In the end, they found out where Candice was through her Instagram.

Turns out the decoy White daughter had amassed a whopping 60 thousand followers - whether it was because of her family name or her quintessential rich Californian girl feed was hard to say. She had been quiet for the past months but suddenly started posting last week. None of them had thought to check her socials until her new post popped up on Eric's feed.

She was in Cancun; so the group had to hop on another short-haul plane to get there, which put Eva into an even more foul move. Candice had tagged several restaurants, cafes, and shops, but nothing on where she was staying. It was also unclear whether those were real-time, so it was going to take some time to find her.

David had been a godsend, booking them into a resort at the last minute. "I've stayed there a couple of times with my business buddies, it's a nice place," he said. Eric had been to Cancun before but never one of the resorts.

"Miss Goodman and Mr Goodman, welcome to the resort. And welcome back to you, Mr Santiago," a pretty woman came over to greet them as soon as they exited the car. Eric barely had the time to look around before Eva rushed him up to the reception.

"The faster we get settled in the faster we can look for her," she hissed. Eric sighed and took hold of his adoptive sister's left elbow.

"Evie, can I talk to you for a sec?" he asked. David took the cue and pointed to the reception, letting them know that he'd check them in. Eva gave him an annoyed look but didn't walk away. At least there was that.

"What?" she asked. Eric steered her towards the sofa to the side and sat her down. She settled on the single one and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Eric in a way that she hadn't since they were both children.

Eric ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think of something to say that won't trigger Eva. There really was none, so he should just bite the bullet. "I want to check to see how you're feeling. You know that I'm always here to talk," he started.

"I'm fine. Or rather I'll be when we find Candice," Eva interrupted and looked ready to get back on her feet. Eric held his hands up, which had always worked in the past and seemed to have worked okay now, too, since she sat back down.

Eric scooted closer to Eva on the big sofa. "It's been a busy month and with everything that had happened, I just want to check in on you. I know it hasn't been easy—"

"No kidding," Eva interrupted again, her voice rising. "I've waited so long to get back to my family and now not only are my parents dead,  the family fortune is also missing and everything is basically falling apart."

Eva burst into tears and Eric patted her on her back. She took a deep breath and got hold of herself quickly, but still sniffling lightly. There were so many things Eric wanted to say. Wasn't their family enough? They weren't rich like the Whites but they were a good, middle-class family. A happy family. But once Eva found out she was adopted, she was consumed with what she had lost.

"Even if there's no money left, we can still go home and you'd be able to take over your biological family's company," Eric said gently, tentatively. He barely finished when Eva hissed at him.

"How dare you say there's no money left," she said, her voice dripping in anger. Eric sighed as Eva went off. The only way to get her out of this stage was to go through the whole thing. Find some sort of closure. Even if he didn't think that there was anything to find. But he was her brother and he had contributed to this whole fiasco. It's his responsibility.

Not a moment too soon, David came back with keys for everyone. Eva snatched up one of the keys and walked off with instructions to meet back in half an hour. David gave him a half shrug and put his hands in his pocket. "Is this what it's like to have a sister?"

Eric laughed. "Yes and no," he answered, chuckling as he remembered what it was like growing up. "It's a pain to have to look after her but it's also a blessing to watch her grow up and be her friend and protector."

David nodded and slapped his shoulder. "Rather you than me then. I'll see you soon. Feels like it'll be a long day."

———————When Carlos told her they had businesses for her to do, this was definitely not what Candice expected.

She forced a smile at the eager face of the waitress as she angled her phone to film her bite into a taco. At least the restaurant quality was actually good. If you ignore the fact that she was basically a glorified prisoner being exploited for her social media presence. This was arguably not the worst thing to have happened since she was being wined and dined.

Candice closed her eye for one second to get her game face on. She clicked record and beamed at the camera. "Today, I'm having lunch at the Gracia's and these tacos just look delicious. Let's see if they are as good as they look."

She took a bite into the taco, which might not be mind-blowing but was pretty decent, and nodded to the phone camera. "I'll definitely be coming back," she added and ended the clip. The waitress grabbed her unfinished plate of taco and darted away, leaving Candice looking like a weirdo with half a taco bite in her hand and her phone in the other.

Her plan was to be in Mexico for a month and now it had been eight weeks. Eva never held that press conference for the big reveal for whatever reasons and Candice was glad. For now, she could still pretend to be enjoying an R&R in Mexico with her social media followers and acquaintance none the wiser. Once the truth gets out, she would be more scrutinized than ever and she wasn't ready for that. Regular internet haters were bad enough.

A new message flashed on her phone and it was time for her way too regular FaceTime with Carlos. She popped the remaining half of the taco in her mouth and accepted the incoming call and was treated to an eyeful of Carlo's car ceiling.

"Hi Carlos, I'm still at Gracia's, you can just call the restaurant to confirm," Candice said. They had set such a detailed itinerary for her that she was sure there had to be a back-office person handling it. Because Carlos and his men didn't strike her as organized. They even almost dropped her off at the wrong resort on the way back and she had to be the one who navigates them back. Talk about kidnapping fails.

Carlos finally managed to get his phone camera to point at his face, albeit from a very unflattering angle. "Good, remember to send those screenshots to me," he added before disconnecting. Candice was pretty sure he didn't even look to make sure she was at Gracia's.Pulling open the file Carlos sent her, Candice saw that she still had half an hour before she needed to be at the cafe a few blocks away. She might as well take a stroll around and see if she could buy something new to wear. Weirdly, they gave her some pocket money and she wasn't going to say no to that.

"I'm sorry!" a girl squealed and Candice realized a second too late that she was smashing into someone. She reached for the girl and she felt a hand on her other elbow and the two of them wobbled together before managing not to fall. She sighed in relief and took a step back to see who it was she collided with.

"It was my fault," Candice said since she was busy looking around and wasn't watching where she was going. The girl she almost crushed looked around her age with platinum blonde hair that fell in waves to her waist. She was dressed fashionably, probably another tourist from America.

"Meredith!" the waitress who snatched her plate of tacos appeared out of nowhere and greeted the new girl with such warmth that Candice did a double-take. The two of them talked in rapid-fire Spanish after a hug. So not a tourist then?

Candice shrugged and was about to leave when the girl turned to her. "Hey!" she called to Candice and beamed at her. "I'm sorry that I ran into you, let me buy you a drink. They make really good Margarita here and it's after 2pm."

Tempting... but a drink would put her late. Which was a shame.

"C'mon," the girl said. She had such an infectious energy that it was hard to say no."I only have half an hour, but why not," Candice replied. It had been a hot second since she talked to anyone that doesn't want something from her. Or is her age. The girl spoke quickly to the waitress, who showed them to a much better seat than where she was. Seriously, was this girl pulling her leg the whole time while she was promoting the restaurant?

"So, what brings you to Cancun?" the girl asked, then laughed. "I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I? I'm Meredith."

"I'm Candice," Candice shook her hands. "Are you from here?" she couldn't help but ask. Then she realized that it might a stupid question; a lot of people know Spanish, she could just be a regular visitor who knew the waitress.

Before Meredith could answer, a waiter appeared and set down two Margarita. Candice's fingers twitched to take a photo of it, guess she really fell into the food blogger rabbit hole now, but resisted the urge. It would be impolite to use the phone and also Carlos would be able to see it through the mirroring app.

"Not here, specifically, but I grow up in Mexico and travel around a lot," Meredith answered. Candice nodded, taking a sip of the cocktail and almost moaned at how good it was. They definitely should be marketing their cocktail instead, the tacos are forgetting in comparison.Candice had never met anyone who grew up in Mexico over the US. Not that she had met many people in Mexico, language barrier and all. "But you are American? Don't your parents want to send you to school in the US?"

Meredith shrugged casually, "I was raised by my grandparents. They have businesses in Mexico and want to keep me close. I went away for a few years but nowhere feels like home so I came back. What about you? Are you here on holiday?"

She leaned back with her cocktail and waited for Candice. For a second, an urge to spill everything to this nice stranger crossed Candice's mind. Then she quickly shook herself out of it. That would be the stupidest thing.

"Yup, I'm here to get away for a bit. My parents just passed away and I need some time to process," Candice replied. The half-truth works wonder, as her adoptive parents had taught her.Meredith's face fell and she leaned forward and gave Candice's forearm a squeeze. "I'm so sorry. But hey, you are in Me-hee-ca, let me show you around to cheer you up!"

What the heck. Candice exchanged numbers with Meredith; if she was stuck in Mexico, she might as well make a friend and have some fun.

-----------------------

We're in Mexico! Whoop - I've actually never been but I have friends that went so I'm relying on them for info :)