Becoming Blue

C H A P T E R 3

Jamie left the room with Kiera. "Call her father. Tell him we found her and that he needs to come down to the precinct to sign some papers to get custody of her."Jamie told her.

"Reagan, we can't release her back to him!"She exclaimed, looking at Jamie as though he was insane.

"I know that. We'll arrest him when he gets here." Jamie said. "I'm going to go talk to her, try to see what other options she has."Jamie turned away as Kiera walked over to her desk and started going through papers to find her father's contact. Jamie turned and saw Eddie glaring at her screen. I'll have to ask her about that later. He thought to himself. He opened the door to see Emily sitting with her jacket pulled around her. "Hey." He said, closing the door.

Emily didn't respond. Jamie went and sat down in the seat he had been sitting in five minutes ago. "Your father's being brought down to the precinct."Jamie told her.

"I don't want to see him, and I'm not going home." Emily said, glaring at Jamie, her voice forceful.

Jamie was slightly taken aback by the force she used in her voice, but he didn't show it. She had mumbling and muttering since she got here, and to all of a sudden use such a powerful and commanding voice, he was surprised. "No, you're not going to go back home with your father." Jamie replied gently.

He watched as surprise filled her eyes. "W-what do you mean?"She stuttered.

"With the information you've given us, we can't allow you to go back with him." Jamie said.

"So what's gonna happen to me?" She asked him, worry filling her eyes.

Jamie looked at her with pity. She was only fourteen years old, and she already was having to make choices as though she was an adult. Jamie didn't think that was fair to her. "Where's your mom?"He asked.

"She left when I was little."

"Any grandparents?" He asked, hoping the answer was yes.

"Died in a car crash." She replied, a tear rolling down her cheek. He watched as she wiped it away.

"Any family in the area?"He asked, putting an emphasis on any.

She shook her head. "What does this mean for me?"Emily asked. Jamie heard something different in her voice this time. It was commanding, it wasn't worry, it wasn't soft or hard, it wasn't anxiety. For the first time that day, he could tell she was scared. "You'll... be put into foster care until someone comes forward to adopt you." He said, waiting for her backlash.

"NO!"She said, standing up and grabbing her bag. Jamie crossed the room in a few strides and blocked the door. She glared at him. "There's no way i'm going into foster care."She almost growled at him.

"If you have no other family, then there's no other option. I'm sorry."He said, meaning it.

"You know that it takes the average child two years to be adopted. And that's a child. Not a fourteen year old teenager. No one wants a teenager, so there's no way i'm going into foster care. If I do, I'll just run away." She listed off the facts to him.

"You've done some research on this." Jamie said, impressed.

"What, you think I'd willingly go to the cops without understanding my other options? Well, my other options suck, so I didn't go to them."

Just then, Kiera knocked on the door. Jamie left the room after he watched Emily sit down in her chair. He knew she was smart, and hoped she was smart enough to realize that if she tried to run out of here, someone would catch her.