The Untold Story

21. For her princess

Dedicated to @drunk_af for the amazing support right from my first Wattpad story :) Check out her beautiful poems in the book Black and Blue, which may leave you feeling blue hehe.

"Is there any chance I could convince you to let this go just until a reasonable hour in the morning?" Nathan asked Natasha who was pacing across the lounge after he'd finally managed to tear the phone out of her hand.

Natasha glared at him in response and Nathan sighed.

"I'm starting to regret waking you," he said as she walked past him again.

"Why can't I get through to my mum's phone? Something's wrong, I can feel it. We have to trace her phone," Natasha said.

"Maybe she just turned it off so she could get some sleep. In any case, it's 3 a.m and there's nothing we can do. Now please, go back to bed," Nathan pleaded.

Natasha halted as a horrid idea formed in her head. "What if the killer has my mum and they forced her to make that call at gunpoint?"

Nathan  thought it was more likely Lily was the killer and she'd made the call to cover her tracks but he didn't dare mention that to her.

"How about this; we'll call the State Court House and see if they can collaborate her story as soon as they are open for business. For now just try not to freak out," he suggested.

"But what if I'm right and we're too late?" Natasha bit her lip worriedly.

"You're only panicking based on the fact that you can't get through to her phone. It's probably nothing and I promise I'll get you answers as soon as I can," Nathan pointed out.

"This is serious! My mum could be murdered! Why aren't you taking me seriously?" Natasha yelled, getting annoyed at how nonchalant Nathan seemed. "Call the station there and ask them to look into it."

Nathan ruffled his hair in frustration. " And say what? Your mum's phone is off so they should hunt down court officials and find out where she's staying then demand that she turns it back on? I already told you there's nothing we can do right now. Short of driving to the capital and banging on doors with that story, we'll have to wait 'til morning."

"Then let's go!" Natasha exclaimed, eyes wide. "Let's go to the capital and find her."

He stared at her in disbelief. "Natasha..."

"Fine. I'll go by myself," Natasha cut in, already heading for the stairs.

Nathan grabbed her hand as she walked past him, halting her escape. "And how exactly do you think you'll get there? Your car is at the station."

"I'll take yours," she said defiantly looking him in the eye.

He cupped her elbows, turning her to face him straight on. He kept holding her hands as they looked at each other in silence.

"I can't let you go alone," he said softly. "It's not safe and if I trusted any other cop with you, I would have them here in a heartbeat to take you to your mother. But I don't."

Natasha opened her mouth to say something but he spoke again before she could.

"I've been up for almost 24 hours now. I can't guarantee that I can get you there safely and I can't promise that I'll be able to protect you if any danger arises there. If you tell me you want me to take you there regardless, I will but..." he paused and took a deep breath. "If anything bad happens to you, I won't be able to live with myself knowing I'm responsible for it. I won't...I won't survive that again."

His pained expression brought tears to Natasha's eyes and without overthinking it, she hugged him. The action surprised Nathan and he remained still for a while before tentatively looping his arms loosely around her waist.