I knocked on the wooden door, shivering from the cold. I had been so nervous about coming over here, I had forgotten to grab a coat on my way out of the door. Fortunately, judging by the fact that Kason's charger wasn't in his driveway, I knew he had already left to visit his mother with Lucy. After just a short moment of standing in the cold, the front door opened and Daniel appeared in the doorway. "Lydia," he greeted. "I'm afraid Kason and Lucy are already gone."
I took a deep breath, feeling my heart pound deeply in my chest. "I know...I actually came to talk to you."
He must've been very observant just like his son because he immediately scanned my expression and furrowed his brown eyebrows. "Something is wrong?" he guessed.
I nodded. "Yes." I could barely breathe. I couldn't believe I was about to tell him. "I'm in trouble and I need your help."
It might have been his cop instincts or just a feeling of suspicion, but he looked around behind me before nodding, stepping back and opening the door wider. "Come on in."
I nodded in return and followed him inside of his house, closing the front door behind me. Following him into the kitchen, he told me to take a seat at the kitchen table and I listened. He copied my actions. "How long until you have to be at work?" I asked him, wondering how much time I had to explain.
"An hour," he answered. "But I can be late." I felt bad about being the reason he might be late to work, but I nodded nonetheless. There was a serious look in Daniel's eyes and it reminded me of his reserved son. They looked a lot alike. "What's wrong?" he asked.
I fumbled with my hands in front of me. "My brother and I haven't been completely honest this last month." Sitting across from me, he stared, waiting for me to continue. "Did Kason tell you why we moved here?"
"He said that your parents died in a house fire back in California. You wanted to move somewhere and get a fresh start."
I nodded, expecting exactly that. "That was a lie I told him," I informed the man, taking a deep breath. It felt so hard to breathe. "Six months ago, my father, Charles Rose, murdered my mother in the living room of our home back in Florida," I managed to get out. "Then, he shot me before making a run for it. Fortunately, my brother got home just after Charles left and was able to get me help. But it was too late for my mom."
Daniel seemed to be trying hard to process the words I threw at him. "Why would he want to kill your mother?" he asked after a couple minutes.
"My mom had wanted to divorce him for over a year, but he refused to sign the papers. I guess he was just sick of dealing with her not loving him anymore."
"I'm surprised he didn't take you with him if he ran for it after he killed your mother. Why would he try to kill you, too?"
I sighed. "He never liked me. Unlike my mom and brother, I never listened to him," I explained. Daniel nodded, lost in thought as if he was trying to piece together random parts of a puzzle. "Do you believe me?" I asked, my voice sounding just above a whisper. This was a big step for me. I was the one who was strict about not telling anyone the truth when we moved here.
Daniel nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "I've been a cop for nearly two decades. I can tell if people are lying or not," he assured me.
I took a deep breath in relief. We were going to get help.
"So, what's a problem now?" he asked. "Did they catch your dad back in Florida?"
I shook my head. "We moved because we were running from him. We needed to go somewhere he wouldn't find us...but he somehow followed us here."
"Where are the investigators that led your case? Do they have any idea where he is right now?"
I shook my head again. "The investigators were mysteriously killed nearly three weeks ago."
He stared at me. "Thomas, Andrews and Garretson," he realized, making me nod. "Did anyone take over your case once they died?"
I blinked back tears in my eyes as I started to get emotional. "No one else knows about our case," I told him. "They kept it as private as possible because they wanted to make sure Charles couldn't get any information on our whereabouts." I breathed. "After four months of staying in a secret location full of security, they changed our names and moved us here. They didn't want anyone else to know."
"So you have no help at all now?"
"None at all. We are completely alone in this," I confirmed.
Daniel folded his hands on the kitchen table. "What are your real names?"
"Gavin and Delilah Rose."
He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. We were in silence for a few minutes while he was lost in thought. "I will look for your file in the system at work," he told me. "Once I find it, I can get all the information and then get someone else assigned to you."
I nodded and felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders. "Thank you. We would greatly appreciate that."
"No problem. I want to help you as much as I can," he replied. "But why would Charles still be chasing after you and Gavin? Why wouldn't he just run after he attacked you and your mother? If no one knows where he is then he could stay that way for years to come. Why risk that just to get to you and your brother?"
I shrugged then crossed my arms, leaning back in the wooden chair. "I think he's just beyond angry. For one, he hates me and probably wants to finish what he failed to do—kill me. As for my brother, I don't know if he wants to kill him too, or just take him with him. I wouldn't be that surprised if Charles wants Gavin to join him. Gavin always listened to Charles after he started drinking and going out of his mind."
"Why would he listen to him?"
"He was terrified of what would happen if he didn't," I answered honestly.
He furrowed his brown brows. "Then why didn't you listen? Weren't you afraid, too?"
I nodded. "Of course I was afraid, but it just didn't matter to me. The man has always made me mad. I'd just be so aggravated that I didn't care what he said he would do in return."
Daniel paused and stared at me for a long moment with a grim expression. "Did he ever hurt you, your brother, or your mother?"
I took a deep breath and stood straighter. "Once I turned fifteen, he'd hit me after I'd make him angry," I told him. "And I know he slapped my mom a few times, but I'm not sure if he went any further than that. As for my brother, I don't remember him hitting him once. I think he'd threaten my wellbeing in order to get Gavin to listen to him."
Daniel nodded. "That would make sense," he agreed. "He probably knew how much your brother cared about you." I nodded, knowing he did. "You said Charles followed you here. Do you know if he has found you?"
I nodded. "Twice, we've found a package on our doorstep from him. The first package was a couple weeks ago and it was filled with pictures taken of me, Gavin, Aria, Marla, Holden, and Kason," I told him hesitantly. I hated to let him know that his son was potentially in danger because of us, but he had to know to what extent this problem had reached. "They were all taken while we were out and about in town. There were some from as early as the first day we arrived here."
"He took pictures of your whole friend group?" he asked for clarification. I nodded. He took a deep breath. I could tell he was getting angry. "Why did you take it upon yourselves and relocate? Why haven't you looked for help sooner?" he asked. "You knew I was a cop. You could've gone to me a lot sooner."
I nodded. "I was scared."
"You do realize you will have to be relocated, right?"
I looked down to my lap, tears threatening to show. "I don't want to leave," I told him. "When we moved here, I told Gavin that we couldn't get attached to anyone here—that it would only get people hurt, but that's exactly what happened...Daniel, we don't want to stay and end up getting one of you hurt, but we also don't want to leave and never be able to come back to our life here."
He nodded, sighing. "I'm going to help you," he assured me. I nodded, silently thanking him. "I'm guessing none of your friends know the truth?"
"Marla knows," I said. "But she's the only one. Gavin told her when they got together."
"And you haven't told Kason?" he asked.
Sighing, I shook my head. I needed to. "No. We are telling them all really soon. We just want to get them all together and tell them that way."
He nodded. "You need to tell them soon. They need to know the danger you two are in because it puts them in danger also."
I nodded. We needed to tell them before something bad happened. And I had a feeling it wasn't going to be that much longer until something did.
***
This is a big move for Lydia...Do you think she will regret trying to get help?
How do you think all of her friends will react to the truth?
Predictions? Comment!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, don't forget to VOTE!
Thanks for reading:)
~Emily