looked a lot like my mom. I didn't know how I could really trust his word since this woman I saw was beautiful. I, on the other hand, blended into everything.

"Hello, ma'am," some attendant greeted me and I quickly shoved the picture back. "Would you like anything to eat or drink?" I nodded, grabbing a bag of pretzels. I hadn't eaten in a while. That was when I heard a crash. I looked up to see a teenage boy around my age in a pile of cups and snack bags. I quickly got up to assist him while the attendant was apologizing.

"Thanks," came his quick reply. He was a head taller than me with dark hair. But I only got a glimpse of him since he avoided my eyes before he ran in the direction of the bathrooms. As he turned the corner, I thought I could detect a slight smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes and shrugged it off, heading back to my seat. That was when I saw it: the red envelope with the same, creepy aura about it. How could it just appear? I only left for a second!

I plopped myself back down on the seat. It didn't matter. I mean, I had it now, right? And to me, that was the only thing that matter. I took a deep breath. Hopefully this would give me some answers. Hopefully it'll give me my next move. My trembling hand slit open the top as I saw the first words: Cameron Morgan.

Then the plane came falling down.

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