How Far Will She Go?

Chapter Three

Kate's POV

I pulled out of Isaac's warm embrace as the pizza delivery car pulled up. Isaac payed for it as I picked up the contents that had spilled from my purse. The delivery man left and I stood my vision still a little blurred from the tears.

"Kate. Come on. Give me the keys and I will take you to the hotel." Isaac said putting the pizza in the back seat. He came to me and helped me in my shocked state to the car.

He got in the driver seat and gently took my keys from me. He drove to the hotel and booked a room which I payed for because he used his money on the pizza.

We walked to our room in silence. He opened the door and we walked in. "Kate. Let's eat pizza and forget about everything else for a little while. Okay?" Isaac asked and I snapped out of it.

"Isaac I'm sorry for all this. I would understand if you don't want to help me with this case." I said setting the pizza on the counter. We sat at the bar and ate in silence.

I still can't do silence so I spoke up. "The police questioned me because I was Scarlett's best friend. They wanted to know if she ever spoke of running away." I said looking at the pizza.

"I'm going to tell you something I never told anybody else before. I know Scarlett didn't run away because I was there." I said taking a drink to swallow the shame that was choking me.

"I'm the one who pointed out the fact that her front door was open. I wasn't supposed to be there. My parents were on a business trip. I was supposed to go home. But I hated being home alone." I said taking a breath.

"I allowed Scarlett to talk me into staying with her. We got on the porch and she told me to wait on the porch. So I did. But after she started down the hallway there was silence. I'm not good with silence." I said my voice cracking.

"So I went in. I heard her scream so I ran to the room. The door was closed. I opened it and she was trying to fight off three men that were three times her size. So I grabbed her dad's bat and hit one of the guys. And you know what he did?" I asked looking up at him.

"He laughed. I had never been so terrified before. Scarlett looked at me and told me to run. So I ran. I left my best friend with three men who could have killed her. They had trashed her house. I knew what they could do and I left her with them." I said wiping tears from my eyes.

"I ran home and cried. Then when the police came I lied. I told them that I hadn't heard from her since school ended. They questioned me endlessly when they could have been looking for her." I said squeezing my eyes shut.

"The next day I got a note telling me that if I told the police any thing they would bring Scarlett to me in pieces. I never came forward and they marked the case cold." I said feeling tears roll down my cheeks.

"That's when I decided to become a cop. That way I would be able to find her. And put the guys in jail where they belong." I said opening my eyes when a warm hand wrapped around my cold one.

"Kate. You were young. I would have done the same thing. Now we need to talk about how they knew you were searching for answers. Who all knows that you are on this case?" Isaac asked getting up and setting beside me.

"Nobody knows that I reopened the case but you. And you've been with me since you found out. Journey knows that I was looking for them. She ran the facial recognition program." I said wiping tears off my cheeks.

"Could she have tipped them off?" Isaac asked putting the thought of a double agent in my head.

"She could have. These guys are always a step ahead of the police. She knows every time that we are going after them. Great now I'm accusing a friend of being a double agent." I said throwing my hands in the air. That's when I noticed that Isaac was still holding my hand.