Chapter 9:
When Aria and Spencer arrived, two officers were questioning a teenage barista with long blonde hair. who had spotted Jake in Philadelphia. Ezra and Toby sat at a table nearby, listening to the conversation and waiting for Aria and Spencer. When they saw the ladies, both men stood up and Aria and Spencer walked over.
"He came in here, ordered a coffee and a couple of muffins and then left. He seemed like he was in a rush." the barista was saying to the officers, as one of them wrote the information down.
Did he give any indication as to where he was going?" the other officer asked.
The barista shook her head.
"Did you see which way he went after he left?"
The young woman bit her life, thinking. After a moment, she said uncertainly "I'm not sure, but I think they went that way "she gestured to the right "We were busy at the time though so I can't say for sure."
"Thank you ma'am." the officer said kindly. The barista smiled and went back behind the counter. The officers then moved to the table where the group was sitting. They nodded in greeting at Spencer and Aria before addressing the group as a whole. "We're securing the perimeters and should hopefully be able to track down Isabel and Jake soon. They can't get very far and we'll start to close in on them little by little until we find them."
Ezra nodded and thanked the officer, who then retreated, going to talk to someone on his walkie-talkie. "We're going to have Isabel back soon." he said, relieved.
The rest of the group smiled silently as the news sunk in and Aria felt tears of happiness prick her eyes. Isabel would be safe soon and this whole nightmare would be over.
Toby excused himself to call the others and update them while Spencer went and ordered some coffee and muffins for them all, leaving Aria and Ezra at the table. Ezra reached over and took his wife's hands, squeezing them. "It's all going to be over soon." he assured her. Aria could only smile in response.
The officer came back to them with a smile on his face. "Good news. We know where your daughter is being held. Units are on the scene now and Jake is being taken into custody. Isabel is safe."
Aria covered her mouth with her hands in surprise and joy at the news. She stood up and asked the officer to take her to her daughter to which he replied that they were going to meet them at the police station. The group rushed to their cars and headed for the police station.
"So it's over? I can go back to my family?" Isabel asked, dazed.
"Yes sweetie. Your family is waiting for you at the police station, we're taking you there right now." the officer said kindly as they drove. She had auburn hair and a friendly face with green eyes. Her badge said officer Sara Michaels.
Isabel took a moment to process this and then a smile graced her lips. She silently stared out the window, relieved that she was finally going to be safe. Then something occurred to her and she turned back to the officer. "What about Jake?"
"He's been taken into custody and I imagine he won't be out of jail for a long time. You have nothing to worry about." Sara assured her as she gave her arm a comforting squeeze. "How's that cheek?" she asked.
Isabel held her ice pack closer to her face and replied "It's getting better. It's still really sore but the throbbing seems to have lessened." Jake had hit her when he heard sirens, thinking that she'd had done something to tip them off. The truth was, Isabel had no idea how the police had found her, but Jake hadn't believed her and he'd hit her so hard her skin split and blood started to drip. The paramedics in the ambulance had tended to her and they had given her an ice pack to keep the swelling down.
"How did you find me?" Isabel asked.
"Someone was driving by with their window open and heard some sort of commotion from the basement you were being held in. The place looked like it hadn't been lived in for awhile so he decided to take a look and he saw you through the basement window and called us. You're very lucky."
Isabel nodded, and then shuddered involuntarily as she thought of what might have happened if the man hadn't stopped to see what was going on.
"It's okay." the officer said, guessing what Isabel had been thinking. "You're safe now and you're going to see your parents really soon."
Isabel smiled at the officer and then went back to looking out the window, waiting to see her her mother and her real father.
When she arrived at the station, Aria and Ezra were already there and they rushed to her, enveloping her in a hug.
"My baby." Aria sobbed, squeezing her daughter so hard it hurt, but Isabel didn't care because she was far too happy to be back with her parents.
"Thank God you're okay!" Ezra said as he held both Isabel and Aria close to him, tears falling down his cheeks.
"What happened to you!" Aria cried stepping back and taking a look at her daughter's cheek.
Ezra reached for her ice pack and gently pressed it to her cheek. "Keep that on it." he said. He became angry at the thought of Jake harming Isabel and he began to pace. "If I see that sonofabitch I'll kill him!"
Isabel stared at him in shock. She'd never seen him so angry and he almost swore. She watched her mother gently run her hand up and down Ezra's arm, trying to calm him before she turned her attention back to Isabel and hugged her again.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Fitz. Sorry to interrupt but we need to ask your daughter a few questions." Officer Michaels said, walking over to them. Aria released her hold on her daughter and squeezed her hand. She turned to the officer "Can we come with her?"
Officer Michaels smiled. "That would be fine. But family only." she said, looking pointedly at Spencer and Toby, who had remained standing at the back the whole time. They nodded in understanding and sat on the bench.
Officer Michaels led them to an interrogation room where she questioned Isabel on the past few weeks. Isabel responded to all her questions as best as she could and was then allowed to go home with her parents.
"We're so glad you're okay." Aria said, leaning over her daughter's bed and stroking her hair.
"I missed you guys so much." Isabel said, sniffling.
"Shh it's okay. All that matters is that you're here now and I promise I'm never going to let anything happen to you ever again." Ezra said, giving her a hug.
"Thanks. You know, when I was with Jake, he tried so hard to convince me that he's my father and, I know he may be biologically, but he's actually not, you are. And you always will be." Isabel said, and Ezra's eyes filled with tears as he hugged her tighter.
"That means more to me that you'll ever know." Ezra replied, kissing her forehead. He stood up and placed an arm around his wife as they moved to leave, letting Isabel get some sleep after the events of these past few weeks.
"I love you." Isabel said as she watched them leave.
"I love you too." her parents replied before softly shutting her door and heading off to bed.
Okay, I know this story is only 9 chapters and it's ending really abruptly but I feel like I can't continue it. I wasn't really into this story as I wrote it and I'm sorry about that because it means that I updated really slowly and it just wasn't my best work. This story is over and hopefully I'll start another one sometime but for the time being, I think I'm going to take a break. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope my next story is much better.
-xox Sobia
