Author's Notes: I have started and restarted this chapter I don't know how many times now. I knew where I wanted to go with it but the how to get there took a little longer. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: not mine
Family Loyalties
Chapter 9
Riley woke up and as seemed to be the case so often the last few days was confused as to where she was. Blinking back the sleep, she looked around the room, trying to remember where she was and what had been happening when she'd drifted off to sleep. She was in someone's bedroom, that much she was sure of but it wasn't her own or any of the other bedrooms she'd woken up in during the past couple of days. Gingerly she eased off the bed and looked closer at the contents of the room. Her eyes fell on the computer on the desk and the chair in front of it. The picture used as wallpaper on the screen that showed Frank and Joe Hardy and four other teenaged boys during what appeared to be a camp out filled in the missing pieces of where she was. The two detectives had been asking her questions about her mother's death when she must have drifted off to sleep in the comfortable chair lulled into the doze probably by a combination of the fitful sleep she knew she'd had the night before, the ibuprofen she'd taken earlier, and a full stomach from brunch. One of the brothers must have transferred her to the bed so she'd be more comfortable.
She wasn't sure how long she'd slept but she figured it was time to head downstairs to find the others. She didn't want to worry anyone any more than she probably already had. Hearing voices coming from the kitchen, Riley headed in that direction. As she got closer she could make out the actual words that were being said. She stopped just outside the kitchen as she realized they were talking about her.
"…I know Con doesn't want to turn her over to them but since they currently have custody, he might not have a choice until he can go to court for a new hearing. Riley might need some friendly faces around."
Her heart started to pound so fast in her chest that she almost missed Joe's returning comment. "I don't get it. Frank and I have had our differences with Con in the past but he really is a great guy. To hear Riley talk about her mom, she must have been pretty special. How did they turn out so great if their parents are so whacked?"
"Maybe they really believe they're doing the right thing even if they are misguided." Frank's was the next voice to come floating out of the kitchen. "I can't believe they're evil enough to not care if they're hurting Riley. Perhaps if Riley explains how much she doesn't want to go home with them, they'll relent."
Riley had heard enough to realize that somehow her grandparents had found her and were coming after her. Her initial fear, that little nagging voice that liked to remind her of how betrayed she'd felt last time, was to worry that perhaps Con had called them despite his promises to the contrary. But then she thought about what she'd heard Mrs. Hardy tell her sons. Con doesn't want to turn her over to them. She had to focus on that. Her uncle hadn't betrayed her trust; she had to believe that. She knew her grandparents enough to know that they wouldn't give up without a fight; and if it came to a fierce battle Con could stand to lose a lot. Was it fair to put him through that?
She felt caught between a rock and a hard place. If she stayed, she might have no choice but to return to Cloverton with her grandparents. However, if she gave in to that fight or flight response that was screaming at her to get as far away as she possible could before they arrived, she'd be breaking her word to her uncle. She stood in the hallway for several minutes, half expecting one of the Hardys to leave the kitchen and find her. With her good hand, she wiped away the tears of fear and frustration that pricked her eyes.
She couldn't do it. She couldn't blindly go back with her grandparents even if she thought it might only be temporary. Her stomach threatened to empty itself at the mere thought that they could once again start slipping her the antidepressants against her will. How could she trust any food they gave her? There was a limit to how long she could sustain a hunger strike. With a silent prayer that Con would understand and forgive her for breaking her word, she backed down the hall to the living room and let herself out of the house.
Riley started walking down the street, keeping an eye out for any familiar cars. Along the way, her mind whirled through possible plans of escape. Perhaps there was a way she could keep her word to Con and avoid having to return with her grandparents. An idea slowly forming in her mind, she took off in the direction of Con's apartment. It was slow going as her ribs were once more starting to throb. At one point she stopped at a stop sign, holding on to the metal for support as she caught her breath.
A vehicle slowed down beside her and for a moment she was afraid she'd been caught. It wasn't a familiar car or driver though. A teenaged boy rolled down the passenger side window. "Are you okay?"
She nodded wearily. He didn't look convinced however. "Do you need a ride somewhere? I know you don't know me any more than I know you but you look like you could use some help. I promise I'll keep both my hands on the wheel and I'll take you wherever you want to go."
She had no reason to trust him. It went against everything her parents had ever taught her about safety but she stepped away from the stop sign and opened the passenger door. She might have never met him before but she had seen his picture. He was one of the boys in the photograph on Frank's computer. If he was a friend of Frank and Joe's then he had to be someone she could trust, right?
He smiled at her. "My name is Biff. Yeah, I know, not a very common name."
Despite her fears and the pain she was feeling, Riley returned his smile immediately liking the young man who had stopped to help her. "Mine's not that common either. I'm Riley. I appreciate the ride."
"Not a problem. Where to?"
Riley considered her options. She didn't want him to be able to lead the Hardys straight to her but she didn't relish making her walk even longer. "You know the gas station near Milford Street?"
Biff nodded. "Yeah, they usually have the lowest gas prices in town. You sure that's where you want to go?"
"I'm meeting someone there." She assured him silently asking forgiveness for the lie. It was only a five minute drive, much quicker than she'd ever have been able to walk it and soon Biff pulled into the requested gas station. As soon as he stopped, Riley eased the door open and thanked him once more.
"Like I said; it was no trouble. In fact, if you want, I can wait with you until your ride gets here. I can almost hear my grandmother chewing me out for leaving a pretty girl stranded somewhere."
She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine. I'm just going to use the restroom while I wait. Thanks again."
She walked toward the side of the building toward the bathrooms, expecting that Biff would pull off as soon as she was around the building. She didn't look back as she turned the corner. Instead, she headed straight to the apartment building Con called home. She let herself into his apartment using the key she'd borrowed the day before. She closed the door behind her and went straight to the computer.
It was her hope that if her grandparents believed she'd left Bayport, they would leave as well. It didn't take her but a minute to hack into the files of the bus line. Her eyes scanned the list of buses scheduled to leave within the next half hour and selected one at random. This wasn't the first system she'd ever hacked into but it was the first time she was choosing to leave a trace of her presence. With all the skills she'd learned at her father's knee, she added her name to a passenger list making it look like she'd purchased a ticket for a bus heading to New York City. That accomplished, she backed out of the system leaving no other evidence that she'd been there.
When the front door opened and closed behind her, she swiveled around in the chair, afraid once again that she'd been caught. Staring into the brown, almost black eyes that had bore their gaze into her every time she'd closed her eyes the last few days, she only felt afraid. The man who had beaten her leaned against the closed door, a predatory smile on his face. "I told you that you should've gone home."
- FH JH - FH JH - FH JH -
Con Riley stared at Joe in dismay after the youngest Hardy had declared that Riley was missing. He wanted to hope that Joe was lying in an attempt to keep Riley from having to go with his parents, but knew it was useless. Joe looked genuinely concerned. Con swore. "How much of a head start are we talking about?"
Joe glanced at Frank for confirmation before responding. "Half an hour tops. I'm sorry, Con; she must have heard us talking and fled."
"This has gone on long enough, Conrad." Con's father warned, his voice tight. "You can't get away with hiding her."
Ignoring his father, Con focused on the two teenaged detectives instead. "Boys, I'm going to need your help tracking her down."
Laura turned to Frank. "Get my keys off the peg by the kitchen door. You can take my car while Joe takes the van. The three of you can cover more ground if you split up. I'll stay here in case she doubles back."
Frank nodded and went to retrieve the keys. Once he had them, he looked at Con. "How do you want to do this?"
Con sighed. "I'll take the bus station. My badge will get me more information than either of you would be able to get with your boyish good looks and charm. One of you head toward the mall and the other can head toward the airport. I doubt she's been able to get too far even if she has been gone for thirty minutes. She just doesn't know the city that well and her sore ribs will make traveling by foot difficult."
Conrad, Sr. grabbed Con's arm spinning him around to face him. His face was hard and cold. "I will not be ignored…"
"Dad, not now! Riley is missing and she could be in danger. I don't care what you want. I'm going to find my niece and I am going to fight the two of you for custody. I only wish I had had the guts to do it a long time ago. Now, get out of my way before I forget that you're my father." He turned back to the brothers. "Let's go."
Laura watched the usually agreeable officer and her sons head for their vehicles. She was pretty certain that if anyone could find the missing girl, it was the three of them but she was still worried about her. Frank and Joe had filled her in the night before about the guy who had beaten Riley up so she knew any time out on the streets alone could be dangerous. Reluctantly she turned her attention the couple still standing on her front porch.
"Would you like to come in? I could make us some tea while we wait."
Rebecca Riley forced a smile. "Thank you, that would be lovely. I'm sorry we are being such trouble to you. Riley is going through a bit of a rebellious time right now. Conrad and I had thought we'd put those difficult years of raising a teenager behind us when our kids grew up; I guess we've forgotten how challenging it can be."
As Laura led the way to the kitchen, she mulled over what Rebecca's words. She knew she and Fenton were very lucky. Frank and Joe might get into trouble while investigating the cases that came their way but they were otherwise remarkably well behaved; so were their girlfriends and best friends. Occasionally they stayed out past curfew and Laura was forced to worry about them but it was never for the same reasons that other parents worried about. If they were out late, she worried that they had somehow stumbled into danger from whatever mystery had fallen into their laps instead of if they were out drinking or partying with friends. And true, she didn't really know Riley other than the time she'd spent around her in the last twenty four hours, but the teenaged girl didn't strike her as the rebellious type. She seemed more like a scared, lost little girl who was trying to make sense of a world that had spun completely out of her control.
She filled a tea kettle with water and set it on the stove to boil. Then she sat down at the table with Con's parents. She didn't really know them but what she'd heard of their actions regarding their granddaughter left a bad taste in her mouth. "I just met her yesterday but she doesn't seem rebellious to me. I think she's just lost and trying to understand a world that seems to have gone completely crazy on her."
Mr. Riley didn't seem interested in holding a conversation but Mrs. Riley was very agreeable. The elderly woman shook her head. "I don't blame Riley. After all the pain that man caused our family, who can blame the poor child for having difficulties relating to people. It was bad enough that he took our daughter's life but he couldn't be content with leaving it at that. No, he had to force a fourteen year old to see his cruel handiwork. Do you know that coroner strongly recommended that we not view Gina's body until the funeral home had finished their work? He said it would be too upsetting for us and that we didn't need that memory. But Riley wasn't given that consideration; his selfishness made sure that the image of our beautiful daughter's dead body was forever ingrained in her memory. No wonder the poor child suffers from nightmares."
Laura didn't have an answer for that. She agreed that no child should have to witness such a heinous act but she wasn't as sure that all the blame should be placed on her father's shoulders. Con had mentioned that Riley had been plagued by nightmares the night before; while he hadn't elaborated on it, Laura had seen the pain in his eyes and the dark circles underneath them that told the whole story of just how disturbing it had been. The tea kettle announced that the water was ready and Laura stood to prepare the tea. Once she had three steaming mugs of tea ready, she returned to the table. "It must make for some pretty sleepless nights for the two of you getting up with her when she has them."
Mrs. Riley lifted the cup to her lips blowing across the liquid to cool it before taking a tentative sip. Setting the mug back to the saucer, she shook her head. "Oh, after the first couple of nights we didn't get up with her although it always woke us up. She never woke up with them and didn't even remember having them the next day so it just didn't make sense getting up and down every night. I'm just glad she didn't wake the neighbors."
Laura was horrified. If either Frank or Joe, or for that matter even Fenton, was having night terrors like what she was hearing described, there was no way she would be able to remain rooted in bed listening to the sufferer scream out the pain even if he wasn't aware of her presence. She'd tried to keep an open mind earlier when listening to Con talk about how his parents had treated Riley. She'd been a parent long enough to know that there were two sides to every story and that the truth usually lay somewhere in-between. Now though, she was starting to believe Con had been exactly right in his estimation of his parents. She pushed her mug away untouched; a bad taste suddenly filling her mouth. "Sometimes dreams are as much a reflection of how secure a person feels in their current situation as they are about past experiences. After all, there must be a reason Riley felt the need to run away from your home."
She knew that final barb wasn't appropriate and probably more than a little judgmental but she couldn't help herself from speaking up on Riley's behalf. The reaction in Mr. Riley was immediate. He stood and turned to his wife. "Come Rebecca, let's go. We'll wait for word from Conrad at that little diner near his apartment."
He turned back to Laura, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a check. He handed it to her and she saw that it was made out to Fenton in the amount of two hundred dollars. She gave him a quizzical look. His words were cold and unfriendly. "Tell your husband that is his bonus for letting us know where Riley was hiding."
- FH JH - FH JH - FH JH -
Joe drove slowly up and down the city streets of Bayport heading in the direction of the mall keeping his eyes out for any sign of Riley Davis. Despite any sort of head start she might have had on them; they should be more than able to make up the time since they were in vehicles and she was on foot. He'd even stopped at the closest internet café since she seemed to be so good with computers. He'd been pretty proud of himself for thinking of the place; it was more of a place of interest for Frank or Phil than for him. But he'd come up empty there.
His cell phone rang and he reached for it, hoping it was news about Riley. The caller ID showed it to be Biff as he answered it, trying not to sound too disappointed. "Hey Biff, what's up?"
"I'm watching something that's more up yours and Frank's alley than mine. I was heading home from the gym when I saw this girl walking down the road. She looked hurt and upset so I stopped and offered her a ride…"
Hope once more surged through Joe as he interrupted his friend. "She wasn't by any chance about 16, short brown hair wearing black jeans and an oversized green pullover? Her left arm in a sling?"
"You are way too freaky good with figuring things out, Joe. How did you know what she was wearing and all that?"
"She's Con Riley's niece. I'm driving around looking for her right now. Where did you take her?" Joe pulled into a nearby parking lot until he had a better idea where he was going. He couldn't believe his luck. Of all the people who could have stopped to help Riley, he felt fortunate it had been on of his friends.
"The gas station on Milford." Biff paused a moment and then his voice sounded troubled. "Officer Riley lives in the Oakhurst Apartments on Milford, doesn't he? That would explain a few things."
Joe frowned. "Explain what things? She's okay, isn't she?"
"She said she was meeting someone there but I felt bad about just leaving her at the gas station. It looked like someone had already used her as a punching bag and that's just wrong. I needed gas anyway so I hung around just to keep an eye out. That's when I noticed him. She was heading toward the bathroom and he was just watching her. I thought at first that he might be the person she was waiting for but something about him just seemed wrong. I got a bad feeling about him. That's when I noticed that instead of going into the bathroom, she was heading toward the apartments. Once she crossed the street, he started to follow her."
Joe had a bad feeling as well. What if this was the guy who had followed her from Dulcer? Putting the van back into drive, he pulled out into the street heading toward Con's apartment. "Did he follow her up the stairs to Con's apartment?"
"Nah, he came back and got in his car and moved it to a parking space over at the apartments. He got out and he's just sitting on the hood watching the building. I'm still in the parking lot of the gas station watching him. Maybe it's nothing but he just doesn't look like he's got friendly intentions."
"He probably doesn't. He's more than like the person who did the punching. I'm heading there now but it's going to take me a few minutes to get there. Do me a favor and go up and check on her. Con's apartment is 3H."
"Joe, he's gone. I looked down to get something to write on; I figured I'd write down his tag number just to be safe. I only looked away for a second and he's disappeared. I think he might have gone upstairs."
