Find me

Chapter 14

Gabriel POV

Leaving her in that room was the hardest fucking thing I had to do in my entire life.

I really, really didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay with her. I wanted to make sure that she was safe. I didn’t trust the social worker. What if she took her away from me? What if she put her in another family? What if she put her in a group home?

No fucking way! I would never let that happen!

I’ve never felt more whole than when I was holding her. She was a part of me that I missed my entire life. I wasn’t going to let that part go now that I knew how it felt to have it back. I wasn’t going to let her go.

My nerves got the better of me, and I turned around, wanting to go back into that room.

My dad grabbed my arm and stopped me.

“You can’t go back in there, bud.” my dad said softly.

I turned to look at him and narrowed my eyes. How the fuck was he so calm? Didn’t he want her as much as I did? Didn’t he want to be with her as much as I did. Was it only a twin thing?

“Don’t give me that look, Gabriel.” my dad sighed. “I know that you want to go back. I do too, trust me. I just want to pick her up and take her home. But we can’t do that. We need to follow the protocol. We can’t have them take her away because of some silly mistake. We can wait for a few minutes.”

My dad was right. I knew it. But it was so fucking hard to wait when you had already waited your entire life.

“Come on, bud.” my dad said as he started to pull me toward the chairs in the hallway. “We will wait together. They won’t be long, I’m sure of it.”

I sat down next to him and looked at the door that I wanted to break more than anything. I just wanted to hold her again.

One of the doors in the hallway opened, and sheriff Rivers stepped out of the room.

“Did you interrogate them?” my dad asked immediately.

“I was just about to.” sheriff Rivers said.

He glanced back at the room he came out of. He furrowed his eyebrows and sighed. He looked back at my dad and started walking toward us.

“I shouldn’t be doing this, but you are my friend Henry, and you deserve some answers.” he said. “Do you want to watch the interrogation?”

“Yes!” my dad and I said at the same time.

“No, Gabriel.” my dad said sternly. “You are a minor. I can’t let you do this.”

“I have the right to know.” I said, clenching my fists. “I want to see them. I need to hear what they have to say. I deserve it.”

My dad glanced at sheriff Rivers, who shrugged.

“I’m not really allowed to let either one of you watch.” the sheriff said. “I’m breaking the rules as is. It’s your decision, Henry.”

“You owe me, dad.” I said, “I need to know.”

My dad sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Fine.” he said. “But if at any point I tell you to leave, you will listen to me.”

I nodded, knowing that I wouldn’t. I needed to see and hear everything.

Sheriff Rivers walked back to the room that he just left. He opened the door and let us inside.

“They will watch.” Sheriff Rivers said to the cop who was already in the room.

The cop nodded and looked back through the glass window. I followed his gaze and saw the two people I hated the most in the world.

My dad clenched his fists and tightened his jaw.

“He looks drunk.” my dad mumbled.

The cop glanced at him and nodded.

“He is.” the cop said, looking back at the fucker. “He is great at pretending that he isn’t, though.”

The door to the interrogation room opened, and sheriff Rivers walked inside.

The fuckers looked up at him.

“Where is my daughter?!” the man yelled.

I glanced at my dad. He took a deep breath and tightened his jaw even more.

“She is safe.” the sheriff said as he sat down at the table. “She will remain in our custody for now.”

“Why?” the man asked angrily. “What did she do?”

“She didn’t do anything.” the sheriff said. “We have a reason to believe that you two did something.”

The fuckers’ eyes widened.

“Whatever she said, she was lying!” the woman yelled. “We didn’t do anything!”

My heart skipped a beat. Did Aria have something to say about them? Did they do something to her?

Oh, fuck.

“Aria didn’t say anything.” the sheriff said. “You are not here because of anything Aria said or did. Although, your reaction is making me think that Aria has a lot to say.”

The man glanced at the woman murderously.

“She has nothing to say.” the man said, clenching his fists. “Leave my daughter out of this.”

“You see, I don’t think that she is your daughter.” the sheriff said, leaning toward them. “That’s why you are here.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?!” the man screamed immediately. “Of course she is my daughter!”

“17 years ago, a newborn baby went missing from the hospital in Seattle, two days after she was born.” the sheriff said calmly. “Her name was Aria. She was wrapped in a pink blanket that had her name sewn into it. Today, her twin brother recognized her at school.”

The woman visibly paled, and the man got furious.

“She is not the only Aria in the state.” the man said, clenching his fists.

“Well, your supposed daughter looks a lot like the twins’ mother.” sheriff Rivers said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You can’t take her away from us just because she looks like some woman!” the man screamed, slamming his hand against the table.

“You are right.” the sheriff nodded. “We can’t. That’s why we did a DNA test. We will have the results in a few days.”

“You can’t do that!” the woman exclaimed, shocked.

“We can.” the sheriff said calmly. “You said that she is your daughter. Why are you worried then?”

The woman glanced at the man. He was furious.

“Where will you take her?” the man asked angrily, ignoring the sheriff’s question.

“I can’t tell you that.” sheriff Rivers said. “I can tell you that she will be safe.”

“I want to see her.” the man said.

No. Fuck no. Not happening.

I glanced at my dad again. Based on the look on his face, he wasn’t going to let it happen either.

“I will ask her.” the sheriff said as he stood up. “I won’t force her if she doesn’t want to.”

The man wanted to say something else, but sheriff Rivers left the room, ignoring him completely.

The door to the room we were in opened, and the sheriff walked inside. He looked at the fuckers and sighed.

“I don’t like them.” the sheriff mumbled.

“Did they hurt her, Owen?” my dad asked, his voice breaking. “Did they hurt my daughter?”

My heart stopped beating.

If they hurt her…

“I don’t know.” the sheriff sighed. “I don’t want to make any assumptions. We should talk to Aria when she is ready.”

My dad tightened his jaw and looked back at the man and the woman.

“I am going to kill them.” my dad said angrily.

“I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that, Henry.” the sheriff said as he opened the door and motioned for us to leave the room.

I glanced at the fuckers one more time. If they hurt her, I would become their biggest fucking nightmare.

As soon as we stepped into the hallway, I saw the social worker waiting in front of the room.

“We need to talk, Mr. Sanders.” she said, making my heart stop beating.

Where was Aria?!