Over a month passed, and I still had no new leads on Zora. It was like chasing a ghost. Sometimes, I would stay in the house a little longer before work, hoping she would appear.
Eventually, I went out to look for her. She wasn't going to just appear and let me handcuff her. No, Zora always had a habit of making me work for things.
The first place I headed was her hometown. She told me where she was from, but when I asked about her parents, she brushed it off. She claimed they were estranged. After a bit of research, I came up with an address that surprisingly was only about an hour from our own house.
I pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. I stared at the beautiful house with the huge wrap around porch. Windshield dangled from the patio roof, tinkling in the light breeze as flowers danced in the pots below it. An older couple sat at a table, playing a game of chess. They smiled easily at one another as one got the better of the other with each turn.
It was a beautiful property, one that looked like amazing people grew up in it. Knowing what I know now about Zora, I wondered how she ended up this way.
I walked up to that beautiful porch and cleared my throat. They both looked up surprised, clearly too involved in their game to hear me pulling up.
"Why hello there officer," who I assumed was her father said leaning back in his chair. "How can I help you?"
I walked up the porch and held out my phone showing them a picture of Zora. "Is this by chance your daughter? Her name is Zora."
They exchanged a quick glance at each other before squinting at my phone.
"We have a daughter named Zora and she does look like her but..." the woman trailed odd.
"But what?"
"Our Zora died when she was a teenager." The man explained before going into the house.
He returned with a newspaper in hand before handing it to me.
I flipped it right ways and read the headline.
"Local girl dies in Chesapeake Bay" I read out loud.
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