Fight For Love

CHAPTER ONE

JULIET

I stand outside of the police station, not wanting to go inside, but I don’t have much of a choice. My stepmother has reported me missing, and I don’t understand why.

The second I could escape her hold, I did, but I have no idea why they are trying to find me.

They loathe my existence. The only thing I want is to be free of them so I can start a new life.

What that life will be, I don’t have a clue, but I want to be able to find out.

I can’t live with them hovering over my head.

Once upon a time I thought my stepmother liked me, but that mask quickly fell when my father passed away.

My dad wasn’t the best father. He devoted so much of his life to his job, but the time we did have together was precious to me.

I don’t think he intended to have a child he’d have to raise on his own, so he shuffled through a handful of women before finding Rina and making her presence permanent.

For the past three years, Rina has done everything she can to hurt me.

Normally it’s all a mental game, but there have been a few instances when she was drinking and things got physical.

I kept my mouth shut because I wanted to make her happy.

I kept telling myself that if I was better, she’d love me.

It might have taken me a few years, but I’ve come to terms with that never happening.

The final straw to truly escape came after she remarried six months ago.

Her new husband left me alone for the most part.

I could have been invisible for all he cared, but his son is another story.

Brock comes and goes from the home as he pleases.

The home I grew up in, which is no longer mine.

The place that once gave me comfort is now a hell house.

Wanting to get this over, I climb the steps to the police station and pass by a few officers lingering outside.

The place isn’t too busy, and when I go to the front desk and tell them I think I’ve been reported missing, they have a uniformed officer come speak to me.

A female officer appears soon after and then leads me to a desk that’s out in the open with other desks around it.

Most of the ones near us are empty as I take a seat, and she begins to ask me questions.

“Juliet Farrow,” she says, repeating my name before typing it in the computer. She asks for my date of birth next, and the moment she finds me, her demeanor changes. Her eyebrows rise, and her eyes flick from her computer screen back to me.

“What? Does it say I’m dead now?” I joke, but she doesn’t seem amused.

“That’s a big bag you got there,” Officer Niks says, ignoring my question and nodding down to the bag I dropped at my feet. It’s filled with clothes and toiletries. That’s about it.

“It’s all I have,” I admit.

“Why don’t you come with me?” Niks stands, and I hesitantly do the same.

I follow her to one of the rooms over to the side before stepping in with her. When she closes it behind us, I shift on my feet.

“You’re freaking me out.” If I’m getting arrested, at least I’ll have a warm place to sleep tonight, but I’d rather not have to stay in jail.

“Here’s the thing,” she says as she leans against the table behind her. The room is bare, and in the back of my mind I wonder if this is where they do interrogations. “Your stepmother reported you missing.”

“Yeah, I know,” I say, still confused.

“Then she came back the next day and said you stole a few items from her.”

“What?”

I don’t know why I’m shocked. In fact, I should have expected this.

This is why I couldn’t simply walk out the front door.

I had to sneak out, but I knew full well she would become unhinged.

There was no other choice for me, though, because I knew that Brock was closing in on me.

The longer I was there, the closer I could feel him getting.

“She reported a necklace and a matching ring.”

“The emeralds,” I say, already knowing what she’s referring to.

My father was a wealthy man, and he was smitten with Rina.

She put on a good act. So good that I’m not sure if she actually loved him or not.

Maybe at some point she did. I’m not really clear what all was in my father’s will because I haven’t seen it, and for all I know, my dad might not have left me a penny.

What I do know is that he would have given me that emerald set because it belonged to my mother.

Sadly, I have very few memories of her, and I often wonder if they’re real or ones I’ve made up after hearing stories about how she was with me.

“Can you tell me a bit more?” Officer Niks asks, and I find myself wondering if this a trap.

“Do I need a lawyer?” I know the answer should be yes, and she actually surprises me by nodding her head.

“Probably, but we get a lot of girls who run away, and sadly a lot of them are justified in leaving home. I’m only trying to figure out what I should do right now. The way I see it, if you let me check your bag and tell me why you ran away, then we’ll go from there.”

I might be na?ve, but I really want to trust her. “What happens if you don’t find them in my bag?”

“If they’re not in there and I don’t come across a pawn shop receipt or crazy stack of cash, you can walk out of here.”

“You’ll let me go?” I ask, and Officer Niks shrugs. I’m guessing she’ll likely look in the opposite direction as I slip out.

“I mean, at the end of the day, this is a civil matter, but you would still be pulled in for questioning. I don’t want to have to get a busy detective involved if I don’t need to.” She sounds sincere.

“Okay,” I agree, having nothing to hide. I put my bag on the desk and let her go through it.

“You didn’t pack much,” Niks says when she’s done, and her demeanor softens more.

“Only what I could haul around myself.”

“You ran away as soon as you were legally able to?” she asks, and I nod. “Is there something you need to tell me about your stepmother or someone else that lives in that house?”

Officer Niks is at best a handful of years older than me, so she can’t have been a cop for long, but she’s good at reading situations.

“I would rather not talk about it and cause problems. I just want them to leave me alone.”

“Them?”

“What I will say is that my stepmother has got a wicked temper, and it’s worse when she drinks. On top of that is her stepson." I shake my head, not wanting to go there.

I still have a bruise, but I know if I say anything, nothing will come of it. It would be his word against mine, and it would only drag all this out even longer. My stepmother can be vindictive, and I just want to be done with her.

“I can’t remove you from missing persons without having you questioned about the jewelry,” Officer Niks says, and my heart sinks. “But that said, you’re not under arrest, and I can’t force you to stay while we wait for a detective to come talk to you.”

“Thank you,” I tell her as a whoosh of air leaves me in relief.

“I wish I could do more. Are you at least staying somewhere safe?” Like Niks says, there isn’t much she can do, and I’m not going to burden her with thoughts of me not being safe.

“Yeah,” I say and try to sound sincere. In reality, I was able to afford two nights at a cheap hotel before I found a shelter. They fill up quickly with how cold it is outside.

Luckily I found someone’s lost key fob to a fancy gym.

The gym is mainly for boxing, but they have showers and a nice locker room for the women.

It’s typically pretty empty, and I can hang out in there and not be bothered.

When I pull my hood up over my head, I blend in and can come and go.

I accidentally bumped into someone the other day, and they called me “boy.” It’s a male-dominated space, so the hood and my small stature must be working.

“Take this,” Officer Niks says and pulls out a card before she hesitates.

“You don’t even have a phone, do you?” I shake my head.

There was no way I could take the cell phone I used because it wasn’t mine.

“You didn’t even take your phone, and they’re saying you stole jewelry?

” Niks rolls her eyes, irritated. “Call me in a couple of days, will you? I’m going to poke around a little. ”

“Please don’t.” It’s kind of her, but I know it will only make things worse.

“I know it feels like running might be easier, but these things always catch up to us. It’s best to get it sorted out and clear your name.” She stares at me for a long moment while I chew on my bottom lip. “Just call me, okay?”

“Okay,” I agree, taking the card from her hand.

“Be careful out there.”

I nod before I slip out of the station. As careful as I try to be, sometimes that’s still not enough.