Chapter 12
Because you guys are the best readers ever, another chapter! This one is a bit longer than the last and we do a bit of a time jump. Please keep in mind that I based Zoe a lot of of Emma and how Emma always does what she feels is right no matter what other people say that she should do.
Please keep the reviews coming! I know someone said they would like to see Heidi come and stay with Emma and Killian so we will see :) if anyone else wants to see anything or as an idea for an interaction between any of the characters please feel free to leave a review or PM me and I will do what I can.
Enjoy!
The next few weeks actually went surprisingly smooth. Mary and David had Stult's in custody and a trial date was set for the next month. Killian had returned to work at the police station and Emma worked on her cases from home and did her field work after Killian came home and Zoe had started online college classes.
They had started having friends over periodically to meet Zoe. It was a little awkward for Zoe during those time because she had to call Killian and Emma mom and dad during those times but she also kind of liked it. She had never had anyone to call mom and dad.
The only thing that still was lurking in everyone's mind was Zoe's missing foster sister, Heidi. No one had heard from here and there were no leads as to where she might have gone. At this point they weren't even sure if she had been taken. David and Mary were starting to wonder if she had found a place with another foster sibling. Killian and Emma tried not to approach the topic unless Zoe brought it up because they knew how sensitive an issues this was for her.
What no one knew was that Zoe was doing some investigation into Heidi's whereabouts on her own. When Emma thought she was working on her online college courses she was actually using a fake profile to contact a few individuals that may know Heidi's location or what might have happened to her. She knew she was dead if Killian or Emma figured out what she was doing but she did her best to cover her tracks and went in and deleted the history on the computer every time she was finished.
"How's it going kiddo?" Emma asked coming over to the table with two cups of hot chocolate. The sound made Zoe jump and she immediately switched screens on her computer
"Oh hey…it's good. Just trying to work on this paper" Zoe lied as she picked up her cup
"Well I'm sure you'll do fine. Want me to proof read it for you?" Emma asked reaching toward the computer
"NO!...I mean, not yet…I'm not done" Zoe said trying to cover her outburst.
"Okay…I didn't mean to make you upset"
"You didn't…I'm sorry"
"It's okay kid. I'm going to work on some paperwork in my office but come get me if you need anything" and with that Emma walked over and checked that the alarm system was armed and went to her office. However, she wasn't going to work on paperwork, she was going to call Killian. Something was up with Zoe.
Zoe watched Emma walk out of the room and immediately went back to her computer. Someone who knew both Heidi and Zoe had finally gotten in contact with her and she was now able to talk directly to Heidi! Her sister was doing a pretty good job with making her way to Florida. Zoe had found out that on the night of the phone call, Heidi has screamed because an armed man had come into Zoe's apartment. She somehow managed to get away from him and she had been trying to make her way to Florida ever since.
"Elizabeth, are your new parents going to be okay with this?" Heidi asked
"Honey you have to start calling me Zoe. And yes, they will be fine with it. Where are you right now?"
"At an internet Café in Georgia"
"How are you going to get down here?"
"I'm working on getting enough money to buy a bus ticket. I am only short about $50"
"That's so good!"
"Yea. I guess. I will let you know when I get the ticket"
"okay, I'll message you tomorrow" and with that Zoe exited out of the window and began to wipe the history when she heard the front door open
"Hello Love, I was just about to leave the office here. Do you need me to pick anything up?" Killian asked
"No, I think that Zoe is hiding something from us"
"What do you mean?"
"I asked her if I could proof read the paper she was writing and she about bit my head off. I'm starting to wonder if she is in contact with someone under the rouse of taking online classes"
"But we were the ones who put in the card information for her to do the classes"
"I'm not saying that she isn't doing her classes, but I am saying that the amount of time she is spending on the laptop isn't JUST for her classes."
"We should check the memory on the computer. I'll do it tonight after she goes to bed."
"Okay. I told her that I was doing paperwork in my office so she doesn't know I called you"
"Alright love, I'm pulling into the driveway, see you in a minute" and with that he hung up.
"Hey Killian!" Zoe said quickly shutting the top of the laptop.
Killian walked over and disarmed and rearmed the alarm system before greeting his daughter "Hello Lass, working on your classes?"
"Yep…wrapping up for the day" Zoe said as she tried her best to remember the code that she had just watched Killian punch in.
"Well that's good. Say, go ahead and leave the laptop out here, I need to do a few things for the station" Killian said making sure to study her facial expression.
Zoe felt her face go flush. She knew she had wiped the history, but she also knew that they had ways of finding out anyway. She really hoped that they wouldn't go looking for anything
"Um yea…sure."
"Perfect. Well go get ready, we're going out to eat tonight" He said coming over and kissing the top of her head and then picking up the laptop. Zoe felt her stomach leap into her throat but she immediately obeyed and went to her room while Killian went toward the office.
"I've got the laptop" Killian said holding it up as he came into the office where Emma had finally begun on her paperwork
"Oh Good" she said taking it from him and getting right to work on trying to find a clue about what Zoe may be up to
"Are you sure she's up to something? Maybe she is just really insecure about school. Maybe she's got a learning disability?" Killian argued hoping that Zoe was in fact, just doing her classes.
"I already checked with my parents and they said there is nothing on file as far as learning issues. Killian there has…Oh no"
"What is it love?"
Zoe quietly tip toed to the alarm system. She knew she only had one chance to get this code right or she was screwed. She typed in the numbers she had seen Killian type in and the displayed flashed 'unarmed' which caused her heart to begin to race as she quietly opened the door and slipped off down the street. She was going to get Heidi if it was the last thing she did.
Zoe began to make her way up the street. She had gotten a pretty good idea of how this neighborhood was laid out and she was able to quickly get to the main drag and find her way to the little internet café that was frequented by many of the locals.
She quickly logged on and let Heidi know that she was on her way to try and get her and asked her where she was exactly but Heidi wasn't online. Zoe kept pulling her hat down to cover her face. She knew that Killian and Emma wouldn't hesitate to use their positions in law enforcement to get a hold of any and all surveillance tapes once they realized she was gone. She just really hoped that Heidi would get back online soon so she didn't have to stay here very long.
"What is it Emma?"
"Killian she found Heidi"
"What? How? Not even David and Mary Margret have been able to track the lass down"
"Well somehow Zoe did. She created a fake online profile and found Heidi and she is headed toward us right now!"
"ZOE!" Killian yelled. They were going to deal with this right now "ZOE?! Where is that girl?" Killian said walking out into the living room and not seeing her. He turned around to go check her room when he noticed the alarm system "EMMA! Zoe's unarmed the alarm system! She's gone!"
Immediately Emma came running out to see the look of panic on her husbands face. "Let's go! She couldn't have gotten far!" Emma said pulling at Killian to follow her.
"I'm calling the station. I'm going to have everyone looking for her"
"Killian you can't do that and you know it" Emma said stopping him and grabbing him by the shoulders. "We can't let them know that she's under our protection. A teen age girl missing for ten minutes is going to bring up questions. Now, she couldn't have gotten to far. We will find her" She said before kissing him
"You're right love. I'm sorry. I've just never been this scared before"
"I know, me to" She said before they both exited the house and locked the door behind them.
"Now where do you think she went?" Killian asked as they looked up and down both sides of the street with no sign of Zoe.
"My best guess is she headed toward the main drag so she could blend in and possibly hitch a ride with someone to get closer to the Florida Georgia line"
"Isn't that a singing group?" Killian asked confused
"Yes honey it is. But Heidi in her last message said she was in Georgia so if Zoe can get close to the boarder than she gets closer to Heidi" She said trying to hold back her giggles at her husband.
"Oh I see. Alright let's head that way then. You want go get in the car or walk?" He asked her
"Lets take the car. We may or may not be able to catch up with her on foot."
"Good Point, let's go"
