Too Much Clickbait - Sequel to Clickbait

39

     Heath's P.O.V
     I was gunning it towards Isabella's house, my mind working harder than my truck's engine. The only thing I could see was red as I listened to the GPS, blowing around cars as if I had a death wish. As I headed towards the last turn, I began coughing wildly. I thankfully was able to park my truck behind David's Tesla, immediately jumping out of it. I knelt down on my knees, managing to cough out what could have passed as a part of my lunch and spitting it out. I jogged up to an officer, yelling to him as Zane and the others attempted to grab me. "Officer! Officer! Hello!" The older gentleman turned around, his slat and pepper mustache turned into a frown. "Please! Please, is Katie in there?"
     "I'm sorry, but you have to step back, sir." He put his hands out, pushing me slightly back at my shoulders.
     I whined, my sentence ending in me coughing again. "Officer, please! You don't have to tell me anything major. Just let me know if she was in there."
     The officer sighed, walking next to us in between two squad cars. He reached onto his gun belt, grabbing the keys and opening the trunk. He opened. What looked like a styrofoam cooler and grabbed a water bottle, looking at me. He tossed it over to me and I caught it, beginning to drink as he spoke. He slammed the cooler and trunk before he walked back in front of me. "No one was found inside, Miss Lepore included."
     I put the lid back on my water bottle, taking the sunglasses that were dangling from my black tank top off and putting them on my face, attempting to block out the setting sun. "Do you have any idea if she has been here recently?" The cop looked disgruntled, not wanting to give away too much to anyone that wasn't wearing a badge. "Come on, please, sir. She's my best friend. I just want to know how worried I should be."
     The officer looked behind me, seeing the worried faces of the entire squad, before looking back at me. "Someone was here. We don't know who, but they were tipped off and fled." He sighed, putting a hand on my shoulder as he brought me closer to his face. "We are going to find her. There's nothing that suggests she would be in physical danger, except for that security footage. We don't think they want to... We are fairly certain we will find her alive."
     "Boss!" A younger cop jogged over, a search dog at his side. He took what looked like a shredded leather jacket in his gloved hand, showing it to the officer. "Percy found this hidden underneath one of the floorboards along with this."
     The officer held up a small evidence baggies containing a ring. I didn't need to even examine it when I saw the purple gemstone. "She was either he or someone left her shit here... That's definitely Katie's." The older officer looked at me regretfully as I stood shaking my hands in hosts at my side. "You still think we have nothing to be worried about, 'boss'?"

*****

     I had driven home in another fit of rage, making t back before everyone else. I instantly went to my room and closed the door, flopping onto the bed. I looked through my phone, seeing Amber had tried to call me several times. I sighed, kicking off my cowboy boots and having them land to the side of my bed as she answered. "Zane told me what happened. I'm so sorry."
     "There was... Her jacket... It was a leather jacket, real leather. It was her favorite thing on earth. It was shredded and... Amber, it was so shrunk it looked like it was a child's jacket." I shook my head, staring up at the ceiling as I ran my hand forcefully through my hair. "There's no way she is alive if her jacket had that much blood soaking it."
     "Don't say that!" Amber snapped. Her voice softened. "Listen... Katie is a tough bitch and you know it. She's smart... If it was Zane, he wouldn't of lasted an hour. Katie? Katie will find a way out of there."
     "You don't know her like I do." I shook my head, another coughing fit escaping my throat as I pulled out my inhaler, taking a few hits. "She didn't even tell me the name of her doctor, I need some meds."
     "Cynthia Olsen." Amber said with a light laugh. "I know her better than you think, Heath. And you know what else I think?"
     "What's that?" I sighed.
     "I think you loved the idea of having someone who was constantly there for you, but you didn't try with her because you knew she would never leave." I stayed silent, waiting for her to explain. "You took your time with me. You know little things about me, but only big things about her."
     "That's not true! I know about what nightmare was her least favorite growing up and which pair of socks are her favorite!" I scoffed.
     "What's my favorite color?" She asked simply.
     "Blue." I shrugged, not understanding where she was going with this.
     "What's hers?" I stayed silent, trying to wrack my brain for the answer as Amber rattled off more questions. "Favorite meal? City? Kind of dog? Cat? Fucking type of car? Favorite-"
     "I get it!" I stopped her, not wanting to listen to it anymore. "What is your point?"
     "My point is I think this shit is tearing you up worse than the others because you're finally realizing that you never appreciated her as a person." I could hear Amber roll her eyes in her tone. "I think you just want to make yourself feel better about locking her in a storage bin in the back of your mind for the last three years... And honestly, Heath, that's sad."
     "What did you just say?" I sprang up, sitting up right in my bed.
     "That you're a raging piece of shit towards Katie and-"
     "No, not that! You said storage bin..." my mind flashed back to when Katie was first having night terrors and I would sleep over at her place.
Katie began to sob uncontrollably into my chest as she had for the past week and a half straight every night at random times. She wrapped her legs around my upper body tightly, her arms snaked around the tops of my shoulders. I felt one of her arms grabbing at my bare back and I was sure I would have wicked nail marks embedded into my skin in the morning. Her other hand was tangled in my hair, grabbing at the roots for dear life. All I could do was rub her back, kissing her bare shoulder as she shook until she pulled back.
     "Near that pier... That fucking pier." She sniffles, angrily, as I wiped hair from her tear stained cheeks and tossed it over her shoulder. "There was this storage unit... He would look at the boxes that they sold inside, you know? Those plastic moving ones?"
     "I know the ones, baby." I cooed, scared for whatever she was about to tell me.
     "He said he would take one of them... He had a storage unit or two there. He used to cook meth in one of those double sized ones, you know? He was able to get away with it because it was his family's place and... Anyhow, he would say how he was going to cut me... Just enough to where my blood would drain slowly... And I would... I would feel it." She shook her head, beginning to cry hard as she spoke. "He said he would cut me limb to limb and put me in one of those boxes and pour acid on me so no one would ever know."
     She latched her face onto my shoulder again, sobbing, as I kissed the top of her head and slowly rocked back and forth as I tried to console her. "Now he's the one with a bullet between his eyes rotting in hell, Katie. He's not coming back and you're safe... You're safe here. With me. Don't be scared."
    "Heath? Heath?" Amber snapped me back to reality. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
     "I have... I have to go!" I shook my head as I began to grab my shoes again. "I have to call the police, I know where she is!"