Collateral Damage ▻ Riverdale [1]

2.12

THE AFTERMATH
CHAPTER TWELVE

"Oh, hey, Jug. Hey, Betty." Queenie greeted the two younger teenagers as she exited Pop's after her shift to be approached by them. The concerned looks on their faces caused Queenie to frown, "Is something wrong?" She asked them concerned.

"We need your help," Betty told her in a calm tone, "We know about the getaway car. We went to see Polly and we know she was apart of you and Jason's plan to run away. We asked her where we could find the car and she told us to ask you because she was sworn to secrecy," Betty explained and Queenie let out a sigh.

Queenie bit her lip nervously, wondering if she should lead them to the car or not. After a moment, she hesitantly spoke up, "You got a car? Because I sure as hell am not going to walk all those miles," She asked them and Jughead smiled at her before Betty tossed a pair of keys to her. They were clearly taken from Alice.

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As the three teenagers walked through Eversgreen Forest, Queenie shined her flashlight on the Blossom Maple Farms sign. She knew they were close to it after seeing it. Queenie turned her head and instantly spotted the getaway car. She smiled, "Look, we found it!" She told her brother and Betty.

The trio shared a glance with each other before walking over. Jughead pulled the tarp off that was covering it and Queenie made her way to the back of the car. She stared at both Betty and Jughead, who were gesturing for her to open the trunk, "You can't blame Polly. She didn't know. This was Jason and I's doing." Queenie confessed and the teenagers frowned.

"What are you doing talking about, Queenie? What was your doing?" Jughead asked confused,

Queenie sighed as she opened the trunk, revealing Jason's letterman jacket and numerous pounds of weed near it. She ran her fingers over Jason's varsity jacket, closing her eyes as she got flashbacks of her and Jason, the last moment they shared together as a happy, loving couple. It was at the pool at Thornhill mansion.

"Queenie--" Jughead spoke up and Queenie opened her eyes to see Jughead holding a package of weed in his. She slapped his hand, causing him to drop it, "Ow! What was that for?"

"This a crime scene, dumbass! And you're getting your fingerprints all over that weed. Do you want to be a suspect in a murder that you clearly didn't commit?" She explained to him and Jughead nodded before he began taking pictures with his phone.

"We need to get Sheriff Keller and then, we need to get Polly," Betty told them and Queenie nodded in agreement.

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Just moments after Betty and Jughead left, Queenie ended up telling them in a voice just above a whisper that she was staying, just to make sure this plan to show Keller didn't go downhill if someone tried to intervene. And boy, was she right.

Queenie stood silently, in the shadows, waiting for Keller, Betty, and Jughead to arrive. Her mouth gaped open in shock when she saw a dark figure arrive and make his way over to the car. He opened the trunk and took out the jacket before lifting up the can of gasoline he had in his other hand. He began to pour the gasoline all over the car and before Queenie could stop him, he threw a lighter onto it, the car igniting into flames.

She got angry and didn't care if this man had a weapon or even if he was Jason's killer, she tackled him. Queenie grabbed the man and pinned him to a tree, her forearm pressed against his throat. The hat he was wearing covered his face, causing Queenie to be unable to recognize him. She gasped when she took it off and threw it to the ground, only to see it was her father.

She was shocked. How could her father have done this, "Dad?" She mumbled quietly as she backed away from him, both scared and shocked.

"Queenie, I can explain." FP told his daughter, "It was for your own good."

Queenie shook her head as tears began to well in her eyes, "You set the car on fire! The car that could have given everyone the information we needed to find out who Jason's killer is. Who my attacker was! Dad, how could you do this?" She asked him.

FP gave Queenie a sad look. He couldn't lie to her. Unlike him, she could tell when others were lying to her. If he were to lie, Queenie would be able to see right through him. She always did. Ever since she was younger.

"I did it to protect you, Queenie. You knew all about those drugs, they would have figured that out and you would have went to jail. They would have questioned you about who'd you get the drugs from and you and I both know you would have never given up the names of the Serpents, one of them being me. That car wouldn't have helped you find out who killed Jason anyway. It hasn't been touched since you, Jughead and Betty arrived here." He explains to her, leaving out multiple important details.

Queenie scoffed loudly as she glared at him, "You followed us?' She questioned and FP slowly nodded his head, "Dad, do you understand that Jughead and Betty just went to go tell Sheriff Keller? And they know about how I decided to stay here with the car, this means that when they come back with Sheriff Keller, they're going to think I torched it."She explained and FP sighed, clearly not thinking it through, "I need to go before they come back." And with that, Queenie walked off all alone, getting more angered by her father by the second.

She knew that he had to have done it for more than the reason he told her. She knew it. She just didn't know how to prove it. Jughead was the detective of the family, not her. And she knew she couldn't tell her brother. Jughead didn't care if it risked their father going to jail, he would have told Betty, and she would have told Keller without blinking.

Queenie arrived at her father's trailer, on the task of seeing if she would find something. She turned the door knob, knowing that it was unlocked anyway. She opened the front door, only to see beer bottles everywhere, "Dear, God. What the hell happened in my absence?" She muttered quietly. She sighed and turned back around, ready to exit the trailer, thinking it was a bad idea.

It was still raining bad outside and Queenie exited the trailer all by herself. She was about to make her way toward Sweet Pea's trailer when an unknown hand clasped over her mouth. She was about to scream, but then, the person whipped her body around, revealing themselves to be one of her friends.

Queenie's eyes widened, "P-Polly?" Queenie gasped shocked.