Lies that Destroy

Disclaimer: I do not own Good Luck Charlie

A/N:

Chapter 13 (The Crime)

Teddy curled her knees in towards her chest and brushed her hair back, she moved to the long bench in the hallway outside. The police station was huge, it was a pity she had to wait for Mr. Dooley, but she understood. She'd met a few officers who were nice and gave her some water and snacks that helped her stomach. She was still terrified of Bob and Amy, but didn't know anything about what was going on. How could she? She was unable to contact either her boyfriend or her best friend. Most of all, though, she wanted to contact her brother. He didn't know where she was, so how could she call him? In this day's drama, she had almost completely forgotten his number.

She heard people talking in the next room and looked up to see some officers walking from the room and through the hallway, they seemed to be discussing the case. "I can't think of anything worse," the male officer spoke to the older male officer and the female officer next to him. "Three missing children, and a possible connected homicide. A couple on the run after all these years…"

"The children are safe, aren't they? One's made it to his real parents and the other's on a plane, then we have the third?" The men nodded to the woman. Teddy breathed in slowly and felt her heart jump in her chest, the others were okay? Obviously Gabe was the one who would have found his parents, at least she hoped so, so did that mean PJ was the one on the plane? She had to find a way to call him, but she was too nervous, too afraid to talk to anyone. It wasn't so much a matter of trust as it was insecurity and her frayed senses of danger.

Did they also say something about the couple being on the run? Did that mean what she thought? Bob and Amy were gone? Her heart cracked upon the thought that they could come after her, or after Spencer even. Would they? They wouldn't, they couldn't, at least she didn't think so. At least, if the police were talking about it, someone finally jumpstarted the investigation. She was thinking she'd have to wait until she saw Doug to do that.

Her relief was cut short when she saw her best friend being carted into the room by a police officer, who was guiding her slowly to the bench. "Just sit here and we'll have some water for you soon," The officer said with a frown. "We'll need to ask you a couple questions in a bit…"

"O-Okay," Ivy replied with a soft, timid voice. Teddy's heart dropped and a cold spell shook her body. Ivy was trembling and splashed with some strange substance. As the officer sat Ivy next to her, she caught a whiff of blood. Her eyes widened as Ivy slowly turned her head towards her. "T-Teddy? Oh god! Teddy…" Ivy immediately hugged her and began to sob. What happened to her? Last she recalled, Ivy and her family were with Bob and Amy looking for her. Her heartbeat stopped and her nerves flared up. "We should have listened to you, but we didn't think it was possible…that they could be so…"

"Ivy? What happened? Where's Mr. and Mrs. Wentz?" Ivy's sobs grew more severe, confirming Teddy's worst fears. Had Bob and Amy done something to them? Had they taken away Ivy's parents too? "Ivy, I'm right here, talk to me…" Did she resent her? She shouldn't have gone to Ivy, she shouldn't have told them to begin with, and now she most definitely wasn't risking Spencer's life. "You…you don't hate me, I hope…that's not my concern right now, I just-"

"No, it's not your fault. We should have listened in the first place. Mom should never have told them what you said, she should never have asked them about it. I knew something was off when they started demanding to know where you were…Bob was going ballistic and wouldn't even listen to Amy, he ordered us all in the car to help look for you, but…"

Ivy froze and closed her hand above her chest, whimpering. Her eyes clenched shut and she began shaking her head. "Ivy? Ivy?" She reached up and put her hand to Ivy's shoulder. "Ivy it's okay, talk to me. Tell me what…what happened…"

"If Mom…" Ivy slowly opened her eyes and stared in silence at the wall ahead of her. "They took us to this quiet deserted area hidden away in the woods, not too far from the roads, but covered with trees. Mom…mom…she crawled to the road with one arm…if she hadn't, we would never have been found…I don't know where she found the strength, but she saved me…"

As Ivy went on, Teddy listened with a heavy heart to her story, filling herself with fears and thoughts of dread. Guilt also seemed to strike her like fire, Ivy might not resent or hate her, but she still felt like a curse to all her friends now. Or at least, anyone she went to would be in danger. That was the reason she didn't want to talk to anyone but Deputy Dooley. He could handle things. He was a professional. She breathed in and wiped her tears as she visualized Ivy's tale.

"Where are we going?" Mr. Wentz asked as Bob furiously drove along the street. Ivy was wedged between her parents in the back, her mom looked positively terrified. They were no longer anywhere near where Teddy might have run off to, nowhere near where Spencer would be either. Teddy wouldn't tell her where she was, so she couldn't tell Bob and Amy. Amy looked from Bob, back to her, mildly frightened at her husband's anger.

"Don't mind him sweetie. He gets like this when things aren't going…well. At least PJ's at the library, right Bob?"

"Right." Bob moved his head towards her, his voice was gruff and deep. "We still need to find Teddy and Gabe." Ivy was seeing what looked like a totally different brain inside this man's body, or maybe she wasn't. He could still be an idiot, but at the same time, he seemed more like a lunatic driven insane by his own anger and possible paranoia. "All right, we're here."

Ivy glanced out the window and frowned. "Where is 'here', exactly?" There was nothing but a long dirt road with some thick amount of woods nearby. The pounding in her chest started accelerating as Bob forced her and her family out into these woods. She wanted to run, but at the same time, she wanted to be with her family.

"Bob, what are we doing?" Amy asked in a hushed voice. Bob rubbed his head and started muttering as he paced back and forth. Ivy felt her mom's grip on her arm tighten as her father looked over his family. Bob cleared his throat and started reaching into his pocket.

"Look, I don't want to have to do this to you guys, I really don't." He started to chuckle and tug at his collar. Ivy took a step back as her parents stepped in front of her, apparently they too felt the pull of danger. "You know too much. Yeah."

"You mean Teddy's not really your daughter?" Mary-Lou asked. "What she was saying was…true?" Ivy shut her eyes and groaned. How stupid could she be? She knew her best friend better than anyone else, and she flat out didn't hear what she was saying! "Who are you people?"

"Bob," Amy warned, "What are you…"

"I don't want to get caught, Amy!" Bob pulled a small snub-nose gun from his pocket. The Wentz's gasped and Ivy's eyes grew large. Amy put her hands over her mouth and stepped back, shaking her head. "You know that! It's not worth it to get caught." Bob turned his glare upon the family and growled deeply. "We stole them. All of them. Charlie's our own flesh and blood, though, but the other three aren't. It was convenient that Amy worked at the hospital where the people we didn't like were…it was the only way to rattle their cages, to shake them up, to destroy them."

"So you've kept this from the three kids for all these years?" Mr. Wentz asked with a low voice. "What kind of man are you?"

"One that you probably shouldn't piss off. I'm sorry, it has to be like this."

"Bob, we said we wouldn't murder!" Amy exclaimed. "No murder. Taking the babies was okay, hurting Jazzy for revenge was okay, but as long as no one was murdered."

"We don't have a choice now Amy, do you want to go to prison? Do you want to lose Charlie? Do you want to lose your babies?"

"I…"

"This is the only way to secure and keep our family safe! We have to do what has to be done to protect our family!" Ivy started to whimper as her dad bravely stepped forward.

"Then I'll do what I have to do to protect mine. Mary-Lou, Ivy, run!" Ivy gasped and called out to her father as he ran for Bob, but like a paranoid madman, Bob fired off a gunshot in a mixture of rage and fear. Amy screamed and Mary-Lou cried out as her husband crumpled to the ground.

"Dad!" Ivy yelled. Numbness struck her as she saw the blood seeping from her father's head, she didn't want to believe this was happening. "No! Dad, get up!" She felt Mary-Lou pushing her and started running, looking back at her father's body. Bob yelled for them and fired off several gunshots. She whimpered as pain fired through her right leg. She began to fall backwards on the ground, watching as her mother's body fell on top of her. "Mo-" Her mother's bloodied hand flew to her mouth and her eyes rolled back to her head.

"I-Ivy-" Mary-Lou whispered. "I've been shot…my left arm, my back, I'm…you need to stay quiet dear, act dead. They'll go away if they think you're dead. I won't let them hurt you…" Ivy's heart slammed to her chest, she wanted to scream, but she could only cry. Her mother was dying, her father was gone. She could only do what her mother had told her to, she had to trust her.

"B-Bob what have you done?" Amy asked as she and Bob walked towards the body. Bob was huffing and trembling, he surely hadn't seriously killed someone before. "Why? Why would you do that to them?"

"They would have told, Amy. We would have lost our kids." Ivy slowly opened one eye and looked to her father's body, they had moved him farther into the woods. Would they try to move her and her mother? "Let's leave them where they are, I probably can't lift them…I imagine you won't help me there…"

"No Bob, I don't want this. I can't believe you've turned to this, it's like you've gone mad!"

"It's going to be okay Amy, we just need to find Teddy. First, let's make sure PJ's still at the library. He's going to need to stay for a while, long enough for us to get cleaned up. We can be long gone before anyone finds the bodies…"

"Oh god, Bob…"

"Just relax Ames, everything will work out. You'll see."

Ivy waited until she heard the car drive off. She was paralyzed with fear and could hardly breathe with her mother on top of her. "Ivy?" Her mom's voice rang into her ears and fresh tears spread from her eyes. She was still praying for all this to be a dream. "Ivy, I'm going to try and make it to the road…so someone will see us…can you move?"

"I'm afraid to…"

"It's okay, I'll get there then. Just stay here baby. Always remember, Mama loves you honey."

She whimpered as her mom started to pull herself towards the roadway using only one arm. "This is all a dream. It has to be a dream…it can't be real…" In an instant her parents were taken from her, she'd never felt more alone in her life. Blood was gushing from her leg, she'd not even realized she'd been shot.

Her eyes drifted to the sky and birds started their usual springtime chirping. She'd never hear those wondrous birds again, she'd never hear her mother go on and on about how beautiful it was to listen to them, nor would she ever hear her father complaining about her mother's ranting. She had so many memories that she didn't want to lose. Why? Why did this have to happen to her? Why did the Duncan's finally snap? She had her gut instincts, she knew there had been something off about the two, but she never quite knew what. How serious was the gunshot wound? She didn't know.

"Oh god if you let me live…I promise to be better. I won't be mad at Teddy, I know she didn't mean this…she tried to warn us, we didn't listen…Mom, Dad, they're…oh god…" She closed her eyes, expecting it to be forever. "I'm sorry…"

Teddy was shaken internally and visibly, she moved her arm around her friend and hugged her close. Ivy sniffled and slowly shook her head. "I don't know how long I was lying there…bleeding…but someone was driving by and saw mom's body halfway out onto the roadway. They had to stop the car, or else they would run over her. She…forced them to stop…"

"Ivy…"

"She was still alive, Teddy. Just long enough to tell them I was alive." Ivy whimpered and hugged her jacket tighter around her body. "The man wrapped his shirt around my leg and the woman he was with stayed with me until the police and ambulance arrived. When they did…they told me Mom was…" She choked on her words and Teddy slowly rubbed her back.

"Your mom made sure you were okay. She hung on…until you were safe." She was having a hard time stomaching everything, Bob really had lost it. "I'm so sorry Ivy, I'm so sorry."

"I was so scared!" Ivy once more fell into her, sobbing frantically. "I don't know what's going to happen to me." After a minute of silent sobbing, Ivy's eyes shot open. "Oh god, tell me you didn't go to Spencer's."

"I didn't. He wouldn't know anything about where I am. I went to the Dooley's." Either way, was Spencer safe? If Bob had totally lost his mind, there was the chance that he wouldn't believe she wasn't with Spencer! She turned her eyes in desperation towards one of the officers walking the floor. "Officer! Please, I need your help!" The woman turned around and hurried over to it.

"What's the problem ma'am?"

"My boyfriend, Spencer Walsh, I need you to send police to his house. He might be in trouble. Bob and Amy Duncan…they might-"

"Teddy?" She heard a familiar voice and looked over to see Spencer and his parents walking into the hall. Ivy gasped and Teddy sighed with relief. "Oh god, you two are safe!" He rushed over to them and hugged them close. "PJ called me, wanted me to be sure you were okay. When I wasn't getting either of you, Dad suggested we try the police, they led us here…what is going on? Why do I feel out of the loop here?"

"Spencer I-wait, you said PJ called you?" Her heart jumped up to her throat, she wanted to cheer. PJ was definitely safe. What of Denise, though? Last she saw Gabe's sister, the girl was still in the Duncan house. Also, what of Charlie? "Did he really get on a plane?"

"He had to, he couldn't reach you at all and had a ticket to New York. The next flight isn't for a few days and he has no money, apparently Skyler's uncle's getting him a job in the construction agency. He wants you to fly to New York as soon as you can."

"I…" She bowed her head and closed her hands. She wanted to, but she didn't know if she should. For one thing, if it was possible to find her birth father, she wanted to do that. He might still be there in Denver, she didn't want to fly all the way to New York only to find he wasn't there. Then there was Spencer, and now Ivy needed her. "I can't. Not right now. There's too much…did he get his things from the house?"

"No, I think that's a crime scene now. When I drove by, police were all over it. I asked about the things in there, PJ said the police are able to take items that families need out of crime scenes, so yeah…"

Another officer poked their head from a questioning room and smiled tenderly. "Miss Wentz? Are you ready to give a statement." Ivy looked up with a gasp and wiped her eyes.

"Yes…" Teddy pat her back for confidence and frowned as Ivy was led into the room. Spencer sat next to her and gazed off in confusion. She was going to hate explaining all of this to him, but she had to do it.

Emotional chapter, your thoughts?