Chapter 22

<Gavin Forrester>

Gone. Just gone. Vanished into thin air.

It's been two days since Victoria walked out on me and normally, I wouldn't be concerned but under these circumstances, with Talon so close to us, I'm freaking out. Usually after she walks out, she'll either come back or I'll find her somewhere in town but not this time. 

I have combed the town at least ten times since she vanished and there's not a trace of her left. She hasn't answered any of my calls or texts and she hasn't tried to contact anyone else we know. I know I might be just a little paranoid at the moment but somehow I get the feeling that wherever she is, she didn't go willingly.

"Gavin, I can't track her phone. It must be turned off or something." Ainsley calls from the kitchen table, interrupting my pacing and bringing me back to reality.

"It can't be. She's never turned it off." I mutter and walk towards Ainsley, my stomach doing somersaults as I stop right behind her.

"Genius, maybe it ran out of battery." She rolls her eyes and looks up at me.

"We have to find her. There's something wrong; I can feel it." I give her a serious glare and then sit down at the kitchen table with Ainsley.

"Well, how do you propose we do this?" Ainsley asks in a condescending tone.

"Damn it, I never should've let her go. I should've known something like this would happen." I curse and glare stonily at the laptop screen map which is empty.

"There's nothing you can do about it now except find her." Ainsley retorts and then begins to type something on her computer. "Let's see...She doesn't have any credit cards, her phone is turned off, her laptop was destroyed; damn, we lost a girl who you, yourself, made untraceable."

"Thanks for the boost of confidence, Ainsley." I grit my teeth as I try to think of some way for us to find Victoria.

"Is she chipped or anything?" Ainsley asks in a tone of someone who's just pitching ideas.

"Yes, but Chief Grayson had it shut down and only he can turn it back on." I say, my eyes staring at the ceiling as I attempt to get lost in thought.

"Maybe you should just call him and ask him to turn it back on. At the moment that's all we have to go off of." I turn sharply to Ainsley with an incredulous look as she finishes that sentence.

"Are you mental? I can't call up Victoria's father and tell him that I've lost his daughter! He'll be on a plane down here to kill me before I can even set one foot out the door! No, there has to be something else I can do." I rub my chin and try to come up with a better plan.

Silence envelopes the atmosphere and is only broken when Slick and Blaze come into the room, both pale and panic stricken. I raise an eyebrow at them and stand up.

"What happened? You two look like you've seen a ghost..." My voice trails off as my eyes land on the large, orange envelope in Blaze's hand. "What's this?"

"It's from Talon." Blaze shudders as he thrusts the already-opened envelope into my hands. "It was addressed to all of us."

I reach inside of the envelope and pull out some pictures and a folded piece of paper. My eyes widen when I see what the pictures are of. The first one is of a group of guys surrounding a helpless looking girl. They seem to be stripping her with a knife and the girl, my Victoria, looks completely humiliated.

My fists clench as I move onto the next picture which shows Victoria struggling against the group of men who are biting her and man-handling her. Anger burns furiously in my veins and then multiplies when my eyes land on a figure standing off to the side in the assault picture. Jeffrey sold us out...He frickin' sold us out to Talon Tenebris...I look at the third and final picture, tears burning in my eyes as I see Victoria chained up to the wall like an animal.

Her head is slumped over to the side, her eyes closed and her whole lower body is covered in dark purple bruises. My shaking hands find the folded up letter at the bottom of the pile and open it slowly. Talon's scrawling handwriting taunts me from the paper, each letter slow and steady as if what he's done doesn't pain him at all.

It's a fruitless effort to moan about betrayal by others when you have spent your life doing the same to them. Just remember, blood is never thicker than water, especially when water has so much more to offer. Betrayal by family and the capture of the lamb is just the beginning. Gavin and friends, you have fought a losing battle and I'm going to warn you now, there's much worse to come.

Talon Tenebris

"That Bastard is going to pay big time." I mutter and crumple up the letter, tossing it onto the table along with the pictures. "I'm going to find him and I'm going to kill him."

"Let's find Victoria first, before the grim reaper does." Ainsley's face contorts with terror as she looks at the pictures.

"Well, how the hell do you plan on doing that?" I grind my teeth and try to push the angry feeling in my gut away.

"I don't know... I'm guessing there's no return address is there?" Ainsley bites her lip, obviously afraid of my angry state.

"Talon may be stupid but he's not that stupid." I snap and clench my fists.

"Then I guess we're back to driving around town and hoping that this torture chamber is under one of the shops!" Ainsley shouts exasperatedly, practically shoving the table back as she stands up.

"Can you tell where her phone went out? Like when it turned off..." I ask in a much calmer voice than before.

"I can try to locate the history but I make no promises." Ainsley wags her finger at me before sitting back down at the table and typing away on her laptop.

After a few minutes, Ainsley gestures for me to come and see her computer screen.

"These dots represent the phone's movement before it was turned off." Ainsley says, pointing at the red dots which are set against a winding road map of the town.

"So, where's the last dot? It looks so far away from town." I mutter and squint to see if I can make out the street name underneath the dot.

"Gavin, it looks like her phone is in the river." Ainsley responds calmly, probably hoping to not set off my anger.

"Well, she obviously isn't." I roll my eyes and sit down glumly.

"Quit acting like a child. We're gonna go to the river and see if we can figure out where she went." Ainsley lets out a frustrated breath and stands up.

She stuffs her computer under her arm and stalks towards the hallway leading to the front door.

"I guess if it's our only option..." I mumble and go to follow her.

"It is." She mutters and grabs Jeffrey's car keys from the table in the hallway. "Blaze, Slick, you guys gonna come?"

"Are we planning on walking into Talon's murder house unarmed?" Blaze shouts indifferently from the living.

It has got to suck that your brother sold you and your friends out to the person you were supposed to be running from...

"There's no telling that we're gonna find it..." Ainsley twirls the keys around her fingers and stares at the ground awkwardly.

"There's no telling that I'm gonna be able to look my brother in the eye when we do." Blaze's facial features darken as he and Slick walk down the hallways towards us.

"Let's leave. The longer we stay here, the worse off Victoria becomes."

We all walk slowly down the steep steps towards the Jeep. I take the keys from Ainsley while everyone else piles into the car. I turn the key in the ignition and then allow Ainsley to direct me on where to go. The drive is silent other than Ainsley occasionally barking directions at me. The stars dot the night sky and there's a cool breeze ruffling the sparse trees that line the long stretch of highway we're currently driving on.

"This is the spot." Ainsley whispers and points to the river on my left.

I pull the car onto the grassy patch near the river and then get out slowly because I know there's nothing really to look forward to at this spot. I sit down near the banks and run my fingers over the surface of the water, wondering what Victoria could've been doing here. Probably struggling for her life. I shudder at the thought and draw my knees under my chin, my eyes traveling across the river to where the moon is high and full in the sky. I feel Ainsley sit down next to me but she says nothing.

"I should never have let her walk out." I whisper, my voice choking up.

"You can't change that..." Ainsley murmurs softly and scoots closer to me.

"I just was so overcome with anger. She pushed me over the edge and I couldn't bear to be near her anymore. I needed some space but now, seeing what happened, I'd take it all back just to have her here. I never meant for this to happen." I bite my lip and my eyes prick with ashamed tears.

"Gavin, we all know you never meant for this to happen but all we can do is move forward. What's important is that we find her. We can't leave her in that God-forsaken basement and let Talon do things to her." Ainsley mutters in a final tone and forces me to look at her.

"I'm never scared, Ainsley but right now, I'm terrified. I can't even imagine what she's going through." My voice breaks and I brush a few tears from my eyes.

"None of us can," Ainsley agrees and rubs my shoulder.

"We have to get her back. I'm not gonna let things end like this." I state and gather myself together.

"I know how we're gonna get her back." Blaze says from behind us, causing both Ainsley and I to whip our heads around.

"Please do tell," Ainsley opens up the floor for Blaze to explain.

"Jeffrey and I had phones on the same plan, my old phone I mean..." Blaze mutters when he catches my suspicious expression. "Well, he still uses his and my phone has an app that can track all the phones on the plan so I think I may be able to track Jeffrey down."

"Turn on the damn app right now. We don't have time to waste!" I snap as Blaze opens up an app on his phone.

I watch him type in a password and then two dots appear on the screen. One is in the location we are right now and the other follows a curving path leading to the far right of the screen.

"We've found the little jackass." Blaze grips his phone and gestures for us all to go back to the car.

"We can't just show up to Talon's headquarters and ask nicely for him to give us Victoria back; we'll get ourselves killed!" Ainsley complains as she takes the shotgun seat.

"Well, sitting here and twiddling our thumbs isn't going to do anything either!" I shout, frustration seeping through my pores.

We all get into the car and I turn the key in the ignition. The engine purrs to life and then I pull back onto the road.

"Let's just go see what we're up against so we can come up with a way to get her out." Slick says quietly, trying to diffuse the tension.

"Fine, Blaze tell me how to get there." I mutter and begin driving straight.

~~~~~

"You told me to turn left." I shout as I slam on the breaks.

"I meant my left, bonehead." Blaze bellows from the backseat.

"Well, how the hell am I supposed to know that?" I cast a venomous glare back at Blaze as I turn around.

I drive back to the road we were on before and then turn the opposite way. We continue down the road in silence and then a wrought iron gate comes into view. I stop the car right in front of the gate and take the keys out of the ignition.

"Gavin, can we please think about this..." Ainsley puts her hand on my shoulder and tries to keep me in the car but I jerk away easily.

"That's easy for you to say because you aren't trapped in some psychotic asshole's basement." I give her a resentful look and then get out of the car.

"I want her back just as much as you do but getting ourselves kidnapped or killed by Talon isn't going to help anything." Ainsley sighs and gets out to follow me. "What are you even planning to do now that we're here? Is there anything we really can do?"

"She's somewhere in there." I say, my voice breaking at the fact of being so close but so far away.

I point through the iron bars at the huge, white mansion nestled at the end of a long stretch of grass. The house is brightly lit and screams wealth. The doors, from what I can make out, seem to be taller than me and there's a large porch out front with a plethora of expensive looking furniture. The house itself seems to stretch on endlessly and looks to be at least three floors high. I shake the gates and kick them in a frustrated manner with my foot.

"Talon, get your ass out here!" I shout and continue to beat on the gate.

"Have you lost your damn mind?" Ainsley whisper yells and tries to stop me.

Blaze and Slick stand rooted to their spots and stare, wide-eyed at me.

"Talon, I'm here. Isn't that what you want? Just let Victoria go and take me." I scream, hoping to be heard by whoever's in that mansion.

"What are you high on right now? You aren't actually thinking of doing this, are you?" Ainsley asks hysterically and clutches onto my arm.

"I'm perfectly sane, thank you very much." I turn to Ainsley and jerk my arm out of her death-grip. "Talon, I'm just standing here. Why don't you come out here and face me?"

"Shut up before you get us all killed! This is not the way to get her back, Gavin." Ainsley hisses and looks back to my friends who still haven't moved. "Will you two put your jaws back where they belong and help me out?"

"It's the perfect opportunity; just come and get me!" I cup my hands around my mouth and shout as loud as I can.

"Will you quit being a self-centered ass for like one minute and think about what you're doing? He could kill us, we're completely unarmed, miles away from society and there's no telling that she's even in there! If we play our cards right than we can get her back and take Talon down." Ainsley glares at me and crosses her arms.

"This is not about playing our cards right anymore. This is about getting her back and getting out of here." I grab the bars and give them another good, loud shake.

"Do you really want to live in a world where Talon is still running free?" Ainsley asks with a defeated sigh.

"No, but I'd rather have Victoria back breathing." My voice cracks and I take in a deep breath to mask the consuming emotion I feel.

"Gavin, you are the only thing keeping her alive. Talon is holding onto her as a bargaining chip and if you just turn yourself in than there's no way he'll let you both live. You have to let him keep her until you have a full-proof plan to get rid of him." Ainsley pleads and sets her hand on my shoulder.

I hate when she's right...Still won't stop me from being a stubborn ass.

"I am not leaving without her." I turn back to the gate and stare longingly at the house that quite possibly holds Victoria.

"Gavin, if you turn yourself in now, he won't let her go but maybe if you bid your time than you could negotiate. The fact that you are right in front of him, leaves you no advantage. You want the upper hand? Then wait." Ainsley tries to pull me away but to no avail.

"If I turn myself in now or later, does it really matter? Talon won't negotiate. He has me trapped. If he kills her than he knows I'll come after him for revenge and if he keeps her alive than the only way I'll ever be able to see her again is to turn myself in. Either way, I'll have to face him and I'd rather face him when there's still a chance I could see Victoria."

"Are you seriously saying that you'd willingly be trapped down in that torture hole with her? You'd choose to be tortured, rather than save her? This is not time for you to be romantic, Gavin Forrester! This is a time to be realistic and realistically we can save her as long as we don't do anything stupid like turn ourselves in." Ainsley glares at me, the daggers in her stare making me uncomfortable.

"I want to save her but I just don't see how...The closer we get to stopping him, the more likely it is that he'll kill her." I mutter, my face contorting in anger.

"He's not going to kill off one of his few bargaining chips. You have to stay away to keep her alive. If he even thinks there's a chance you'll come back for her than he'll keep her alive. You can't sell yourself out now. You still have the upper hand as long as he doesn't have you." Ainsley states as if she knows these things for sure.

"What if he's already killed her and he's just pretending she's still alive to lure me to him?" I mumble and hang my head.

"All the more reason to not turn yourself in." She says in a clipped tone, exasperation hanging off of her every word.

"I can't stand not knowing. I can't stand that this bastard won't come out here and face me like a man!" I shout and shake the gate for good measure.

"You're crazy. You're gonna get us all killed." Ainsley says more to herself than to me and then proceeds to cover her eyes.

"COWARD!" I yell as I hear a bang go off and then I pull Ainsley onto the ground with me.

I hear Blaze and Slick hit the ground next to us and then we all crawl off to the nearby trees where we hide from the gunfire.

"Congrats, genius, now we almost did get killed." Ainsley hisses as the gunfire draws to a close.

I throw up my hands in defeat and lean against the trunk of a tree, the guns banging one more time. I hear some doors slams and then the night goes silent again. I push myself up off the ground and then walk back towards the Jeep with everyone else following in my wake. We all slip back into the car and sit for a few minutes in the quiet atmosphere.

"We should go before they decide to start shooting us again." Ainsley mutters hesitantly as if she doesn't want me to have another mental break.

I don't respond but instead turn the key in the ignition and drive away from Talon's mansion and Victoria, the love of my life.

"We're going to get her back, mate." Blaze says reassuringly but even he doesn't sound convinced.

"We better or I'm going to break Talon's neck clear off his body." I grumble through tight lips and then continue driving.