Sweet Mischief’s Rollercoaster Romance

Mia didn't mince words. Right now, she had got as much worry on her plate as the Cedillo and Byrne families.

Jade was kin. She said there was no need to worry, comforting others as well as herself. But in truth, she was as on edge as anyone.

Mia walked into Leo's room, rousing her nephew who was idling away on his phone, "Jade's missing. Come help me find her."

"What's up with her?" Leo had still engrossed in his phone, utterly clueless about the gravity of the situation.

Mia landed a smack on the back of his head, "Jade, your aunt, real name Molly, has gone missing."

"What?" Leo was still ogling his phone, totally deaf to Mia's words.

Three minutes later, Leo had thrown on a jacket over his PJs, and together they hit the road to find Jade. On the road, Mia updated Leo on recent events.

"This is too crazy." Leo said, "I must be dreaming."

He pinched his leg to test the theory. Ouch! Nope, not a dream.

Mia had glued to her phone, zooming in and out of the city map, scrutinizing every alleyway, guessing where Jade might be based on her character. The police were tracking Jade's ID use too. But if Jade was trying to dodge her cop brother, she would find a way to stay hidden.

"Mia, are you saying Jade is my long-lost aunt I haven't seen for 15 years?" Leo was stunned.

"Yep." Mia answered.

Leo's face screwed up in embarrassment. He banged the steering wheel and said, "There's no way." He only had two good friends, but somehow he had become both their nephew! How could this be?

Mia said, "It's true. The hair we used for the DNA test with Jade was yours."

Leo yelled, "When did you swipe my hair?"

But now's not the time to worry about that, we need to find Jade. If she's wandered into some dark alley and run into trouble, we're

place, and Mia warned, "Stay in the

phone flashlight, ready to delve

I come with you?"

"Stay put, kid. If things go south, I'll have to save

for words. She was right; he'd better not add to

was back, "Nothing there, let's move on to the next

people were no match for her, so he didn't need to

did, combing the whole city for over an hour. Only now did Mia realize how hard it was to find someone who was

survival instinct. She won't put herself in danger." Leo said

but replied, "Still, I can't ignore any potentially risky places. What if

and they headed off to the next

He told Mia, "Mia, we got surveillance footage of Jade heading towards Emerald Valley." Emerald Valley? Emerald

for Mia, one Jade often talked about. She told Leo, "Leo,

He floored it, changing direction towards

always wanted to visit. Even though it was close to their home,

her surroundings with her phone. She stood

Leo also yelled, "Jade!"

cries startled the fish in the lake, but there was

along the lakeshore. She called out as she walked, "Jade, where

lighting up the surrounding bushes, looking for any sign of

night was quiet, only their calls broke

soft, wet soil by the lake. Mia stopped by a rock to wipe

their calls echoing in the

sound. Finally, they found Jade sitting on a rock. Seeing