Chapter 6: THE PEOPLE WE CALL FAMILY

A beeping noise brought me out of my peaceful sleep, at first I thought it was my alarm clock. And after pressing a few things that felt like buttons on my bed side table, I realised that it was a strange beeping sound I've never heard before.

Then the events of the previous night came back to me and I remembered the Bluetooth radio device the Shadow gave me.

I opened my drawer and scrambled through the contents still half asleep. I finally found a small round object, I forcefully opened my eyes to inspect the object.

It was the device that the Shadow gave me and I secured it into my ear before pressing a button on the radio that came with it, there was a small clicking noise before the Shadow's voice could be heard.

"Good morning Sherlock, did you have a nice beauty sleep?" He asks in a joking manner. I look at the time on my alarm clock only to see that it is five in the morning.

"Do you have a watch, it is five in the morning." I almost scream at him.

"Wow, someone isn't a morning person." he says and I can clearly hear a smile in his somewhat scratchy, mechanical voice.

"What did you expect? It is 5 o'clock in the morning!" I scream at him.

"Oh yeah sorry, guess I lost track of time, any who, I remembered something."

"What did you remember?" I ask.

"You know the thief your father caught, my supposedly partner in crime?"

"Yes, don't worry my father questioned him, he knows nothing about you." I assure him.

"I know that, but I am more interested in what he said about receiving instructions to do odd jobs. When I questioned him I thought that maybe he was lying, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that he was telling the truth."

"So you think that the people the White Hawk gets to do his dirty work really don't know who he is?"

"Yes, so we are back to square one."

"Maybe not all is lost, I have an idea."

"And what would that be?" he asks excitedly.

"Well the White Hawk must have had a way to contact the guy, so how did he contact him? I think we can find the answer at his house. "

"So you want to break into a thief's house? How ironic, looks like the wheel has turned."

"Yeah, something like that but we need to be extra careful."

"So all we have to do is get an address and then I can go in and Bob's your uncle."

"I'll see if I can sneak into my dad's office again, if we're lucky we will be able to find something....wait a minute, did you just say so that you can go?"

"Yeah so?"

"You're going alone?! The deal was that I would help you on my terms, this is not my terms." I try to scream at him softly so I wouldn't wake my parents.

"Look Victoria, I know that you want to be near the action, but I don't think it is such a good idea. What if you get caught? Me being caught is fine but you, how will you be able to get out of trouble?"

"Fine if you insist but I want to know everything." I say feeling a bit frustrated because he wouldn't let me go.

"Don't worry I have just the thing to solve that problem, when can I come?"

"My parents are leaving Sunday morning....."

"Then I'll come by Sunday night, till then." And then there was another beeping sound before I was disconnected.

It was still early but I was already awake so there was no use in trying to sleep again. I picked out some clothes for the day before heading into the bathroom to get ready.

After I was ready I took out the binder with my shadow stuff in. There was also a few articles about the White Hawk that I've gathered before the Shadow turned up, I scanned through it but there wasn't really valuable information I could use to help the investigation. I read through every article, but they all had the same kind of information.

I was just grateful that the school closed today and the holiday was finally here. All my projects were done that had to be handed in today so I was free of the teachers wrath. I just hope that I've done well in my tests.

There came a small knock to my door before my mother came in.

"Morning Vici, are you ready for your last day of school?" My mother asks.

"Definitely." I reply.

"What's that?" My mother asks as she points to my binder. Alarms immediately go off in my head, my mind racing with thoughts of what to say.

"Uh.....umm......school....stuff?" I say uncertain.

"Oh, what do you want for breakfast?" My mother asks and I let out a sigh of relief.

"How about omelette with some cheese?" I reply.

"Sure, omelette it is." She says before walking off to the kitchen.

I quickly gather all my school work before stuffing it into my bag. After I placed my binder in its rightful place I headed down stairs for breakfast.

I savour the taste of my mother's omelette in my mouth, every piece more delicious then the previous, it must be the most delicious omelette that I've ever eaten. And don't even get me started on the melted cheese that was on the top.

"I am glad to see you're enjoying it." my mother says as I take another bite.

"Who wouldn't, it is absolutely wonderful." I say, stuffing my mouth with another piece.

"You remember chief inspector Caleb?"My mother asks.

"Of course, uncle Caleb, he is dad's best friend, how can I forget." I say as I think back to uncle Caleb, he was a tall man in his mid fifties with blonde hair.

He always treated me like his own daughter, he knew about my dream of becoming a detective and he always did whatever he could to persuade my father to let me follow my dreams.

I remember all the fishing trips we had when I was younger with him and Alec's family. I used to call them the blue blood brothers because they were all in the police force. We used to visit each others families on a regular basis. Uncle Caleb's wife died before I was born, and he never remarried again.

"Well, your father has invited him over for dinner tonight." my mother says.

"Oh, it would definitely be nice to see him again." I say, after Mike's death my father and the Chief Inspector threw themselves in their work and we haven't seen much of him since. They were both really devasted about his cruel and sudden death. Alec's mother also cut everybody off and we only see each other on special occasions.

"Yes, it would be great to see him again, maybe it will do them some good to see each other again. The death of Mike has been very hard on both of them."
"Yeah....."

"Are you ready to go?" My mother asks and I finish my last bite before she takes our plates.

"Let me just grab my bag." I quickly grab my bag and walk to my mother's car. A few minutes later my mother comes out and makes her way to the car.

"Where's dad?" I ask as I climb in and close the door behind me.

"He went in early today to make arrangements for next week." my mother replies.

A few minutes later we were parked outside the school yard. I quickly took my bag from the back seat and kissed my mother goodbye. I watched as she rode off before I went to my locker.

As I was gathering my books I would need for the first periods my vision was suddenly cut of by darkness. At first I wondered who would put their hands infront of my eyes, but then I heard a giggle and I knew.

"Good morning Gracie." I greeted dryly.

Gracie laughed and once again my vision returned. I turned around to look at her. She was looking gorgeous as always.

"Morning." She greets with a grin.

I nod a reply as I take the rest of my books out my locker.

"Are you excited about sunday?" She asks, and I finally know why she is in such a happy mood, she was excited about Sunday and I was dreading it.

I felt a bit mad at myself for agreeing on going with them, but I knew that I had to spend more time with them. Lately I've been so busy with my own life I barely had time for my social life.

Leila arrived as soon as the bell rang and we all departed after a quick greeting. The first period has hardly begun and I already felt tired. I wanted to go home and be lazy, but that wasn't an option.

I didn't really pay attention to the lesson which was a rare occasion and my thoughts started to wander. I wondered about what this break was going to lead to and what discoveries I was going to make.

I knew that I had told the Shadow that there was a communication device between the White Hawk and his minions, but I wasn't sure. What if there wasn't? Are we even going to be able to find him if we had no leads?

The rest of the day my mind was locked on that thought. I tried to think positively but sometimes it was just too hard to ignore the negativity.

I was so consumed by my thoughts that I almost didn't hear the final bell. Luckily all the teenagers around me jumped from their seats, startled by the sudden movement I was brought out of my thoughts.

After saying goodbye to Leila and Gracie and promising that everything is still fine for Sunday, I walked to the parking area and found my dad's car waiting for me.

"Hello daddy." I greet as I climb in the car and give my dad a kiss on the cheek before I close the door behind me.

"Hey honey, how was school?" My dad asks as he pulls out of the parking space.

"Boring." I say and my father nods, then all of a sudden I remember that I haven't talked to my father about Sunday and meeting Jaydan for coffee.

"Dad?" I say, unsure of how I'm going to ask him for permission to something I've already agreed to.

"Yes?" He asks.

"Did mom talk to you about Sunday?" I ask, hoping my mother might've talked to my father and I didn't have to.

"Yes, about your date with Jaydan?"

"Yeah, but it isn't a date."

"So I've heard, your mother said that according to you it is just a 'friendly meeting'."

"That is because it is." I try to reason.

"If you say so." My dad says with a smile.

"Dad you sound like mom, I barely know the guy, that is why I agreed to go with him so that I could get to know him better."

"I know and that is why I told your mother that we shouldn't let you go, but your mother had convinced me to let you go, so I'm giving you my permission to go with Jaydan." He says and I engulf him into a big hug.

"Thank you daddy." I say excited that my protective father agreed to let me go on a friendly meeting with a guy.

"Okay honey, and believe me I'm only letting you go because I know Jordan and his son and they are very respectable people."

"Yes they are." I say as I think back to the ball and how Jaydan was such a gentleman.

My thoughts were still lingering on Jaydan, when my father pulled in the driveway. I grabbed my bag before I climbed out of the car. I walked towards the house before my dad called me back.

"Yes dad?"

"I just want you to also remember to enjoy yourself. You deserve it."

"Thanks dad, I love you." I say as I hug my dad.

"I love you too." And I know even though my dad might be protective sometimes, he just wants the best for.

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