Then I Found You

Chapter 16

Look after you by The Fray is officially Riley and Jayden’s song in my opinion xD.

Read on.

“What are we doing here?” Jayden asked, Riley sighed and looked at the prison building. Christopher Ryan had given her directions which led to this building. She had no idea what to expect her. He had told her they were giving her permission to visit her father and she knew her father wasn’t a criminal so she figured she had probably made a wrong turn or something. She had asked Jayden to drive her but she didn’t tell him why they were breaking away from the group on such short notice.

“I’m just here to see someone” she answered, waving a dismissive hand in his direction. She stepped out of the car and rolled her eyes when she heard Jayden’s car door open. “Stay here please” she begged him. He stared at her for a few seconds before leaning against the car. “I’ll be right back.”

Her palms were sweaty and her breathing was ragged. She didn’t know what to expect when she walked inside. She went up to the security officer at the front desk who had his feet propped up on his desk and his head tilted backwards. It didn’t take Riley long to realize he was asleep. Imbecile.

Riley slammed her hand down on his desk and he jolted awake, his coffee spilling in the process.

“Can I help you?” he asked in an annoyed voice.

“Yes. I got a call saying I should come to visit Ryan Moore” she said, she internally prayed that her father was a security guard there or just a worker and not a prisoner.

“Oh him. Follow me” the guy said, getting up from his seat. He kept a hand on Riley’s back, gently guiding her through the halls where the prisoners stayed. Many of them stared at her and made snarky remarks. She was losing any hope she had that her father was a worker at the prison. The guy led her down to the cell at the furthest end of the hall. Solitary confinement. Riley felt a few tears threatening to escape and a lump formed in her throat. Maybe her father was looking over the prisoner in there. Maybe he was cleaning the cell. Maybe he was serving food to the prisoner.

The guard gave Riley a sympathetic look and unlocked the call. She gasped when she saw her father sitting down, wearing the orange jump suit all the prisoners wore. He was playing with something in his hands. This was the first time she had seen him in years and this is what happens to him. He gets arrested.

“Daddy?” she whispered.

“Riley” her father said, getting up. She wrapped her arms around him but he couldn’t return the hug because of the handcuffs wrapped around his hands.

“What is he doing here?” she asked the guard who kept his face emotionless. “Answer me.” She said through gritted teeth when he stayed silent.

“He got in a fight with another prisoner so I was just following protocol” the guard said in a bored tone. Riley felt like slapping him but she refrained from doing anything to get herself arrested.

“I killed your mother” she heard her father whisper and she whipped her head around to look at him. He was leaning against the wall in the call, his posture was rigid and his eyes were clamped shut.

“What are you talking about?” Riley asked, her voice sounding strained.

“She had cancer but I couldn’t afford the treatment. I started dealing drugs to try to get money but she died before I could pay for her treatment” he explained.

Riley felt a tugging in her chest and she clamped her hand over her mouth as tears flowed freely down her cheeks. Her mother was dead.

“When?” she asked, her hand still over her mouth. She wasn’t too sure if her father had heard her or not.