Chapter 13
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Zoe kept a good look out at the people coming and going from the small café to make sure that no one took too much notice of her. She really didn't want to continue to sit there but she also wanted to be able to get in contact with Heidi and this was the only way.
Finally the little green dot next to her sisters name appeared and she breathed a sigh of relief
"Hey where are you?" she quickly typed
"I'm in Florida!"
"Where?"
"Not quite sure"
"Ask someone for an address, but don't let them think you are a run away"
"Okay" Heidi typed back. Zoe was starting to get nervous. They were so close that she could almost feel her sister's presence but she also knew that one wrong step could put them both in a lot of trouble.
"I Got it! 145 N 10th St" Zoe quickly plugged the address into google and got directions to there from where she was and realized her sister was still about an hour away.
"Okay Heidi. I want you to stay put and I will come to you. You're about an hour away from where I am. Please don't leave there unless you absolutely have to!"
"Okay, but how will you know if I have to move?"
Zoe took a deep breath and felt the cell phone in her pocket. She had swiped it off Killian when he had kissed her head and she knew that eventually he was going to figure it out but she also needed a way for Heidi to contact her. "Okay, I'm going to give you an emergency number but it is only that. You can only call me if it is an absolute emergency because I swiped my dad's cell phone" it was the first time she had typed out dad and, for a millisecond it felt good.
"Okay, I understand" Heidi wrote back. Zoe quickly typed up the number and sent it off with a goodbye and wiped the history on the computer before bolting out the door.
"Killian I need you to call my parents and tell them what we know so they are up to date." Emma said as the pulled onto the main drag of their little town.
Killian went to grab his phone but found his pocket was empty "Emma, my phone's gone"
"Are you sure you didn't leave it at home?"
"Aye, I put it in my pocket when I got off the phone with you and then…"
"What?"
"That little pitpocket! Zoe must have lifted it off of me when I took the laptop. I leaned in to give her a kiss on the head and my pocket would have been right where she could get it!"
"we are going to be having a serious talk with this girl when we get her home!" Emma said continuing to scan the streets.
"In better news, I can at least track it. Give me your phone love" Emma quickly pulled hers out and handed it to him. He quickly opened it up and selected the 'Find My Phone' app. He quickly typed in his information and his phone showed that it was just up the road on the left but headed away from the internet café. "Up here Emma, she just left the internet café and she's on the move."
It didn't take but a few moments for them to see her moving up the side walk wearing a gray tank top, a black hat and carrying the small black backpack that had come in the mail with her other things. They didn't want this to look like an abduction so they moved up the road and park the car and cut her off as she was coming up the side walk.
Killian placed his hands on her shoulders and stopped her in her tracks "Car. Now." He said before he moved his hand to her upper arm and guided her safely across the street and helped her into the back of the car
"Killian…"
"Don't Zoe. Now is not the time. I recommend you stay quiet until we get home. And Give me my phone" Killian said through gritted teeth. He was furious that she had ran off but even more upset that she had been lying to them for who knows how long and putting herself and them in danger.
Zoe pulled out the phone and gave it to Killian before sitting quietly cursing herself for not thinking this through more than she had. She knew that what she did was wrong, but she wasn't going to apologize for trying to help her sister.
XXXXX
Once they got to the house Killian got out and helped Zoe out but didn't let go of her upper arm, he wasn't going to give her a chance to bolt again. They walked in the house and Killian let go of her arm "Couch" he said going over and resetting the alarm and setting a new code.
"Zoe what in the world were you thinking?!" Emma asked sitting on the coffee table directly across from Zoe who sat with her face looking down at the floor. "We told you that we would help you! There is no reason that you needed to keep Heidi's whereabouts hidden from us! My parents have been looking for her for weeks! They could have already got her and had her in a safe location!"
"Oh you mean like another foster home?!" Zoe sniped back. She was fed up with Emma lecturing her. Emma had no idea what she was going through. "She won't be safe there! I had to make sure she was okay and that she was safe on my own and I really could care less if that mean that I put my safety at risk!"
"Well you've made that pretty clear love" Killian said coming over and pacing the living room "You obviously don't care about anyone's safety at all! You put me, Emma and Heidi in danger, not to mention Mary and David who have been looking for the poor girl and putting in extra hours to find her!" Killian had finally had it. He couldn't understand what it was going to take to get through to this girl that they wanted to be a real family, that they loved her.
"I didn't mean for this to effect anyone else!"
"How Zoe? How was what you were doing NOT going to affect everyone else? You knew that Killian and I would be worried sick. You knew that My parents were already worried about you and Heidi and making sure that you were safe. How was your choice to go behind our back and sneak off to meet your sister NOT going to affect everyone else?" Emma said getting down to the realities of what was really going on.
"Zoe, I don't know how much more I can do to show you that we want you here. We already look at you as our daughter. I know that may be difficult for you to take but we do. We love you." Killian said coming and sitting next to her.
This whole time Zoe simply sat staring at the carpet below her without saying a word or showing her face. She didn't know what to say.
"Zoe? Can you please at least look at us?" Emma said placing a gentle hand on her knee. It took a moment but Zoe finally brought her eyes to meet Emma's. "I know that what you did was because you value having family and you are a selfless person to be willing to put your life at risk for someone else. That is an admirable quality. However, there is also a small amount of self-preservation that you have to have or else the things you do are not seen as heroic, but as reckless. Now I need you to tell me where your sister is so we can get her to a safe location"
"By safe location you mean a foster home don't you?" Zoe said feeling defeated. She didn't want to let Heidi down
"Not necessarily love. Being that she now knows where you are and, more importantly, who you really are, it may be necessary for her to be in the witness protection program as well. We don't know if anyone has gotten wind of your connection and may try to manipulate her" Killian added.
"What if she stayed with us?" Zoe asked in a very small voice that Killian and Emma almost missed it. "I mean…if she knows who I am and where I am, maybe it would just be best if she stayed here instead of going away"
Killian and Emma looked at each other for a moment. They hadn't really considered the possibility. They felt overwhelmed just looking after Zoe, two kids may be a bit of a stretch to sell to the neighbors but, maybe it could work.
"Tell you what kid. I'll call my parents and talk to them and see what they think."
"But until then we need to make sure she is safe" Killian added "Where is Heidi right now?"
"An hour away. She sent me the address"
"Alright. Well why don't you come with me and we will go pick her up. I know she would probably feel better about getting in a car with a total stranger if someone she knew was there" Killian said. "Besides, then I can make sure I know where you are" he added playfully.
"I'm in trouble aren't I?" Zoe finally asked looking between the couple
"Oh yea! We've been easy on you up until now but this stunt isn't going to fly" Emma said giving her a knowing look
"I figured"
"Killian and I will talk about it and let you know but you two need to get going" Emma said standing up and ushering them toward the door. While Zoe got her coat on Emma came over and kissed Killian before whispering into his ear "Don't let her out of your sight"
"I never planned on it love" He said before kissing her back "We'll be back shortly" and with that the two were out the door and Emma was on her way to call her parents.
