Lorelai POV
I dragged Luke back to the kitchen when I noticed him, needed to talk to him.
"What's going on?" He asked, "What did he do?"
"I don't think it was on purpose," I told him, and he glared at me, knowing that I was trying to make it seem better than it was, "One of the boxes were sticking out and he tripped over it. The contents spilt, and he ended up reading one of the letters."
"That's not an accident," He told me, and I chuckled.
"I know, but the spilling that led to the reading was an accident. And I would have done the same thing at his age," I said, trying to keep him calm.
"Which one was it?" He questioned.
"The kidnapping and burying alive one," I pointed to the letter on the table, and he directed his glare to the letter. It was one of the last ones he sent her before getting out of prison, but it was also one of the worst ones. She didn't sleep for a week, and it was at that point in which we started checking all of her mail before passing it on, something I hated doing.
The last letters were the most violent, especially since he knew we were pushing for a restraining order, which in turn helped us to actually get one. Unfortunately, he had learnt his lesson and hadn't sent any letters this time around.
"He looked like he was going to be sick by the time I caught him, which will hopefully teach him a lesson," I told Luke, and he sighed.
"I guess."
"Mom?" Rory asked, poking her head out of her room, "Could I send one of Christopher's letters to Grandma so she finds out how bad it was?"
"As long as you warn her not to eat prior," I told her jokingly, even though I was a little serious. She rolled her eyes at me, and I handed her the letter on the table, and said, "Jess found it and read it. I think he's in shock, to be honest."
"Oh... Tell him I'm happy to answer questions if he has them," She said. She didn't really mind people knowing about her dad as long as they didn't use it against her. And with Jess's history, I doubt he would do that.
She then handed me her letter to Emily, "Can you read it through, I don't know if it's okay."
Luke kissed my cheek and left the room to talk to Jess while I read the letter in my hands.
Grandma,
I'm not ready to forgive you yet. I know you didn't mean any harm, but I cannot forgive this. He has spent years sending me threatening letters and he only stopped when it became illegal for him to contact me. I have a whole box full of them and I'm going to attach one of them to show you what I mean.
He would have probably found out where I was going to school anyway, so it's not entirely your fault, but it's really hurtful that you told him even though you were asked not to, and it makes me scared about what else you'll tell him.
I'll still send you any articles I have published and I'll probably come for Christmas, but I'm not sure I'll be okay with it by Thanksgiving. I know we usually spend holidays together but I almost don't feel safe.
I still love you, and I will forgive you eventually, but not yet. And I'll miss you and Grandpa because I really do enjoy spending time with you both.
Rory.
"It's perfect," I told her, "How do you feel about this?"
She sighed, "I feel better for doing this, rather than leaving her to wonder about whether she'll ever see me again."
The next afternoon, I received a frantic phone call from Tristan, "She's missing."
I breathed deeply, not letting the fear set in, "What happened?"
"She went to the bathroom during class, and no one is allowed to go with anyone unless they're going to the nurse, so I couldn't go with her. She never returned and she's turned her phone off. Between classes, I went into all of the girl's bathrooms on the way looking for her and she wasn't there. We had Medina next so I managed to speak to him. I'm on my way down to the main office to tell them that she's missing as they know the situation, but I thought I'd phone you before I got there."
"I'll be there ASAP," I hung up the phone and as I was dialling Luke's cell phone, I called out to Jess, "Get in the jeep, we need to go."
He looked at me funny but didn't fight against it, putting his shoes on and walking out to the car. Luke took his sweet time in answering, but when he answered, I felt like I couldn't breathe.
"What's wrong?" He asked, and it took me a minute to answer him.
"Rory's missing."
There was silence on the end of the phone for a moment, and then I heard him shout at Caesar to cover him while he runs out, "How did she vanish?"
I put the phone on speaker and handed it to Jess, asking him to hold it steady as I drove, "She went to the bathroom about half an hour ago and never came back to class. Tristan has been checking the girl's bathrooms, which I can imagine causing quite a few surprises, and is now informing the office so they can follow the protocol, as every business has one for things like this."
I ignored Jess' wide-eyed stare and drove. Luke responded, "Drop Jess at the diner and I'll get in."
"I'm coming with you!" He snapped, "Please."
I looked at him, "The last time something like this happened, I waitressed in the diner to keep myself busy rather than sitting around and waiting. You're going to do the same – it'll keep you busy and out of the way. When we have information, we will call you on the phone in the diner."
I pulled up at the diner as I finished saying that, and he reluctantly got out of the jeep, "Promise you'll keep me updated?"
"We promise," Luke and I said together. Luke climbed in and I drove off before he had even put his seatbelt on.
AN: We're finally getting to the worst of it, sorry it took this long but there needed to be a build-up. Please don't murder me.