Keeping Claire

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter Twenty Eight

Cody’s POV-

                The drive to Noah’s flat was short, mostly because of the speed I was driving. I walked up to his door and banged on it. No answer. I didn’t have time for this. I took a step back then kicked the door in with my foot. I half walked, half jogged into his flat. I found him sitting in his living room, watching a movie.

                As soon as he heard me, he stood up. “What the hell, man? You can’t just barge in like that!”

                “Hell yeah, I can.” I said. This made him look instantly uneasy.

                I have a reputation with some people. Claire knows that, she just hasn’t said anything much about it, but it’s true. Noah was one of those people that knew about my reputation. I wasn’t proud of it, but didn’t want to lose it either.

                I continued, “You tracked down a guy for Kayla.” It wasn’t a question.

                “Yeah, what about him?” He always had a condescending attitude when it came to doing stuff for other people.

                “I want every piece of information you found on him.” I said, keeping my aggressive stance. He needed to now that I was serious.

                “Why? What does he have to do with anything?” I knew he was just playing along.

                “Don’t play stupid with me. I know that Kayla told you exactly what this is about.” I replied.

                “And what if I don’t wanna give them to you, Cody?” He said in a sarcastic tone of voice.

                This pushed me over the limit. I strode over to him and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him where we were about six inches apart. “Then I’ll find them myself. I don’t have time for your bull crap.”

                Had I not been completely filled with rage, I would have taken a picture of the expression on his face. It was the most frightened face I’d ever seen.

                I let him go a few seconds later. Then he walked out of the room and to his ‘office’. It was more like a cave. I followed close behind him, reminding im that I was dead serious about the situation. He walked over and grabbed a folder with what I’m guessing Claire’s Dad’s name written on it.

                He handed it to me, but kept a hold on it while he spoke, “Why do you want this information?” I said, his tone sounding halfway sincere.

                “Stop playing dumb! You know what this is about!” I said louder than necessary.

                “No! I don’t! She just told me to find him and that Claire was ‘about to reunite with her father’.” He said with air quotes about the thing that Kayla said. “I don’t know what happened after that!”

                I looked down at my shoes. Why did this have to happen to me? More importantly, why did it have to keep happening to Claire? After I found her, we were going to leave this town, for good.       

                “Just give me the damn folder.” I said, tired of trying to reason with Noah.

                He looked worried. “Why do you need it so bad?”

                “Because that bipolar d-head has my girlfriend!” I yelled.

                Noah looked down with an ashamed expression on his face. “Dude, I didn’t know…” He trailed off, not knowing what else to say. After that, he let go of the folder.

                I didn’t reply, but Noah continued after a minute. “Can I ask you a question?”

                “Yeah, whatever.” I said, not really paying attention.

I didn’t really have time for his mindless questions, but this one caught me completely by surprise. “Why do you care about Claire so much? You haven’t cared about your girlfriends before her nearly as much as you care about her.”

I thought his question over. Then looked up and into his eyes, making sure he knew I was serious. “She does something to me, and I don’t know what it is, but I can’t get away from her. She keeps me from going to back to the way I was. She keeps me out of trouble; I keep her from hurting herself. I’m Claire’s Keeper (i.e. Yes, this is where I got the title). To me, anything is worth saving her, even if it means risking everything else.”

He nodded, thinking about what I had said. Then he put his hand on my shoulder with a respectful look in his eyes. It was an expression that he had never worn before. “Call me if you need me to do anything, man.”

                I nodded. “Come with me. Two is always better than one.”

 We then exited his apartment, got in my car, and started down the road. Claire would be with me in a few short hours.

Claire’s POV-

                The man that held me hostage was my Father. The man that stared at me from across the room with evil, lust-filled eyes was the same man that, when I was very young, used to come home from work and hug me lovingly first thing when he got home. He was the same human being that I adored and loved. Now he was unknown to me.

                I was afraid of what he had in store for me. I didn’t want him to keep me alive’ I wanted him to kill me and get it over with. But I had a feeling that this wasn’t what he had in store for me.

                He suddenly interrupted my thoughts. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time, Claire. You didn’t even say goodbye. But that’s okay, you won’t ever be able to say goodbye again.”

                I shivered at his words. But I guess that’s the cold, hard truth. Sam would have new friend to work with. I would never be able to take that trip to London that I wanted to go on so badly. Most importantly, I would never see Cody again. I would never have his protective arms around me again. I would never feel the touch of his lips on mine again. I would never get a glance at those piercingly bright blue eyes he had again.

                Tears started rolling down my cheek as I came to the sad reality of my situation. I was thankful that my ‘Father’ had left. I didn’t want him to see my tears. Images of Cody flashed through my head as I laid there on that uncomfortable bed in agony. How was I supposed to go on if the one that kept me alive was nowhere to be found? He was my Keeper.

                I’m sure I laid there for at least an hour, when suddenly, my kidnapper opened the door. I could hear footsteps, but he didn’t say anything. I thought it was best to act asleep. Maybe he would realize that and just go away. I didn’t feel like putting up with any human interaction right now.

                But he wouldn’t let that happen. He walked over to my bed and jerked me up by my hair. I screamed out in pain.