WHERE ARE YOU CHARLIE?

NOW - CHAPTER 9

"Nice to meet you, Miss Doe, I'm Inspector East." The suited man greeted me as I sat down next to Mrs. Fields.

"Hmm, hi?" I answered, unsure.

"Ms. Doe, it appears that you haven't been staying at the Fields' in the last couple of days as you were supposed to..." Mr. Francisco started. "Care to tell us where you slept?"

"At home..." I muttered, feeling shy around all these authority figures.

Inspector East's eyebrows furrowed.

"That's impossible..." He spat, making me dislike him on the spot.

"Zoe..." Mrs. Fields placed her hand on my shoulder. "Tell us the truth, please..."

"It is the truth." I argued. "It may be half burnt but my bedroom is intact..."

"But there's no electricity..." She interjected.

"No hot water..." The policeman added.

"When was the last time you ate some food?" The Principal asked.

"Yesterday at lunch..." I mumbled with my gaze to the floor.

I heard a click before he spoke again.

"Mrs. Carrols, could you go to the lunch room and get Miss Doe a hot chocolate and some food, please?" She must have acquiesced because he hung up a couple of seconds later. He sighed. "Is there anything I could do to help you go through this rough patch?"

I looked up and saw that he was actually talking to me. I frowned.Why was he being so nice to me? I was about to shake my head, to tell him that, no, there wasn't anything he could do for me when I thought of something."Could I see my brother?" I asked tentatively.

The grey-haired man glanced at Inspector East questioningly."I'm afraid that's not possible..." The policeman answered. "Not before you answer our questions..."

Wait a minute...

"Does it mean you actually know where he is?!" I exclaimed.

I could almost hear the "Duh" he shouted inwardly, but he suddenly looked suspicious.

"What did they do to you, Miss Doe?!" He then mumbled. "How can you still protect them after everything they've done?"

I'm only protecting Charlie... I thought.

"Let's make a deal." He added a couple of minutes later. "If you tell us where your father is, I'll tell you where Charlie is..."

I snorted and shook my head incredulously. How stupid did he think I was?! Wait, maybe they all thought I actually knew where Jim was! That was something I could tell them, no?

"I don't know where he is just as I don't know anything about his 'business'..." I air-quoted this last word.

"And you expect us to believe that, of course?!" He shot back in a pompous tone that infuriated me.

Who did he think he was?!I took a deep breath to calm myself down a bit.How naïve had I been to think the truth would help me?!

In the end, I chose not to answer and shrugged instead.

"What about your mother?" He insisted.

I sighed. This would never work.

"May I go back to class, Sir?" I asked Principal Francisco.

"We're not quite done here, Zoe." He answered gently. "We first need to make sure you're going to go back to the Fields' tonight..."

"All my stuff is in my house..." I argued weakly.