Chapter 12

After the game, Nathan had sneaked into Michael's office on discovering that no one was around. He dragged his tired but alert self around the office trying to draw clues from books and files, yet he couldn't find anything besides the usual music notes, student files and some books and novels that couldn't lead to any clue. Spotting the computer on the desktop he tried snooping around only to be deterred by a password. He knew he couldn't crack it.

"Damn it." Nathan slammed the desk in anger and slumped down on the chair, running his hands through his hair, what should he do? What clues should he look for? Where should he even start? Nathan let out a sigh and decided to have a chat with Ian to see if he could help him. He walked towards the door only to stop at the potted plant besides the door. That's the only thing left unchecked he thought. He clicked a picture of the pot and the plant sent it to Ray, his senior and the sole contact at the office, with a message, I need an exact copy of this asap at school. Ray sent back an okay emoji and Nathan picked the pot and went to his hideout.

Meanwhile, Lance stood outside the library, no one knew what he was thinking except himself. Ian saw from the French windows of the library as the man standing in front of the library stared blankly at him, somehow that intense gaze of Lance struck something in Ian. It made his heart warm, there was a pool of warm mess in his stomach, a red shade dyed his cheeks and crept up to the tip of his ears.

Ian's blushing face made a smile climb on top of Lance's face. How cute he thought. Lately whenever he thought about Ian that was the only phrase that struck his mind that Ian was cute, when he was angry, when he was thoughtful, no matter what he did, he had this unknown allure to him that made his heart itch. Seeing the smile on Lance's face Ian turned around patted his face twice. The once red cheeks had already cooled down and he went back to his work.

Get to my hideout quick I found something.

Seeing the message on his screen he swiftly left his work, spoke to Stacey that he'd be gone and rushed out of the library. Surprisingly Lance had already started his car and said, "Come up I'll drop you off."

"Lake Hellson, Riverbed Lodge, House no.9"

Lance glanced at Ian, though he knew he wouldn't get an answer he wanted to give it a try maybe he'd be lucky.

"It's a hideout place."

The surprise that flashed through Lance's eyes made Ian laugh, while the bright smile that Ian let out made Lance happy. Though it was fleeting, it delighted Lance to know Ian smiled because of him. When they arrived at there destination, they weren't surprised to find the place deserted and old and in the middle of nowhere. It was supposed to be a hideout after all. They went and Ian knocked on the door with a series of interval taking no less than twenty seconds to even complete the whole thing. "That is supposed to be a code Nathan made up it's not morse or something, just the drum beats of his favourite song.

Nathan opened up the door, grabbed Ian's hand and dragged him in, just when he was attempting to shut the door a foot lodged itself between the door and the pane grabbed Ian from another hand and pulled him out. Nathan's eyes widened at the sight of the taller man who stood outside his door holding Ian by his shoulders. "Y…y….you....you are Lance Venson, captain of the investigation unit for special cases aren't you?"

Lance only nodded his head, not surprised that someone knew him. "Well come in." Nathan escorted both of them inside while shutting the doors tight.

"Ian, look at this." Without giving them a chance to breathe Nathan shoved his laptop at Ian showing the files he discovered in Michael's office. Although all the "so-called files" were only separate lists with weird jumbled letters for their names. Those lists only contained four columns where there were three dates and a name. A name however caught Ian's eye.

1.4.1999 Ivy Scott 27.9.1971 30.10.1999

Ivy Scott. He ran his hands over the name with a complicated look on his face. That's her, his mother. He had often heard his father mention that name when he lived with him, so much so that the name stuck with him. He was born on 27.2.1999, and shortly after his mother went missing though he didn't know the exact date. He had been brought by his father till he was four, before he suddenly went away, left him alone. Although he was sure that person was his mother he needed to check through the records. Since he had a guess, he decided to voice it out but as soon as he opened out all that came out was a squeak before he stuttered out his words, "I guess, I guess that's my mother, I need to check the records to confirm but if it's true, if it's true then…" He took a deep breath and said ," If its true then the first date is the day she was kidnapped, second is the date of birth I'm guessing that's to have an idea about the age and… and the third is either the day she died or… or was sold."