Aftercare

Chapter 36-Clue

MILES HERNANDEZ
No.

"Nora?" I say getting back up from the ground. She wasn't answering. "Nora?!" I look back at the phone and realize that she had hung up. I call her again with no hesitation, anger and hopelessness running through my veins.

Come on baby. Pick up. I'm begging you.

But it went to voice mail. Once twice, until I eventually threw the phone across the hall in the large police station. The sound of it crashing into one of the walls echoes through the corridor, as I break down onto the floor, as I rest my head against the wall.

Maybe you should go fucking look for her instead of whining here like a baby. Pathetic.

But I couldn't. I didn't even have the strength anymore. My heart my head my body was hurting and it would only stop if she was here to heal them.

Only her.

I brush my hands into my messy hair that had started falling out a few days ago, as my silent sobbs fill the station. "It's gonna be ok buddy. We're gonna find her" Lucas say kneeling down next to me.

"It's ok" he says as pats my shoulder. His eyes were red as hellfire and his face looked like he gave up. Maybe not on his sister, but on life.

Why did it always have to be her? Why does she have to go through so much fucking pain but not me instead? Why is it that I always find a way to ruin her life? Why?

"I just want her back, please I-i just need her here" i whisper to myself, but in my head it's the loudest sentence ever. Sheriff Miller, a cop that had been helping us on this case brought me a cup of water while tapping me on the shoulder.

"We managed to track down the IP address from your call" he says making my blood freeze and stop flowing. I turn my red eyes to his, and see the small and hopeful smile on his face.

I get up quickly as he draws Diego and Lucas's attention too. "We don't exactly know where she is, but we do know that the place she's been held hostage at is right at the border of North Carolina" he says.

North fucking Carolina?!

"North Carolina? That's literally outside the city?!" Diego says running a hand through his face. How the hell did they get out of town so quickly. I thank god for the single clue that he gave me, but 3000 fucking kilometers? That's not something I'm ready to believe.

I swear as soon as I get that son of a bitch-sorry abuela- I'm going to kill him. I'm going to tear him to pieces only for thinking about laying a single finger on my girl. "And please, if you ever get a phone call from your father-" I cut hill off. "He's not my father." I say with a straight face.

"Alright( if you ever get a call from Hugo we need you to act like you know absolutely nothing. Only that Nora's missing and nothing else. It would be even better if you pretended that you never even cared about her. That's the act we're going for" Sheriff Miller states.

Heck, if it would save her from that fucking dipshit, of course o would do anything. But pretending I didn't care about her let alone love her would be pretty hard, considering the way I find myself all nervous and happy and smiling when I see her.

She's my source of fucking happiness.
And I'm gonna get her back.
____________________________________
*A Few Hours Later*

I had left the police station the get a bit of fresh air. Everything that was going on was draining me so much. Jace was still in the hospital, and I had chosen not to tell him, so he doesn't get stressed out more than he already was.

My phone starts ringing in my pocket, and I pull it out quickly hoping it would be Nora again, but I got disappointed when I had an unknown caller. I pick it up anyways. "Hello?" I ask wanting to get this over with. A few seconds later, the caller answered. "Are you alone" my expression hardens and my fists bunch up as my heart races.

"Dad? Is that you? Why'd you call me from another number?" I ask pretending I didn't know anything. As if I wasn't about to kill him. "I'll explain later son. Are you alone?" He asks once again, as if there's worry in his voice.

Oh he better be worried.

"Yeah, why?" I reply. "Did you uh, did you find your girlfriend yet? I heard she went missing a few days ago? What happened?" He asks. The guy is beetter at acting than I was. "Yeah It's not important. She does this all the time. It's honestly just annoying. Plus, we umm- we broke up the day she went missing, so it could have been a revenge plan, trying to make me feel worried or whatever"

Lying to his face was the only available option right now. Unless she told him something that she shouldn't have. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Anyways. You know the business plan me and Rylie's parents were talking about right? The whole marriage thing? We think we want to do it by this weekend. You can come over to your grandparents old mansion because I've already invited them here." He says as I let out a breath.

Ok, he doesn't suspect a thing. Good job Miles. Keep it going. We're gonna get her. "Yeah, that's sound good. But I don't remember where grandpa had bought that house. Was it in Wilmington?" I say as if I knew anything about what the hell he was talking about.

"No no, the one in Asheville. My driver will pick you up from the airport anyway. Don't worry about it. You'll stay there for a few days with me, Rylie and her family so you guys spend some time together. I'm sure you've missed her" he says.

Missed her? Oh hell no. This might be harder than I had expected. And since when was my dad this dumb? I didn't think he would actually buy it. "Yeah- I really really missed her. So when does my plane leave?" I ask, desperate to get to her already.

I hear him sigh, "2 pm this Saturday, and come alone, please" he replies. Of course I'll come alone if 5 FBI teams, her whole family and the authorities is what you mean by "alone".

"Yeah, ok I'll be there. Tell Rylie I- I miss her" I say trying to sound as convincing as possible. He lets out a small smile. "You kids can't keep your hands off each other can you now?" He replies as i nearly throw up and punch the phone. Disgusting shit. I'd rather die then lay a hand on another woman who wasn't Nora.

I hang up the phone after saying goodbye. Then, run back in as fast as I can. Never had I ran this fast in my life even though being a soccer player but hey, practice makes perfect, right?