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Author's Note: Thanks for your reviews! I'm sorry for the delay. The site wouldn't let me update anything for a while. But anyway, things are definitely getting more intense, so keep an eye out for clues! Glad to see you guys have guesses on who could be behind this. As for this chapter, enjoy!
Chapter 11
Allie came to a stop in front of the hotel room and knocked on the door. A minute passed before it opened, revealing Jillian on the other side. "Hey, you wanted to talk?" she asked.
"Yeah, come on in," Jillian answered, backing away from the doorway so her younger sister could enter the room. Once she was inside, she shut the door again behind her.
"What's up? Everything okay?" Allie wondered. Not long after Jillian had left after helping clean up their room, she had gotten a text from the other girl asking if they could meet to talk.
"Um, yeah, I think so," Jillian said. "But I don't know... Want to go out for coffee or something? We can discuss this then."
Allie raised an eyebrow. "Sure, that'd be good," she replied. She could tell the other girl's thoughts were scattered, but she had no idea what was causing it.
Jillian smiled slightly. "Okay, cool." She went to the bed and grabbed her purse, putting it over her shoulder as she dug out the keys to her rental car. "Shall we?"
"Yep." Allie opened the door and stepped out into the hallway with Jillian behind her, and the sisters walked down the hallway as they made their way toward the staircase. They crossed the lobby and left the hotel, walking over to the car. Jillian got in behind the wheel while Allie got into the seat next to her, and they drove away from the building.
There was a long moment of silence between them for a while as they looked around for a cafe, and finally, Allie couldn't stand it anymore. "All right, Jillian, what's going on?" she asked.
Jillian sighed, glancing at her for a second before looking back at the road ahead of them. "There's just a lot on my mind," she answered. "Mainly from last night..."
"Phil?" Allie guessed since it seemed what he had said was one of the main things on everyone's minds. When Jillian nodded, she sighed. "Look, I know it's something we're all concerned about, but..."
"It's not what he said, exactly," Jillian muttered thoughtfully as she came to a stop at a red light.
"Oh? Then what is it?" Allie pressed.
Jillian watched as the light rainfall made patterns on the windshield before the wipers erased them for a moment before she spoke quietly. "I don't think Phil did anything."
Allie looked at her sister with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Well... you saw how everyone was getting on Phil last night," Jillian explained. "They were almost accusing with the whole sound wave thing and with what he said about Adam. Almost like he knew something or..."
"You're not suggesting he has something to do with what happened to Adam, are you?"
Jillian bit her lip as she drove through the intersection when the light turned green. "No..." she muttered. "But think about it, Allison. You said yourself you didn't know how the gang knew you were back in your room when they called. Either they have some of the members close by... or someone closer watching us."
Allie was quiet for a long moment, looking down at her hands folded in her lap. There were a lot of times where she was on the same page as her older sister, but she just couldn't bring herself to think that someone close to them could actually be part of this nightmare. She didn't want to believe that one of her friends would really be behind the capture and torture of the man she considered her brother.
"I just don't think Phil would do that," Jillian continued when Allie stayed quiet. "I mean, he wouldn't... He was kinda acting a little strange today, though."
"How so?" Allie asked, turning to look at her.
Jillian glanced back at her. "I only saw him for a minute, probably less," she answered. "But he was on the phone, and from what I could gather, something was wrong. Then he just took off."
Allie sighed as she looked back out the window. She wanted to agree with Jillian that Phil didn't have anything to do with what happened to Adam. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense that someone closer to them at least knew something, especially after the perfect timing of the phone call Susannah had gotten from the gang after they found the writing on the wall. And they had seen Phil walking away from the area where their room was before they discovered it had been trashed...
But before she could make any other comments, Allie pulled her cell phone out of her pocket when she felt it quickly vibrate, seeing she had a text from Jay. She opened it, and her eyes widened fearfully.
Susannah quickly left the hotel room, pulling her sweatshirt over her head as she jogged down the hall. Jay was right with her as they made their way down the stairs to the lobby.
"So what exactly happened?" Jay wondered as they reached the bottom of the staircase. He didn't really know much about why Susannah was suddenly so worried. After Allie had left to meet with Jillian, they had been watching television for a little while until she had gotten a phone call from Anna. It was very short, and after she hung up, she had grabbed her sweatshirt and left. Jay barely had time to grab his sweatshirt and keys to his rental car.
"I'm not sure," Susannah told him as they walked across the lobby. "Anna called, she sounded scared, she screamed, and the line went dead. Something's wrong."
Jay's eyes narrowed slightly as she pushed open the door of the hotel and walked outside into the darkening evening. "You think they're somewhere away from here?" he pressed, pulling his sweatshirt on to fight off the slight drizzle that had begun.
Susannah nodded. "If she was at the hotel, there would have been some kind of commotion," she muttered.
"All right. We'll take my car and see if we can find anything," Jay said, scanning the lot for it. But his eyes narrowed slightly in confusion when he saw Chris standing close by, a startled look on his face as he stared at what appeared to be Mike's renal car. "Chris, what's going on?"
Chris looked up at the sound of his name, and seeing how concerned he looked, Jay led the way over to him with Susannah close behind. "Look," he simply replied, gesturing to the car.
Jay stopped next to the other man, following his gaze. His eyes widened in horror when he saw Mike and Anna inside, both unconscious. "Oh, my God..."
Susannah gasped and covered her mouth at the sight. "Are they okay?" she asked anxiously.
"I think so," Chris answered. "There was also this..." He handed the note he had found to Jay.
"Yeah, they'll be fine," Jay confirmed as he quickly read over the scribbled handwriting before pulling out his cell phone to text his girlfriend about what happened. "It's pretty obvious who was behind this."
"The gang?" When Jay nodded, Susannah sighed. "But I don't get it. Why attack them?" She then looked over the note when Jay passed it to her.
Chris shrugged. "I'm sure that's something they'll be able to answer when they wake up," he muttered. "Meanwhile, let's get them inside."
The leader of the gang sighed, pulling his long, dark hair from his face and tying it back in a ponytail as the sun set over the canal. He started to pace in front of the warehouse where they were keeping their captive, feeling restless. His girlfriend had called the man who he had made the plans to take Adam with to tell him about his condition, and from what she said, he sounded angry. He really couldn't blame him. Adam was in bad shape.
He heard the sound of approaching tires, and he watched as a dark car slowly pulled up across from the warehouse near the canal without its headlights on. The car shut off before the second man stepped out, a hood over his head.
"How bad is he?" the new arrival immediately asked, approaching the dark-haired man.
"Pretty bad," the gang leader answered quietly, his dark eyes flickering nervously. He was afraid of what he would say about their captive's condition. "He has a high fever."
The hooded man sighed heavily, looking away for a moment before meeting his gaze again. "Bring me to him," he muttered.
"Um... all right." The long-haired man led the new arrival into the boat-filled garage, silent as they walked down an aisle toward the door at the back lit by a flickering lightbulb. He opened it, but he stopped with confusion and looked behind him when the other man didn't keep going. "What?"
"Hold on one minute," the second man said, crouching on the ground. "I'm going to leave a little clue for Adam's friends once they find this place. You know it'll only be a matter of time."
The gang leader watched as wrote something short in the dirt. "They'll know what that means?" he wondered.
"Yes." The man who had came up with the initial plan involving Adam got to his feet, lowering his hood. "That is if our captive is still alive for them to come and get."
The dark-haired man lowered his gaze and walked into the large, dimly lit room where they had made the first video for those trying to find Adam with the other man behind him. They were silent as they crossed and went through another door, walking down a dark hallway. The man who had just arrived glanced around, seeing other members of the gang were hanging around near a door at the end of the hall, but they scattered when the two men in power reached them.
"He's in here," the gang leader told him.
"Open it," the second man ordered.
Sighing heavily, the dark-haired man tightened his ponytail before opening the door, holding it for him. The man with him walked into the room, seeing it was small and damp. He looked around intently, noticing the leader of the gang's girlfriend was kneeling on the floor next to who he assumed was Adam.
"Move out of the way," he said, approaching them.
The dark-haired woman gasped as she quickly looked up at the man truly in charge, but she stayed close to Adam. "What are you going to do?"
Anger crossed the man's face. "I said move out of the way," he repeated.
Though it was against her better judgement, the woman sighed as she looked back down at Adam, running her fingers through his hair once more before she got to her feet. She looked at the new arrival nervously before crossing the room to where her boyfriend was standing in the doorway, leaning into him when he wrapped his arms around her.
Making sure she was going to stay away, the man in charge of the entire plan turned his attention to their fevered captive, quickly taking in his flushed cheeks and shivering body to assess his condition. For a moment, his gaze saddened as he looked down on Adam, curled up in a blanket as he fitfully slept. This was his friend, or at least had been, and the man he was supposed to be trying to save. Yet here he was with him, not going to help him escape.
"The blanket was a good idea. I think the temperature of this room is part of the problem," the man muttered, dropping to one knee next to Adam. He placed his hand lightly on the other man's forehead to check his temperature before he lowered the blanket a little, noticing the dark red cuts on his chest and his roughed up back before covering him back up. "And these marks... What are the ones on his chest from? They look infected."
The dark-haired gang leader exchanged a nervous look with his girlfriend. "The marks on his chest are from darts dipped in acid..." he told him quietly.
"Acid darts?" the man who had been called in repeated in disbelief as he looked back at them. "Did you ever consider he might have a reaction to them? And the marks on his back are probably infected too..."
"I'm sorry," the dark-haired man said, gaining a little confidence back as his girlfriend wrapped her arms around him tightly. "But I'm just having my gang do what you told us to do. This is your plan."
"My plan wasn't to kill him!" the second man snapped angrily as he got to his feet. "He needs to be alive so his friends come for him. He can't die now."
The dark-haired leader glared down the man who had done the actual planning, finally sighing as he moved his dark eyes from his intense gaze. "What would you have me do?" he asked quietly.
"I'm not having you do anything right now, not after you let him get like this," the second man answered, shaking his head slightly. "I'll take care of him myself. I can't trust you to keep him alive. I'm going to run out and get some materials, but I'll be back soon. Then I'll head back before I'm missed."
"Fine. Do what you will." The dark-haired leader angrily turned and left the room, slamming the door shut behind him. His girlfriend stood still for a moment, stunned, before turning her dark eyes to the man she had called. Seeing the fury on his face as well, she quickly opened the door and left after her boyfriend, shutting the door a little softer behind her.
Sighing, the man in charge of the gang's operations ran his hand through his hair as he looked back at Adam. "Hold on for a bit longer. I'll get what you need," he told him, unsure if he could hear him.
To his surprise, Adam turned his head in his direction and mouthed something, unable to make a sound. He was still asleep, but he appeared to recognize his voice. He would have to be more careful. He looked at him for a long minute as the fevered man continued to slowly mouth a word he couldn't quite make out, his gaze darkening slightly.
"I'm sorry, Adam."
Adam slowly opened his eyes, squinting a little in the bright sunlight above him. He heard the crunching of leaves underneath him as he sat up and looked around, putting his hand to his head.
He was sitting in what appeared to be a fenced in backyard, colored leaves that had fallen from the surrounding trees littering the ground around him. Sighing, Adam ran his hand through his hair and rubbed his tired eyes. The area didn't seem familiar to him, yet he somehow felt as though he knew it.
Then, he quickly looked over his shoulder when he heard more leaves crunch quietly behind him, and Adam found himself looking at a girl who couldn't have been much older than three staring back at him with hazel eyes. Her short blond hair was tied back in a loose ponytail behind her head, and a broad smile appeared on her face when she saw him.
"Found you!" she said happily, skipping over to him.
Adam stared at the girl with surprise as she stopped next to him, not able to tear his gaze away from her eyes. They were so familiar to him, and the child's facial features somewhat reminded him of his own, just not exactly. But yet, he had never seen her before, though she seemed to know him.
Before he could say anything, Adam's eyes narrowed slightly when a glint of silver around her neck caught the sunlight. Looking closer, he saw she was wearing a necklace with two thin hearts that were intertwined. It was the same one he had given to Susannah on their last anniversary before he proposed to her.
"Where did you get that?" he asked quietly, gesturing to the necklace.
The girl looked down at it too. "Silly," she answered with a laugh. "You gave me it!"
"I don't... remember..." Adam's sentence slowly trailed off as he put his hand to his head again. Not only did he have no clue who the girl with him was, he certainly didn't remember giving her the necklace he had given to his girlfriend of three years.
Then, he looked up when he felt her small hand rest on his cheek, seeing she was smiling at him. "Come on! Mommy's waiting," she told him.
"Mommy?" Adam repeated with confusion, slowly getting to his feet when the girl then grabbed his hand and started pulling. He brushed the fallen leaves off his navy sweater and light colored jeans, following after her as she pulled him along. Hopefully, he could get some answers.
The girl led him to a simple, two-story white house the large backyard went along with. A Siberian husky lying on the porch raised his head curiously when they approached, and the girl let go of Adam's hand and hurried over to the dog.
"'Chilles!" she said, petting its side and making its tail wag.
Adam slowly walked up the couple porch steps after her, crouching down next to the dog as well. "You mean Achilles?" he wondered as it turned to look up at him with one blue and one brown eye. He recognized the puppy he had gotten Susannah for her birthday a few years before.
"Yeah!" The girl turned and smiled up at him. "Pet him?"
"Sure," Adam muttered, reaching forward and petting the dog right behind his left ear since he knew that was his favorite spot. Achilles closed his eyes with contentment, and Adam smiled slightly. He was definitely the dog he had gotten for his girlfriend, just bigger.
After a little while, the girl stood up and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to do the same. "Mommy's waiting," she told him again.
Adam turned away from Achilles and got to his feet, watching as she opened the back screen door of the house and went inside. Sighing, Adam pulled the door open and stepped into the house's kitchen after her. He looked around, seeing a few wolf figurines and rose decorations on the counters and walls. The interior of the house was even more familiar to him than the backyard.
The girl sat down at the round wooden table, looking up at him. "Sit by me!"
"Uh, okay." Adam gave her a small smile as he sat down in the chair next to her with a sigh. "So, where's Mommy?"
"She said lunch was ready," the girl replied with a smile of her own.
"And it is."
Adam quickly looked up at the voice he knew very well, seeing Susannah had come into the kitchen. She walked over to the table, kissing the little girl's blonde head.
"Thanks for getting your father," she said before kissing Adam's cheek and walking over to the stove.
Father? Adam looked at the girl sitting next to him with shock. She was his daughter.
"Welcome, Mommy." The girl then looked up at Adam. "What's wrong, Daddy?"
"Nothing," Adam finally answered, shaking his head slightly. He was still in disbelief that the child was his own.
Susannah glanced over at him with concern as she took a grilled cheese sandwich out of the frying pan and cut it into two triangles. She then walked back over to the table and set the plate in front of the girl. "Hey," she muttered with a small smile. "If you be really careful, you can go eat in the living room like you did yesterday."
A broad smile appeared on the girl's face. "Thanks, Mommy!" She kissed Susannah's cheek before hopping off the chair, taking her plate and a napkin before hurrying into the living room.
Adam watched as she left the room, Susannah laughing a little as she sat down in the chair the girl had previously been sitting in. "That girl..." he began to wonder quietly.
Susannah looked at him, the smile slowly leaving her face. "Yeah," she said. "You know. Our daughter."
"Yeah, of course," Adam replied, shaking his head slightly. "Of course I know that."
Sighing, Susannah took his hand. He felt something cool, and Adam noticed that she was wearing a silver ring with a small diamond on her left ring finger. Glancing at his hand, he saw a silver band was around his own finger as well. "Adam, are you okay?" she asked. "You're acting... different."
"I'm fine, Susannah," Adam answered, closing his eyes for a moment when the dull pain in his head refused to subside. "I'm just not feeling so well."
Concern appearing on her face again, Susannah reached up with her free hand and placed it on his forehead. "You are feeling a little warm," she muttered before kissing it quickly to double check. "Maybe you're coming down with something. You should rest."
"Maybe," Adam agreed quietly, though he had a feeling it was something different. He had never felt like this before.
Before Susannah could say anything else, they both looked up at the doorway when they heard quiet footsteps, seeing the little girl had come back. "Mommy, can I watch a movie?"
Susannah smiled at her. "Sure, sweetheart," she replied, starting to push herself to her feet. But she stopped when Adam placed his hand on her arm.
"I'll do it," he muttered, standing up first.
"Are you sure?" Susannah looked up at him as she slowly sat back down, worry clear in her hazel eyes.
Adam smiled, kissing her forehead. "I'm sure," he told her. He wanted to get to know his own daughter a little more.
"Well, all right..." Susannah muttered. "Is there anything you want me to make you for lunch?"
"No thank you. I'm not hungry," Adam said, taking her hand in his. He held it for a long moment, his eyes never leaving hers, before almost reluctantly releasing it and following the girl back into the living room. "Okay. What movie do you want to watch?"
"This one!" The girl walked over to the DVD rack and pulled one out from toward the bottom, holding it out to him with excitement.
Adam took it, smiling when he saw it was Muppet Treasure Island. "Good choice," he told her, taking the disc out of its case and putting it in the DVD player.
"Thanks, Daddy!" The girl then took her place back on the floor where her lunch was, taking a bite of her sandwich.
Once it started playing, Adam sat down next to her, leaning back against the couch. He looked down at the girl, now able to clearly see how her facial features were his while her eyes belonged to her mother, both color and shape. She was just perfect, absolutely beautiful.
When the first song of the movie ended, the girl leaned into Adam's side and snuggled up against him. Adam looked down at her, not expecting the action, and he slowly wrapped his arm around her too.
Then, he gasped quietly when the consistent pain that had been in his head since he had gotten there suddenly intensified. Adam closed his eyes tightly and put his hand to his forehead, feeling as though it was on fire. The searing pain then spread down to his back, and a small whimper of pain escaped from him though he tried to hold it back. This wasn't real, he knew that now. This wouldn't happen...
Beside him, his little girl didn't move from her spot curled up against him, seeming not to notice the severe pain he was suddenly in. Adam felt tears form behind his closed eyelids as the pain only got worse, but also when he heard his daughter's quiet voice.
"I love you, Daddy."
"Damn it, that hurts!"
Jay sighed as he lowered the ice pack from Mike's head. "Well, it'll hurt even worse if you keep making it difficult for me to help you," he replied irritably.
Mike grumbled under his breath when Jay put the ice pack back on the side of his head. "Yeah, well, you try hitting your head on a car and see how you feel..."
"I wouldn't be a baby about it."
Despite the situation, Susannah laughed a little as she listened to Jay continue to try to tend to Mike's injury in the bathroom. "Is he always like this?" she wondered, glancing at Anna sitting next to her on the bed. The four of them were in Mike and Anna's hotel room, grateful the couple had woken up. Chris had left a little bit before, saying he needed to go back to his room. Jay had also sent Allie a text about the situation, which she said she would be back as soon as she could with Jillian.
Anna laughed a bit herself. "Yeah, when he's hurt, anyway," she muttered. But then, she groaned quietly as she put her hand to her head. "I really can't blame him, though. I'm still a bit sore too."
Susannah looked at the other girl sadly. "Yeah, I bet," she replied. "What exactly happened to you guys? Something with the gang right?"
"Yeah, I'm assuming. But Mike and I were driving around, trying to find some clue to Adam's location," Anna explained. "And then this dark car blocked our path. Mike was going to turn around, but these guys attacked us. They went after Mike first and knocked him out. That's when I called you, but then one of the guys came after me. He had black hair and this mask or something to hide his face. But he took my phone, and that's the last thing I remember..."
"Well, I'm just glad you guys are okay," Susannah said, wrapping an arm around Anna's shoulders. "I'm sorry that happened. Do you know why they would attack you?"
Anna shrugged slightly. "It's okay, not much harm done," she replied lightly. "As for why they attacked us... I don't know. It seemed to be so random..."
Susannah nodded slightly. She understood everything must have happened so fast it was hard to tell why it happened. But then, another thought crossed her mind. "Why were you calling me in the first place? It wasn't because of the attack, was it?"
"No... It was something else." Anna stared ahead of her intently, her mind racing to try to remember all the details from before she was knocked unconscious. Then, her eyes widened slightly. "Oh, yeah... Mike and I were driving around closer to the canal areas since we didn't really look there when we were out with Jillian. We found this whole line of warehouses, and that was when the car showed up..."
"So... you found the warehouses and then you were attacked?" Susannah repeated, getting it straight in her mind. "There has to be a connection there."
Anna looked at her. "Well, didn't you say a warehouse was mentioned in the notebook of plans you found?" she asked.
Susannah stared back at her for a minute before she pulled the pocket notebook she kept with her out of her sweatshirt pocket. "You're right..." She began to flip through the first couple pages, scanning the writing until she found what she wanted. "There. 'Bring to warehouse.' That's all it says."
"It doesn't matter. If we were attacked because we found them, we were probably close to where Adam is," Anna stated. "I was calling you to tell you that possibility."
The thought was a good one, one she wanted to hold onto, but Susannah didn't dare set all her hopes on it. She couldn't do that to herself or the man she loved. "That may be, but how many were there?" she wondered. "A lot, right?"
Anna sighed as she reluctantly nodded. "Yeah... There were a lot."
"There has to be some way to narrow that down," Susannah muttered as she shut the notebook and put it back in her pocket, tapping her knee. "There are a lot of warehouses..."
"Well, Susannah, there is something."
Susannah and Anna glanced up, watching as Jay came back into the main part of the hotel room with Mike behind him, ice pack at his head. "What do you suggest?" she wondered.
Jay sighed, sitting on Susannah's other side. "I've put this off for as long as I can, but since Mike and Anna seemed to have found at least the proximity Adam is in, I don't think I can anymore," he told her. "We need to watch that video again. See if there's something defining about it that will lead us to the right warehouse."
"I'm not sure if I can do that, Jay..." Susannah began, hesitant to admit it.
But Jay smiled, reaching forward and wrapping his hand around hers tightly. "You don't have to," he assured her. "But hopefully, there will be some clue in that footage of Adam. There has to be now that we know more of what we're looking for. And the fact Mike and Anna were attacked in that area is a good thing."
Mike narrowed his eyes slightly in irritation. "So glad we can be of help," he mumbled.
Anna gave him a warning look before turning back to the other man. "And that's because...?" she began expectantly, waiting for Jay to finish.
Jay glanced at her, a confident look on his face. "It means we're getting close."
Author's Note: Things just keep getting worse for Edge, don't they? You have the man in charge here, but who he is is the question. Edge recognizes him... do you? Keep leaving your guesses! Thanks for reading and please review!
