Red and brown are mixed together – both fresh and old blood staining the side of her face and matting the hair near her temple. She's situated on a chair – her hands tied behind her back, her legs bound and her head lolled to the side. The flannel she's wearing has been torn open, showing her bra and bare stomach. His eyes squint as he tries to focus on whether or not she's breathing. And he releases a sigh of relief when he sees her chest rise and fall.

"Erin, can you hear me?" He asks as he tries to get to her – wanting to scoop her up and take her away from here but as the fogginess fades he realizes that, he too, is strapped to the chair beneath him.

"We're going to get out of here babe." The pain in the back of his head starts to throb as he frantically tries to untie the rope binding his hands together behind him.

There's a chilling chuckle that comes from just outside the room as the door slowly creaks open. Jay's jaw clenches as he sees their captor.

"You sure about that Boss?" Kyle grins – coming to stand between Jay and Erin and directly under the dim light in the middle of the room.

"I tried to warn you. I told you that she could be a cop, but you just kicked me to the curb." Kyle says as he saunters over to where Erin is still sitting lifelessly.

"But honestly, now that I've seen her up close and personal. I can see why you're so…what's the word?...Infatuated with her." The knife he has in his hand gets pointed at her collarbone as he leans down and smells her hair. "She smells heavenly and she's hot as hell man, I'll give you that and her body-" He hums approvingly as he runs the blade down between the valley of her breasts and over the plain of her taut stomach – leaving a faint pink scratch in it's wake before coming to a stop at the top of her jeans. Then Kyle sucks in a pleasurable hiss "Her body is nice, looks like she'd be amazing in bed."

Jay attempts to lunge forward at that, continuing to pull at the ropes around his wrists and hearing a faint crack from the chair. "You son of a bitch."

"My new boss said we could have a go at her once we get you out of the way. And I must say it was easier than I thought."

"Easy will be breaking your neck when I get out of this chair." Jay grits as he narrows his eyes at the man he once saw as a friend.

Kyle shakes his head. "Hate to break it to you but you're not getting out of that chair alive Jay. But I was given strict instructions not to kill you until he sees you."

"And who's he?" Jay asks, as he assesses his wife's injuries from afar as Kyle moves towards him.

Kyle just snickers before he leaves the room, closing the door behind him and Jay can hear the distinct clicking of a lock.

He's not sure how long he has until they come back, so as soon as Kyle's footsteps retreat down the hall Jay resumes loosening the rope behind him. And it feels like hours pass but in reality it's only a half hour before he finally feels the rope start to give. His arms continue to grow tired but he refuses to stop.

"I shouldn't have pushed you away again. If I hadn't maybe we wouldn't be here. We'd be at home or at the loft. I wish I hadn't said those things to you or hurt you. I love you and I'm so fucking sorry Erin." His rambling comes to a stop when he sees her start to move and regain consciousness, he halts his actions and puts his full attention on her.

"Erin?" His voice is quiet and calm, the complete opposite of the animosity he feels inside. She looks up at him and his worry grows seeing her right eye. The part around her hazel iris that's usually white is now a crimson red as if every blood vessel within her eye has popped.

She pukes off to the side of her chair and it's then that Jay gets he rope untied. He feels a little dizzy as he stands but he manages to shake it before moving over to Erin.

"Hey." She murmurs meekly as she looks up into his eyes. He cups her cheek and gently turns her head to the side to check on the gash on her forehead.

"I'm sorry." She whispers when his hand falls from her face and he shakes his head to acknowledge her words.

"We're going to get out of here." He tells her sternly.

"How?" She asks as he moves to untie the ropes around her wrists.

His voice is more hushed now that he's managed to calm his breathing and he can tell it takes her a minute to catch on to the plan that he lays out for her.

"I don't know Jay." She shakes her head and closes her eyes trying to push down her fear and fight the urge to puke again. The uncertainty of it all is shaking her to her core and the pain in her head that continues to intensify is making matters worse. She doesn't want to fail – she can't fail him again but she doesn't think that she can execute the plan he's concocted.

"Do you trust me?" His voice just barely breaks her from her thoughts. Her gaze meeting his again as she forces herself to focus. She just nods – not trusting her voice in that moment. Then there's footsteps approaching, clunking as they get closer and closer to the room where Jay and Erin are being held. Jay moves quickly to adjust the rope around her wrist to make it look as though she's still tied up before he rushes back to his own chair across the room, doing the same with his own hands just before the door is swung open – revealing their captors.

XXXXXX

She smiles sadly seeing Nadia sleeping with her head on Vanessa's shoulder. The troubled expression on the young girl's face lets both women know that the stress of Erin and Jay's abduction is staying with her even while she sleeps. It's heartbreaking to see someone so happy and full of life, so down – to see the light vanish from her eyes.

Hailey can tell that Vanessa was about to move over to make room beside her but Hailey shakes her head. "It's ok, I wouldn't want to disturb her." She pats her thigh before taking a seat near the foot of the bed.

"Did you find anything out?" Vanessa asks as she looks up into the bright blue eyes of her wife.

"We can see the men that took them but they're wearing hoods and never face the cameras. But Mouse did get Kyle's civic in the footage though."

"So is that where the guys went?"

Hailey just nods as she sees Nadia stir. The teenager remains asleep as she turns away from them to lay fully on the bed. Vanessa pulls the covers up a little before she moves out of the room with Hailey in tow.

"Do you think he's really dumb enough to take them to his house?" Vanessa continues to question.

"No but going there may help us find where they are or why they took them." Hailey answers dejectedly as she sits on the arm of the couch. Vanessa kneels and balances on the space between her wife and the back of the couch. She wraps her arms around her from behind and kisses her temple. Hailey leans back and that's when the dam breaks, feeling as though she can finally give way to crushing anxiety she's felt since hearing that two of her best friends have been taken. She doesn't have to hold back now that Nadia's asleep and it's just her and her wife.

"We're going to find them babe." Vanessa whispers as she both kisses and wipes away the blondes tears.

She nods even though she's not so sure. Her thoughts become dark as her mind begins to race. What if they don't find them? What if there's more to the case that Erin was working than she thought – things that the police force may have overlooked or underestimated? What if they're already gone forever? The last question sends a chill up and then back down her spine – goosebumps erupting all over her skin. It's the last internal question that terrifies her the most – causing her heart to pound and race to the point where it's close to beating right of her chest. Because she knows that no one in their makeshift family would recover from that. She continues to overthink things until the guys return to the loft with a few new motives and only then can she feel herself calm.