By A Rose

|CHAPTER FOURTEEN🌹|

A few days passed by and Wes and I continued our lovers' tour through every route in Los Angeles. 

Due to the long walks we had, I knew Los Angeles like the back of my palms. If given a piece of paper and a pen, I was sure I could draw a map of the beautiful city. 

Things had gotten quiet. Too quiet.

But after a while, that silence was disrupted by an unsettling news.

Tina McQueen had gone missing.

Her school teachers queried me since Daisy McQueen; her mother was nowhere to be found either. I called Wes and thought of a hint which occurred in one word. 'Crucifier'. 

Wesley and I made several detective moves. We questioned every person that was somehow related to the McQueens. It seemed like Daisy and Tina were not so popular. Just a few people knew a thing or two about them. 

But there was one witness whom we were lucky to find. When questioned, he pointed out the fact that Daisy was not Tina's biological mother. 

Tina was an orphan and for reasons unknown to anyone; Daisy took her in and had taken care of the young damsel since she was five years old. I was shocked and Wes was more than surprised.

"Wow! So Daisy isn't Tina's biological mother. That's weird." Wes said.

"Actually it's not so weird. Come to think of it, Daisy does have a lot of secrets." I told Wes after my brain had done a renewed search.

"What secrets exactly?"

"Well, remember how I told you that I met Nathan's biological mother during his funeral? Daisy knew her. Daisy knew Nathan's real mom and she said nothing about it. I'm not sure, but I think that's a huge thing. Do you think Nathan's death could be related to Tina's disappearance somehow?" I asked.

"I don't think so Ray. This is Daisy we're talking about. I don't think she's related to Nathan's murder. I mean do you know her from high school? Was she one of the students from our high school? That's where the chain of murder started. Even if she was the Crucifier, we need strong proof. Something better than her capabilities to keep secrets." Wes said.

I agreed with him. There was no way Daisy could be the Crucifier. I couldn't remember her face from high school. Wes was right. I needed to come up with something better or I just had to find a new lead.

Wesley and I decided to focus on Daisy McQueen's background. We decided to search for an undiscovered history; just to be sure we were not making quick assumptions. 

We also inspected security footage, from a camera on the street on which Daisy and Tina were last seen. The scene was both surprising and confusing to Wesley and I. Other inspectors and police officers also found it quite disturbing.

In the security footage, Daisy gave Tina the worst kind of beating I had ever seen. She punched and kicked the girl ruthlessly. 

When Tina tried to stand up, the brunette villain pinned down the little girl and gave her really terrible slaps. The slaps became punches which marched steadily from face to stomach and back to face.

My heart was filled with anger as I imagined the young child's cry while she wriggled in pain until she passed out. 

A few minutes after the unfair show down, Daisy dumped the almost lifeless girl in her Volvo and sped off after she made haste to the driver's seat. 

The security footage was zoomed in to get a better view of the car's plate number. Unfortunately it was not there. The cunny brunette had taken it off her. 

"Surely she wouldn't have gotten far without a plate number. We can still catch up with her but we have to hurry. Everyone move. Check all coverage on routes close to that street! Try to pin down any Volvo you can find that's similar to that. We can't track her but hope isn't lost. We can do this people. We're not sure if Mrs Daisy's the Crucifier but we're going to find out. It's now or never people!" Said the Chief of Police, a tall and huge man in his late fifties. 

At the sound of his voice, the Police Department was filled with sounds of upmost pandemonium. 

Phones rang endlessly, fax machines were worked on without pause and a few other officers tried to calm the angry press that camped out the doors. 

 I was terrified and devastated.

Wes gave orders while I sat quietly like a helpless child. There was nothing I could do. My limbs had been eaten up by fear and a sense of betrayal.

"Not again." I thought. "First I thought Wes was the Crucifier, now Daisy. There's got to be a reasonable explanation for this." 

While lost in thoughts Wes patted my shoulders.

"Are you okay? That's a stupid question, I'm sure you're not. I'm sorry but still, how are you holding up?" He asked.

I faked a smile and stretched my arms sideways. 

"I'm fine actually. It's just surprisin. That's all. I'm sure Daisy isn't the Crucifier. She might be a mean foster mom but I still can't picture her killing people." I replied.

"Well we've got work to do if we want to know the truth. We need to check files, know more of her history and see if she has any connection with your past. Are you ready for this?"

"More than ever." I replied as Wes and I dug into previously ignored information and searched through endless number of files. 

We found nothing. Daisy McQueen was clean. She had no criminal records.

In grief I looked closely at a picture of Daisy in one of the files. Her hair was shorter. She wore a razor cut. A dark razor cut. She looked a lot familiar with her hair black instead of brunette. Too familiar. Just then, fear sped down my spine as a thought came to mind. 

I pinched Wes and in my loudest tone I gave an order.

"Wes, we're going back to your place!"

"What? Why?" Wes asked.

"I've got a lead on this Wesley Stark. This is going to sound weird but I think I know who Daisy McQueen really is. I know her true identity."

And with those words Wes and I made our way to his home.