Doubted

Chapter 1

Hailey

It's like time stopped moving. The whole world stopped revolving and the only thing spinning was my head. I placed my hand on my chest, carefully steadying my breath. I couldn't seem to focus on everything all at once.

My sisters, mother, and I stood beside each other, watching as the policeman hauled our father over to the police car. I could hear my sisters' heartbeats. Though, I couldn't hear mine. I turned to my mother. Her makeup ruined from the tears trickling down her face.

She had a hand clasped to her mouth, her legs shaking at the sight of our father being driven away. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't even imagine what she's feeling right now. I couldn't feel anything. The warehouse that was once empty was now swarming with policemen and the rest of our staff.

"What do we do?" Hazel asked, her voice breaking as she let out the words.

"I'm not sure, dear. I never thought we'd be in a situation like this." my mother replied.

Harper is still silent. I can't imagine what's going on inside her head. She didn't really have a choice. It was either to see our father behind bars or in his grave. I can see why she chose the first option. Still, she hasn't spoken a word.

"We go to court." Harper mumbled.

"But—but we don't have a lawyer." Hazel whispered.

"I know. We're going to need one, and someone is going to have to work instead of Dad."

That was the issue. None of us knew how Dad worked. Sure, he owned a hotel business empire—but none of us knew anything about that. Now, we probably didn't even know if he was going to get his license banned or not. It was chaos.

"I—have no idea what the news is going to say once they find out." I mumbled.

"Let's not focus on that." my mother placed her hand on my shoulders.

I took a look around at the mess. Mr Clifford is in his business suit, engulfed in a conversation with an officer named Jenkins. I'm guessing he's the one Harper ran to. My gaze landed on Harper's bleeding shin. Her sweatpants were ripped, and her leg was covered in blood. Diablo slashed the knife hard against her shin. If I were her, I really wouldn't have lasted a minute.

Officers of all kinds, male and female, filled the place. Shouts and echoes and orders reverberated through the warehouse. I took my time inspecting the warehouse. You'd think by now, I'd have it memorized while I was held captive, but no. I wasn't focusing on the warehouse one bit. I was busy panicking and cowering over our lives and my sisters.

The warehouse is silver colored. A huge warehouse with an upstairs layer full of nothing but metal boxes and old cages. Hidden in the corner, lays a giant tractor, its crane down on the ground. My eyes wandered off at the stains of blood on the floor. I couldn't tell if that was Diablo's blood or my sister's.

I watched the whole scene. Harper shot Diablo 3 times. She shot him 3 times in front of everyone. Once in the arm. Twice in the legs. Instead of all that being done for a reason, it was done for nothing.

Diablo escaped with his men, yet some of them were captured. I met the triplets' eyes. They're standing not a few feet far from us, no emotions filling their faces. I let out a long sigh as the officer who arrested Dad approached us.

"Ma'am, my team and I are going to have to come over and search your home," he announced.

"W-What? But—But why?" My mother inquired, panic seizing her chest.