Treasured (Book Two)

Chapter 9: The Police

"What are you going to say to your mother?" Dad asked as we slid out of the car. Ignoring Dad, I locked the van behind me and headed straight to the station.

As I entered, the police station was packed. Cops, male and female, were walking back and forth, carrying papers or coffee.

The wooden floor had a dark brown texture. The office walls were painted light gray. The room was filled with desks, computers, and stack of files.

One of the officers was biting into his jelly filled doughnut while talking on the phone. He had no hair on his head, blue eyes, and had a plump face. He wore a blue police uniform.  I walked up to him and smiled. "Hello officer," I said casually. "I would like to speak to my mom, please." The officer swallowed his doughnut whole, and picked up a pen and notepad.

"Name, please." the officer sighed. "Nicole Porter," I answered. The officer nearly dropped his jaw. "The girl who saved her classmates from those freaks and solved the mystery of Tony Blair?" the officer guessed. "Well, Luke helped me out," I blushed.  "I need to see my mother, please."

"Right this way, ma'am." the officer said. "You can call me Cole," I replied embarrassed. I turned my head to Luke and gave him a nod. He smiled and nodded back. I trailed after the officer and walked until my feet were sore.

He opened the room that contained prisoners then walked in a straight line, ignoring the stares and hostile threats. Taking a deep breath, I walked by the officer's heels until I heard a familiar voice. "Hey Cole," someone said. It was Jeff, the former Newton High football player.

His features was still the same, except the orange prison outfit. "Hey Jeff," I said, ignoring his stare. "I better get going-" "Where's the freak?" Jeff interrupted. "Well," I began. "His name is Luke and he's in the police station."

"I never knew that you two would make great detectives," Jeff sneered. "You're like Batgirl and Robin, except you're both fakes." "Like your big shot of being some football player?" I snickered. Jeff's smile vanishes. "By the way, where is Marcus?" I teased. "Is he trying to steal shoes, socks, or your dignity?"

Jeff stared at me long hard. "And besides, I heard some rumors that as soon as you two bail out of jail," I continued. "You guys are going to boot camp. Isn't that great?" "Keep laughing Batgirl," Jeff threatened. "Because when I get out of this cell, you're next. And maybe Robin too."

"Maybe I should ask the judge to triple your life sentence to thirty years?" the officer replied. "How about that Jeff?" He recoiled at us then slinked back to his cell. "Sorry about that Cole," the officer sighed. "He's been like this ever since the Ms. and Mr. Blair case."

"Retards like him don't scare me," I replied. The officer stopped in his tracks and pointed to the cell to the left. "Ms. Porter," the officer said. "You have a visitor."

Mom looked up from her bed and gasped. The officer unlocked the cell and let me in. "Five minutes," the officer said. "Cole?" Mom whimpered. "Mom!" I exclaimed, hugging her tight.

After we finished hugging, I filled Mom with the details. "Your father is taking care of you?" Mom asked. "That's good." "Mom," I groaned in exhaustion. "Have you met him?" "No," Mom answered. "I married him."

"I don't trust him or Stacy," she replied. "Amen," I agreed. "So, what do you want to talk about?" "Mom," I began. "Are we broke?" Mom gave me a quizzical look. "I saw the fake jewelry in your purse." I said. "And the unpaid bills."

Mom bit her lip. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked softly. "Your father wanted to pay them," Mom explained. "He wanted it to be a surprise for me-for us. For a minute, I believed him until he met that monster, Stacy."

"He didn't keep his promise?" I asked. Mom shook her head. "But luckily, I met Charlie. He helped me paid all the bills and the debts until he got arrested for stalking you."

"Where were you when Ellen died?" I asked. "Before or After?" Mom asked. "Both," I replied. "I attended to the book club meeting with my friends from Yoga class," Mom began to explain. "We talked about this really good book, The Girl on the Train. It was so amazing that I couldn't put it down-"

"Mom," I said politely. "Oh sorry," Mom blushed. "Anyway, we were reading this book, all of a sudden, Stacy came." "Stacy?" I cried. Mom nodded. "She came here uninvited," Mom continued. "One of the girls yelled at her to leave until she flashed a one million dollar check."

"What?" I cried. So this time, Stacy was lying about the money problem? And if she was, how did she get the money? I knew Grandpa didn't have that much cash on him.

"After the girl took the check,"Mom continued. "Stacy joined us. While we were continuing our conversation about the book, Stacy keeps giving me those weird stares."

"Did Ellen came to the book club meeting?" I asked. "Yes, she did." Mom answered. "Ellen was nice. We had a very nice conversation about the book, but Ellen keeps looking at the time as if she was expecting to go somewhere."

"Did she ever say where she was going?" I asked. "Off to some meeting with her job." Mom shrugged. "Did she ever mention about a family will?" I asked. Mom shook her head.

Suddenly, someone tapped on the bars. It was the police officer. "Time to go," I nodded as I rose up from the prison bed. "Goodbye," I said, kissing her on the forehead.

"I'll be fine," Mom insisted. "I love you." "You too," I said back. As soon as I walked out of the cell, the officer locked it and took me to the front desk.

As I came back, Luke and Dad remained on the front desk. "Let's go," I said. They both nodded then walked out of the police station.

"What did you find out?" Luke asked. I whispered everything to Luke. "Stacy is rich?" Luke asked. "What are you two talking about?" Dad asked.

"We want to know if you are being really honest about your money problem." I responded sharply. "I am being honest-" Dad protested.

"Then where is exactly did Stacy get a one million check?" I asked. "What?" Dad shrieked. "Maybe it was your grandfather-" "Grandpa doesn't have that kind of cash," I retorted. "You and I both know that."

Suddenly Dad's phone buzzed. He gave me a nervous smile and picked it up. Luke took me to the van and pulled out his phone. "What are we doing?" I asked in curiosity.

"I hacked into your father's phone," Luke replied. "Hello," Dad said. "It's me, Lewis." Who is he calling?" "Cole and Luke is looking into your death," Dad sighed. "I will handle them-" "No," a voice interrupts. It reminded me of Stacy's.

"I'll handle the kids," she said. "Just relax, Lewis." "Ellen," Dad said. "I love you, okay?" "Me too," she said. Luke hung up the phone. "Ellen is alive?" I cried. "But how?"

"I checked her body," Luke explained. "Turns out it she was alive since the start. But during the wedding, I saw her wearing some small ring." "What ring?" I asked. Luke showed me the photo on his phone.

It was a golden ring with a lotus flower on it. "Hey," I said. "That's the same ring that Dad gave Mom for her anniversary." "I also saw it on Stacy's finger," Luke said. "How long has he been at this?" I asked. Luke shrugged.

Dad came back into the car and buckled his seatbelt. "Where to?" he asked.