Chapter 21:
Sam POV-
I hadn't been able to explain my anxiety all day, especially because nothing seemed wrong. Grayson and Lizzie were out with Missy, Andy was downstairs playing with one of his friends, Danny had been doing invoices in his office most of the day, and I was hosting dinner at 5:00.
And yet, I couldn't get over the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
When I almost spilled the fruit salad for the third time, Danny finally said something.
"Sam what's wrong?" he wondered.
I shook my head, unable to answer him because I couldn't pinpoint the problem.
"Have you seen Grayson and Lizzie today?" I asked him.
"Didn't they go to the mall with Missy?" he asked then his eyebrows pulled together in concern, "Why? What happened?"
"I don't know if anything happened," I sighed, "I just…can't get over the feeling that something is wrong."
"Have you tried calling them?" he asked.
I nodded, "I called them about two hours ago when I first started getting these feelings and they were fine. They should be home soon."
Half an hour later they still weren't home.
Danny picked up the phone and dialed Grayson's number (of the two, Grayson is definitely the more reliable one to get a hold of despite the fact that Lizzie is on her phone all the time).
Danny paled and put the phone down, dialing again.
"I'll call Lizzie," I told him.
"The number you are trying to reach is disconnected please try again," the computer voice said. I hung up and tried again. And again. And again.
After Danny and I had both tried ten times there was no more denying that something had happened to them.
"Call Tucker. Have him trace their phones," I ordered and Danny immediately picked up the phone to call Tucker.
"Hey Tuck. Yeah, we have a problem. Yeah. Yeah. We don't know. Can you trace their phones? Thanks dude," I heard Danny's side of the conversation.
We waited for Tucker to trace their phones. When I heard Tucker's voice come back over the phone followed by Danny's immediate deflation, I knew he couldn't find them.
"Okay, thanks anyway. We'll let you know. Yeah sure, see you soon," Danny said. Dinner wasn't for another hour, but I knew everyone would be showing up soon in light of this news.
"I'm going to go tell Andy that Tony needs to go home," I announced numbly, "Call your parents and Jazz."
I told Andy that Tony had to go home, and then, of course, I had to drive Tony home (as if I don't have enough to worry about).
But when I got back, Danny's parents, Dani, Jazz and her family, and Tucker's family were assembled in our living room.
"What's going on?" Andy asked.
"Your brother and sister are in trouble," Danny stated simply.
"What's wrong?" he wondered.
"We don't know sweetheart," I told him gently, "Why don't you go play with Ebony and Matt?"
"So Vlad's got them?" Valerie whispered, so she wouldn't worry the younger kids.
"That's what we're guessing," I sighed.
"I thought you trained them for this," Jazz whispered.
"We did," I sighed.
"But they were with Missy," Danny added and I realized that that had been the problem. Vlad had been planning for years. So on the one day they happen to go to the mall outside of town with Missy would have been the best possible time. They would have never fought back if her life was in danger.
"Can you trace her phone?" I asked Tucker.
He shook his head, "Not unless she calls here. The only reason I could trace Grayson and Lizzie's is because we put tracers on them, which would have been helpful if Vlad hadn't destroyed them."
"So that's it. We're stuck until Vlad calls us with a ransom or Missy manages to get a call out to us," I growled in frustration.
"Or until they escape. There is that possibility," Dani added.
"How long has it been since you talked to them?" Tucker wondered.
"Almost three hours now," I replied.
"Danny, what's your top flying speed while toting 300 pounds?" Tucker asked him pulling something out of his backpack.
"I don't know…86 miles per hour, give or take," he guessed.
"So, assuming they left directly from this mall—likely in the parking lot because he would not have wanted to attract attention—then at eighty six miles per hour for four hours that puts them 344 miles away in a circle from here, and until we have a time this circle will continue to expand. Danny how long would you be able to fly carrying that much weight?"
"Five or six hours probably but that's assuming he doesn't take any breaks," Danny said.
"Which he won't because that would be more obvious. Okay, so five hours puts the circle out here, six puts it out here," Tucker drew on the map.
"What's your point Tucker? All this proves is that they could be anywhere," I exclaimed.
"Well, I can tell you where he won't be," Tucker told me.
"Where?" I wondered.
"He wouldn't be in any of these places because these are cities and he wouldn't risk it. He wouldn't be here because this is the middle of the ocean. Which leaves us with a few places he might pick," Tucker drew a giant red circle over Canada where he could have been living without anyone knowing he was there.
"I know it's a lot of space, but it at least gives us a starting point," he said, "and assuming we get a call soon, we'll be able to triangulate their location to thirty square miles."
"Okay," I stood up, "Let's go."