CHAPTER 18
CAROLINE'S POV
The past 6 weeks was a big bundle of blur and it's already the middle of December.
WINTER!
Time moved so fast with, Leo and Elly being cute, Mike and Phoebe being cute, Nick being a JERK as usual and Ivy... well, she was her. Damian is the important news now because he found a lead on the investigation of...
Who wants to kidnap Phoebe.
The lead is basically pictures...of Phoebe's dad's whereabouts.
I know its creepy and stalker-ish BUT 'her father' is the last thing Matt said before he passed and that's the only lead we have. I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm literally stalking my best friend's dad and I see him like MY dad.
Things are so complicated.
Anyway, two days ago when we were following... no. Stalking Uncle Elijah, we were lead to a secluded area that Damian claims he has been before with the gang. But he doesn't remember it clearly. He said it happened when he was much younger. So we are bringing the pictures and going to Uncle David's house now. As we entered his house.
"What's happening, damn it!?" we heard a whisper of a woman from his room.
"You need to be discreet okay? She already knows so much" I heard him saying and this freaked me out.
We continued eavesdropping.
"Who is SHE?" the woman asked.
"I can't tell you"
"Whay can't you tell?"
"Because I know you're gonna hurt her. And I'm not gonna let an innocent girl get hurt"
"As if you've never done that before"
"That's different Leona. She's like a daughter to me."
Before I could hear anything else Damian pulled me and ran as fast as possible. We ran, and ran until we stopped behind a building.
"Why did you pull me. I could've heard more" I whispered to Damian
"You heard the name Leona?"
"Yeah?"
"She's dangerous"
"Is she a part of that gang"
"No...She is the rival gang leader of the TRISKELION"
...
We finally reached my house without getting killed. Well, to say my body hurts would be an understatement.
"What do you mean, Rival gang?" I asked, panting.
He looked into his bag for something and took a file out.
"What is this?"
He opened the file and showed me a symbol. It was a snake that looked like the alphabet S.
"Leona is the sister of my gang leader"
"SISTER?"
"Yeah. She wanted to be the leader of the TRISKELION but her brother became instead. Its passed down through generations. Since she couldn't become the leader she created her own gang; the SNAKES. And they became rivals"
Well,
"That's messed up. Do you have like a picture of your gang leader? I think knowing who the enemy is better than staying in the dark"
"I don't know who's the gang leader"
"WHAT!? You lived with this guy and worked for him and you don't know who he is?"
"I told you Caroline. He doesn't interact with people. He asks his minions to do it. All I know is they go by a code that only he and his son knows"
"Wait, son? He has a son? Have you seen him?"
"Um...No. No I haven't"
Although his answer seemed suspicious, I ignored it.
"Urg. But why is this Leona talking with Uncle David?"
"I have no idea" he sighed and flopped onto the bed
"Well, lying down is not gonna solve that"
"Came on Caroline. We ran, give me a break." he said tiredly
"Whatever" I said as I opened the file
"Where did you get this file from?"
"Stole it"
"STOLE IT? From who?"
"The gang, duh"
I continued reading the file and my eyes bulged out when I saw the pictures in it.
"DAMIAN!"
"WHAT?"
I showed him what I found.
"What the hell?" he gasped
They were pictures of Phoebe. But that wasn't the thing that shocked me. It wasn't only her pictures. There were pictures of me and my family, Elly and her family, pictures of us as kids, in middle school, on our outings. IT WAS LIKE LOOKING AT A DOCUMENTARY OF ME AND MY FRIENDS' LIFE.
"You kept this file with you and didn't go through it?"
"Sorry. Sort of forgot bout' that. I only remembered it because of Leona" he admitted sheepishly.
I flopped onto the bed beside him.
"Now what are we gonna do? Our only hope was Uncle David but I don't think I can trust him anymore. UGH. Who can I even trust? Somehow it feels like Phoebe's dad is involved and now Uncle David is involved."
"Caroline, calm down. We'll figure it out. Now go. You said you wanna visit your dad"
"Yeah"
"Want me to follow"
"Nah. I'll be fine"
...
I walked to the hospital since it just takes 10 minutes. But on my way, I couldn't help but feel like I was being followed. I guess I was being paranoid. As I was about to enter the hospital I saw Nick going in. What was he doing here? I followed him in. Man, I'm really getting tired of this stalker job. Nick ended up in my dad's ward. Why is he seeing my dad. I leaned against the door to listen to him.
"Hey, Uncle Rick. I read that people in coma can still hear the things going on outside, so..." he sat down and sighed.
"I don't know what to do about Caroline okay. Its not like I have a dad telling me how to deal with a girl"
Is he really discussing with my unconscious dad about me? As far as I hate him I did feel some sympathy. His mum and dad got divorced and his dad never visits. He used to be really close to my dad. He actually still is because I never told my parents about everything he does. So everytime he comes to my house I basically act like he's the best person in the world. And I'm telling you if I acted like that in my auditions for school plays, I would've won an Oscar by now. His voice cut me off of my thoughts.
"I know Caroline never told you about our problems. Well, long story short, i was a jerk to her"
I couldn't help but laugh at this. I stifled my laugh so that he wouldn't hear.
"You were always like a dad to me and I need you to just listen to my ramblings. I am so sorry for whatever I did to Caroline but she just wouldn't accept it. She says I just feel sympathy for her. I wouldn't lie. Your coma state is the thing that triggered me to apologize to her. It showed me that the people we love aren't gonna be with us forever and I need to appreciate them every moment of my life. But I'm telling you sympathy is NOT what I feel for Caroline. Its love. I care for her. I really do. I just need her to understand me and give me a chance." he sighed frustrated.
"Anyway it was nice talking to you...... even though you didn't talk a single word. I still know you heard me." he took his bag and stood up.
Before he could leave I came in and stood in front of me. He was towering over me but I could say he felt intimidated. Hah. Who do you think you're playing with? I'm Ricky Williams and Isabelle Wiliams daughter. Of course, I'm intimidating. Anyway...
"What are you doing here?" I asked him
"Um...I...I was just....um" he stuttered
"You were just...?" I taunted
"Um...."
"Come on" I said, pulling him outside
I pulled him to a bench outside the hospital and sat. After about 10 minutes of silence I spoke
"I heard what you said"
His eyes widened like saucers at my statement
"You did?"
"Yeah. So I'm hear to give you a chance"
His looked at me with hope glimmering in his eyes
"I'm not forgiving you yet, but I'm gonna give you a chance to earn it"
"What is that supposed to mean"
"I mean you have to do something in order to earn my forgiveness. You can't just say sorry a million times."
"Okay, deal! Wait for it Williams. I'm gonna win you back." he winked at me.
"We'll see about that Davis!" I smirked as I went back in the hospital.