Ch. 18

Somewhere in a dark place

The girls sat across from each other with the latest round of meatloaf sitting on their laps in the dimly lite basement. Each was quickly eating their food to fill their starving bellies.

"Ti, as good as this meatloaf is, I think I'm getting tired of it. "sighed Lottie.

Tiana looked down at her half-eaten plate and thought the same thing but she was too hungry not to eat. "I know but at least its something."

"I can't wait to go home and eat some of Evangeline's chicken soup." Said Lottie.

A grin quickly grew on Tiana's face. "Mmmm the one with the dumplings. I'll gladly join you for a bowl of that." She said happily.

Lottie drug her fork through the mashed potatoes. "Do you think we are going to get out of here soon?" asked Lottie.

Tiana took a small breath and nodded. "I hope so."

"Ti, what if we don't get out of here?" said Lottie in a quiet shaky voice.

Tiana got up and sat next to her friend. "Don't you talk like that now. We are going to get out of here." She said.

"But, Ti, if we don't, I need to tell you something. I've been keeping a secret." She said.

Tiana looked at her friend and raised her brow. "Charlotte LaBouff have you been keeping a secret from me? Your best friend?" she asked.

Lottie nodded. "Yes, and its been weighing on me. I just can't keep it from you anymore. You're just going to think less of me." She sighed.

Tiana hugged her arm around her friend's shoulders. "Now you know there isn't anything you could do that would make me think less of you." Said Tiana.

Lottie rolled her eyes and let out a short breath. "I've been sleeping with Al."

Tiana sat back and looked at her friend closely. "Al, Jazzy's Al?" she questioned.

Lottie stood and crossed her arms. "See I knew you would judge me and he's not Jazzy's Al anymore. The broke up weeks ago. He's free to be with whoever he wants."

Tiana sat back so she could look at her friend. "I'm not judging you. You can date or be with whoever you want. I'm just surprised. Why? How?" she asked.

"I was at the Frat house one night helping Kronk study for his test. He's sweet on me you know." She said.

Tiana nodded. "Yes, I think we all know that but get to the good stuff.. come on now." She pleaded.

Lottie sat back down next to her. "Well, Naveen came into the house after your break up and he was just wrecked. He was falling down drunk and making a fool of himself. He saw me with Kronk and came over. He started begging me to help him get you back and blah blah.. I just wasn't having it anymore. I put my foot down, Ti! I told him he was to just let you be. Al came in and saw him begging me to help him win you back. He came to my rescue. He got Naveen to calm down and have some coffee." Said Lottie.

Tiana shook her head. "That boy will never learn. It's over between him and me this time. He should know better not to bother you." She said crossing her arms.

Lottie nodded. "I know. That's what I told Al. He didn't have his car with him so he asked if I could give them a ride back to their apartment because he'd been drinking too. I used your car. sorry that's another think I didn't tell you. The guys got Naveen into the back seat. He was passed out by then. While we were on the road Al and I talked about so many things. We have a lot in common. When we got to the apartment, he asked me if I would have coffee with him. At first, I thought it was just friendship he wanted but while we were together, I felt something more. He did too." She said.

"I know how sad you've been since Chad. I can understand it. Al is a really nice guy." Said Tiana.

Lottie nodded. "Thanks for understanding." She said.

"Lottie, you know how jealous Jazzy is though. Are you going to tell her?" She said.

Lottie huffed. "I know, but she broke up with him. Al said she was seeing someone new and dumped him. We didn't mean for it to happen but we just get along so well. He's so funny and handsome. Two of my favorite things." Lottie smiled.

Tiana could see that her friend was fond of him. "I think if you continue to see him you have to tell her. Lottie, you know you can always tell me anything. I'm never going to judge you. We are sisters after all." She said.

Lottie smiled sloppily. "Sisters." she said slurring her words.

Tiana watched as Lottie's eyes started to flutter. "Girl, you ok?" she asked.

"Ti, can you see two of my hands?" asked Lottie.

Tiana started to feel woozy. Suddenly she was seeing two of Lottie. "I don't feel so good." She said.

Lottie leaned heavily against her. "me neither."

She felt herself falling backwards on the cot along with her friend. Her last thought was oh no, not again.

The found the car just where Humbert said it would be. Each of them pulled on gloves to ensure that any fingerprints on the car would not be disturbed. "David, you check the trunk, Killian you check the backseat and I'll check the front seat. "said Emma.

"Wait, did you see that?" asked David pointing to a small piece of paper sticking out from behind the windshield wiper.

Emma lifted the wiper to look at the paper. "Looks like the corner was ripped off of something. Maybe a parking ticket? "she said.

"Maybe. Hey can you pop the trunk?" asked David.

Emma tucked the paper back where it was and carefully opened the driver's side door. She felt around on the lower panel of the car and found the button to pop the trunk. She took out her phone and turned on the flashlight so she could look around on the floor. The car was fairly clean. The mats were vacuumed clean, barely any crumbs. Nothing under the driver's seat. Cup holder had a cup of coffee with the lid on. She got out of the car and went around to the passenger's side. Killian was kneeling down looking in the back. "You see anything" she asked.

Killian popped up. "I found ticket stubs for a movie about two weeks ago and there was this frat jacket wedged into the seat back here. It is embroidered with Street Rat on the chest. You find anything?" he asked.

"Not yet, this doesn't look like the car of a college student. It's very clean. Take pictures of anything you find since we can't take anything with us. Oh, check the pockets on that jacket." She asked.

"Ok, Love." He said.

"David, how about you?" she asked.

"Emma, come take a look at this." He said.

She quickly moved to look in the trunk.

David pointed to the way the items in the trunk were laid out. There wasn't anything extraordinary but he was right, everything was pushed around into a kind of semi-circle. "You think they put the girls in here?" she asked.

"Bingo. That is exactly what I was thinking." He said.

She looked deeper into the trunk." Wait, do you see that?" she asked pointing to the bottom corner of the trunk.

David waved his light into the car and saw a small white crumpled paper. He picked it up and flattened it out. It was missing the corner, just like the one they saw on the window. "It's a note that says, don't look behind you." He said.

Emma looked at the note. She took out her phone and scrolled to the photo of the ransom note. "Look, it's the same handwriting. This must be how they got Tiana. They tricked her into grabbing the note from her car windshield and took her." Said Emma.

Killian stood looking over her shoulder. "I think you're right. "

Emma took a photo of the note, crumpled it back up and tucked it back where they'd found it. She turned to Killian. "Find anything else?" she asked.

"Tiana's bookbag and a bag with donuts were sitting behind her seat. I think she may have been on her way to class in the morning when she was taken. Just a couple of betting slips in the pocket of the jacket." He said.

Emma looked at the bag." Those are bear claws, not donuts. You know from my favorite place near the police station." Said Emma.

"Ah, yes. How could I make such a mistake." He grinned.

She examined the betting slips. "I am guessing these weren't winners but we should check it out." She said.

"I've got pictures of both sides of the tickets." Said Killian.

Emma shook her head and smiled. She went back to the front seat and picked up the coffee cup. It was full. She carefully closed the door and walked around the back. "She didn't drink any of the coffee or eat the bear claws. She must have been taken soon after she got them. Probably after she went to the station to report her friend missing." said Emma.

"We should check out the area near the donut shop." Said Killian.

David looked at his watch. "We better get out of here. Feds are going to be here any minute." He said.

They carefully made sure that everything was left as they found it and closed the car before leaving the impound lot.

"I'm going to head back to the firehouse and check in on the competition. I'll call you if I get any information." Said David.

"Thanks David." Said Emma.

She and Killian got to their undercover car just in time. They slumped down in the car out of sight until the black SUVs moved past them. They certainly didn't want any trouble.

Emma looked over to see her favorite pair of blue eyes peering at her from the other side of the car lovingly. "I'm glad you're with me." She said.

He picked up her hand and pressed a long kiss to the back. "No place I'd rather be." He said.

She thought about the clues and the jacket was one of the guys. "I think we need to go back to the Frat house and find out who Street Rat is and why his jacket was in Tiana's car." She said.

"I agree and perhaps stop for bear claws." He said grinning.