Jonas wouldn't agree to return home before having ice cream, so we stopped by an ice cream parlour nearby to fulfill his stubbornness.

"One cookies and cream, and one strawberry serve," Kelvin placed the order.

"Who's missing out?" I asked.

"Me," he replied. "No distraction during driving, remember?"

This man was something else. Like, how can someone say no to ice cream with that excuse?

"Yum, it's too good," I purred intentionally after getting my serve, trying to make Kelvin regret his decision. "Someone missed it!"

Whatsoever, Kelvin managed to give no reaction, and to my annoyance, silently mounted the bike.

A soft breeze brushed my skin as the bike jerked to motion. It was a gentle zephyr, but the impact felt icy-cold, thanks to our waterlogged clothes.

"I want to try the cookies and cream too," I insisted after having a few licks of my strawberry serve.

Jonas let me have a spoonful from his cup, taking a huge bite from my cone in return.

"You got the better one, not fair!" I complained, finding his one more flavoursome.

He smirked as he scooped a dollop of it into Kelvin's mouth. Although Kelvin clearly seemed to be thanking Jonas in his mind, he didn't find it necessary to say anything because 'no distraction during driving'.

I had almost finished mine, only the scrumptious tip of the cone was left now. The best part. Just when I was about to savour every tiny bite of it, something got into my mind. I don't know why, but I called Kelvin and let him have it. He was baffled by the sudden offer, but who could possibly reject such a delight?

Just to let you know, I never share the tip of my ice cream cone with anyone.

I was half asleep by the time we reached home. It was indeed a day to remember. Kelvin and Jonas had to call me a few times before I finally woke up from my nap. Jonas apprised that he would be fetching Bruno from Mrs. Arabella's house, so I tottered upstairs without any tension.

The first thing I did was take a warm shower, giving extra care on washing off the salt from my hair. I was about to make my bed when Jonas knocked on the door.

"Amy, Dad has called. He wants to talk to you," he notified.

Mr. Amberson wished to talk to me? Why though?

For some reason, it didn't seem like a good omen. I just hoped that it was not the arrival of a new trouble.

I joined the call and greeted him formally.

"Amyra, can I talk to you about the case?" he asked directly, not obfuscating the matter.

After I gave my approval, he spoke again, "Do you have a will left by your father?"

"Yes, I do," I answered.

I had stuffed it safely in my backpack before leaving Valdez Mansion.

"Are you sure it's with you?" he inquired.

"Yea."

"Can you confirm it after checking?"

He sounded serious.

Why was he so interested in Pappa's will? And why should I check when I knew that it's with me?

Nevertheless, I unzipped my backpack to check it once again, just for Mr. Amberson's assurance. I fumbled the chambers for a while, including the one where I remembered keeping it.

It was not there.

But I had checked it a few days back, how could it just disappear-?

I rummaged through the mess on the bedside table and every single possible corner of the room. I sent Jonas to search it in his room as well, but there was no clue of it.

Did someone steal it while we were gone?

The veranda was too easy a path to get inside the house stealthily, provided that it was never locked. We hadn't locked the rooms before leaving for the beach either. As far as Mrs. Arabella was concerned, she could be smoothly tricked by anyone.

Mr. Amberson was still over the call. Kelvin rushed inside the room too, getting a hint of the uproar.

"What happened-?" he faltered.

"Someone stole my will," I muttered.

But wait, how did Mr.Amberson know that my will was stolen when I myself didn't know about it?

"Why would anyone steal my will?" I asked him over the phone, in order to find out how much he knew. "No one can probably do anything with it, can they?"

"Unfortunately, they can," he answered in a worried tone. "It can be destroyed."

"What will happen then?"

"The Valdez property will be passed on to its original heirs," he explained.

"But Pappa had passed the will-" I began.

"Arnold Valdez didn't. He just wrote the will. It was never passed. And neither did any of you pass it after his death," Mr. Amberson explicated.

So it meant that now that I didn't have the will with me anymore, I couldn't claim it. The legacy would pass down to Uncle Nick when the topic would be brought up, as it was naturally supposed to.

"Um, may I know how you got to know that it had been stolen?" I questioned as politely as I could at last.

He took a while before replying, "Well I'm a lawyer. Plus I keep updates with Valdez legal matters."

He disconnected the call before I could question further.

Jonas and Kelvin looked just as disturbed as I was.

"I still don't understand how..." I murmured.

"Did you see the will with Amyra, Jonas?" Kelvin asked.

Jonas shook his head. I hadn't shown him the will ever since I came here.

"Then probably you never brought it here in the first place," Kelvin concluded.

"But I clearly remember stuffing it in my bag while coming," I justified.

"Maybe you dropped it somewhere while coming here," he suggested.

"Might be the case, it wasn't a smooth journey after all," Jonas opined. "Maybe it fell somewhere within the territory of Valdez Mansion while escaping."

"You can't steal from a detective's house," Kelvin said, taking a deep breath.

'Might' was the keyword. I was still not convinced though. Everything was a 'maybe' at that point. There was still a chance that Uncle Nick had got it stolen; he was the only one with a valid reason to do so. Uncle Josh could have been a suspect too, but he couldn't probably inherit the property as long as Uncle Nick was there, so it wouldn't do anything great to him. Unless they both were teamed up, that is. Might as well be a plan to overthrow their elder brothers together and then divide the property among themselves.

Well, Mr. Amberson didn't have any direct or even indirect connection with the will, but somehow he got into the square too. Nonetheless, it was quite clear that he didn't intend to get himself involved much. Maybe mom had asked him to alert me, who knows. Yet indeed, he somehow knew a lot more than I did.

"What do you plan on doing now?" Kelvin asked after a stretching silence, interrupting my stream of thoughts.

"Nothing," I replied. "I'll just move away from this case now."

"But Amy, the murder-" Jonas interrupted.

"Pappa died by a heart attack," I sighed.

Although I didn't entirely believe it, all evidence claimed that it was the truth. I couldn't find a single clue in the past two weeks, not even with the help of two detectives, that would prove that his death was a murder.

"Uncle Dave was murdered, I know. And I also know that it's my uncles. But his own son Brian has left the case, then what can I do by lingering with it?"

"Didn't my uncles tell you that they wouldn't mind wherever I go, once they get the property?" I asked Kelvin.

He nodded.

"Then let them have it. If that's what makes them happy, then let them. I know I'm running away, but honestly, I just want peace in life now, especially after all that happened recently. Valdez family has already shattered, I don't want to make it worse."

"You can live here as long as you want to," Kelvin proffered with a weak smile.

"And the doors of Amberson House are always open for you as well," Jonas added with a pat on my shoulder.

"I know," I smiled meekly.

"But I don't think I'll live in Amberson House. I'll stay here for some more days till I get admitted to a university and then leave for a dormitory. I guess that's it."

I thanked both of them genuinely for accepting me as a friend despite all the troubles I had brought along with me. Jonas had always been there for me since Day 1, and now even Mr. Detective joined our little gang.

It feels good when you find someone whose presence brings you solace, and even better when you know that the feeling is mutual. I felt even luckier because I had found two.

We shared a trio hug as they promised to protect me always, just like they had done till now.

I really didn't want to leave them. June- my best friend, and Mr. Angry Young Man- my secret crush. Let's not forget to mention that they were the reason I was still alive. I wished we could stay together forever, just like a family. Just like the wish I had made to the shooting star...

But deep down my heart I knew, it was not possible.

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Your dear author <3