WPOV

"WE CAN'T JUST LET HIM LEAVE! LET ME GO!"

Frank held me by my shoulders and spun me around to face him. He was saying something, but his voice was choked with emotion and I couldn't hear him over the sound of my own heartbeat.

Nico was gone.

My sweet, gentle Nico.

I always thought he was hiding something - you could tell by the way he held himself. But I could never imagine it being this.

Before, I was even trying to draw connections to the di Angelo case.... I was too stupid to see that the missing boy was right next to me, wrapped in my arms and filling me with an unconditional type of love.

And watching him scramble for an explanation - for another lie to cover the truth - broke my heart. It raised more questions. He needed help, but why wasn't he accepting it? 

Octavian must've done something to make him so afraid.... I thought. He's had years to make Nico suffer.

That caused a pang my chest, and it resonated through me as if I was hollow.

"Will! WILL!" My friend called my name, getting me to stop struggling. I looked up at him like I was shell-shocked, like I was still processing what had happened. "We have to keep our heads, okay?"

He's right. You have to calm down.

I nodded. Frank let his hands fall to his sides.

"We need to call the police." I told him, already reaching for my phone.

"No."

"What?! The police can help, it's their job!"

We needed to do something, and every moment was time wasted.

But Frank handed me the folder, which I had forgotten he was carrying, and fiddled with the straps of his backpack. I sighed and looked through it, deciding it was best to hear him out. 

I flipped past multiple documents: mugshots of Octavian's face, more pictures of Nico and his sister, sketches done by the Police Department's artist (which were looked remarkably similar to the mugshots), and several pages of notes that were both printed screenshots and scribbles on lined paper. It was clear that Frank had been collecting information since the very beginning, armed with a gift for eavesdropping and passwords that he shouldn't have known. 

Frank broke the silence. His tone was still worried, and his body language told me he was still anticipating for me to run after Nico. "You said Nico had friends. Remember Ethan and Luke? I can guarantee they know where Octavian lives, but they aren't going to talk to the police."

"Octavian's address wasn't in the Police Department's database? Surely it would be, especially with his criminal record." I asked.

"I triple-checked the system, and it wasn't there." He shrugged. "You said Ethan and Luke didn't want to talk to cops, I doubt they've changed their minds. We know just as much as the police do, we should secure all the facts before we call them."

"But what if it's too late?"

Who knew what Octavian was capable of? He had to be smart, in order to keep Nico in his grasp for so long. And he was obviously vicious. 

"I don't think Nico is in immediate danger. He's lasted this long, Octavian wouldn't kill him without reasoning. I mean, he's even been allowed to go to school.... We'll just have to hurry and hope Ethan and Luke can tell us something we don't already know."

~

Frank and I ended up running to Juniper's house. I didn't know where else to start. I never got any contact information from Ethan or Luke, so I was hoping Juniper could help us get in touch with them.

"Are you sure she'll be able to help? If we can't find them soon, we should just call the police instead of chasing our tails." Frank mumbled.

I ignored his comment.

We stood on the porch and were waiting for the door to open. I knocked again, trying to convince myself she hadn't heard me the first time.

I was about to give up when the door swung inwards. I didn't recognize the guy in front of me.

He was a shorter than me, with brown, curly hair and a baseball cap on his head. Two crutches helped him stand. He was trying to keep his friendly expression from slipping, but the arguing coming from inside the house made it difficult.  

"Hi, I'm Grover. Can I help you with anything?" He said.

Frank put on a smile of his own. "We're looking for Juniper. Does she live here?"

"Yeah. She's inside." More arguing interrupted him. Grover grimaced a little at the sound. "But she's busy right now.... Do you mind coming back tomorrow?" 

"Sounds like it's getting pretty heated in there. Who's she arguing with?" The words sounded rude and blunt, but I couldn't hold them back. 

"Nobody important."

"Then I hope they can put their differences aside for a few minutes. We really need to talk to Juniper, and it really can't wait."

Grover turned, looking over his shoulder and into the house. He seemed to be wrestling with the decision of whether or not to let Frank and I inside.

It made me wonder if he was hiding something. If there's anything I learned from past mistakes, it's that situations aren't always as simple as you would think. 

After a moment of consideration, hesitation, he sighed and stepped out of the doorway. "Go ahead and come in. I think our friends are about to leave anyway."

We thanked him and entered the house. Grover led us down the hallway, each step making the voices clearer. 

"How could you guys keep this a secret for all these years?! You must be getting something in return - otherwise both of you are just psychos!" Juniper's voice.

"There wasn't anything we could do! I just told you that!" 

I thought I recognized the speaker behind the voice, but I dismissed myself. Coincidence hasn't been on my side. I didn't want to get my hopes up. 

I was still surprised when I saw who was in the room.

Juniper was there, of course. She straightened when she saw us and smoothed out her dress, trying too hard to act normal. But normalcy wasn't achieved. Luke was next to her with a red face; Ethan was sitting by himself on the couch, head in his hands. 

I grinned at the change of circumstance. Ethan and Luke were found, and that was one less thing for us to worry about.

Frank spoke, with a slight undertone of satisfaction. "Well, it looks like we all need to have a talk." 

"I don't have to talk to you." Luke snapped. He was the one who was arguing with Juniper. "I don't even know who you are."

"Oh, I'm Frank - Will's friend."

Luke put a cigarette in his mouth and pulled a lighter from his pocket.

"Don't smoke in my house!" Juniper said, even more irritated. 

"Sorry, sugar. I'm kind of stressed right now, and you idiots aren't exactly helping." He did as she told him to, though, putting the items back with a sigh. 

Grover looked like he wanted to say something in defense of Juniper, but he decided against it. His hand went into hers, a quieter way of reassurance.

I remembered when Nico and I held hands, how it felt. The fear of losing him became more real in that moment, because I couldn't imagine what I would do without him in my life.

That's part of loving someone.

I wasn't going to dance around with formalities, I didn't have time for that.

"I know about Octavian."

Luke froze. Ethan looked up at me from where he was sitting, eyebrows raised. Everyone was silent. I don't think they were expecting for me to figure things out. 

I pressed on. "I know everything now. Nico's in danger.... Frank and I were hoping you guys could tell us where Octavian lives."

"Why haven't you called the cops?!" Juniper asked. She threw her hands around in gestures of exasperation.

"Because Ethan and Luke have proven in the past they won't talk to the police! We might as well get all the facts first, don't you think? Why haven't you called them?"

"Grover and I knew Nico was being abused - but we thought it was by family members. I understood why he'd be hesitant to look for help. Everything's more complicated when it's your family.... Ethan and Luke just told us the full story today."

I didn't know if it was possible for Luke to become more serious. He didn't say anything as he moved across the room, passed me, and sat on the couch. He put a hand on Ethan's shoulder. "I can't help you, Will. I'm sorry."

I felt my facial expression morph into a snarl. "Can't? Or won't?"

I was angry. Frustrated. Worried sick.

"Can't." He said it matter-of-factly. "What'd you expect me to say? There's things being held over my head. Nico's a good kid, don't get me wrong. I've been friends with him for years. But I'm smart enough to see when a situation gets hopeless or too risky. Nico's in a situation that's both."

"I'll tell you what you need to know." Ethan said quietly. 

I felt relief rush through me. Luke must've felt the opposite of that.

He turned his wide, shocked eyes to his friend. "What about your mom? Aren't you worried they'll do something to her? You know as well as I do that Bryce is going to be pissed when his friend goes to jail.... If he finds out you helped get Octavian arrested, there's going to be revenge."

That's why Luke didn't want to help. He's scared for his family's safety.

Ethan dropped his eyes to the ground. He studied his shoelaces. "I know. But I'm so tired of seeing Nico in pain."

"Would you write the address down for us?" Frank asked, pulling a notebook out of his bag. He set it on the table. 

"No." Luke said, standing up. "If Ethan wants to take the risk and help you guys, then I will, too. But we have to be smart about this, do it a certain way."

I made a hand motion. Go on. 

I was willing to listen, if Luke had a better plan. He knows how Octavian thinks. I'd rather have him tell us what he thought would work, versus waiting for the police to scramble for the final piece of the puzzle. 

"We don't go to the cops. If Octavian sees anything suspicious, he'll probably just kill Nico on the spot. Instead, one of us knocks on the door and tries to get Nico out of the trailer - Octavian usually doesn't have him locked up on the weekends. Even if he does, he makes Nico answer the door and do outside chores."

"That's stupid. Why does he give Nico so much freedom? Isn't he worried about-"

"About Nico running away?" Ethan shook his head. "He wouldn't. And Octavian's always too lazy, high, or drunk out of his mind to want to do those things himself."

"So you think that we shouldn't call the police, that our best option is to knock on the door and hope Nico answers? That sounds pretty risky." I said, chewing on the thought.

"If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. There only a small chance Octavian will answer the door. If that happens, you can just ask for a random name and pretend you have the wrong house. The cops need to be used as our last option, though. Octavian can be a bit - unpredictable under pressure. Trust me, it's safest to get Nico out of the danger zone before we try to get Octavian in handcuffs."

Frank spoke up. "I agree with Luke. Will, are you wanting to be the person who goes to Octavian's?"

I nodded. I should've been there for Nico when he needed me in the beginning. He felt like he had to lie to me about this, and now look where we are....

I had to do this, I owed him everything.

Ethan wrote in the notebook and tore the page out. He leaned over and passed the paper to me. On it was an address, written in messy handwriting.

"You guys aren't coming?" I wasn't able to keep the shakiness out of my voice.

"I don't want Octavian to see the truck." Luke said, solemnly. He pointed to the paper. "It's not that far a walk.... We'll wait here for you and Nico. Call us with an update. If we don't here from you in two hours or so, we'll assume something went wrong and call the cops, okay? That should give you plenty of time to walk there."

"Okay."

I pulled out my phone and typed the address into a map. I started to walk out of the room, but Ethan pulled me aside.

"Don't try to be a hero. If it takes a bad turn, get out of there. Nico can handle another couple of days with Octavian - he has before. Your first priority needs to be your own safety."

A/N ~ shits getting real

I'm not gonna lie, I put this chapter off for the longest time. I didn't want to really write it, since this is the last chapter that's somewhat smooth-sailing. BUT NOW FOR THE FUN PART OF THE PLOT

Fun for me, at least ahahahaha