The Family Secret

by:

Chapter 3: the missing link

"Why won't the rain stoooop?" Izzie wailed, pushing the black bangs that kept falling over her eyes. They had been sitting in the rain for the past half hour and so far, it showed no signs of stopping. Melina let out a frustrated groan as Cameron put a CD into the player and nsync blasted out. The rest of the team let out groaned as well, because it was a well known fact that Cameron was not a big fan of Nsync…in fact, they wouldn't be surprised if he played it just to annoy their beloved captain.

Josie rolled her eyes, after five minutes of nsync, they could take no more. Reaching out, she turned it off and put in some random CD. 'Hit me Baby One More Time' by Britney Spears began to play and everyone started to laugh, making Cameron's face turn red. What kind of guy listened to Britney Spears? "It's my sister's CD?" Cameron offered, trying to think of a way to get out of this tight spot. "Dude, you don't have a sister!" Izzie said rather rudely and once more, the whole car burst into laughter. "You are an only child." Izzie said her breaking into a grin.

Cameron sighed, their original three-hour trip had been stopped by the rain half way and he was worried. Running his hand through his cinnamon-coloured hair, he tried to think of a way to get shelter from the rain which didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon. His eyes wandered to the others, Josie had returned to her history homework and Jase went back to dreamland. Stan was typing vigorously into his laptop and Sara was content with 'Capitalism's Achilles Heel'. Izzie had found entertainment in a stack of old fashion magazines that belonged to Josie. He turned his eyes over to Lynnie, who was staring at a picture that Cameron kept in his van at all times.

The picture was Cameron's link to the past; it showed Peter and Jasmine Li playing in the sand with their three-year-old son. That was before the horrifying accident that had killed the Li heir and his wife, leaving a little 4-year-old boy behind. Cameron closed his eyes for a few minutes, remembering one of the few memories he had of his parents. He could barely remember anything about them…the people responsible for bringing him into this world. To the rest of the world he was Cameron Li the future Li heir, they didn't know the truth, no one did.

Melina slid her fingers over the picture, something about felt so familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. It was as if her there was some kind of barrier stopping her from making the connection between the frame and what seemed so familiar about it. It was like a code, a symbol she couldn't figure out. The picture showed Cameron at the age of three with his parents, but Melina hadn't known Cameron back then. She had met him in 8th grade when Cameron had moved to Vairont from Hong Kong. Now, they were in 11th grade so that meant they had known each other for 4 years, but still she felt as if she'd known the guy for ever. There was something about him, that seemed so familiar yet she couldn't put her finger on it. What was it? What part of that stupid picture looked so familiar?

"Mel?" Cameron looked at his partner with a questioning gaze; she had been staring at the picture with a look on her eyes that she usually got if she was trying to figure something out. "Where was this picture taken?" she asked no longer being able to stand the fact that something was missing. "Why do you want to know?" he asked, gazing at her, his eyes full of curiosity. "Intuition. Some how, I feel like it's related to this case…I don't know how." She answered, wondering why she was telling him all of this. He thought for a full minute before answering, "Wreller Beach."

"That's a twenty minute drive from the Richton's mansion." Melina gasped…of course, her uncle owned one of the villas near the beach there and she had spent most of her childhood summers playing in the sand at Wreller Beach. "I thought you grew up in Hong Kong?" she questioned Cameron not noticing that most of the others were listening in on their conversation.

"Yeah well we came here on a holiday when I was three to visit a childhood friend of Dad's…at least that's what I was told!" Cameron answered ending their first civil conversation of the day. They hardly ever had a normal conversation. It was usually a battle of who could insult the other the most.

The rain had lightened and they were on their way once again. Melina shook her head, trying to rid her brain of that nagging feeling about that photograph. Something about that photo had triggered the feeling that she was missing an important link, but for now, she couldn't figure out what it was exactly. Something about Cameron's past seemed to ring a bell but then, she had only met him in 8th grade…she had no past with him. The Costello heir chewed her lip in frustration; it was rare for her to miss anything. She had never failed in any mission, she got straight A's and she was the captain of the girl's soccer team as well as class president. She was far from perfect though, just like everyone else in the world she had her flaws and sometimes those flaws put her life in danger.

Coming from a rich family, it was no wonder that she went to one of the country's most elite private schools, however unlike most other rich kids she had earned it, although there were those who argued it was in her genes. Her mother, Isabella Costello was a neurosurgeon and her father, Andre Costello was a scientist and both her older siblings had had pretty decent grades…well until Seth, her older brother moved to Italy to pursue his soccer career after high-school. Annie, her older sister, on the other hand was studying psychology and was the true genius of the family, not that Melina was over-shadowed. She was after all the heir to her grandfather's million-dollar business and the pride and joy of the entire Costello family. She was Melina Isabella Costello also known as Melina Isabella Johnson (the name which she went by to avoid the press) and she was nothing short of genius.

"I think I took a wrong turn" Cameron said, bringing everyone out of their thoughts. They were now in the middle of some forest and none of the members of the teams knew how to get out. The rain had also started to become heavier. This was exactly what they should have expected from Cameron, he was always getting them lost but unfortunately, he was quite a good driver even if his sense of direction was awful.

"This is what we get for trusting Cameron." Melina said in frustration. Now here they were, stuck once again but his time, it was ten times worse, they were in the middle of a forest, it was raining heavily and they had no idea what was around the corner…

-TBC-

Stay tuned to find out what happens next on… 'The Family Secret'

A/N: ok, so that's what I've got so far, my holidays are coming up, so I'll be updating more often now. This chapter is of great significance to the story, even though now it only seems like a filler. Secondly, thanks to my friend Sarah who edited this chapter for me! Well that's all for now, please REVIEW!