Saving Her

Chapter 12. Fighting the Odds

The next morning arrived after FP and Jellybean's father-daughter date.

He'd barely slept. Tossing and turning all night, he couldn't shake the thought of Edgar Evernever. The man was just so strange; magnetic almost, enough to draw in even his nearly teenaged daughter. Though he didn't come into contact with him, it felt like they had shared a conversation with just eye contact---his creepy eyes sent chills through his spine; the thought of him hurting Alice or even touching her.

By five in the morning, FP was ready to take on his day at work, but he still had other things to do, which still led back to Alice and what she was doing in her life.

"Dad?" Jughead squinted when he heard his dad's jingling keys. "What time is it?"

"Early. Just go to sleep," he assured.

"Are you good?"

"Yeah. I left you and Jellybean some lunch money," he mentioned before putting his hat and jacket on.

"Alright. Did you still wanna meet up later?"

"Yeah, but I'll come to you. I just got some paperwork to catch up on, if your mom asks. Get to sleep, you gotta be up in a couple hours or so," as he shut the door.

At nine in the morning; when the paperwork was done, when the deputies started flowing in to get their work going, the sheriff went cruising and he decided to make a pit stop at Riverdale High, cutting the middle of second period for the teens.

"Is there a problem, Sheriff?"

"No, I just need to see my boy and Betty," FP calmly assured. "Do you mind? Jug is a trainee and I need his help."

"Of course. Betty and Jughead are in the newsroom."

"Thanks, Waldo," he moved passed him and he met the kids. When he approached the door, he saw the two kissing. Rolling his eyes, he knocked on the door and cleared his throat.

The teens subtly broke away and wiped their lips as they flushed.

"Dad," Jughead said. "You weren't kidding about coming to us," he joked.

"Hope I'm not interrupting?" he walked in and shut the door behind him.

"Nope, not at all," the blonde shook her head.

"What can we do for you, Sheriff?" Jughead smirked.

"Well, first off... Jughead, I need you to do a little digging. Alice was supposed to, but that was before I realized she was out of her mind."

Betty curled her lips to the side, the thought still tearing at her; how upset her mother was the day before.

"Okay, what do you need?"

"I went in to find out how I got to be Betty's guardian and it turns out---my whole arrest record is gone. Except for the minor things I did as a teen."

"So, it was wiped out?" he knitted his brows together.

"Yeah and I don't know why or even who to suspect."

"Well, let's think. Madame Mayor Lodge hired you for the job---clearing your background for the job seems like the way to ensure your safety. We'll start there."

"We can ask Veronica," Betty mentioned.

"Taking down her parents seems to be the girl's hobby, so I'm sure she won't mind," Jughead added.

"Alright, next thing..." he took a breath. "Last night I decided to take Jellybean out and she asked about Alice, so I took her to say hi... I didn't get off the car and I wish I would have," he pinched the bridge of his nose.