There was a terrified cry that sounded down the phone before it was cut dead and Liam threw the phone out in front of him before letting out a frustrated cry himself. He sank to the floor in his bedroom with his back against the door as all sorts of horrendous situations and thoughts swam through his mind. He hoped that he could find Carla but with no idea as to where she was he knew it was going to be harder than he liked to admit. He turned after picking up his jacket only seconds later and opened the door heavily, turning to leave and go down the stairs and then to Carla's flat to try and find something that might give him a clue as to where she was. However, when he got downstairs he frowned when there was a knock at the front door. Liam made his way down the hall and opened the door to find a young man standing opposite him. He had wiry brown hair and he was fairly well built, a couple of inches shorter than Liam. Immediately Liam didn't like him although he was unsure why, he rubbed his lips together and tried to keep his voice as even as possible given everything that had gone on that day. "Hello?"
The man smiled, though Liam could tell it was forced. "Hi, Liam Connor right?"
Liam paused for a moment before nodding, suddenly starting to feel uneasy about the situation. He knew that there was something amiss but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. "Yes . . ."
"I'm Carla's cousin . . ."
Liam knew that he was lying and he wanted to beat the truth from him, but he waited, wondering if he could get some more information if he played along with what the man in front of him was saying. "Oh, Lucas isn't it?"
Danny bit back a small smile at the way things were going. He hadn't known much about Carla but that her brother was in prison and her mother was no longer around. He was new to working for Frank and he knew that if he could pull this off it would get him some major brownie points with his boss. "Yeah, that's me. She's asked me to come and pick Dempsey up from here and take her home." He stepped up to enter the house, but Liam's hand slammed against the wall to the side of him, his arm now blocking Danny's entry.
As Liam spoke the anger was coming off him in waves and Danny quickly understood just how big of a mistake he'd made in trying to take on the other man. Liam grabbed hold of either side of his jacket and slammed him against the wall before speaking. "Well, that's funny that, as I've just had her on the phone and the story she told me is much different to the one you've just told me. Now, I don't think that you need me to tell you whose word I'm taking as the truth, do you?"
"Get off me you nutter," Danny shouted, though Liam only held him tighter.
"Where is she?" he growled, his teeth gritted in anger and his knuckles turned white due to the strength of his grip on the other man.
Danny smirked "as if I'm going to tell you . . ."
Liam raised his fist as he held Danny with his other hand and delivered a powerful blow that knocked the shorter man to the floor. Liam couldn't control his anger any longer and tried to take out some of the frustration he felt on the other man. He hit Danny numerous times before he was pulled backwards. Liam struggled against the grip and on turning around he found Tom standing behind him, utterly shocked. "Liam, what are you doing, who is that?"
Liam turned around to find Danny stumbling forwards and running from the grounds of his house, he silently wondered how he had gotten into the place to start with and knew he would need to have a word with the people who he employed as security. He took a step forward to go after Danny, desperate to find out where Carla was and get her back as soon as possible. However, he was stopped in his tracks by the firm grip of his cousin on his upper arm. "Let go of me, Tom." he stated, attempting to shrug it off, though Tom wouldn't allow it.
"What are you playing at Liam?" he snapped, shaking his head a little as Liam turned around once more to find Danny leaving the gates of the house.
"You have no idea what you have just done have you, no idea at all." Liam shouted before shoving Tom roughly so he had to take a step back and by doing so. Let go of his arm. He then turned round and left the house, leaving Tom stood on the front shouting after Liam asking him where he was going.
Liam didn't answer as he walked off down the street, leaving his cousin both worried about him and baffled as to what he was doing. He wasn't sure where he was going to go but at that moment in time he needed to get out, he needed to get out and at least feel like he was doing something, anything, to try to get Carla out of the hands of the man that had already caused her so much pain.
Carla's insides contracted with pain, her knees were pulled up to her chest and the bed cover was draped over her frame loosely. Frank had left the room a couple of hours ago and Carla had forced herself to bathe. She knew that she couldn't lie in the clothes that it had happened in and as much as she struggled to get around, it was something that she needed to do. Her hair was still damp but she hadn't the energy or the tools to dry it. Her hand was rested gently against her stomach as she wept softly into the pillow; her sobs were lodged in the back of her throat though she was fighting with herself not to let them out. She wasn't sure whether Frank was still in or not and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction if he was. Out of the window opposite the bed she could tell it was getting dark and she silently wondered what time it was. She felt like she had been there days but knew that in reality it was only hours. Carla was worried sick about Dempsey and whether Frank would get her, but she knew all she could do was hope that Liam had received her call before Frank had done anything so that he would know what he was planning.
The door handle clicked as someone put the keys into it and Carla swallowed hard. She knew that it would be Frank and it made her shake, she quickly wiped the back of her hand over her cheeks as she waited for the door to open and it was only seconds before it did. She bit down on the inside of her lip so hard that she could taste blood, she didn't want to cry in front of him but she was sure it would be easier said than done. She waited for him to make the first move and her stomach churned when he made his way closer to the bed she was laid on. In his hands he carried a bowl of soup, which was doing anything but helping how nauseous she was already feeling.
"Vegetable soup, I know you like it. Don't want to be giving you any excuses not to eat, do I?" he smirked and placed it onto the small table by the bed.
"I'm not hungry," Carla mumbled.
Frank shook his head and scoffed, "I wasn't asking if you were hungry Carla, I am telling you to eat this."
"No." She snapped and was pleased that her voice had seemed to hold much more strength than she felt.
Frank grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly into a sitting position on the bed. At the sudden movement pains shot through her lower stomach and it used what little strength she had left not to cry out. "I said, eat it." He tried to keep his voice even but Carla could tell by the way it shook slightly he was seconds away from losing his temper, again. Frank picked up the bowl and placed it into Carla's lap. She had little choice but to take it and as he stood to the side of her expectantly waiting for her to take a spoonful, Carla threw the bowl across the room over to the other side. Frank's hands clenched and he reached forward to grab her, causing her to flinch and brace herself. But, before any blow came, Rik's voice sounded from the other side of the door.
"Boss . . ."
"What?"
"I need a word."
"Can't it wait?"
"Not really . . ."
Frank didn't answer Rik again but he did turn to Carla and spoke through gritted teeth. "You better have that mess cleaned up by the time I get back in here."
Carla didn't answer at what he had said; she had no intention of clearing the mess up though she knew better than to say that to him. She guessed he would find out soon enough anyway. After speaking, Frank stepped over the spilt soup and walked out of the door. He closed the door shut and Carla felt a flicker of hope when it clicked closed. However, the hope disappeared as quickly as it came when he twisted the handle to lock it. Carla's tears started once more and she nuzzled into the pillow, wondering if they would ever stop.
When Frank exited the room and locked the door he walked past the two men, leaving them to follow. Rik knew that Frank was going to go mad when they told he that what he had asked them to do hadn't happened. On arriving in the living room he closed the door heavy handily before turning to Rik and Danny. When he turned around he spoke, his tone even sharper than normal, still furious after what had happened with Carla only moments previously. "What's going on, why did you need to speak to me and why are you battered and bruised?" he questioned, aiming the last part of his sentence at Danny.
"I . . .urr . . ." Danny stuttered, but was interrupted by Rik. His first main job for Frank had gone even worse than he had imagined it might and he felt terrible about it. Not for what he had done or for what he had planned to do, but for not doing enough to impress the man standing opposite him.
"He messed it up," Rik informed Frank. "Connor had been warned and so he knew what he was up to when he got there."
"He caught me off guard," Danny mumbled, answering the question about the bruise on his cheek and his split lip before Frank had the chance to ask it.
"Get out." Frank snapped and Danny walked out with his head down, Rik had been about to speak when Frank did once more. "You as well and you better think of something between the pair of you to make sure that job gets done, and you can forget getting paid for it." He shouted after them, before slumping into one of the chairs with a large glass of Whiskey.
When Liam had left his house he had made his way to the flat that Carla had been staying, the flat that he had given her, the flat that she had thought she would be safe in. As he stepped inside he felt a surge of emotions rush to the surface and he hit the marble of the kitchen counter hard with his hand. What was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to find her? He closed the front door before making his way through into the bathroom where the door was damaged. On getting inside he found Carla's phone smashed into numerous pieces and it made him sick. However, he tried to convince himself that Carla had just dropped the phone, though deep down he knew that this wasn't the case. On getting into Carla's room he went through her things and he couldn't find anything until he got to the drawer in which she kept some of her nightwear. There was the corner of a piece of paper sticking out from underneath a silk nightdress and he picked it up. Scrawled onto the paper was the address of the house where Carla had lived with Frank before she'd met Liam and he knew just from the state of the writing she'd done it in a hurry. Carla had told Liam on the phone that she wasn't in the house she had previously lived in but given that was the only lead that he had, he guessed he would have to start there whether he liked it or not.
Liam put the crumpled piece of paper into the back pocket of his jeans before continuing through the flat. He couldn't find anything else that gave him any sort of idea as to where Carla was and he knew that some of her clothes were missing. He couldn't even comprehend how devastated that he would be if he lost her and as soon as the thought made it's way into his mind he tried to push it away as quickly as possible. Liam made his way back out into the living area of the flat and he bit down on the inside of his mouth as all of the emotions that he had struggled with since finding out that Frank had taken Carla came bubbling to the surface and a sob rolled from his lips. He kicked the door and turned before sinking to the floor with his back against it. He out his forehead to his knees as he pulled them up and cried. He cried for her, what she might be going through, for how he felt about the thought of losing her and her daughter.
Where are you, baby? He thought, and in that moment silently vowed to do whatever it took to get her back.