She Belongs to Me (Rewritten Version)

Chapter Seventeen

Vincent:

Kenneth welcome me in with open arms as soon as I reached their house. Everyone had panicked looks on their faces, and I could tell Charlotte had been crying by how red and puffy her eyes were. I never wanted to hurt anyone. It pained me to see them in such a state, because I thought of them as my own family.  I wished things would've turned out differently.  If Emily would have cooperated with me, everything would have been perfect.

"You still haven't heard from her?"  Charlotte asked me, taking my hand into hers.  Her skin was as soft as Emily's, and she was just as beautiful.

"No, I'm sorry.  I tried to call her two more times on my way over here, but there was no answer."  I put my hand over my eyes.  "I should never have left her without making sure she was inside."

Kenneth rested his hand on my shoulder.  "Don't do that to yourself, son.  My wife and I know that you care about Emily very much, and that you wouldn't purposely put her in harm's way."

My mind drifted back to the state that I left Emily in before I came here.  She was still trapped inside of the small closet, probably worn out by now from all of the screaming she had surely done. I know it was cruel of me to lock her in there because of her fear of small spaces, but I couldn't allow her to roam free.  She would only get into trouble.

"What's our next course of action?" I asked, "We can't just wait for her to be missing twenty four hours before the police become involved."

"I think it would be best if we split up and searched the entire city," He glanced down at his wrist watch and continued, "James has been looking almost all morning.  He should be calling soon to check in."

Charlotte huffed angrily and threw her hands in the air. "You can search all you want, but I'm going to go down to the police station right now and make damn sure they start helping us."

She grabbed her coat from on top of their sofa and started to walk out the door, but she was stopped when Kenneth gently took her by the arm. "We've already tried to get their help.  They will not do anything until she's been missing for at least a day. You know the police chief is a friend of mine, and he said their hands were tied because of her age."

"That is such horse shit!"  She screamed, tearing her arm out of his grasp.  "My tax dollars pay their damn salaries.  They can't just sit there and twiddle their thumbs while she's out there."

"You need to calm down."

"No, I won't calm down! What if she's already-"

"Don't say it, Charlotte.  Don't even think it."

Robbie stood up from the couch and ran over to his mother, wrapping his arms around her legs.  "I'm really worried about her, Mom."

"I know, baby."

I gave him a small pat on the back.  "We're going to find her, kiddo.  You have my word on that."

He smiled up at me.  "Thank you, Vincent."

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway made all of us tense, especially me. Could it have been the police? They may have changed their minds and decided to actually do their jobs.

I wasn't ready to deal with them yet.

I needed more time to stall.

Kenneth peeked out the front door. "It's James, and he brought Hope with him."

Shit. 

That was worse than the police. 

I sucked in a deep breath and plastered a fake smile on my face as they approached us.  Hope's eyes filled with anger the moment they landed on me.