It had been two long weeks since Talia manipulated her way into Jennifer's hospital room, two weeks since Jennifer's stitches had successful healed, and two long weeks since Jennifer tried to convince her parents, or anyone who would listen, that Talia was the reason she was injured in the first place.
It had taken several hours, even days to convince them and even then they had to make sure she was off her pain medication to believe a thing she was saying. Something about the side effects causing extreme hallucinations and disorientation.
When Jennifer had finally gotten her father to call in his partner and another private investigator, they made a big deal of showing up to Talia's house, sirens screaming and everything... yet no one was home.
After gaining a warrant and finalizing there was in fact no one home, they searched the local bar and instead found Mr. Fox, Cal and Talia's drunken mess you call a father.
Officer Bennett, Todd Garrison's partner's, strict voice was clear cut as his knuckles rapped harshly on the worn bar surface. With a startled gasp, Mr. Fox was quick to shoot up, removing his head from the counter, his back muscles straightening.
"I didn't do it." He mumbled, his frown enunciating the deep lines around his mouth.
"You don't even know what you're being accused of," Officer Bennett joked, giving the intoxicated man a rough pat to the shoulder while he took a seat on the stool to the right of him.
Mr. Fox laughed way harder than he meant or needed too since the joke wasn't really even a joke at all. When his messy laugh went on for more than a minute, Officer Bennett cleared his throat, catching the short attention of the middle aged man.
Officer Bennett placed the manilla folder in his hand onto the bar in front of the drunk man. From the folder he pulled last years yearbook photo of Talia Fox.
"We both know who this is don't we?" He asked, watching as the man's face lit up, though his eyes still didn't move from their dead zombie-like state.
"Tali!" He mumbled something after her given nickname though Bennett didn't quite catch it.
"What, Fox?" his head stooped as he tried to catch the man's horrid mumbling.
"I remember when I told Tali she had the cutest little button nose and the next day at school during arts and crafts she shoved a big red button up her nose..."
"Mr. Fox—"
"She went around showing everyone and cried for the rest of the night when she couldn't get it out..."
"Mr. Fox—"
"I told her if she couldn't get it out by blowing her nose, I would take her to the doctor and I did end up having to..."
"Gene"
"They had to pull it out with a pair of tweezers." His story seemed to end as the nostalgic look in his eyes faded and his gravelly chuckle came after.
"Gene this is serious..." Bennett sighed, giving the bartender a hate filled look when Mr. Fox held up a single finger, signaling him over for another round.
Shoving the picture back into his face, Mr. Fox finally sighed, ripping the picture from the officer's hands as he sniffled. Taking a few seconds to observe the picture, he nearly let a tear slip as he traced the jawline of his daughter.
"I don't know where she is if that's what you're asking." His tired eyes flashed a sharp look to Officer Bennett as he passed the picture back. The man ignored Bennett's next words as he gulped at the end of his drink.
"You haven't talk to your daughter lately?"
"Don't you know this already? I heard you were already taking care of finding her..." He added, tapping impatiently at the rim of his clear class and gaining a nod from the bartender at the far end of the bar.
"How did you know we were looking for Talia?" Bennett asked, throwing a confused look to the surrounding officers who seemed to be closing in on the two of them. Sure, this was a rather small town and drama rarely ever happened in the area, but that shouldn't mean that news spread within an hour.
No one should know about the disappearance of Talia except for the force, so how would her own father, who spends practically his whole life on the very stool he's sat on, know?
"I reported Talia missing a few months back— well, I just filled out the report." He slurred. "Cal said he would hand it in that morning on his way to school. That's why you're here right? Did you find my baby girl?" Officer Bennett watched as hope grew in the man's filmy eyes. He wanted to help the man, especially tif the prospect of his daughter kept so much emotion in such a wasted and defeated man.
"Mr. Fox what exactly are you saying?" He asked as he stood from the stool. This wasn't making any sense.
"Talia's been missing," his words rolled together as he spoke. "I think in a few days... it'll have been for around two— no, three months."
"Don't you know this?" Gene Fox asked next, swaying as he swung around to look around at the group of officers and then to Bennett who he studied as carefully as a drunk man could.
When he earned no reply from the litter of men who continued looking at one another, he scoffed. "I swear you pigs get lazier and lazier," and with that he downed his started on his next drink.
666
"So what did you find out about Talia, daddy?" Jennifer asked later that night at the dinner table.
She was so ready to hear something along the lines them finding Talia, questioning her, matching her to the scenes of all the murders, and accusing her. Then, that would lead to Talia trading places with Maureen where she deserved to rot in jail.
"Honey you know your father can't expel confidential information," her mother flashed her a daring look that Jennifer had seen plenty of times throughout her life. Since she was little, she had always tried to pry her father of details from his gory job.
"Please Dad," she ignored her mother's look with a defiant pout to her father.
"I don't know Jen" he sighed, cutting a piece of savory chicken and lifting it to his lips.
"I think I have a right to know." She was beginning to grow angry. "Especially since she's the reason I was put into the hospital in the first place. She's the reason my friends are dead, and she's the reason why Colter and I's relationship is so rocky!" With the end of her sentence she slammed her hand to their large cherry wood dining table, rattling both the dishes and utensils that sat atop it.
"Ok, ok" her dad sat back into his seat as her shifted to rub at his temples
"We searched the Fox property and couldn't find Talia nor her dad. We knew he was probably at the local pub and that's where we found him. Drunk as ever, but we questioned him after he sobered up too and it seems like he had spoken the truth..."
"Which was?" Jennifer asked, leaning forward as if that would help her receive the answer faster. She didn't care about the strange look she was getting from her mom or that the ends of her long blonde hair were nearly in her food.
"Talia Fox has been missing for nearly three months. Well, since a party that was hosted at her house on December second, earlier this year..."
666
"No, no, no!" Jennifer was going crazy as minutes before she released a scream that could wake the dead and very well shake the walls of the house.
"You saw her there daddy!" Jennifer screamed, throwing her hands out to shove her dinner plate as far from her as possible. She no longer had an appetite. She was way too pissed for one.
"You and mom both saw her walk into that room! You left me in that room with her! I begged you Mom!" She threw an accusing finger into her mother's face as she flew from her seat, knocking it over so the back of the chair met the paneled floor.
"I fucking begged you, like you were some god who would save me somehow! And what happened when you walked back into that room?"
"Huh?" She screamed hysterically as she looked from parent to parent who both wore shocked faces.
"You think I just magically fell back into a fucking coma? Is that what you think?"
Swiping her phone from the table, she rushed past her astonished parents, stopping at the door where she swung around in pure antics. "No wonder everyone thinks I'm crazy, I was raised by fucking idiots"
Thanks for reading xx