Harley's POV

"Harley," a deep bone-chilling voice spoke behind us. "I didn't expect to see you here." I could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Dad!" Avery smiled. "She just got here! I just opened the door, and there she was!!" Avery flashes me a giant smile, then grabbed my shoulder and gently twirled me around, so I was facing him. Daniel's aged significantly since the last time I'd seen him. His frown lines were deeper, and his hair was a terrifying array of salt and pepper. He had a formal suit on, and behind him were five officers in their usual attire. Guns were strapped into the leather harnesses on their hips. It should've made me nervous to see those large firearms within arms reach, but after seeing Xander and all the guys carrying them so frequently, I got used to the sight. Not sure if that was a good thing or not.

"I can't believe it either." He said, kind of breathless, but his eyes still bore into mine.

"Hi, Mr. Miller." I waved softly to him. My movements were rigid, and my facial expression showed anything but excitement.

"I'm so glad your back, Harley." He knew I knew. I could tell from the look in his eyes. The joy in his smirk. It was obvious with every twist of his wrist and flick of his eyes.

"Thanks, I'm g-glad to be home." That is all I could manage out. The air in the room turned cold. The smell of musk and trapped breath circulated the air. I took everything in me not to twist my face in disgust.

"Sorry I couldn't do more to help you, Harley." Daniel paused and sighed for a more dramatic effect. "Avery and I tried really hard to bring you home." He smiled and said like this was all a casual conversation. It was frightening and how he hid emotion.

"It's okay." I nodded stiffly. "I understand."

"I was just telling her about that," Avery said, not picking up the weird atmosphere at all.

"I didn't expect you to be here, Harley, but since you are, I guess I should just come right out and tell you that I was just talking about you to these fine officers." He said, giving Avery a small smile. "We've been looking at all the information we gained on your case. They were trying to close the case, but we wanted to do everything we could to prevent that from happening until we got you back home." He lied. He tucked his bottom lip slightly to appear in dispair. All of it was lies. He knew where I was the entire fucking time. Now that I knew the truth, I could confidently say his acting was awful and irritating. It felt like he was laughing at me the entire time. Like he was saying, Haha, you stupid fucking idiot, I knew where you've been. It's cute that you thought I'd come to save you and tell Avery the truth. I just couldn't understand why he looked so happy. I couldn't understand why he was so joyful. Everything is almost back to normal, but nothing feels normal. There has to be more to this. "-but it looks like none of that is necessary because you're here." He clapped his hand together. When he said that, he sounded like he was expected me to pop up eventually. Did he know Xander was going to let me go?

"Thanks for trying." I can't believe I was thanking this bastard. He's done nothing but fuck up all of our lives.

"Avery, honey. Can you leave Harley and me for a moment? The police want to discuss some information about her case. Some of the information is sensitive and confidential." Daniel cooed.

I wanted to scream for her not to leave me alone, and I wanted her to grab my hand and pull me with her out of the house, but of course, I didn't let her, nor did she.

"I'll be fine. It's a good idea, anyway." I said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it lightly. She looks confused, a bit suspicious, but after the gentle act, she nodded.

"Okay. I'll come back in 10 minutes; then we can leave for mom's house. I don't want to be apart from you ever again." She squealed the last part and wrapped her long limbs around me.

"Okay." I squeaked, not trying to let the fear be transparent through my voice. She gave me one last smile before walking up the stairs with some caution. I watched her until her long body disappeared into nothingness.

"Harley." Daniel almost barked to get my attention. The plastered on smile was no more; now, he looked stern, like a mean principle about to give you detention.

"What do you want from me?" I asked through my clenched teeth, trying not to sound too aggressive.

"To talk." He chuckled at the words. "Just to talk." He said, motioning for me to take a seat at the dining room table next to us. My eyes moved with the officers behind him. They didn't look friendly nor very policey to me. In fact, they look like complete fakes. Gang members in disguise. Their mannerism was oddly familiar to that of Xander's and his men. My stomach felt more uneasy than ever. Gosh, I suddenly wish Xander was next to me. He's never let me be scared.

I collapsed in the chair in front of them. He just wants to talk. He won't do anything to me. Avery is upstairs. She'll be down in a couple of minutes. She'll check on me.

"This is the police chief and a couple of other officers assigned to your case," Daniel spoke. "They just want to ask you a couple of questions about where you've been. Where you were taken and by who." He nodded encouragingly like that'd make me feel the slightest bit better.

"Shouldn't we do this at the police station? Privately? Or with my father?" I said, trying to sound confident and trying not to fidget.

"I just assumed you'd be more comfortable in the presence of Avery or me. Plus, these are my close associates, and they would do anything to help you by my request." He said obnoxiously. Bullshit. He couldn't have been more creative. Did he think I didn't know his business? The real reason why he hates Xander?

"Well, I'm not," I said. "So I'll be leaving," I said, standing up from the wooden chair. "Tell Avery I'll call her." I sniffled and moved my legs quickly to walk to the door, but I was immediately stopped by a hand. Daniel grabbed onto my elbow, roughly tugging me to the table, so my hip knocked against it harshly.

"Have a seat, Harley." He barked. "I don't want to use force, you're like a second daughter to me, but if I have to, I will." He sneered. My stomach dropped to the floor. So, that's how it was going to be. This wasn't going to be a conversation; this was going to be an interrogation.

"Get off me." I snatched myself out of his hold and gently took a seat back in the chair I once occupied. So he wasn't against hurting me. In fact, I'm sure he wanted to.

"Good." He nodded and smiled again. My body was beginning to sweat out of every pore. My jaw was clenched tightly, and my hands massaged each other. There was no way out of this. These cops weren't real cops, Avery wasn't here to protect me, and Xander wasn't here to save me. "Good girl." He nodded, satisfied with my compliance.

Xander says that to me. He said it with care and admiration, and desire for me. But, except when Daniel said it, it sounded sour and foul. It left a disgusting smell in the air. My lips curled in distaste.

"Ask away," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'll leave that to the police chief." Daniel chuckled humorlessly and motioned for the bigger chubby pot-bellied officer to step forward. Perfect white, perfectly obese, perfectly grumpy looking, and perfectly an asshole.

"I'm chief officer, Grant. I'll be asking you a couple of questions, little lady." At the demeaning name, I wanted to punch him in the throat.

"Okay," I said.

"When we're you taken?" He asked.

"January 30 at 12:10 am," I said. It was information they already knew. I was being eased into the more savage questions.

"By who? Do you remember their faces?" He asked.

"No, I don't." I shook my head to emphasize my point. I didn't remember their faces, neither did I know their names. After that night, I never saw them again.

"Let me rephrase." He said harshly like I was a brain-dead moron who couldn't understand sentence structure. "Who did you see after you were taken?"

"A bunch of guys. One was chubby; one was tall, one had a beard." I said nonchalantly, hoping he'd buy it and move on so I could get out of here.

"It's not time to play around, girl. I'm trying to help you." He spat. Helpful was far from what his tone was suggesting.

"I know." It physically hurt me to say.

"Good." He nodded curtly. "Where were you the past month?" He asked.

"A house," I said.

"Do you remember where it is? Who lived in it?" He asked. A notepad was in his hand, and a pen twirled around his fingers as he spoke.

"I don't." I shook my head. "I was blacked out both times." I didn't lie again.

"Okay. Who stayed in the house with you?" He asked.

"A lot of people." I began to get nervous. His irritation was becoming more apparent, so was Daniel. His jaw clenched tightly, and he kept rolling his eyes and looking away from me to compose himself. He clenched his fist every couple of seconds like he was trying to restrain himself from hitting me.

I was angry at Xander. I wanted to punch him in the face and cut up all his fancy suits, but I'd never sell him out. I'd never purposefully hurt him for revenge. Even if I were pissed and heartbroken, I wouldn't hurt any of them, even if it meant be getting knocked around by Daniel and his police thugs.

"Do you know any of them by name?" He asked.

"N-no," My voice broke. Lying was never my strong suit. Avery could always see right through me. Until now, I've spoken nothing but half-truths, but we were venturing into a far more different territory. "They never told me." I croaked.

I was panicking. I was beginning to panic. Sweat was dripping from my arms and gliding down to my writing. My thighs pastured together with the wetness of them.

"How about what they look like?" He clenched his yellow teeth together.

How could I lie about that? I was blindfolded the entire time. I knew exactly what Xander looked like. Every crease on his face, every look he gave. I knew every inch of his face. I knew Henry's goofy boxy smile, Felipe's scraggly beard, the Sanchez brother's clean-cut fades, and sharp jawlines.

"I-I don't know-" I struggled out and looked away. I had to think and fast. If I ran, they'd just catch me. If I yell for Avery, she will find out everything.

"Enough of this shit." Daniel finally barked. "We tried to be nice, but you're playing a dangerous fucking game, Harley!" He stood up from his chair, and my eyeshot up to him.

"I-I don't know anything." I swallowed. Think, Harley. Find a way out. Xander wouldn't leave you to fend for yourself. He was selfish, but he wasn't like that. The phone. "W-Wait." I stalled. I had to direct their attention elsewhere. "I remember one of the guy's faces," I said confidently. I dragged my hands across my pants to wipe away the sweat buildup softly. "He was short and stubby." I dragged my hands up my thighs gently. "He had short choppy black hair." I stilled one hand on my thigh but proceeded to move the other hand around my hip to my bottom. The phone was sticking out of the back pocket. I couldn't just pull it out and type. I had to find a way to dial Xander's number without looking. "He had narrow beady eyes, and he was kind of buff." I described him further. With my index finger and my pointer finger, I held down on the two buttons on the side of the phone until I felt a vibration—the emergency contact. Xander put himself and only him on my emergency contact list. "I think his name was Evan." I deadpanned and pressed 1 on the keypad. A click and a couple of vibrations later, I felt the ringing tone click off, and Xander's voice vibrates out of the speaker and collapses against the material of my pants.

My stomach dropped as I physically watched Daniel's face morph from frustrations to pure anger.

"Enough!" He screeched. "Listen, you stupid bitch. I don't know why you're trying to protect that prick so badly, but it's over!" His teeth seemed to sharpen, and the frown in his face straightened. "You weren't anything but a fuck buddy to him! You were taken and used!" He screeched. "Xander took you! He abused you! Tell them!" He pointed towards the cops.

"N-no." I shook my head. "T-that's not what happened!" I didn't realize until now, but my eyes were watering.

Xander didn't do that to me. He took me, but he never abused me. He never forced himself on me. He lied, but he saved me so many times. Everything about him felt genuine. Everything about him and I felt right. He was as heartbroken as me. I saw it in his eyes even when I tried to block it out.

Daniel marched up to me, took me by my arms, and forcefully grabbed me towards him, so his foul breath wandered all over my face.

"I already know what happened!" He growled. "But clearly, you don't! He took you and refused to let you go! So I asked him to return you, and he said he'd keep you until he felt like letting you go!" His voice rang in my ear like the feedback of a microphone. "He used you for your body! He only let you go because I threatened to kill him if he didn't! So if you don't tell them what you know, bitch. I'll kill him and skin his body! Your slave owner will be 6 feet under by tomorrow!!" He yelled. Soft tears slide down my cheek. I was tired of it all.

Xander didn't want to let me go. He wanted me to stay with him even if it meant Daniel trying got him hurt.

"Let fucking go of me," I snarled and, with all my strength, yanked myself away from him. "Xander didn't do anything to me!" I screeched, pushing him away.

"Yes, he did! He brainwashed you! He wants you to think that, Harley! Stop being stupid!" He yelled.

"You're just as bad as him then!" I yelled and thrashed around in his bony hands until I broke loose again.

"Over my dead body." His voice rumbled behind me. His hand grabbed my upper arm, yanked me back, and swung me against the wall. A scream left my lips as I made contact with the hard wall. My vision went dark for a second; my head throbbed seconds after I collided with the wall. I coughed softly, trying to ease the pain in my lungs.

"X-Xander," I spoke softly, hoping he would hear me through all the chaos.

"It doesn't matter what this bitch says anymore. We know he did it." Daniel barked towards the cops, then flashed me a disgusted look at I slipped down further into the hardwood floor, unable to suppress the widespread pain.

"Get her out of here." The police chief barked to the guys behind him. Within seconds my body was being lifted. The hot heaviness of the phone in my back pocket was all of a sudden gone as I heard the thud of the phone smack onto the floor. No. No. I cried internally.

"Wait." Daniel's voice boomed. His suit ruffled as he bent down to pick up the phone. All of a sudden, his voice thundered against the dining room walls. "You fucking bitch!" He screamed and hurled the phone against the wall till I heard the pieces clattered onto the wooden floor. "He heard everything!" He threw his hands in the air. " We don't have any time left. For all, we know he is on his way here." He announced.

He was close. I knew it. I could feel his presence. His alarmed aura was already swirling through the air.

"What should we do?" The police chief asked. I felt myself slipping in and out of conciseness. My brain throbbed, vibrating in my ears.

"Get her out of here. He'll be looking for her. We have to find him first." Daniel replied.

"I-it's too late." I croaked; my throat was hoarse. "He's here," I whispered before darkness swallowed me whole. The front door exploded open, Avery's high pitch scream sounded, guns clicked in readiness, and those haunting heavy steps echoed in my head as I slept.

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Xander's backkk and he finna catch some bodiesss!!! He not letting nobody touch wifey istgg.

As always thanks for reading. Feel free to comment and vote. We are at the home stretch guysss.