The Family Mission

Chapter 23

"So, what exactly happened?"

After a few hours, the group had left the hospital for the last time -- Samantha promised -- and Howard took the others to their respective homes.

However, that didn't stop them from speaking to each other for, almost as soon as Scarlett arrived home, she barricaded herself in her room and immediately group-called her friends.

Luckily, since they did this so often, no suspected they were doing anything out of the ordinary.

Like, say, solving a murder.

"I had fallen asleep, and woke up to Holly speaking to someone on the phone." Scarlett explained, the other two listening intently.

"She asked them what they meant that 'he' was gone. I opened my eyes, and she was looking straight at me. When she saw I was awake, she said..."

As Scarlett went into the details of her latest interaction with Holly, she couldn't stop the sadness that soon found a home in her words. She found herself taking many breaks to keep from choking up too much.

She would be lying if she said she didn't know where this sudden outburst of emotion came up, though. For she knew, and was sure Jake and Juila knew as well.

She just really didn't want to lose Holly because of this.

"Wow." The two breathed once Scarlett was done, their minds reeling like Scarlett's was hours before.

"Yeah."

"Why would he do that?" Jake asked, and Scarlett could practically hear the furrow in his eyebrows as he spoke.

"That's what we were trying to find out when Dad came."

"We?" Juila murmured, before a soft gasp of realization was heard.

"Oh."

There was silence for a long moment, the gears turning in everyone's heads as they tried to decipher what Barry's motive was.

"Have you heard from Holly ever since she left?" Jake piped.

"No," Scarlett said nonchalantly, her words not portraying the emotion she was feeling.

"Why would I?"

"I mean, you were discharged. Assuming your Dad doesn't know what exactly happened to Barry, wouldn't he have asked her to come see you?"

"That's unlikely, Jake." Juila answered.

"As far as Mr. Anderson knows, Holly spent the night with Scar. Why would he ask her to come see Scar after that?"

"Plus, he knows how much she hates it here. She wouldn't come even if he bribed her." Scarlett added.

"I get that, but you've been in and out of that hospital for the past 2 weeks."

"Gee, thanks for the reminder." Scarlett rolled her eyes, although Jake continued nonetheless.

"Wouldn't he have at least called her, to tell her you were okay?"

Scarlett pondered that for a moment. That did sound like something Howard would do.

"He would've." Scarlett muttered, before her eyes lit up in remembrance.

Scarlett sat in the passenger seat, waiting for her father to come back in so they could go home. They had just finished dropping off the other two, Howard stepping out of the car in the process to do God knows what.

After a while, he came back in and started the vehicle, his body posture screaming disappointment.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Scarlett asked, confusion draping over her like a blanket.