Charlotte's Web
Chapter 2
Charlotte's Web, Chapter 2
Adrienne sat next to Billie Joe in the taxi taking them out to the police station. There was a wide gap between their bodies causing a cool tension in the air. She chanced a glance at him to see him sitting up straight, his eyes closed, and his hands wrapped around a travel mug of something Tre had given him to sober up.
The taxi stopped and let the couple out. Adrienne led the way into the concrete and stone building. "Excuse me," She asked a receptionist at the front desk, "But could you tell Sergeant Black Adrienne and Billie Joe Armstrong are here."
"One moment please." said the receptionist, whose nameplate read 'Sally'. Sally picked up the phone and talked to a person on the other line. "Go down the hall and it's the third door on the left."
"Thank you." Adrienne replied as she walked down the hallway, not even looking to see if her somewhat-sobered husband was behind her. There was only one thing on her mind and Billie Joe was not it. When they reached and entered the third door on the left, a middle-aged black man greeted them and asked them to be seated.
"What's going on?" Billie Joe asked the minute the two sat down. It was the first legible phrase he had uttered since they left California, and it still had a slight slur to it.
"Do you recognize this woman?" The Sergeant asked as he handed Adrienne a photo of a woman sitting on the beach, the wind was evidentially playing with her hair as the picture was taken as it was blown to the side.
"Yes," Adrienne replied, as her throat got tight. "That's Julia Cauthen, she's my best friend. We were on vacation together in this picture."
Sergeant Black nodded and took the photo back. "Now do you recognize this young lady?" This time he handed Adrienne a professional photo of a young girl in an evening gown with a tiara on her head.
Adrienne, unable to reply due to her overwhelming emotion, only nodded her head.
"That's Julia's daughter, Charlotte." Billie Joe answered for her, "She's our goddaughter."
"I take it both of you are aware of what happened at their house this evening?" Sergeant Black said as he took the photo from Billie Joe's hand.
"Not completely," Billie Joe replied, "Only the basics. We don't know who, why, or how."
"Around four thirty this afternoon," Sergeant Black began, "A neighbor of Ms. Cauthen called the police saying that she heard screaming and gunshots coming from Ms. Cauthen's house. She said that she saw a middle aged man, who has yet to be identified, jump into a black, late-modeled van and leave. She also saw Charlotte Cauthen running, covered in a suspicious liquid. When our forces arrived, we saw Julia Cauthen on her kitchen floor, beaten and shot to death."
Adrienne gasped and her hand jumped to her mouth. Billie Joe, as an automatic response, took her other hand and cradled it in his own. Both were too shocked to speak.
The Sergeant continued, "The house had been ransacked and her daughter was nowhere to be found."
"Then why the fuck are you just sitting here? Why aren't you out looking for Charlotte?" Billie Joe demanded, Adrienne's grip tightening on his own.
"We have teams of police and volunteer's looking for Miss Cauthen. The reason why we called you is because in Julia Cauthen's official documents, you two are labeled as Charlotte's guardians if something should happen to her. We need your help in finding Charlotte and possibly the killer."
"Is he... is he after her too?" Adrienne managed as she fought back winning tears.
"We don't know." The officer replied. "We just know she is missing and the killer of her mother is still loose. I'll take you to the search site."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nothing had prepared Adrienne and Billie Joe to see the house they and their children had spent so much time in outlined in yellow police tape, crowds of people milling around, Police dogs sniffing around, and news crews standing on the street corners.
"Oh my God." Adrienne whispered to herself. She felt so small, so insignificant, so lost in the blog of people surrounding her friend's house. The body of her friend had all ready been removed, but Adrienne could see through a window the bloody mess of the kitchen. Blood covered the counters and pantries, Julia's blood.
Feeling sick, she turned away to find Billie Joe walking away in a determined stride. She quickly followed his footsteps. "Where're you going?" She asked him as she practically ran to keep up.
"I'm going to find Charlotte. I'm not going to sit here and do nothing while she is out there alone, I'm not doing it." Billie Joe snapped as he walked to the edge of a dense woody area outside the housing circuit.
"Wait for me." Adrienne called as her short legs tried desperately to keep up with him.
"No." Billie Joe stopped and faced her. "Stay here."
"What?" Adrienne glared at her husband. "You expect me to just stand idly by while you go look for her? If anyone should go, it's me. You wouldn't even know Charlotte if it weren't for me."
Billie Joe's mouth twitched and his hand clenched around the flashlight he took from someone's bag. "I realize that." He said tensely before he pointed the light at her stomach, "But you need to stay here. Wouldn't want anything to happen to cause you to..." He trailed off, not finishing his statement. "I'm going, you're not and that's it." He turned and stalked away from Adrienne, who stood in her spot, dumbfounded.
Billie Joe walked carefully through the root-infested woods. He could see the beams of other searchers' flashlights and heard the echoes of their cries for Charlotte. In his mind, he could still see the toddler she was when he first laid eyes on her.
He distinctly remembered seeing a curly brown head running up to Adrienne on fat, wobbly, baby legs. He remembered that little girl following him everywhere and becoming the first official Green Day groupie. Charlotte was his lady and it was killing him to know she was missing. It was as if his own child were missing.
"Charlotte!" He screamed into the quiet night to be answered with the repetitive cries of the others a few feet away. Feeling helpless and worthless, Billie Joe began to softly sing a song that was one of Charlotte's favorites for comfort and strength.
"I sit alone in my bedroom
Staring at the walls
I've been up all darn night long
My pulse is speeding
My love is yearning
I hold my breath and close my eyes and..."
"Dream about her"
Billie Joe stopped. Was his mind playing tricks on him or was a soft soprano singing along with him? "Cause she's 2000 light years away."
"I sit outside and watch the sunrise
Lookout as far as I can
I can't see her, but in the distance
I hear some laughter,
We laugh together"
"Charlotte!" Billie Joe screamed more desperately. It was her, it had to be singing, it just had to be. He waited to hear something besides breaking twigs and cries of Charlotte.
"Billie Joe?"
Adrienne sat next to Billie Joe in the taxi taking them out to the police station. There was a wide gap between their bodies causing a cool tension in the air. She chanced a glance at him to see him sitting up straight, his eyes closed, and his hands wrapped around a travel mug of something Tre had given him to sober up.
The taxi stopped and let the couple out. Adrienne led the way into the concrete and stone building. "Excuse me," She asked a receptionist at the front desk, "But could you tell Sergeant Black Adrienne and Billie Joe Armstrong are here."
"One moment please." said the receptionist, whose nameplate read 'Sally'. Sally picked up the phone and talked to a person on the other line. "Go down the hall and it's the third door on the left."
"Thank you." Adrienne replied as she walked down the hallway, not even looking to see if her somewhat-sobered husband was behind her. There was only one thing on her mind and Billie Joe was not it. When they reached and entered the third door on the left, a middle-aged black man greeted them and asked them to be seated.
"What's going on?" Billie Joe asked the minute the two sat down. It was the first legible phrase he had uttered since they left California, and it still had a slight slur to it.
"Do you recognize this woman?" The Sergeant asked as he handed Adrienne a photo of a woman sitting on the beach, the wind was evidentially playing with her hair as the picture was taken as it was blown to the side.
"Yes," Adrienne replied, as her throat got tight. "That's Julia Cauthen, she's my best friend. We were on vacation together in this picture."
Sergeant Black nodded and took the photo back. "Now do you recognize this young lady?" This time he handed Adrienne a professional photo of a young girl in an evening gown with a tiara on her head.
Adrienne, unable to reply due to her overwhelming emotion, only nodded her head.
"That's Julia's daughter, Charlotte." Billie Joe answered for her, "She's our goddaughter."
"I take it both of you are aware of what happened at their house this evening?" Sergeant Black said as he took the photo from Billie Joe's hand.
"Not completely," Billie Joe replied, "Only the basics. We don't know who, why, or how."
"Around four thirty this afternoon," Sergeant Black began, "A neighbor of Ms. Cauthen called the police saying that she heard screaming and gunshots coming from Ms. Cauthen's house. She said that she saw a middle aged man, who has yet to be identified, jump into a black, late-modeled van and leave. She also saw Charlotte Cauthen running, covered in a suspicious liquid. When our forces arrived, we saw Julia Cauthen on her kitchen floor, beaten and shot to death."
Adrienne gasped and her hand jumped to her mouth. Billie Joe, as an automatic response, took her other hand and cradled it in his own. Both were too shocked to speak.
The Sergeant continued, "The house had been ransacked and her daughter was nowhere to be found."
"Then why the fuck are you just sitting here? Why aren't you out looking for Charlotte?" Billie Joe demanded, Adrienne's grip tightening on his own.
"We have teams of police and volunteer's looking for Miss Cauthen. The reason why we called you is because in Julia Cauthen's official documents, you two are labeled as Charlotte's guardians if something should happen to her. We need your help in finding Charlotte and possibly the killer."
"Is he... is he after her too?" Adrienne managed as she fought back winning tears.
"We don't know." The officer replied. "We just know she is missing and the killer of her mother is still loose. I'll take you to the search site."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nothing had prepared Adrienne and Billie Joe to see the house they and their children had spent so much time in outlined in yellow police tape, crowds of people milling around, Police dogs sniffing around, and news crews standing on the street corners.
"Oh my God." Adrienne whispered to herself. She felt so small, so insignificant, so lost in the blog of people surrounding her friend's house. The body of her friend had all ready been removed, but Adrienne could see through a window the bloody mess of the kitchen. Blood covered the counters and pantries, Julia's blood.
Feeling sick, she turned away to find Billie Joe walking away in a determined stride. She quickly followed his footsteps. "Where're you going?" She asked him as she practically ran to keep up.
"I'm going to find Charlotte. I'm not going to sit here and do nothing while she is out there alone, I'm not doing it." Billie Joe snapped as he walked to the edge of a dense woody area outside the housing circuit.
"Wait for me." Adrienne called as her short legs tried desperately to keep up with him.
"No." Billie Joe stopped and faced her. "Stay here."
"What?" Adrienne glared at her husband. "You expect me to just stand idly by while you go look for her? If anyone should go, it's me. You wouldn't even know Charlotte if it weren't for me."
Billie Joe's mouth twitched and his hand clenched around the flashlight he took from someone's bag. "I realize that." He said tensely before he pointed the light at her stomach, "But you need to stay here. Wouldn't want anything to happen to cause you to..." He trailed off, not finishing his statement. "I'm going, you're not and that's it." He turned and stalked away from Adrienne, who stood in her spot, dumbfounded.
Billie Joe walked carefully through the root-infested woods. He could see the beams of other searchers' flashlights and heard the echoes of their cries for Charlotte. In his mind, he could still see the toddler she was when he first laid eyes on her.
He distinctly remembered seeing a curly brown head running up to Adrienne on fat, wobbly, baby legs. He remembered that little girl following him everywhere and becoming the first official Green Day groupie. Charlotte was his lady and it was killing him to know she was missing. It was as if his own child were missing.
"Charlotte!" He screamed into the quiet night to be answered with the repetitive cries of the others a few feet away. Feeling helpless and worthless, Billie Joe began to softly sing a song that was one of Charlotte's favorites for comfort and strength.
"I sit alone in my bedroom
Staring at the walls
I've been up all darn night long
My pulse is speeding
My love is yearning
I hold my breath and close my eyes and..."
"Dream about her"
Billie Joe stopped. Was his mind playing tricks on him or was a soft soprano singing along with him? "Cause she's 2000 light years away."
"I sit outside and watch the sunrise
Lookout as far as I can
I can't see her, but in the distance
I hear some laughter,
We laugh together"
"Charlotte!" Billie Joe screamed more desperately. It was her, it had to be singing, it just had to be. He waited to hear something besides breaking twigs and cries of Charlotte.
"Billie Joe?"