"Your Dad?"

By CorbinBleuFanatic1

Normal POV

"What . . . how . . . " Troy Bolton paused, still staring at Chad. "Your dad?"

Chad Danforth sighed. "For the tenth time, Troy, yes! And can you stop staring at me like that? It's creeping me out . . . "

Troy finally took his eyes off of Chad and looked out the window. "Sorry."

"It's okay . . . "

Troy turned back to Chad. "Why? What? Where? When? How?"

"You forgot 'who'," Chad told him with a slight smile.

"Bit I already know who!"

"No, Troy," Chad said. "Not yet we don't."

Troy looked back out the window, imagining he and Gabi were in his room, holding her close, letting nothing bad happen to her. That image brought a tear to his eye.

"Why would your father take the girls?"

"I don't know why," Chad almost yelled. "And I don't even know ifhe did take them . . . "

"Well . . . why do you think he did?"

"Remember how last night, when we were on the phone, I had to go because I heard my mom yell at someone?"

Troy nodded his head. "Yeah . . . so?"

"So . . . " Chad paused. "It was my dad she was yelling at . . . "

0o0o0o0o0o0o

"We have to do something, Chad," Troy told his best friend over the phone. "I can't sit around and do nothing . . . when Gabi is out there . . . She might need me . . . "

Chad was about to reply, to agree with Troy, when he heard his mom yell, "Get the hell out of this house! I told you I never want to see your face ever again." There was a long silence, and then Tracey Danforth said, "Get your damn hands off of me!"

"I gotta go, Troy," Chad said, ready to hang up. "I think my mom's in trouble. See you tomorrow at school?"

"Okay, Chad, bye."

Chad raced down the stairs.

"Mom!" Chad called. "What's . . . "

He stopped mid-sentence, his words dying in his throat. He stared at the person he hadn't seen for seven years, the one person he had never wanted to see again.

"What are you doing here?" Chad was outraged. "And let go of her!"

"Make me," he taunted.

"I will . . . Dad . . . "

Richard Danforth pushed Tracey to the ground and advanced upon Chad.

"You didn't answer my question, Dad," Chad said. "What are you doing here?"

"You're a senior," Richard said. "Very impressive."

Richard came up to Chad with his arms opened, as if he wanted to give his son a hug, but Chad dodged his estranged father and ran over to Tracey.

"Ma, are you okay?"

Tracey got up, with the help of Chad, and said, "I'm fine, sweetheart."

Chad turned to his father.

"I heard you have a girlfriend," Richard said. "I wanted to meet her. So . . . where is she? I was looking forward to meeting her . . . " Richard paused. "Oh, that's right; she was kidnapped. Along with that Montez girl. Oh, I'm so sorry, Chad."

Chad raced over to his estranged father, his hands in fists once again.

He hit his father square in the jaw.

"If you had anything to do with her disappearance, I swear . . . " Chad threatened.

"Well, if I did have anything to do with her kidnapping, you can say goodbye to any hope of ever finding them again." Richard paused, a smiled playing on his lips. "But, if I did do it, you have no proof anyway."

Leaning on Chad, Tracey pointed to the door. "Leave, Rick, and never come back! If you so much as come within a hundred feet of me or Chad, your ass will be in jail before you know it."

Richard just laughed his maniacal laugh and left, flipping off both Tracey and Chad.

When Richard left, Tracey collapsed into Chad's caring arms.

"Mom?" Chad wondered, putting an arm around Tracey's waist. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Tracey answered as Chad helped her into the kitchen. He got her a glass of water. "I guess seeing your 'father' again brought back the memories of what he used to do to you, and me, before he left." Tracey liked arms with her son as they walked into the living room. He helped her sit down. "What wonderful thing did I do to deserve a wonderful son like you?"

"Just lucky, I guess," Chad answered with a smile.

"And what rotten thing did I do to deserve that horrible man as my husband?"

"Ex-husband," Chad reminded her. "And don't worry, Mom. As long as I'm still your son, he'll never hurt you again."

Tracey smiled and hugged Chad. He kissed his mother's cheek.

"Mom . . . " Chad paused. "What if what he said was true? What if he really did have something to do with their kidnapping? What if he will kill them after what I did?"

"Chad, think about it. What possible motive could he have for kidnapping Gabriella and Taylor?" his mom wondered. "What reason would he have?"

"It's my father, Mom," Chad pointed out. "Does he need a reason?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Okay, if it is your father, where the hell would he go in Albuquerque?" Troy asked when Chad finished his story.

"I know my father, Troy," Chad told him, cringing when he said the word 'father', "and I know where his favorite places are."

Without another word, Chad headed toward a restaurant ten minutes away.

When they got there, Chad told Troy to stay in the car, that he'd be right out. He walked into the restaurant.

"Hey, look who it is," the co-owner of the restaurant yelled. "Little Chad Danforth!"

"I'm not so little anymore."

"Yeah, I see that," the manager said with a smile. "How've ya been, kid?"

"Good, Chuck," Chad told Chuck Williams. "I'm a senior in high school. In fact, graduation's three months from now."

"No kidding?" Chuck smiled again. "I remember when you were barely up to my waist. Now look at ya! You're almost as tall as me." Chuck looked at Chad. "Remember how you and my daughter used to be the best of friends?" Chuck wondered. "You single?"

"No," Chad answered. "I have a girlfriend . . . " Chad had to fight hard to keep his voice steady. "And I love her a lot."

"Good man," Chuck said. "So, who's the lucky girl?"

"Um . . . Taylor McKessie."

Chuck's demeanor quickly changed and his smile disappeared. It was obvious Chuck kept up with the news.

"The girl from the news?" When Chad nodded his head, Chuck added, "Oh, I'm sorry, man. Did you know the girl who was with her?"

"Yeah, she's one of my friends." Chad pointed to Troy in his car. "And she's Troy's girlfriend."

"Wow," Chuck commented. "You guys must be worried sick." He looked at the clock behind Chad's head. "Hey, aren't you two supposed to be in school now?"

"Yeah," Chad answered. "But we ditched." He paused. "We had to, Chuck," Chad continued, knowing what Chuck was about to say. "Our girlfriends are out there and the police aren't doing anything to save them. They've been gone for almost three weeks. I can't wait until Taylor's body washes up somewhere to find the sick psycho who has them."

"So . . . what did you come here for?"

"My dad," Chad said, and told him the same story he told Troy almost an hour ago. "And since you and he used to be best friends . . . " Chad trailed off.

"You thought maybe he'd stopped in here?" Chad nodded his head at Chuck's question. "Okay, since I like ya so much, I'll tell ya what I know." Chuck paused, then continued. "Your father came in here earlier today. I asked him what he's doing back and what he's been up to." Chuck paused. "He told me that he landed a nice Latino babe, black hair, brown eyes, really nice body. So then he starts telling me all the positions he was in when he fucked her, what else he did to her, whether or not she was conscious . . . " Chuck trailed off that time and stared into Chad's big brown eyes. "You know this girl, don't you?"

Chad nodded his head, forcing back the tears that have been threatening to fall for three weeks.

"Gabi," Chad told Chuck. "Its Gabi . . . " Chad paused. "Did he happen to say where he was staying?"

Chuck nodded his head. "He said he bought a house on the outskirts of town. He said it's so secluded, you can't hear anyone scream. It's practically in the middle of nowhere."

"Chuck, we're in the middle of nowhere but every place has to be somewhere." Chad paused. "Can I have the address?"

Chuck nodded his head once more. "Sure, kid." He quickly wrote down the address and handed it to Chad. He looked at the younger man. "I knew your father was sick . . . but I didn't know he'd stoop this low . . . "

Chad was already halfway to the door.

"Hey!" Chuck called. "Don't you think we should call the police?"

"Tay and Gabi don't have enough time!"

"They've been missing for almost three weeks . . . "

Chad ran back to the manager and grabbed him around the collar.

"Don't you dare say something about getting to Taylor and Gabi too late. 'Cause I swear to God if you do . . . "

Chuck put his hands up as if to defend himself.

"Hey, I was only going to say that you've waited three weeks. What's another five minutes?"

"What's 'another five minutes'?" Chad repeated. "To you and me, nothing. But to Taylor and Gabriella, a whole hell of a lot. In five minutes, their lives could end. In five minutes, my father could've raped and murdered my girlfriend and her best friend. So don't even say what's 'another five minutes'. 'Cause in five minutes, they may be dead."

He raced out the door without bothering to look back.

Chad hopped in his car and sped off to the address Chuck gave him.

Fifteen minutes later, they were pulling up to a little run-down shack, in the middle of the forest.

"What are we doing here?" Troy wondered.

"This," Chad answered, "is where Tay and Gabi are . . . "

All of a sudden, a cry erupted from inside of the house. Chad was already running; Troy wasn't far behind.

The same thought went through both of their minds:

Hold on, guys, for a little bit longer. You'll be safe soon enough.

I hope . . .

Did you like it? Please R&R! I hope it's good! Will the girls survive? Will the guys get to them too late? Will Chad finally defeat his father . . . ONCE AND FOR ALL? Or will his mother lose her only child? ONE WAY TO FIND OUT!

CorbinBleuFanatic1