Hello again!

So sorry I didn't get this up yesterday. It ended up being a longer chapter than I expected it to be, but I hope it will satisfy your needs.

This chapter is from Trish's point of view, because Ally has kind of temporarily gone crazy with anger, and so I figured Trish would be more coherent.

If Trish didn't know better, she would've thought her friend had been abducted and replaced by an alien- or maybe even a zalien.

Trish had been Ally's best friend since they were four, and in the same kindergarten class. And in all that time, not once had she ever known Ally to become so possessed by a single emotion, much less for her to act on it.

Ally had indeed called Tilly Thompson. The conversation had been brief, and Tilly had done most of the talking, so Trish hadn't caught most of what had been said. From what she understood, Tilly was as nuts as ever, and just as hateful. She'd practically told Ally that if she was going to accuse her of something as awful as Austin's kidnapping, to do it to her face. So, that was exactly what the two girls planned to do.

Trish may have been Austin's manager, but when it came down to it, she wasn't a very good planner. Ally, however, could be an amazing planner when she wanted to be, so Trish let her do her whole planning thing while she sat with the Moons, preferring their presence over that of Dez, especially while he's in his state of hysteria. Trish quickly found out, however, that the Moons were about as horrible as Dez when it came to keeping company.

Not that she blamed them- their son was missing, after all, and they had their own rights to a certain amount of hysteria. Dez had long surpassed his rightful limit of hysteria, but he was prone to drama. Add that to the fact that he never matured past the age of two, and, well… You get the picture.

Still, Trish felt like they should be showing a little more enthusiasm over their plan to talk to Tillie. Sure, it wasn't much of a plan, and there wasn't much chance of it leading anywhere, but it made her feel like she was doing something productive, something that can help get Austin back. Huh, look at that. Trish has finally become a productive member of society. Who would've guessed?

Actually, Trish really believed that Tillie knew something. She was pretty sure that she hadn't taken Austin, mainly because she was TOO crazy to pull it off, and get away with it. But, Trish knew very well that Tilly had been watching them like a hawk since the butterfly song incident. If anyone had noticed someone stalking the group, it would be someone else stalking the group. It didn't matter that she didn't do it. What mattered was that she might know who did.

Trish and Ally had considered taking this to the police, like a normal person would. It would have definitely made talking to her easier. They were lucky enough that she was nearby- visiting a relative in some town called Cambridge. But, with the possible infiltration in the police ranks (hah, it's like a movie) the two agreed that they would have to keep this to themselves, at least until they had more evidence.

Ally finally managed to finish the plan, and she gave Trish a brief recap. "We're going to need to be quick." Ally said. "We need some information, and we need it now. It's best if we manage to get something before detective Mark goes to bed." Ally glanced at the clock, and Trish followed her gaze, surprised to find that it was getting late. Trish hadn't thought it would matter. She always thought that detectives were the sort of people who never slept when there was a job to be done. Then again, Trish always slept when there was a job to be done. Sometimes she only slept when there was a job to be done. So she couldn't really accuse anyone of anything.

"You do your thing." Ally continued. Trish felt an evil grin cross her face, the kind of smile that made Dez lose his freckles and run in the opposite direction. Trish liked doing her thing. "You scare her, and I'll ask questions. She's terrible at keeping secrets, even if she does hate admitting things." A smile tugged at the edge of Ally's lips, but like every other smile that had crossed her face in the past few days, it was completely humourless. Trish was pretty sure her smiles all had the same feel, but it was weird seeing it on Ally. It usually takes so much to make her smile- she never fakes it. And she definitely doesn't smile when there's nothing to laugh about.

Then again, they'd all changed to a certain extent. Austin made all the difference.

"Well, we better get going then." Trish said, standing up. Ally followed suit.

"The cab should be here in a few minutes." Ally said. Trish didn't respond. Taking a cab was the fastest option, since a bussing route would take forever, and neither of them could drive without a fully licensed driver in the vehicle (and no, thy most certainly would NOT be bringing the Moons with them). But taxis cost a lot, and it took some extra cash to convince this particular company to take them so far from the city. And Trish knew exactly who would be paying for this trip. Here's a hint- it wouldn't be Ally.

Of course, what with all the jobs she'd gone through, Trish was anything but short of money. Still… It'd be nice if all her friends didn't expect her to take care of everything all the time. Even if it was in the job description.

The cab finally showed up at the door, and the two girls got in. Trish expected some roughed up dude that wouldn't be happy about the long drive ahead, but instead, the driver was a nice lady that seemed to be in her mid-thirties. Well, at least she didn't have to worry about being hunted down by a cab driver for making a ridiculous request.

Ally stayed silent the whole ride, and Trish followed her lead. She was tempted more than once to strike up some sort of conversation, but she was worried about making Ally angry, which, if you wanted to know, NEVER happens. Even when Ally got angry, she wasn't really angry. But not now.

Trish hoped for a second that Tilly wouldn't hold anything back, in the case she knew something. Trish could only imagine what Ally would do to the girl if she tried. The thing is, if she was forthcoming, it wouldn't be any fun for Trish.

So the long ride happened in total silence, other than the radio playing. Both girls winced whenever one of Austin's songs came on, but other than that, neither girl moved, until they approached their destination, and Ally set up a microphone that she would hide in her pocket. It was an absolutely brilliant idea, so of course, it was Trish who had come up with it.

They finally arrived at Tilly's current house, and the cab slowed to a stop. The location to meet Tilly had been a bit of an issue. Meeting in a public place would have made sure that nobody tried anything drastic, but meeting privately meant that if Tilly did say something, no one else would overhear. Tilly had decided on a private meeting, which Trish took as a good sign. Of course, Tilly knew nothing of the microphone Ally had wired. Silly girl.

They got out of the cab and set up a meeting time with the driver, since the deal they made with the company meant being driven both ways. Trish said a polite goodbye to the cab driver and turned to her friend.

"You ready for this?" Trish asked.

A diabolical smile crossed her face. "Oh, yeah." She answered. And together, the girls approached the door, and rang the doorbell.

It was a stroke of luck that it was Tilly who answered the door. Trish hadn't really wanted to explain to Tilly's relatives who they were and why they were here. Still, Trish could've done without the look of disdain the girl aimed at her, and the look of pure hatred she aimed at Ally. "Oh, its you." She said. She looked as though she was considering not letting them in for a moment, but it passed, and she opened the door wider. "I guess you should come in?"

Trish waltzed right in, Ally right behind her. She always found Tilly's insanity to be a little funny, no matter what the situation. She was working on keeping a smile of her face, which wasn't too hard, so long as she focused on Austin. Ally, meanwhile, looked like she was working hard to stay calm and collected.

"Is there someplace private we can talk?" Ally said. The group could hear the sounds of a family coming from some place down the hall.

Tilly didn't exactly answer, but instead made a big show of flipping her hair over her shoulder and walking away. Amused, Trish followed. So did Ally.

She brought them to a room that was without a doubt the one she had christened her own. They were various pictures on the walls (one of them of their group) with darts in them. There was torn paper everywhere, and her clothes were scattered across the floor. It looked like she'd recently had a fit.

It took them a few minutes, but all three girls finally managed to find a seat in the wreckage of the room. Tilly quickly found that she didn't like looking someone straight in the eye, so instead stood up to talk to them. She looked like she was about to say something, but Ally jumped in before she could.

"What do you know about the person who kidnapped Austin?" She said, clearly trying hard to keep her voice calm.

Tilly seemed momentarily shocked, but quickly recovered, and feigned surprise. "You mean that backstabbing, good-for-nothing, lying dirtbag who kidnapped Austin 2 days and 22 hours ago?" She considered this for a moment. "I know nothing." She tried to head for the door.

Trish jumped up. This was too good. There was no way she was backing out now. She grabbed her arm. "You realise you just admitted that you know who did this, right?" menace was thick in every word.

Tilly nearly swore. "I HATE it when I admit things! I hate it! I hate it! I-"

"We know!" Trish yelled, stopping the crazy girl mid-sentence. Tilly glared. Trish glared back, with a gaze that she knew was ten times more powerful than anything Tilly could've managed, even if she was the shorter of the two. "Now I suggest you tell us what you know, before you're in even more trouble than you already are."

Tilly had the appearance of an animal back into a corner. Her gaze flickered back and forth between Trish and Ally, who had stood up as well with barely controlled rage. Trish could almost see the inner battle going on behind her eyes.

"Why should I tell you anything?" Tilly finally said, trying to put all sorts of false arrogance into her voice.

Trish just smiled. She had a lot more anger management experience than her raging friend. "If you don't, then you're gonna find out exactly what Ally can do when she's angry. And not even I know what that is. So I suggest you talk now before things get ugly."

Tilly took her gaze of Trish to glance at Ally. She didn't even have to fake the look of pure outrage, Trish realised. She was just that angry with Tilly right now. Tilly seemed to realise this too, and she knew as well as anyone who knew Ally that Ally Dawson didn't get angry. And Tilly Thompson was scared.

"Fine." She said, trying to sneer. "There was this guy who came to me a while ago. He said he could ruin Austin and Ally, and that he could do it in a way that no one would notice. All he needed, he said, was a few secrets on team Austin. I could give them to him, easy." Her smile was demonic, and Trish had to hold Ally back with a hand on her shoulder. "He said he'd pay me. I gave him what he wanted. But now we're a week past payday, and he hasn't given me a cent!" Tilly's little hands balled into fists. "That backstabbing, lying, good-for-nothing-"

Tilly never finished the sentiment, because at that moment, Ally finally snapped. She pushed past Trish, grabbed Tilly by the shirt, and threw her first ever punch. Trish would've been so proud, if the situation didn't horrify her so much.

"You stupid,"

Punch

"immature,"

Punch

"Insane girl!"

Punch-

"Ally!"

Trish finally decided to intervene. She grabbed her friend and pulled her away from Tilly, who was too shocked to even react to the attack. "Let me handle this." Trish whispered to her friend. Before she could see Ally's reaction, she turned to the lunatic and grabbed her by the shirt, exactly where Ally had.

"WHO WAS IT?" Trish yelled. Some distant part of her realised she was probably being even more aggressive than Ally, but she didn't really care.

Tilly shook her head, terrified. "I don't know…"

Trish couldn't believe her ears. "GUY, GIRL, NAME, ADDRESS! TELL ME!" She had to know something, right?

Tilly whimpered. "It- it was a guy. An older guy- thirty, maybe? He didn't give me details…"

Trish groaned. How could this stupid lunatic think she would get paid if she didn't even know who would be paying her?

"It doesn't matter." Trish said, her voice quivering a little, despite her awesome anger management. "We're taking you to the Toronto police. You're gonna tell them everything you just told us." Trish grabbed the girl's arm and tugged, but she didn't move.

"But I didn't know he was going to kidnap Austin! Besides, it won't do you any good." Tilly said. She sounded far too confident for Trish's liking, even if it did kind of sound like she was playing her last card.

"What do you mean?" Ally asked in a low voice.

"I mean the guy. He had a uniform. He was a policeman. From Toronto- it said so on his badge."

Ally and Trish exchanged mortified expressions. The maniac couldn't be a policeman. He just couldn't be. The others in the department would know, right?

Except, he did manage to get the letter past security… And the police hadn't discovered who had let it in… But they hadn't interrogated the police force, only those in communications.

Trish knew that Ally had realised it at the same time as she had. The girl gave her a dangerous look, and her gaze shifted to Tilly. Ally wanted desperately to turn Tilly in. But she was a lunatic, and no one would believe her, even though she had a knack for telling the truth, especially when she was trying to hide it. So Tilly would remain the only person who could identify this part-time-police-man-full-time-maniac. They needed her.

"You're coming with us." It sounded as if it pained Ally to say it. Trish knew that it pained her to hear it.

"But you can't turn me in-"

"We aren't turning you in." Trish said, sighing in defeat. What was the world coming to?

"Than what do you need me for?"

"You're going to show us who you made your deal with."