It was a dark day, the kind of day when you know something is going to go wrong. I’ve always had this horrible feeling that I was going to lose someone in my life unexpectedly. I never thought that the day would actually come when I would lose my father and have no control of saving him.

I despised Tuesdays. My father would work late, then go to a bar to take out his frustration of his lack of answers. He was a journalist, one of the best in Boston. I would stay up late every Tuesday night waiting for him to quietly crack my door open. He wasn’t aware that I waited up for him. I put a lot of responsibility on myself to take care of people. I felt like if anything happened to anyone in my life, it was because of something I failed at. Ever since my mom left us, my dad has done his very best trying to take care of me. He was my only family left. I wish that I could have saved him from the evil people in this world.

I was in second period. It was nine thirty A.M.. when the phone rang. My teacher said “Peyton, the principal would like to see you.” My heart was beating uncontrollably. My dad never came home last night and for some reason, I knew what ever came out of my principal’s mouth would explain why. Mrs. Kennedy had on a navy business suit, her lipstick smudged on her teeth, the red nail polish on her left hand was chipped. She had a look on her face like someone was standing behind her holding her at gunpoint. Her voice trembled as she said “Peyton, there has been an accident. Your father got in a car accident on Newbury St. Peyton I am so sorry but he didn’t make it.” I’ve always had a close relationship with my principle since day one of high school. My head fell to the table and I began to sob. Mrs. Kennedy came behind me and cradled me for what felt like hours. Once I caught my breath I looked up to Mrs. Kennedy and said ,"Thank you for all your help, but I can't stay here right now." She excused me and I got up without saying a single word. I felt empty. My father has been threatened before for getting too involved into his projects. This is why I was led to believe that this wasn't an accident. I needed answers. My father was not the type to drive home after drinking he would take a taxi or walk home from the nearest bar; he never put his life or anyone else life at risk. Instead of going home, I walked to every single bar on Newbury street asking if they had seen my father in the past twenty four hours. They all said that they haven’t seen him except for one small bar. Rossi’s Bar was the smallest bar on Newbury Street. The walls were worn down and the once red wallpaper was now a tainted brown. I walked straight up to the bartender who happened to be the owner and said “ Excuse me sir have you seen this man?” I held up a picture of my father. He had an unsettled look on his face like what he was about to say to me was a lie. “ Yes, he was here last night and left around one in the morning after having a few drinks.” I saw right through him but the thing I couldn’t comprehend was why this man would be lying to me. I grabbed a business card on the way out. The owners name was Declan Clarke. I wouldn’t let that name slip my mind. My father had many enemies. My job was to find out which enemy he crossed.
My father died on Tuesday, September 12, 2005. He was thirty nine. September 18 was his birthday. I wanted to spread his ashes on September 18. I released his ashes along the harbor a couple blocks away from his favorite writing spot.

The first day I came back to school was a day I will never forget. As I walked down the hallway I heard whispers “Her dad’s the alcoholic who killed himself.” “I heard that her Mom didn’t want her and left her.” I would not succumb to these rumors about my family. My father loved me and treated me like his princess. My mom had affair which is why my dad kicked her out of the house. When I woke up this morning to go to school, I had no idea that it would be my last day I attended of high school. I was eighteen, so I officially had control of what I wanted to do with my life. What I wanted to do was find out what happened to my father.

I spent hours in our apartment trying to find out what my father was last working on before he was taken from me. I was approaching my fifth hour of research and my ninth cup of coffee when an aggressive knock banged on the door. I looked through the peephole to see a shiny badge. It was the Boston police department. I opened the door. The officer was a Caucasian, middle aged man with a patchy beard. His badge read “Hazlewood.” He was strong, but you could tell he had a soft spot. He handed me a computer and a notebook saying, “ Peyton Sawyer”? I said “yes?” “ This was found in your fathers car.” I grabbed what was left of my father out of the mans hands and slammed the door shut.

The screen read “enter password”. This wasn’t a hard task for me to hack. I quickly entered the five letter digit name Buddy, our dog. It was a match and the settings started to load. By clicking the open button on a folder named Confidential, I knew I was about to get myself into something I could not turn back on. The folder had codes and pictures in it. I recognized a picture of a man, he was the owner of a billion dollar company named Preston, his name was Gordon Preston. The arrogant man controlled most of the power in Boston. I wasn’t fond of the powerful one percent of rich people in this world. The main reason being because I lived in a two bedroom apartment. The other reasoning being that most of them took advantage of their power. I was distracted by why my father would have a picture of this man with a bunch of codes. I knew a lot about computers and hacking, and I knew that this was going to take me days to hack. So I got started.

When my mind couldn't possibly take anymore hacking, I took breaks and researched the company Preston. I came across something that caught me off guard. In 1999 Preston had a huge increase in income, turning their million dollar company to a billion dollar company. You didn't have to be a genius to realize that it is almost impossible to have that much growth in a year. This made me think of what my dad had discovered, what Preston did in order to have this growth.
It was my fourth day searching for evidence on my father. I walked down to our mailbox in the building there was something there with my name stamped on the front. I ran up to the apartment and broke the seal of the envelope. It was a letter written on the yellow lined paper that you used to learn how to write on. It read “ Hello Peyton, I am someone who can help you. I was a good friend of your father. He left things for you, if you would like to meet up and retrieve what your father left you please call this number 1-617-852-1029.” I tried to think of who this could've been from my father never informed me that he had any close relationships at work. I logged onto my computer and typed the number into the yellow page search. The name Glenn Kennedy popped up it didn't ring a bell. So I called the anonymous person hoping for answers. My throat became dry as the phone rang. The man answered and said “Hello Peyton, I’ve been expecting your call.” I didn’t want to seem scared or innocent to him so I sternly responded “You said you had answers for my questions. Right ?” “Yes, are you willing to meet up with me later tonight.” Most girls my age would be frightened by the thought of going to meet a man at night that they had no idea who he was. I was no longer scared I was ready. Ready to find the answers I’ve been searching so anxiously for. I eagerly said “Yes can you meet me at the coffee shop Gusto’s on Newbury Street.” he didn't hesitate and said “I’ll be there around seven thirty by the window.”

It was Seven o'clock when I decided to walk down the street to go to Gusto’s. I wanted to be the first to arrive at the coffee shop. I ordered a medium caramel iced coffee with skim milk and sat by the window awaiting the man’s arrival. My watch read 7:31 when I heard the bell on the door jingle. I looked up to see a six foot man. My eyes furiously scanned his body, he had black short hair he looked frail. He had a knitted cap placed on his head and a pea coat with tan pants. I quickly tried to take in every detail I could about him, like the fact that his left shoe was untied and his pea coat had something tucked in the pocket.

I locked eyes with the man immediately to show him I wasn't scared of him. He sat down without ordering anything he pulled the paper that was hanging out of his pocket out and put it on the table. He crossed his legs and offered his hand saying “Hello Peyton, my name is Glenn Kennedy.” His handshake was gentle. I wasn't the friendly type of girl who was going to make small talk. I said to him “Hello Glenn, I believe you have something for me.” He cracked the envelope open only half way allowing me to decide if I wanted to fully crack the seal.. “Peyton, this will provide you with the answers you have been searching for. I want you to know that your father loved you and was a great man.” Finally, thoughts swarmed head asking myself thousands of questions ,but all that could come out was "Thank you." I didn't want to read the letter in front of him my body rose from the chair and I walked out. One foot in front of the other I subconsciously made my way down the street. My hand frantically shook as I grasped the envelope. I found myself standing in front of the door of my apartment. I got here so quickly that I barely remembered the walk. I sat at the chair my dad wrote in and pulled out the envelope. The paper was a letter from my father. I froze for a brief second, gathered all of thoughts than read “Hi sweetheart, If you're reading this, this unfortunately means that I am no longer with you. I know you're probably driving yourself nuts trying to figure out what happened to me, I want you to stop. Stop holding yourself responsible for my actions. I know as you read this in your head you thinking how could I not hold myself responsible. Please don't feel that way. This may be hard for you to hear and I don't want you to take out your anger on anyone, but I have been receiving threats from a powerful man. If you're reading this, this means the threats were finally put into action. I am working on a project currently that involves the company Preston. Someone gave me a lead on this story that I could not reject. They told me that Gordon Preston has been illegally stealing money from the government by hacking into the supply. No one could ever track this business because he had the highest level hacker in the country. Gordon made a mistake by getting in a huge argument with his hacker. The hacker did not reveal his name to me but he wanted revenge on what the Preston's have done to the country. He approached me when I was sitting at a small bar named Rossi’s Bar, and explained his story to me. He wanted me to expose the Preston's. My good friend Glenn Kennedy who you're receiving this letter from told me to not get involved with the Preston's. My head told me to go for it and expose them. I can't explain fully what I came across while researching the Preston's, I wouldn't want to put you in that kind of danger. I lived a happy life and I know you will too. Glenn and his wife (your principle) have promised me to take care of you. Please let them into your life, Peyton, don't be stubborn and try and survive on your own. Please be careful, I'm sorry I left you.

I love you, Dad