Wow….first off: I am actually surprised no one called me out on "evil Ted" before, having said that, I am not going to stop writing because of it. And quite frankly, and I know this sounds super cocky; but this is my story, and I am going to write it the way I want.
Of course the story has flaws - duh - and I am really thankful for all your feedback cause the story wouldn't be half as good without it (like the AltruCell thing, completely missed that one - oh and, rosemusic20 - I am speeding things up now, hate it when stories drag out suspense for too long, but I had so many great ideas for this piece that I got a little carried away).
Anyways, Genesis & Guest & BeLegendary: Your comments made my day, and not even for the obvious reasons (well not just for the obvious reason) mostly because those comments were so keen. You reassured me that I didn't go overboard with Ted, and that his behavior makes sense if someone has read the whole thing. Really, really appreciated those.
I've mapped out some ideas for the next few chapters, and 40 is going to be a major turning point :) Don't worry, I don't want to make you wait too much longer, I will try to update quickly.
New York: 7 Days after Termination Day
"So, tell us, what else did you find out?" Lily asked after they had gotten into the cab, and James had given the cabby Ted's address.
James started to fill them in on the information he hadn't told them about earlier, leaving the bit about Ted out of it for now.
They arrived at the apartment half an hour later, James being the first one because Marshall had stopped to get the mail on his way.
James knocked on the door, aware that Marshall and Lily usually just walked right in.
"Hey look, Marissa Heller got mail again." Marshall said.
Ted finally opened the door, but his "hey," was cut short when James punched him in the face.
"What in the world!" Lily shrieked while Marshall forgot all about Marissa Heller.
Ted struggled to stay on his feet, holding his now bleeding nose.
"What did you do that for?" Marshall asked.
James walked over to Ted, shoving him down, and onto the couch, "you want to tell them, or should I?"
"I think you broke my nose." Ted replied, starring at the blood on his hands.
Lily went to the bathroom, and got him a washcloth.
"You should be thankful I am not beating you senseless, why did you do that?" James confronted him.
"Do what?" Marshall asked curiously.
"He was the one who told the police that the marriage was fraudulent, he also implied that Barney was hitting Robin." James explained.
"You did what?" Marshall asked.
"You are the witness?" Was Lily's response.
"I know I screwed up, okay? I know! I never meant for the cops to stop searching, or to think that Robin would kill someone." Ted defended himself.
"I can't believe this." Marshall sat down in the chair.
"Why did you do it then?" James asked.
"I just…the cop called to ask me about Barney, and Robin, and I just…everyone is pretending that their relationship was perfect, and that's just not true! Barney did hit her at least once, you all saw the bruises," he turned to Marshall, and Lily.
"That was an accident, you know that." Lily countered.
"No, I don't know that! I don't know what's true, and what's fake anymore! And neither do you."
"You know what your stupid accusations caused?" James asked.
"Yes, I do know, and I am sorry. If I could turn back time I would. But I was fed up with everyone pretending that Barney is just another victim. We all know that's not what happened, they are missing because of him, solely because of him."
"They were searching, past tense. Now they have a warrant out for Robin's arrest. Seriously Ted, why didn't you at least tell us what had happened? You let us believe that some random person gave all this information to the cops, when it was you all along." James asked.
"I know, I am sorry!" Ted reassured him.
New York: 7 Days after Termination Day
James had left the apartment shortly afterwards, leaving Marshall, and Lily to take Ted to the hospital to get his nose looked at.
He was still angry with Ted, but yelling at him wouldn't solve anything. Instead he had made an appointment with Bilson, Barney's boss. The receptionist let him go up right away, and Bilson greeted him the second he stepped off the elevator.
"I am sorry, but I was expecting someone else entirely." Bilson didn't even try to hide his surprise.
"We are half-brothers." James explained, while following Bilson into his office.
"I've heard you were searching for Barney in Vancouver?" Bilson asked.
"Yes, I didn't find them though."
Bilson nodded, "such a shame. He was one of our best players, him disappearing like that is extremely unfortunate for the company."
"You talked to him the night they disappeared." It wasn't a question, but rather a statement.
Bilson nodded, "Barney was supposed to testify in a large court case the following day, we went over his testimony."
"I am sure someone didn't want him to testify, right?"
Bilson laughed, "that's the case in all court cases, isn't it? But if you think someone would fly all the way to Vancouver, just to keep him from testifying then I have to disappoint you, there would have been much easier ways to do that."
James nodded, Bilson had a point.
"I just feel sorry for his wife, Barney is used to being manhandled, and he was kidnapped before, so he can handle this. But his girl? I am sure they won't go easy on her, she's young, attractive… which guy wouldn't want to have his fun with her?"
"You've met Robin?" James asked, mostly so he wouldn't think to hard about what Bilson had just said.
"Yes, she came in with him the day they left for Vancouver. Nice girl, hard to believe that someone like her would fall for someone like Barney."
"What do you mean?"
Bilson laughed, "you know exactly what I mean. Now if you would excuse me, I have an important meeting."
James hadn't expected to get much out of this conversation, but now he felt like it was even less than he had hoped for.
"I really hope we will find your brother." Bilson said as he shook James' hand.
James had a feeling that that was a lie, but he simply nodded, and walked away.
New York: 10 Days after Termination Day
The case of the beloved TV reporter who went missing became a media favorite. With one especially large feature in the newspaper a couple of days later.
Marshall, and Lily both hovered over the paper, trying to read simultaneously.
Missing NYN Host – Is she dead?
More and more details are surfacing surrounding the missing person cases of Robin Stinson, and her husband Barney. The liked TV reporter, and host of NYN went missing in Vancouver, and the case is getting more bizarre by the day.
The pair had been involved in a fatal shooting at a local bar earlier this month, with Robin being the one who pulled the trigger, killing the intruder. Witnesses we talked to state that the intruder, a Belizean citizen, was after Barney Stinson, threating to kill him. A tense hostage situation developed, in which Barney Stinson was wounded. Could the shooting have something to do with their disappearance? The spokesperson for the Vancouver police guaranteed that they were looking in every direction, but that no connection to the shooting could be made.
Sandy Rivers also spoke out about the case, saying that he'd "used to have an affair (with Robin), and it's a shame she's missing."
"Robin slept with Sandy?" Lily asked surprised.
"She wouldn't do that, right?" Marshall replied.
"Gosh I hope not."
New York: 14 Days after Termination Day
Being back home was somewhat surreal for James. He had been excited to see Eli, and Tom again, but holding his son became bitter sweet.
It reminded him how important family was, and somehow made everything seem too real. It had been two weeks, there were no new leads, and chances were that Barney wouldn't come home.
That Eli would never get to know his uncle, that Barney would never get to see him wear the suit he had gotten him for Christmas.
That Barney, and Robin would never have a family of their own.
That thought depressed James more than anything else. And it was one reason why he waited an entire week before unpacking the suitcase with Robin's and Barney's things he had brought back.
"What are you going to do with their stuff?" Tom asked when he noticed what James was doing.
"I'll just leave it here for now." James carefully folded one of Robin's sweaters.
"Was there anything dirty?" Tom asked, clearly trying to lighten up the mood.
"Nope…I mean some of Robin's lingerie isn't exactly innocent, but no sex tapes etc." James pulled out the stack of books he had found on Robin's bedside table.
They were all guides to New York's neighborhoods.
"Really, nothing? That's boring." Tom said.
"Oh, you know what, there should be something amusing in here." James started digging through the papers he had found in their hotel room. Most of them were invoices, and magazines.
He couldn't find what he was looking for, and ended up dumbing the entire suitcase out onto the floor.
"What are you doing?" Tom asked.
"It's not here." James realized, after going through everything again.
"What isn't?"
"The magazines, Robin let him have old magazines from her time as a Canadian pop star, but they aren't here."
"Maybe you didn't pack them, or the cleaning staff tossed them out." Tom suggested.
James starred at the pile of clothes, and stuff in front of him, wondering what else was missing that they hadn't noticed.
New York: 1 Month after Termination Day
The article was printed on a Tuesday, and this time it was Ted who noticed it first.
There had been many articles published over the past months, many were accompanied by pictures of the pair, and interviews with acquaintances, but this one was different.
It was written by a freelancer, and entitled:
10 Reasons why NYN Reporter Robin Stinson and Husband are Dead
And while it also went into a quick description of their disappearance, the articles main focus was on Barney, and his dark past.
The article emphasized that Barney had a very shady side to him, and that both of their deaths was most likely a result of that.
"Did you have anything to do with this?" Marshall asked, they were sitting in their usual booth at McLarens.
Nights like these had become the new norm, they would sit together, reminiscing about old times, or discussing a new idea of what could have happened to their friends.
"Of course not." Ted replied.
"Ted wouldn't have known half the stuff in here, right? I mean yeah, we always wondered where all that money came from, and Barney's fondness to prostitutes and strippers isn't exactly a secret either, but the thing about the drugs? And I can't believe they are linking him to human trafficking too."
"If I'd even suspected anything like this, I'd made sure that Robin would have left Barney." Ted whispered.
Marshall, and Lily had gotten used to this. Ted was convinced that Robin disappearing was Barney's fault.
"I wonder where they got all this information." Marshall said.
"Probably one of the girls, wouldn't you think so?" Lily asked.
Marshall shrugged.
"Do you think Robin would still be on his side after reading this?" Ted wondered, putting the article down.
Lily glanced at one of the explicit pictures; it showed Barney at a poker game. There were drugs on the table, and naked girls in the back.
"Well… he did see this coming, right? He asked her in the letter not to let any of this alter her judgment." Lily pointed out.
"Yes, but still."
"I don't think it would have been a deal breaker, I mean who is to say that Robin doesn't already know all this? He might have already confessed everything to her, who knows. And even if not, she was always having his back, I doubt she would let some article change that." Marshall said while motioning Wendy to get them another round of drinks.
Lily watched Ted stare at his beer, the last month had been difficult for all of them. Their job performance had suffered, they were constantly on edge, and got into spats.
They hadn't completely lost hope yet, but they all knew that the chances of finding them alive were slim.
Especially after reading the article, and finding out more about Barney's job, and the illegal schemes he was involved in.