Running, and Running, and Running

3. Suspect

"Okay, this is some crap. I can't possibly be a suspect! That's my own daughter!"

"Sir, please calm down. We're just trying to rule out all possibilities," the officer said. "The lock to the shed wasn't broken into, so we need to make sure."

Once again, police officers were all over her house. Priscilla sat on the couch with Miss Brenda, trying to make sure that she was out of their way as the police got to work. When she had voiced out regarding the missing twine, Priscilla had kind of expected the police to simply scoff at her and say that that was a silly thought. What she did not expect, however, was for them to send multiple cars over instantly to check.

The receipt for the twine rope from more than a month ago was retrieved, which proved that Miss Brenda really did purchase the rope, just as she said she had. It also was purchased before the day of the incident, which made it all the more suspicious.

Like the officer had said, it was even creepier to know that the lock to the shed wasn't broken into. It meant that it was more likely that whoever it was who took the rope was likely to be someone from the house itself. Priscilla watched her screaming father from the corner of her eye, and her silent mother sitting on a couch sipping on a glass of wine.

It couldn't be them, surely. They were her parents. They knew how much Delia meant to her. There was no way that they would be heartless enough to take away the only person she truly loved in her life. And even if they did, they wouldn't hurt her either. Right? Priscilla pulled her knees up to her chest in fear as her father got to his feet again, with his face bright red.

"I have a work trip. I need to be overseas. You are actively harming my job!" he screeched, jabbing a finger into the officer's chest. "I don't care about protocol. I'm not the kidnapper, let me fly!"

"Sir," the officer sighed, holding both of his hands up as if to say that there is nothing that he could do about the situation.

Priscilla looked up at Miss Brenda who was seated beside her, also watching everything going down silently. If it wasn't her parents, then could it be... her?

Miss Brenda had been her only active guardian in her entire life. She was a sweetheart. Priscilla had so many memories together with her. She remembered playing in the pool together with Miss Brenda when she was a child on the hottest day of summer, after both her parents refused to play with her. There was the other time where they ran back from the grocery store together, sharing an umbrella. It was only when they returned back to the house that Priscilla realized that she was basically dry, while Miss Brenda's clothes were wet from the rain. She had only sheltered Priscilla and not herself.

There was no way it was her either. Miss Brenda loved her as if she was her biological daughter.

"Do you want to sleep? I can move somewhere else so that you can stretch out on the couch," Miss Brenda offered, slowly rising to her feet.

Priscilla shook her head.

"I feel safer with you next to me," she said. As the words left her lips, Priscilla knew that it was true. She trusted Miss Brenda. She always had, and she still does. Miss Brenda wouldn't harm her and Delia.

"Anyway, it's just twine. Are we really going to delay my work over some twine?"

"Sir, this is a crime that deeply involves your daughter," the officer muttered angrily in a hushed voice. "Can we behave? I can assure you that we're doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this, but just for now, can't you just-"

"Do you know how much money I will lose? Can the police force compensate me?"

Priscilla looked away from him. To expect an ounce of understanding from her workaholic parents was something she had never expected, and she was being proven true right here. It didn't matter to him that she had been possibly abducted and lost her memory, with her girlfriend still missing. All he worried about was the loss of money and whatever obstruction it posed to him doing his job.

She curled up next to Miss Brenda, doing her best to ignore him as he continued to yell. This was very overwhelming for one day. Her eyelids began to close.

"Sir! We found something!" a cop shouted, before appearing from around the banister holding onto a notebook. "Whose is this?"

"Mine! Oh, I haven't touched it in ages. What happened?" Miss Brenda asked, worried.

He showed her a page, where half of it was haphazardly ripped out. The rest of the page that remained showed a list of places along with a short string of numbers. The various locks and their codes.

"I write down all the passwords to help myself remember," Miss Brenda murmured, her hand paused at her mouth in shock.

It was clear to everyone as to what had happened. Someone had wanted to get to the shed. They found the password in Miss Brenda's diary, and they took the twine. Priscilla felt a tingle of fear race down her spine. Who on earth had the nerve to do that? The twine, that was initially just an uncertain clue, is now looking more and more like a major piece of the puzzle.

Before anyone else could say anything, her father was storming towards Miss Brenda.

His hand was in the air.

Without realizing what she was doing, Priscilla stood up, and placed herself between her father and Miss Brenda.

"It was you! It was you that caused my daughter to almost die!" her father shouted, pushing Priscilla out of the way.

"Sir! Stop!" Police rushed towards him, trying to stop her father from hitting Miss Brenda.

Priscilla held her head as a strong wave of dizziness began to overwhelm her. It was too much to handle. Everything was too much. Too many people, too much noise, too much anger. Her body was giving way. She felt her knees tremble. Her body gave a sharp sway.

The last thing that flashed through her mind before she collapsed was: as if he had ever cared about his daughter anyway.