Chapter 5
Hello Everyone! Thank you for being patient with an update! I literally just walked in the door from my vacation to Disney World. It was a wonderful time with my family!
HAPPY ONCE DAY! I'm super excited about this episode because the sneak peeks are so intriguing!
As a special bonus I will post two chapters today!
Couple of quick things, Some have worried that Zoe/Elizabeth being 14 is not going to work but I promise I did it for a reason that will display it's self in time. Also, in this chapter she does some things that some may say are out of character but I want you to remember that she has been a foster kid for 18 years and does whatever she has to do to survive which means doing things she wouldn't normally do in order to get by.
Without further interruption, here is the next chapter!
As soon as Elizabeth stopped hearing movement in the house she decided to venture out of her bedroom. She had slept so much during the car ride here that she was wide awake. She needed to get away from all of this for a while. She had noticed there were no alarms on her window and easily opened it up and slipped out into the backyard and then around to the front of the house. The neighborhood was like any other suburban town in America, except this one had palm trees.
So many thoughts were going through her head. She liked Emma and Killian so far, although she felt bad for picking the name that they had originally wanted for their first daughter. She knew that they had asked her not to change her name, but she wondered if that was for her benefit or theirs.
Elizabeth continued to wonder through the neighborhood when she saw a car pull up next to her and her blood ran cold.
"Hey little girl, isn't it a bit late for you to be out on your own?" It was a local cop who was out on patrol. She hadn't thought about it but she was sure that there was a local curfew for minors.
"I'm not a little girl and I'm fine thank you" She snipped back. She didn't want to be messed with, but more importantly, she didn't want Killian or Emma finding out.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. Are you going somewhere?"
"I'm fine. Please leave me alone" Elizabeth snapped at them. She was really hoping that if she put up enough attitude they would leave her alone
"Well young lady, I don't know if you know this, but there is a curfew for minors in this area. I'll let you off with a warning but I need to take you home and let your parents know that you're out here" With that the car stopped and the officer stepped out and gently guided Elizabeth into the back of the car. She was kicking herself now. She couldn't even show them an ID or tell them her new address.
"Now do you have any ID on you?" Elizabeth shook her head no. "Okay, could you tell me your name?" the officer asked before shutting the door. Elizabeth remembered what David had said about when she had to use her new name, she figured this qualified as one of those times.
"Zoe…Zoe Jones"
"Okay Ms. Jones and can you tell me where you live?"
"I just moved here today…I don't know my address" she replied timidly
"Okay…" The officer wasn't sure if he believed her or not but he had to try to get something that would help him know where she lived. He knew most of the families in this area and he couldn't remember any of them saying that they had someone coming to live with them. Then again, the only Jones he knew was the Sargent's family, and he knew they didn't have any kids or younger family members. "Can you tell me your parents name?"
Elizabeth took a moment. She would normally say she didn't have any but…now she did "Emma and Killian Jones". The officer stepped back for a moment. He figured this girl was lying.
"Are you sure?"
"Yea…I'm sure" Elizabeth said crossing her arms
"Alright. I know that house. We'll go drop you off and talk with them" and with that the officer shut the door. He hated to disturb his boss, but he had no other options. Within a few minutes they pulled up in front of the house. Emma recognized the rental car that she and the Nolan's had drove up in and she knew she was in hot water. She was supposed to be in protective custody and she was pretty sure that didn't involve sneaking out. Thankfully David and Mary hadn't left yet in case Killian and Emma changed their minds on wanting her to stay with them.
The officer got Emma out of the back seat and led her up to the front door before giving it a solid knock. It was only a few moments later when Killian came to the door.
"Who in the bloody…Zoe? Frank? What's going on?"
"Sorry to bother you Sargent but this young lady says she's your daughter?" the man said feeling horrible about having woken his Sargent up for something he figured was probably a lie.
"Aye, that she is. There will be an e-mail going out tomorrow explaining everything."
"Oh…well…in that case…um…"
"Thanks officer for bringing me home. Night Dad!" Elizabeth said trying to quickly slide past Killian but he caught her upper arm just as she stepped inside.
"Zoe…what were you doing out in the middle of the night?"
"What's going on?" Emma said coming to the door with her robe wrapped around her
"Our daughter decided to take a midnight stroll through the neighborhood" Killian said shooting a disapproving look at Elizabeth
"What?!"
"Frank, thanks for bringing her home. We'll take it from here"
"Have a good night Sargent" and with that the officer left and Killian shut the door while keeping a firm hand on Elizabeth's arm. The then led her to the couch.
"Elizabeth…what's going on?" Emma asked concerned. She knew what kind of threat Stults' and his men were to her now daughter and she never would have forgiven herself if something had happened.
"I just needed…I needed to clear my head"
"Please, let us know from now on. Our house isn't meant to be a prison, but we also can't just let you out and about in the middle of the night and not know where you are" Emma said placing a gentle hand on the girls' leg
"Aye, our job is to protect you and we can't very well do that if you aren't here to protect. Now can you promise this won't happen again?"
"You guys aren't going to send me back with Mary and David?" Elizabeth asked in shock. Any other family she had ever been with would have found the police knocking at their door at 4am a good enough reason to send her back
"No love. We told you, you're our daughter now." Killian said a bit taken a back. Why would she think that?
"We wouldn't have said yes if we weren't in this for the long haul. We know you haven't had the easiest life but, we promise that we will stick it out if you will" Emma said smiling at the teen. "But, we should prove to my parents that we can take care of you so, no more sneaking out okay?" Elizabeth nodded in agreement.
"Now, let's all get back to bed before we must be up, again shall we?" Killian said standing and offering a hand to each of his girls. They both led Elizabeth back to bed and Killian made sure to shut and lock the window for good measure before they retreated to their own room. This was going to be a long road, but they were ready for it.
