Chapter 7

I stared at the pages until the words started to blur together. Everything just became one big, black ink blob and I rubbed my eyes. I had been staring at college applications for hours now and I still hadn't gotten anywhere with them. I knew what I wanted long term, but I had no idea what my short term was supposed to look like.

I couldn't discuss it with Dad because the only time we are allowed to talk to each other is during his daily two-hour visit, but he hasn't been here in four days. When day two rolled around and Dad still hadn't come to see me I started to panic. He had promised to visit me every day and he never breaks his promises where I am concerned. I panicked right through to day three when Lisa brought me a phone message from him.

He had gotten tied up in a case and it wouldn't be finished for a few more days. I could live with that and it didn't bother me. My dad was dedicated to his work and what he does saves lives: it saved mine. So how could I be upset with him?

I stood up from the desk and a searing pain ripped through my right leg. I rolled my sweatpants up and looked at the six-inch scar on my knee. It was flaming red, which means that I irritated it by not allowing my leg to stretch properly for the last seven hours. It was going on eleven at night and by now the group home had an eerie quiet calm to it. No noises came from the hallway as I crawled under the stiff covers of my temporary bed.

Rolling onto my side, I caught a glimpse of the calendar that hung on the opposite wall. Three days until Christmas. The court date was supposed to have been two days ago, but because of the case Dad was working on it got moved back to after Christmas.

I sighed, "Five more days, Jessa. You can do it."

"Actually, the court date was kept the same." A sickeningly familiar voice spoke from my doorway.

I bolted up and out of bed, standing in the farthest place I could get to. I watched as Susan Wright stepped closer to me and I felt my breathing stop. "What are you doing here?" My voice came out even and coldly angered.

"I officially have full custody of you, Elizabeth." Susan smiled evilly.

"No- no- No! You do not! And that's, that's not my name."

She stepped closer and I backed further towards the wall, "You don't believe me? Here are the papers from the judge!" I snatched them from her hand and read them over. They looked real, but they had to be a forgery. "See, Elizabeth, you are mine now."

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" I yelled. Why didn't anyone know she was here? How could they not know I was yelling?

"Why? It is your birth name after all."

I bit my lip. By birth I was Elizabeth Susan Wright and even the thought of the name made me want to cry. That name was tied to a lot of pain and scars. It was something I had given up when the Lawrence's adopted me and I hadn't thought about it very much since then. "I know these are fake." I whispered.

Susan cackled, "Do you now? Pray tell, how?"

"I have taken many law courses and I know the difference between a legal document and whatever this is." I said more forcefully.

"Well, it's too bad that Mr.- what was his name again? Oh yes, it is too bad that Mr. Hathaway does not! He thought they were completely real and he's already signed off on them. We are leaving. Now!" She grabbed my arm and yanks me forward. As she does so, she makes me knock over the lamp and it falls onto the floor, the glass light bulb shatters into a million pieces.

My hip collides with the corner of my desk and I am sure I will have a bruise not only on my wrist, but now on my hip as well. I am stronger than this, at least I should be. I fight her and for a moment I think I might actually come out on top. The thought is had too soon as I feel a familiar twinge in my neck and before it all goes dark I remember the panic button Steve installed into the bracelet he gave to me for my birthday.

My fingers feel for the small sun token that dangles from the leather braid and I push the button. Relief washes through me as I feel it vibrate and I know a message was sent to every member of Five-O's phone. I let the darkness take over finally and I can only pray that they get to me in time.

It is going on day four of little to no contact with Jessa and I am slowly starting to go insane. I sent her a message about being swamped with a new case, but little does she know that she is our new case. Danny, Kono, Chin, and Jerry have all been searching day and night for a lead that Martin could use to win the case and they have yet to turn anything up.

My hands find the familiar edges of the picture frame that contains probably my favorite photo of Jessa and I. It was her birthday and by the end of the night she was clearly exhausted. I had picked her up and just as I did so she snuggled in closer, her arms instinctively wrapped around my neck. Kono had taken the picture and I had immediately framed it.

I let out a shaky breath and ran a hand over my face. We had to get her back. There was no way I could survive without my daughter in my life.

A knock sounded at the door and I looked up. The whole team was gathered just outside with eager looks on their faces. I waved them in, curious as to what they had.

"We have it." Danny grinned, "We've got all the evidence that will bring Susan Wright to her knees."

I felt my heart miss a beat as I waited with bated breath. "Let's hear it."

Kono dropped a handful of files onto the desk in front of me, "So the reason I was struggling to find something was because all of Jessa's original court case documents are sealed. Getting them unsealed was a challenge because they weren't even under her legal name. They were under her birth name."

"Birth name? It's not Jessa Mae?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"No, actually it's Elizabeth Susan. It looks like she had her name changed when the Lawrence's adopted her. Anyways, I found that Susan actually testified in her brother's defense during the trial. She said that the claims made against him were preposterous and she fought hard to have the charges dropped."

I ran my hand over the scruff on my chin, "If Susan Wright didn't know that Jessa existed and that she had been cut out of her brother's life before Jes was born, why did she testify?"

"Exactly." Kono gives me a pointed look and I nod.

"Which leads to the next pile of evidence." Chin says as he nudges Jerry forward.

"Uh, right. This is really difficult for me to show you because I think of Jessa as a niece and seeing this level of abuse just was, well, it was awful." Jerry mumbles as he lowers his head.

"Jerry, it's okay. I understand. Thank you for protecting Jessa and me, but I need to see it."

He nods slowly and opens up a folder. The pictures are gruesome and it makes me angry, but anger will do me no good at this moment, "So, when Jessa was first taken by CPS they did a body examine for abuse and they photographed the bruises. They weren't able to determine how many people were involved in her abuse then, but with further examination I can come to the strong conclusion that there were three people. Two of which are consistent with the bruising patterns that Laura and Bill left this last time, but there's also another pattern. We cannot be for sure that it was Susan, but-"

I cut him off, "It was."

Jerry nods in agreement and everyone goes quiet as I continue to study the pictures. I focus in on one picture in particular. You can clearly see Jessa's face and the faint outline of hand marks that line her throat. She looks so young and vulnerable in the photo that it makes me physically ache. If only I had known her then, I would have ended the abuse so quickly and I probably would have ended up in jail.

Danny clears his throat and I catch his eyes, "There's something else. We always thought there might have been a third party involved in the Lawrence's murder and Jessa's kidnapping…"

"And there was."

"In the photos of Jessa after we found her you can see the distinct third pattern." He shrugs, "I don't think it's a coincidence that Susan shows up here five months after her brother took Jessa and takes you to court for custody. I think she is trying to finish what Bill started and if that is true… Jessa is, she's not safe in that group home."

Just as Danny finishes all of our phones beep simultaneously. I pull mine out only to see the red, panic mode flashing. I jump out of my chair, "Kono!"

"Already on it, Boss!" we all fly to the computer as she pulls up the panic alert's specs, "It's Jessa's. Looks like she pressed it at the home, but she is now moving pretty quickly."

My phone rings and I answer it without looking, "Commander McGarrett."

"Commander, it's Lisa from Moring-Side. Jessa, she's- well, she's gone. I heard some noise coming from her room so I went to check it out and she wasn't there. The lamp was shattered on the floor though. Mr. Hathaway says that Susan Wright stopped by earlier with all of the legal documents from the judge. They granted her custody at the trial and she had Mr. Hathaway sign off on it. I- I am so sorry, Commander." The young woman clearly was distraught.

"Thank you for calling me, but I need to go." I hung up and quickly relayed the message to the group.

"This just confirms what we all know. Susan Wright is here to finish off what her brother started. We need to get to Jessa and fast."

I know it has been such a long tim since I have updated my stories! I'm truly sorry for that! There's only a few more chapters left in this story and I am contemplating on whether or not I am going to write another in the Jessa Lawrence McGarrett series. Tell me your thoughts! What did you think of this chapter? I am going to try and update more regularly now! Also, if you like NCIS, I am working on a story for that fandom right now! I would love it if you would check it out!

Thank you!

Theatrefreak10