Chapter 9

As the hours went by, Mirabel's family began to worry.

"She's still not answering her phone." said Julieta.

"She left the house hours ago, where could she be?" Augustin asked.

Of course her parents were worried, but so were Bruno, Alma, and Antonio. But even Isabela, Dolores, Luisa, Camillo, Pepa, and Felix were getting concerned.

"Maybe we should call the police." Bruno suggested.

"Good idea." mentioned Alma.

And she quickly got on the phone.

"Do you think she's okay?" wondered Isabela.

"I hope so." hoped Camillo.

Felix felt something tug and his shirt. He looked down and saw Antonio looking up at him.

"Papa, is Mirabel in trouble?" he questioned.

He looked at his son with a gentle look.

"Hopefully not, mijo." he answered.

Meanwhile, Marcos had woken up from his loss of consciousness.

"(Groans), what happened?" he asked himself, as he rubbed his head.

Then suddenly it hit him. "Mirabel!" He ran to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. He banged on it and screamed, but no one ever came. He looked around the room for his cell phone, but it was no one to be found.

"Dos mio! Those jerks must've taken it."

He slumped on his bed, and put his head in his hands.

"I'm so sorry Mirabel, I'm so sorry." he said to himself.

Mirabel slowly opened her eyes. Her head felt fuzzy, and she could barely move her body. She managed to sit up, and realized she was in a different room.

"What the?" she asked herself.

She looked down at herself, as saw that her clothes were different. Instead of her shirt, jeans, and pink shoes, she was wearing an oversized white t-shirt, and her shoes were gone.

"Hola? Is anyone there?" she called out.

But no one answered. She then got off the bed she was lying on. Standing up was a little difficult, as she felt a little wobbly.

"Whoa."

As she got her balance back, she walked over to a window. She opened the curtains and saw that the sun was back in the sky.

"It's already the next day?"

She began to panic a little. Her family be so worried about her, and started looking for her purse. But it wasn't there.

"Okay, I need answers."

She went to the door, and tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Hello, hola? Lorenzo, Esteban, Marcos?" she called.

But there was no answer.

At the casita, the Madrigals had called the police and they were giving statements and answering questions.

"So Mrs. Madrigal, your daughter is 15-years-old right?" asked an officer.

"Si." said Julieta.

"And she's been missing since yesterday afternoon?"

"Yes, at first we thought she was just out with friends..."

"But when she didn't come back we began to get worried, especially when she didn't answer her phone." Augustin told.

After the police talked to Mirabel's parents, they talked to Camillo.

"So Camillo, do you know any of Mirabel's friends?"

"She has two from school, Angela and Valentina. And there's also a boyfriend she has." he informed.

"Do you know his name?"

"No, she didn't share that kind of stuff with me."

"Looks like we better have a talk with Angela and Valentina." one of the officers said to their partner.

They left the Madrigals' casita, and split up to to to Mirabel's friends' houses.

"Mirabel's missing?" asked Angela. "Since yesterday afternoon. You were with her yesterday?" "Yeah, we were all at the mall together. She had an argument with her abuela, so she needed to be away from her family for a while."

"I understand that Mirabel has a boyfriend?" "Yeah, his name's Marcos Herrera."

"Mirabel wasn't ready to go home after we were done at the mall." Valentina informed. "So where did she go?" the officer wanted to know. "She was picked up by Marcos' brother, Lorenzo." "Lorenzo. And did he take her home?"

"No, he offered to take her back to his place so she could spend time with Marcos."

Back with Mirabel she was curled up on the bed confused and scared. Suddenly the door opened, and Esteban stepped in. "Esteban, where am I? What's going on?" Mirabel wanted to know. "No need to fear Mirabel, everything's fine." he told her.

"Listen I really should be getting home now. My family's probably really worried about me." But Esteban shook his head. "Lo siento, but I can't let you leave." Mirabel looked confused. "Don't worry, all will be explained in due time."

Then he left, locking the door behind him.

After the police gathered the information from Angela and Valentina they went back the Madrigals.

"It seems Mirabel went to the house of her boyfriend, Marcos Herrera." an officer told her family.

Hearing that name Isabela and Dolores looked up in realization.

"Do you two know him?" asked one of the officers.

"Not him, but that last name sounds familiar." Isabela replied.

"Hey Dolores wasn't there a guy named Herrera in our graduating class back in high school?"

"Yeah, I think his name was Lorenzo." Dolores answered.

"What stands out about him?"

"Well there were rumors that he was involved with some of the younger girl students." Isabela told.

"Involved like how?"

The two looked at each other.

"Involved like in relationships, but he had several over those next four years."

"I even overheard he took advantage of some of those girls." added Dolores.

That shocked the family.

"Girls, why didn't you ever tell us about this?" Pepa wanted to know.

"They were just rumors. We had no idea if they were true or not." Isabela defended.

"You know now that I think about it, I know a Herrera too." Luisa piped up.

Everyone looked at her.

"When I was in high school there was this guy named Esteban Herrera. And I think he may have been involved with some senoritas too."

"Well if that's the case, I think Mirabel may be in big trouble." an officer declared.

Augustin and Julieta looked at each other worriedly, and so did the rest of the family.

That's chapter 9, plz review