Safe

chapter 2

I woke up in the middle of the night, unable to fall asleep. My mind was still racing about Harry and the case.

There were still many unanswered questions that I couldn't just ask dad about. Some questions were about the case, and others were questions that written documents could not answer. Only the people who brought up my questions could answer them.

My feelings were still uneasy. Knowing that some of the answers were only downstairs had me debating if I should do some of my own research without my dad. I had to know what else was part of this whole ordeal. Maybe there's things my dad kept from me to make sure I stay away from Harry.

I was too anxious to wait for things to play out, so I went down to my father's office. Silently pushing open the glass windowed door and beginning my search.

Looking around for the small key to unlock the file drawer, I came across a rather large folder that was unlabelled. Usually my dad labels all of his folders to keep organised, but this one had been blank. I thought it was odd that it did not have a name on it seeing how large it is.

My eyes scanned the vast amount of papers the file held. To my shock, it was all about Harry. Photos, documents of past crimes, and basic information. I didn't really understand why my father would have a full file on Harry, when he is not client. He would usually have only written down notes of what his client would say about the prosecutor. There never this much of an extent on the other man.

I kept reading on as I got further into Harry's file. As I read on, I understood why my dad wanted to keep me away from him. His file bringing nothing but scary thoughts into my head. By the looks of it, he has had a fair share of fights, caught when he was finishing out whatever his job entailed, and being taken into custody. There were several pictures of him. Either mug shots or police men following him trying to get their evidence. He may scare me, but no-one could deny the fact that he is absolutely breathe taking. His perfectly shaped face, a mess of brown curls, and a pair of deep green eyes that could weaken you with just one look.

I kept searching and came across different types of documents. Most of them like the first I had found. But one of them did not deal with his criminal records. This one was about his childhood. It had everything from where he lived to what schools he attended. I kept reading and something caught my eye. It said he had an older brother, about three years older than him. "That's weird," I said to myself. I've never seen him around before. Come to think of it, I've never seen any of his family around.

Left with more questions than I had before I came down here, I decided to call it a night. I snuck back upstairs to my bedroom, successfully not waking up my father. I climbed into bed and replayed everything that I had read. Surprisingly, I wasn't focused on his criminal past, but his childhood. I wanted to know what happened with his brother and mum. Why aren't they around? For some reason, now when I thought of Harry, fear didn't overcome me, but more like curiosity. I needed my questions answered, and I wasn't going to stop until they were.

***

I woke to the harsh sunlight beaming in my room through the curtains. I didn't get much sleep as I would have liked last night. Everything was on my mind, and I just couldn't seem to shake to it off.

As I made my way downstairs to have my breakfast, I realised the house was empty. Usually my dad wakes me to make breakfast, but I didn't smell his wonderful cooking today. Instead I was left with a note on the counter.

"Went to meet some people for work early this morning. Leftover pancakes by the stove. See you after work, love you. -Dad"

I smiled when I read "I love you". My father has been the only one there throughout my whole life, just me and him. I love him more then I can even begin to explain. He's done so much for me, that I could never form words to tell him how grateful I am of him. Aside from my real friends, he truly is my best friend.

I took the pancakes into the living area and turned on the TV. I aimlessly flipped through the channels with the remote until I saw something that caught my eye. It looked to be a local news station and they were talking about about a case, our case.

My eyes grew wide as the saw my dad come up on the screen. He was being interviewed upon walking into his office building. The reporters looked to be almost trampling him, and pushing his limits to get the answers they wanted. They asked all sorts of things. Some had to do with with the case, which was mostly centred around who do you believe and why. But one of the ladies, near her mid thirties took her questioning overboard. She started on about how this could effect him, and his family then she asked about me.

"So you have a daughter that helps you with these cases, but I heard she's around the victims and defendants ages right Mr. Clarke?"

"Yes that is true."

My dad didn't look to pleased in the mentioning of me, but he has to answer to prevent untrue rumours from starting.

"Does it worry you that she will be close to these boys in the upcoming events? I've heard they have a bad track record."

He was getting angrier by the second and I knew it. Just by the way he gritted his teeth and creased his eyebrow. But I didn't have to worry about him. He's a lawyer, so he's good with words.

"My daughter can handle herself. We know the the defendant, they do not worry me."

Even though he seemed to be convincing, I knew my dad. He was worried, and I also knew that he didn't think I could handle this on my own.

It was then I realised, that this is not some ordinary case. This case is a big deal. I still have no idea why, but I'm about to find out.