I'm Here For You

Top Priority

Betty's POV

"Finally you're here! It's been a week since I called you. Figured you would try and get here as fast as possible." I said as let my dad in.

"Well, we had to get everybody working on this case back here and there are a lot of people working on it. Which is troubling considering its just three people." He said.

"Three people? Are they working with someone?" I asked and followed him into the kitchen.

"I thought their daughter would be working with them. Is she not?"

"No, dad, she's being abused by them and God knows what else. That's why I called you. I wanted you to help me get her out of that... place. It's literally killing her." I defended.

"Okay, I'm sorry. My mistake." He apologized. "Now, I will help you get her out of that house. First I still got to get to her parents first. To get to her I need to go to them first. Figure out how they live their daily lives here. It's changed a little since they fled New York." He muttered that last part. I just watched as he did whatever he did. It all confused me honestly. 

"How long do you think it'll take?" 

"To arrest them or get your little friend out of that house?"

"Uh, both!"

"Probably about a year,"

"Yeah, I am not going to ignore her that long, dad. It'll kill her. Her parents have already tried killing her once here. I can't imagine how they tried doing that in New York. Also, I've seen scars all over her body. Most of them seem self-inflicted. I have no idea how long she's been doing that but I wanna help her before it's too late." I explained to him.

"Nobody said anything about ignoring her. I just said stay away from her parents. They're the bad ones. And if she really is harming herself maybe getting her some professional help would be better than another teenage girl who seems to be catching feelings."

"Dad, what the hell are you talking about?" I question him. Catching feelings?

"Oh, please. You think just because I haven't seen you in person since you were ten, and because your mom divorced me that I didn't notice it every time you called. Especially the moment Veronica came into your life." I tried to hide the smile that crept on my face. "You're proving my point. The moment you two became friends, she was the only one you would talk about. Anytime I asked about school or  Archie or Jughead or your mom it somehow always got back to Veronica. You wanted me to know everything about her." I looked away from him and let out an annoyed breath. He chuckled. "It's fine. Just as long as you're happy I'm happy." 

"Anyway, this is not why we're here. We're trying to save Veronica. That is my top priority. I don't care if her parents are yours Veronica is going to be first, okay? You can always get them another time. I just want her alive and healthy and away from them." I told him.

"Yes, ma'am." He smiled.

After a few hours the front door opened. We both looked back and saw my mom walking through the door. Well... this'll be fun. We waited for her to notice him. She called my name and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm right here mom," I said she looked over at me, smiling. But her smile slowly disappeared when she saw my dad. I sighed. She looked back at me.

"What's he doing here?" She asked.

"Dad is helping me with something that is happening to a friend of mine which is also a part of a case he is working on," I explained in the smallest amount of detail I could. She looked at him.

"Is this true?"

"It is. Do you remember when I used to talk to you about the Lodge case?" He asked her.

"Yeah, you had no idea how to get to them without killing many people in the process," he talked to her about this? I didn't think she would be able to handle it. 

"Yes. Apparently, they ran away here and Betty is friends with their daughter." 

"I am. And I really think something terrible is happening to her in that place. I don't even like to think about it but I really want to help her get out of there and I need dad's help to do that." I told her hoping it would convince her to let him help. We all stood there in silence before she sighed.

"Okay, you can help him. Just make sure she doesn't get hurt," 

"You got it,"

"And if you don't have anywhere to stay you can stay here. The guest bedroom is still set up. You can stay there for as long as you need. Just don't annoy me too much," she said avoiding eye contact. I smiled a little yet tried to hide it and looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

"Oh, God! You know how much I hate being called that. I just said don't annoy me," she said and walked up the stairs. I looked at my dad again.

"Do you think she'd be okay with yes, sir?" I smiled and laughed a little.

"Yeah, let me know when you're going to that so I can run," we laughed and went on with our business.