"Anyone going to help me?" Caleb asked, looking around the room. Most of the faces were downcast, staring at their feet. That's when he realized that he was on his own and that none of the men here, no matter how well he knew them, were willing to risk their lives for him. That made him even more certain that this life wasn't for him anymore. "My store will be closing in a month, so anyone who wants any final goodies better buy them before then."

The thought hadn't occurred to him to actually close his store, it's been a part of his adult life since he'd been nineteen, but he was twenty-eight now. Maybe it was time to grow up and move on, and the only way he could think of doing that was letting it all go, except for Maria. His heart froze in his chest at the danger she was currently in. Without another word to the group, he rushed out the room after them.

He wasn't sure what he was going to do. He had no weapon, but he knew someone who did. Whipping out his phone, he dialed a number and said, "Nathan, I need your help."

The security guards, that had been there a minute ago, were nowhere to be seen. He knew their job was just to observe and report, keeping themselves out of danger, but damn it, they had one job. One job and they took off.

He rushed towards the open elevator door, but it closed in his face with Harley smirking at him. Oh how he wanted to wipe that smug grin off his face. Darting towards the stairs, he told Nathan about what happened and by time he hung up the phone he was much more relieved.

If anyone could help rescue his girl, it would be Nathan. Caleb was so glad that the guy was in the girls lives still. Pushing open the stairwell door with sweaty palms, he hoofed it down the stairs, jumping over the railings at the earliest possible convenience.

He had to get to the first floor first, but it cramped his gut because he knew that the elevator was quick and it wouldn't take them long. He also wasn't sure if they were going to get off anywhere between the top floor and the first and use the emergency escape route along the backside of the building. That's where Nathan came into play, if the police weren't already waiting outside for them, he'd need eyes in the back of the building.

Nathan's house was only a few blocks away, and he'd told Caleb that he could have his neighbor watch Scarlett. Huffing and puffing, he raced down all the flights of stairs and knew with each step that he had less and less chance of stopping them. He couldn't outrun an elevator. And he was running blind, not knowing where they were going to stop.

He shoved the door to the main floor open, making it hit the wall with a loud bang and darted towards the elevator. It was already on the floor and the doors were closed. He slammed his fist into the metal door of the elevator, crying out in anger.

"Did anyone see three guys and a girl come out of the elevator," he yelled into the crowd on the main floor.

Everyone said no and shook their heads. Either they weren't paying attention or the group didn't come all the way down to the first floor. Caleb darted out the front door, looking to the left and right in a mad panic, clasping his hands on the top of his head.

"Damn it!"

Sirens closed in on the hotel and Sylvester could see the lights flashing down the road as they approached. Not waiting for them, he darted back inside and out the backdoor...running smack dab into Nathan.

"Where are they?" Sylvester said.

"I haven't seen them. They must still be inside the building."

"If they are, they must have rented a room beforehand. Stay here," Sylvester ordered before dashing back to the lobby as the police force strolled into the building. The security guards were talking with them.

"We think they got off on the 5th floor, but we're not 100 percent certain," one guard said. "We lost them between the first and fifth floor."

Caleb watched as one of the cops spoke into a radio, telling the other party to set a two block radius around the hotel, no one in or out, and then he told the guards to lock down the building, and monitor the exits.

He plunked himself down onto one of the couches in the middle of the lobby, resting his head in his hands, his heart thumping and his head pounding. He couldn't lose her. Not now. They were finally settling into a life together. A new life. He was ready to change, and he wanted to make that change with her. But he was helpless.

The horrified look on her face as they dragged her out of the room would haunt him for the rest of his life. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and wipe all fear from her eyes. But he was as helpless as a newborn baby. He didn't have super powers. He couldn't teleport into the different rooms and hunt them down. What he wouldn't give to have Nightcrawler's teleportation ability right about now.

"Caleb," shouted a voice from across the room. He looked up and saw Nathan approaching him. "The cops have the building surrounded. Have they found anything yet?"

"No," he said, despair running through his tone.

"I have an idea." Nathan turned away from him and walked over to the front desk, and Caleb followed after him. "Hey, do you have a record of all the swipe cards that were used in the last 15 minutes and what rooms they were used on?"

Smart man! If they never left the building, they had to have gone into one of the rooms to wait out the search. The male receptionist was a tall guy with grey hair and a receding hairline, named Peter."

"Do you work for the police?" the employee asked.

Nathan pulled out his badge and displayed it to the guy. "Look, we have a hostage/kidnaping situation occurring right now and you are instrumental in helping us finding them before it's too late."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," the flustered guy said. "I'm not allowed to reveal personal information to the public." Typing away on his keyboard, he read out a list of room numbers that were recently accessed. "I'll get you a key that will allow you into the rooms from my supervisor."

Nathan wrote them down on his notepad and then walked over to the officer nearby to discuss their strategy. Before long, the employee returned with the supervisor in tow and everyone was briefed on the situation.

And all Caleb could do was sit and watch the flurry of activity, wanting desperately to kick down each door until he found her, but the hotel probably wouldn't take too kindly to a bunch of broken doors, and neither would his leg. He did that once as a teen and never forgot the sound of his knee popping out of place.

"Can I help in any way?" he asked Nathan and the police.

"Staying out of the way is the best thing you can do," Constable Harry said, coming up behind him.

Caleb turned at the sound of the familiar voice and breathed a sigh of relief. But he also felt a little embarrassed to be in the middle of another scene requiring their assistance. "They've got Maria."

"I heard. I still can't believe one of our own has been responsible for all this." Harry shook his head sadly. "So much for the serve and protect logo, eh. It's things like this that make the public not trust us."

"I'm going to trust you to get her back for me. She means the world to me, Harry."

"I'm going to do my best," Harry said, patting him on the shoulder. "Nathan, you can come with me."

Caleb watched as most of the officers disappeared up the stairs and others in the elevator in search of where the creeps were hiding, and all he could do was wait for them to succeed or fail. His stomach churned at all the possibilities of how this could play out. He should be up there helping them look. Would she consider him a chicken if he wasn't there when they rescued her? Would she look at him differently?

God. He ran his hands down his face, torn between behaving himself and staying put or going with them. Would they lock him up if he didn't stay down here, like for getting in the way or something?

With ants running through his system, he couldn't sit any longer. He stood up and moved toward the stairs. After the cops finished with the elevator, the hotel locked it down, so no one could use it. As he neared the door, one of the female cops moved in front of it.

"Sorry, you aren't allowed to go anywhere until the issues resolved."

"He's got my girlfriend, I have to help somehow."

"Sorry. You need to stay put."

"I'm going, so unless you are going to arrest me, then step out of the way," Caleb clenched his fists and took a menacing step towards the officer. And before he knew it, the cop twisted his arm around his back and slapped a cuff on him.

Well that's a new one.

"Damn it, let me go," he growled, fighting to keep his one hand free, but the battle was lost when the cuff slapped around his other wrist. How the hell did she manage to do that without  any help?

"You can cool off in the cruiser," the female officer said.

With both hands cuffed, the officer led him out the front door. Caleb's face burned with embarrassment as every stared at him getting shoved into the cruiser. He was never going to live this down. He couldn't say he's ever been cuffed by a female before, but he knew now that he didn't like it one bit.

"Damn it!" He yelled, hitting the door with his shoulder. "Let me out!"

"Watch him," the lady cop said to the other officer standing beside the car.

Realizing there was nothing he could do, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, trying to stave off the growing migraine behind his eyes. "Please, God, don't let me lose her, too!"