Ahhhh I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long!! I'm trying to get better haha. Online school is SUCH a drag and we're reading The Great Gatsby and it's so boring and the last thing I want to do most nights is to sit down and write. Literature takes up like half my day ugh. I just wrote an essay yesterday so I wasn't too keen on writing MORE haha. I honestly don't understand why teachers expect us to do DOUBLE what we normally do in class because we're doing online school. They know we have lots of work for our other SIX classes right?? Okay I'm ranting now. Please enjoy! :) Oh also, if you want a refresher on all of the plot drama, re-read Chapter 3. It's pretty detailed in that chapter and a lot of it applies in this chapter.

I woke up to light streaming through the dirty blinds. After taking a few seconds to realize I was in the motel, I sat up and I heard the shower running in the bathroom. Mike's suitcase was on the other queen bed. I rubbed my eyes and groaned, letting my head fall back on the pillow.

I ended up just laying there for a few minutes. These last few days have been feet on the gas the entire time. I was beyond exhausted. I finally dragged myself out of bed when Mike exited the bathroom looking refreshed and clean. I took a nice warm shower and freshened up. It felt really nice.

While I got ready, Erica and Zoe were in the room with us. It was really late in the morning, like eleven am, since we were all so tired. I think Zoe and Erica got some food from this nearby diner so there was some really good breakfast. After we ate, Erica reminded us of the situation at hand and what we know so far.

"Okay, so let's review. This guy named Joshua Duncan is now a member of the House of Representatives due to the unpredicted death of the former Nebraska representative, Mark Dazy. But I'm pretty sure that Joshua Duncan is Joshua Hallal, under the person of Joshua Duncan. Joshua Hallal doesn't exist anymore, yet all old pictures of Joshua Duncan after the age thirteen don't exist either. Joshua Hallal is using Joshua Duncan's identity, but I'm not sure if it's consensual or not. My guess is that Joshua Duncan got paid off. We don't have any idea. And coincidentally, Joshua was Mark's apprentice for a year, until he died suddenly the night after a dinner that Joshua attended. But now that Mark is gone, Joshua Duncan (Hallal) is a part of the House of Representatives. My question is why would he want to be the representative in Nebraska? It's a low level cabinet position. If I didn't know better, I would think he has some evil scheme in a farm around here and wanted to hide it from the government, but he doesn't have enough power for that. There are three representatives from Nebraska, so he doesn't have all the power. It doesn't make much sense. That's why we're going to visit the farm where Mark Dazy lived most of his life with his family. Today we're going to meet with his daughter Hailey, who was there the night he died. She lives on the farm for now, until the final stages of his will are applied."

"How are we supposed to meet her? We can't just waltz in and expect them to let us in," Zoe said.

"I called ahead yesterday. Hailey didn't care. I also scoped the place out last night. It looks like a legit family farm. We're meeting her in a half an hour, so we better get going." Erica stood up and got ready.

We all got changed into casual jeans and older t-shirts (aka no designer stuff for Erica) since we were going to a farm. The drive was only about fifteen minutes from our motel. We reached the driveway. Immediately, we were greeted with a decorated mailbox (it looked really cute, like a little kid did it) with the last name Dazy on it. We were in the right place.

Erica turned onto the driveway and we bumped the long gravel path until reaching a large farmhouse. It was three, maybe four stories tall with old wood trim and peeling white paint. Despite its aging, it had a very homey vibe. The house could have even been made by the family. Behind it, we saw an ancient, old, red barn and a few more sheds and small houses. And of course, there were farm fields as far as the eye can see. It was very different from the city life I was now adjusted to, but I didn't really mind it. I could hear all the animals making their various sounds, instead of the bustle and hustle of America.

Standing on the porch of the house was a small crowd, almost all wearing overalls and hats, and all very tan. There was a girl standing in the front. As we were driving up, I didn't really get a good view of her, but once I got out and could see her clearly, I felt my entire body heat up and I felt perspiration starting to gather on my forehead. It had nothing to with the scorching temperature though.

This girl, about my age, was absolutely stunning. I immediately assumed she was Hailey Dazy. She had dark brown hair, with streaks of bright sun-bleeded blonde. Her skin was perfectly tan, like she was still a bit farm tan, but not as dark as her family and people around her. She had a friendly, kind smile on her face, showing off her white pearls. From the moment I saw her, I could tell she was going to be funny, nice, fun and sweet. She had that vibe about her. Haily also seemed very, was the word... free? She seemed carefree, happy and even had a little bit of a wild glint in her eye. She wasn't wearing overalls like the others though, she was wearing some jeans, combat boots and a tied-up plaid shirt. There was else something different about her than her companions, though. Even though she dressed very farm-y, she didn't see completely country like the others. Some of the kids actually had straw in their mouths. Most of them talked in every country slang and tone too, but she had a I would like to guess a New York accent. I felt myself getting drawn to her, without even talking to her. It was a weird, yet wonderful feeling I've never felt before.

She came up to us when we exited the car.

"Welcome, everyone! My name is Hailey Dazy and this is Dazy's farm." She stood her hand out. Immediately, I could tell she wasn't from around here, these farms in Nebraska. She had a New York accent, but the big tell was her handshake. After spending a few years in the private equity and investment industry, I could tell types handshakes and where a person is from based on one. She had a firm, yet professional handshake. New York business woman for sure. I could totally tell. But what was she doing here in Nebraska? Or more, what was she doing in New York?

"Thanks for meeting with us. I'm Erica, this is Zoe, this is Mike and that's Ben." Erica introduced all of us. I gave a goofy smile, but then instantly regretted it. I probably looked like an idiot.

"A pleasure," she said, gesturing to us to follow her, "We made some lemonade. Why don't we eat something and talk?" I was definitely not going to turn that down. Plus, it was like a zillion degrees so I was so thirsty.

I hadn't gathered the courage to talk to her directly yet. I had never been this nervous about a person in a long time, almost nine years.

Zoe, Erica and Hailey were up ahead, talking about something. Mike and I were a few paces behind. Mike shot me a concerned look,

"You okay? Your face is super red."

I tried very hard to conceal my blush, "Wha-nothing. Nothing."

But unfortunately Mike, the ladies man, could see right through it, "No way. Hailey, right?"

"What?" I said way too quickly, "No!"

"Why not?" He joked, "City boy, country girl. Plus, you've gotta admit, she's smokin' right?"

"Mike!" I hissed, a little horrified.

He laughed and nudged my shoulder, "All right, I'll let it go."

We got to the large table and Hailey poured us all a glass of fresh lemonade. I downed it very quickly. It was amazing. Better than any soft drink lemonade you get a delis for sure.

"Liked that, didn't you?" Hailey smiled at me. I smiled back. I was just praying it wasn't too big.

"So, welcome everyone. It's amazing that you all want to get ahead of your summer college journalism course! And we're all honored that you want to feature the story of my late father, Mark Dazy!"

To my credit, I did a very good job reacting to the unsuspected news. But it was a great cover on Erica's part. No one would suspect college kids doing some extra research for a feature story. Plus that lets us ask normally invasive questions. Smart.

"Where should we start?" Hailey asked, seeming prepared to answer some questions then and there.

"Well..." Zoe trailed off. It was evident she had absolutely no idea what to ask her.

"How about telling us about you?" I cut in abruptly.

"Well, I was born here on this farm, actually. I'm twenty six years old. I grew up on this farm with my parents, Mark and Donna Dazy, my four older siblings, my cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, you name it. We all lived together in various houses around the farm. Dad was forty when he got the position in the House of Representatives. He studied hard at UCLA and came back here to run. He was a loving man and the heart of this farm. I was homeschooled here with all the kids until I went to public high school. I fell in love with school outside of our family and actually got accepted into Princeton."

"Oh yay, we have another genius around here," Mike muttered jokingly. Erica glared at him but Hailey just smiled and continued.

"I studied neuroscience and neurotechnology for four years. I got an amazing internship at this world-renowned research facility in New York for about a year and a half and I lived in New York, being one of the first in my family to leave the farm for a while, not counting Dad of course. I first came back here when my mom passed away, a little over a year ago. I stayed a few months, trying to help out and be there for my dad, and tried to juggle working from here. It was hard. And after this election, I was going to leave again. But then Joshua came into the picture. He was a young, ambitious politician and Dad really took to that. I think he saw him as a younger version of himself. Joshua was also an orphan and Dad took it upon himself to be a mentor and father to him. Joshua was in some financial trouble with college and so he started living on the farm. No one minded at all. Unlike most city people, he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. Well what was left of him. Not many people know this, but Joshua actually has three prosthetic limbs due to a very unfortunate trip to Africa. Technological advances got so fancy that you can't really tell! Anyway, Joshua was the most wonderful guest ever. He helped out and was amazing. He even told me that he could handle things down here, and that I could go back to work in New York earlier than I thought. I was so excited, for I had missed work so much. I believed and knew he could handle things at the farm, too. That was the best part. So I was planning to go when I got delayed a few days. My new apartment in New York wouldn't be ready until three days after I was supposed to leave so I decided to stay. A day before I was supposed to leave, one of my final dinners before I left again, my father passed away." A sob caught in her throat, "You know, some of my family blames me. That I was stressing him out about leaving and that caused the heart thing. But it wasn't me. And Joshua was so supportive of me, until a day after his death, Joshua left us too. He claimed that now Mark had died, the place brings him unhappy memories and wanted out. He was going to work and focus his campaign from Virgina, to be closer to Washington DC. He was the designated successor to be the representative now. He," another sob caught in Hailey's throat. This time, tears were at the edge of her eyes. "He he asked me to go with him. I wanted to, I did, but I knew I couldn't. I'd be abandoning everyone again. So I've been living here since he passed about a month ago."

This was surprising. Joshua, nice, kind, caring, helpful? The only part that wasn't surprising is the fact that he ditched them right when he was done using them. And I was patting myself on the back for realizing that Hailey was from New York. I knew it. The information was helpful. Hailey seemed to know a lot about what was happening with their campiages too. It was good we were talking to her.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Zoe said sympathetically while she held Hailey's hand comfortingly. Hailey gave her a grateful smile back.

"So how much do you know about Joshua?" Erica asked her when she calmed down a little bit,

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Like what do you know about his childhood or his life outside of politics?" Erica asked.

Hailey shook her head, "I don't know too much. He didn't like to talk about his childhood, it brought back painful memories for him. His parents died in a sailboat accident when he was young and he lost many of his limbs tragically, so he didn't like to talk about it. But he was born near Washington DC and was homeschooled most of his life, as his family was very adventurous and loved to travel. He got accepted into Brown for politics and during his freshman year, his parents passed. He barely put himself through college, and when he graduated, he left and moved here in Boulder so that he could live cheaper, as he was in financial and student debt. My father met him at some event and then he moved into the guest room. He was an amazing guest and left after my father died. He took the death hard, and we were comforting each other, until he decided to move out. I haven't seen him since. I did call to congratulate him on his election, but he was really busy so we could only talk for a few minutes."

This was not really new information, as most of this was accessible online. However, I wasn't surprised he was a charming, good houseguest. He can play any role he wants when manipulating others, including pretending to be a nice person.

But there wasn't a lot of information on what started all of this scandal, the death of Mark Dazy.

"If it's not too difficult for you to speak about, would you mind recounting the night your father passed away?" I asked very gently.

Hailey nodded, "It was a regular sunday night. Each sunday night on this farm, we all eat together as a giant family. It's a tradition. We were all there, Joshua included, all enjoying dinner. About halfway through dinner, Dad didn't look so good. He wasn't engaging as much as he normally did at these types of dinners. We thought nothing of it; maybe he was tired. But he said he needed to lie down after dinner, and BEFORE dessert, so we knew something was up. But again, that wasn't anything to be alarmed about. He said there was sharp pain in his chest, so he was going to rest. The family wasn't too worried yet, there were rarely any heart issues at all in his family. But the next morning, we realized that he was gone. We were all devastated, the whole town was devastated. The population of this town is only about five thousand people and we knew most of them through business or other stuff so it was like a big family. My older sister took it especially hard. She and dad were close."

Zoe comforted Hailey again as her tears were starting to fall again.

Erica quickly scanned the room, "Hailey, there is something that we didn't tell you. We actually aren't journalists."

I immediately sat up in panic. Was she going to tell Hailey about her past after ten minutes of meeting her? Zoe and Mike did too. We all snapped our heads over to Erica.

"This must stay between us. We're actually training to be FBI agents, and we have a suspicion that your father's death might not be an accident. We suspect there was foul play." Erica countined.

I knew she wasn't going to tell Hailey about the whole spy thing. Erica already had messed up trust issues. But we all eagerly waited for her response. She was either going to take it well, or not at all.

There was a beat. And then she whispered, "I thought so!"

That was unexpected.

Mike blinked, "Uh, you did?"

She nodded quickly, "We haven't had a heart condition incident since great-great-great-granddaddy Earl Dazy and that was only a minor seizure. He lived. So why would Dad have a fatal one?"

"Why didn't you bring it up with authorities?" Zoe asked.

"My sister was taking it really hard. The last thing I wanted was to create a scene. He's still dead, regardless. My sister wanted everything from the memory of that night to be erased so we could move on healthily. She would hate me more than she already does right now! Like I said before, some of my family blames me for causing Dad stress which led to his heart thing. If we prove there is foul play, they will know it's not my fault and they won't keep icing me out. And if this is true, I want justice for the dirtbag who killed my father. He was the most important man in my life."

"Even if it was someone in your family?" Erica cut in abruptly. Our heads swung back to Erica once again. We were all shocked she'd said that, but it made some sense. But I thought we were trying to prove Josha guilty? Although there were a bunch of people there that night. It could have technically been someone else. What was Erica's game here? Maybe she was just trying to open up the conversations for suspects.

"Think about it," Erica continued, "Hailey, who inherits the farm?"

"My uncle Ed," Hailey said carefully, "Oh!" She said, perking up, "The election was only three weeks at the time. Susan, his competitor, had absolutely no chance. She lives alone on a giant farm since all of her workers quit after a week. She's a crazy person. But with Dad gone, she would, in theory, get the position because she would be the only candidate. If she did it and that was her plan, it failed. I guess she didn't suspect Joshua to run."

Erica nodded, "Very interesting. We'll have to look into that. Do you know anything else that might be useful?"

"Oh!" Hailey exclaimed, standing up, "I actually do have something you might find helpful. But you can't tell anyone else, especially people in this family."

We followed her in ominous silence. This was sure to be interesting.

Yay, more plot stuff. Also!! Guess what I just learned: My favorite TV show of all time, Parks and Rec, IS HAVING A REUNION EPISODE AFTER 10 FREAKIN YEARS AND I'M SO EXCITED!!! I love that TV show. Airs next thursday and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!