"Why isn't she answering, Caffrey? Why isn't she answering!" We listened to Lydia and Maria go into the gallery. We overheard as she first talked to her professor, then the first buyer. Then when she walked over to the second buyer, the signal cut out. 

Caffrey had to force me to stay in the van. I wanted to run in there and make sure she was all right, but he wouldn't let me. He said I could be putting her in more danger by doing that.

My gut instinct told me that something happened. There's no reason for the mic to cut out like that. My head was swimming with different possibilities while I absently heard Caffery in the background trying to get updates from his undercover agents inside.

Michael was sitting next to me and his expression mirrored my own. He knew something wasn't right here. He gave me a single nod and I knew exactly what he was trying to say. Pulling out my phone I hit send on the pre-typed text to Anne. 

"We need to get in there," I demanded and Caffrey said something into the receiver. 

Caffrey got to his feet and finally turned to acknowledge Michael and I. "There's no sign of them." He gave both of us a pointed look. "I know there isn't a chance in hell of getting you guys to stay here, so I'm going to say this once: stay behind me. No matter what. Got it?" 

"Got it," we answered at the same time. Trying to resist the urge to pick up my phone and call her cell phone was unbearable. I knew something was wrong. This felt like a bad idea from the start.

Michael and I followed Caffrey into the gallery. We did as he said and stayed behind him as he moved towards the last place Lydia and Maria were seen. The closer we got, the more I knew that she was gone already. He had taken her and there wasn't anything I could do to stop it.

"Fuck," Caffrey yelled as we reached the back door. The back door that was completely wide open. No Maria or Lydia in sight.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Michael lunge at Caffrey. He fisted shirt and pushed him up against the wall. "What the fuck, Caffrey! Where is my sister?"

I placed my hand on Mike's arm. As much as I wanted to punch Caffrey one good one, he was a federal agent. When we got Lydia back, and we would, I don't think she would be too happy if her brother was in jail for assault.

"Let go, Mike. Come on."

Caffrey straightened his tie when Michael let him go. Michael turned away and ran his hands over his face. "Listen to me," Caffrey said, "we will get them back. I promise. We need to look around and see if there's anything that can help us find them. Lydia is a smart girl. Maybe she left something behind."

We all started looking around, and the frustration seemed to grow as nothing turned up. I was starting to lose my fucking mind. The woman I loved, and her mother, were held at the whim of a psychopath right now.

I checked my phone again, hoping Anne has gotten back to me. Nothing yet. Christ, we needed something. Anything.

"Over here," an agent called. He handed the piece of paper to Caffrey. "That was tucked under the placemat here. It was definitely put there to be hidden."

Caffrey started reading over the paper and I tried my best to remain calm. Honestly, I did. "Well? What does it say?"

When Caffrey looked up at me, I knew I wasn't going to like whatever was written on that paper. Instead of answering my question, simply held it out for me to read.

Michael looked over my shoulder and we both read it. As I read it all the way down to the bottom, it only confirmed what I already knew. He had taken them. He also apparently had threatened the life of me, Michael, and everyone she cared about. I felt a hint of anger that she would risk her life and go with him. But she was Lydia. The woman I fell in love with would do something like that; and I would do the same for her.

"He has her," Michael sneered and banged his fist on a nearby table. "He fucking has them both!"

I didn't say anything to Michael. What could I say? Anything I said would just piss him off and I didn't blame him.

"What now?" I asked Caffrey with a pointed look. I already had something and motion, but I need to know what his plan was. And he better have an answer for me.

"Now, we find out how much of this threat is true. We'll have a team do a sweep and check your apartment building. Once it's clear, well go inside and come up with a plan to get her back. Both of them. I already have some of my agents getting the security footage from surrounding areas. If we can find out what kind of car he was in, we can trace it."

I nodded before I glanced at my phone again. Come on, Anne....

4 Hours Later

"The trace on Maria's phone brought us to this vicinity." Caffrey drew a circle on a large map. "He must have something jamming her signal."

"Where could he get something like that?" Michael asked.

"You'd be surprised what's available online and in stores," Caffrey answered. "Now, Maria's hotel is in this circle. I don't think it's a coincidence that the phone was traced back there."

Understanding dawned on me in an instant. "You think he knew Maria was staying at that hotel all along. You think he was also staying there or nearby."

Caffrey looked at me and nodded. "Yes. From everything we know about him, it seems likely that's the case."

Michael scoffed. "So, what? Are we going to start going door-to-door looking for them? Are we going to walk in that hotel and have Security check every room? That's going to take forever! For all we know, he could have taken them out of the city already." Michael pointed to the map, "Just because you traced her phone, it doesn't mean that she's with her phone. He could have made her leave it behind."

I knew Michael was right and dread filled me at the possibility. What if Lydia and Maria had been taken out of the city? How in the hell would we be able to find them? This was just getting more complicated by the hour.

After we left the gallery, Caffery took us to a safe place while they had our apartment checked. Turns out, Jonathan Preston was a man of his word. They found, and managed to disarm, a bomb. I had no idea how he got his hands on something like that. Frankly, I didn't give a shit. I'm just glad everyone in that building was safe. Now, my priority was Lydia and Maria.

I checked in with Anne repeatedly. Unfortunately, she didn't have an update yet. I haven't told Caffrey about my little side plan. I could get in a shit ton of trouble for what I was doing. Caffrey started talking to Michael and I stepped out of the room. I headed to my bedroom to get a little space. Besides, Lydia always left some of her stuff here and I wanted to be around it. 

I stepped into my bedroom and immediately regretted it. I glanced at our bed and thought about the night before. Truth was, I did picture a real future with her. I saw us getting married, I saw her pregnant with my child...and I wanted it. I wanted everything with her. I walked over to my dresser and pulled it open. I pulled out the box that had my mother's wedding ring in it and opened it. 

The ring was 14K black gold, with a leaf design, and black stones. When my father proposed to my mom, they didn't have much. He offered to buy her a new, more expensive ring when he started making money, but she wouldn't have it. She told him this was the ring he had not only proposed with, but it was the one he slid on her finger on their special day. The only reason I had the ring was because she didn't take it with her when she travelled. So, it wasn't on the plane when she died. 

Even though I planned to propose to Lydia one day, it wasn't in the near future. I knew she wasn't ready, hell-- I wasn't ready. I still think she would love this ring. It was simple and beautiful at the same time. Purely Lydia. 

"Hey," Michael said as he came in the room and I quickly hid the ring. "I think Caffrey is getting suspicious. Have you found anything out?" 

"Not yet, but I'm about to call her again. What about Caffrey?" I asked. 

"He's getting two teams together. One is going to check surveillance for Maria's hotel and the surrounding area. The other team will follow different leads." 

I ran my hand over my face. This was all too much. Where was she? Was she scared? Or hurt? My chest tightened and I lowered my hands. A picture of the two of us on my dresser caught my eye. It was when we had a date night and I took her to this Italian restaurant I loved. I asked a stranger to take a picture of us, and right when the man snapped the picture, I had looked down at her. It had to be my favorite picture of us together. 

"What do you want to do?" Michael asked me desperately. 

Before I could answer, my cell phone chimed with a text from Anne. I read it quickly and looked up at Michael with a shocked expression. "She found her. Anne found her on facial recognition."

"What the fuck did you just say?" Caffrey asked from the doorway.

Mine and Michael's head snapped in that direction. Fuck.