I'll Be The One

Chapter 47:

=Hunter's POV=
[Sunday, 4/28/2019-6:00 pm]
[Archipelago; Arc Isle]
[Archi Park]

I dragged my feet along the path of the park leading to the entrance of the Odin's Dragon's hideout. I never meant to flip out on Tallon or my friends earlier, but they got caught in the crossfire of me yelling at my dad and uncle to back off. Tomorrow was the one-year anniversary of my mother passing away, and the last few days have been a bit miserable for me. I realized when Tallon and I were making out and he noticed I didn't seem all that into it; I admitted that I just wasn't in the mood. Tallon understood of course, and we just watched the movie. That happened on Tuesday, the 23rd. That was also the day Arianna was released from the hospital; she's doing great in her recovery from the transplant, as am I. I still have two weeks to go before I'm considered fully healed. Tallon and I have been together two months now; we have been exploring the foreplay side of our relationship.

Tallon enjoyed the hand and blow job from the 15th, but on the 19th we tried fingering and he liked that as well. On the 21rd; I gave him a rim job, and he admitted that while it felt kind'a nice; he didn't like the idea of mouth to ass, so we said we wouldn't do that anymore. But obviously the next time we hung out on the 23rd; I just wasn't into messing around or do anything. It's been like that the past five days. I've been mainly spending time on my school assignments and working my job. I spent time with Tallon and friends too, but I think they were all picking up on my miserable, lack of energy, and drive to do things state. But back to the issue at hand; Dad and Greg were on my case about spending Monday, the 29th together. We'd go to the cemetery, look at some pictures, grab lunch or whatever. However, I just kind of wanted to be alone for a bit.

My dad and Greg pushed, so I got mad. It made things worse later when they showed up to my apartment and tried to talk to me there. I finally snapped and told them to leave me alone and let me cope with things my way and at my pace. I ended up yelling at everyone in the room to fuck off and leave me be after Tallon tried to calm me down. I shrugged his hands off me and just flipped out when they hadn't deserved it. I knew they were only trying to make sure I was okay and help me relax a bit. I had gone to my room, and then slipped through the window after deciding to take a walk and calm down. That's what I was doing now, walking to the hideout to apologize to Tallon and my friends. I knew they were there because Tallon sent me a text to let me know that they had some work to get done and would be there if I wanted to get away from the apartment for a bit.

Tallon also added in that my dad and uncle had left when they did around 1 pm. I skipped lunch, and would probably eat once I got back to the apartment. I wasn't doing anything until I said I was sorry to these guys first, though. I shouldn't have snapped on them just because my dad and Godfather were riding my ass like they always do when it comes to mourning and what not. I planned to spend time with them tomorrow, but today I just wanted to be by myself for a bit, and they kept pushing, so I got mad. Either way, I'm heading for the hideout now. I grabbed my phone to text Tallon and let him know I was coming to the hideout and would be there in ten minutes.

I heard noise behind me and stopped my text to look around. It was dark, and the park was basically empty. Something didn't feel right suddenly; I know I'm not alone. I went to look back at my phone and finish the message, but I was grabbed from behind. I felt arms wrap around me, keeping my arms at my sides. I struggled instantly as someone socked me in the stomach. I grunted and kicked the person back away from me. I elbowed the person behind me in the side and broke free; I panted as I went to grab my phone. Something struck me hard in the back of the head as I hit the ground and things started to get blurry.

"Little shit…" someone said.

"We were warned he wouldn't be easy," another informed.

"Let's just get him and go. The boss is waiting," huffed a third voice. My phone was still in my hand as I laid there, beginning to lose consciousness. I discreetly moved my finger to the lock button on the side of my phone and pressed it five times fast. The countdown to alert emergency services started as I flipped the phone over to hide the screen from my assailants. The phone was kicked from my hand as I was grabbed and brought up. A cloth went over my mouth as darkness took over.

. . .

=Normal POV=
[7:00 pm]
[Dreki Apartments; A1]

The friends decided to give work a break for the night and heading back to Flynn and Hunter's place; they wanted to check on Hunter too. "I'll see if he's okay," Tallon offered, going over to Hunter's door. Knocking a few times, Tallon leaned close to listen. "Baby?" he called. Nothing. "Babe? Come on, it's alright," he tried. "Please answer me? If you want to be left alone; we will, but say so. You've been in there for hours now," Tallon stated. Sighing at his boyfriend's stubbornness; Tallon reached for his keys and found the one to Hunter's room; he unlocked the door and walked in. "Sorry to burst in, babe, but-," Tallon stopped short seeing that Hunter wasn't in the room. Tallon checked around, but saw no one. Tallon moved to the closet, and bathroom, but Hunter wasn't in there.

"Something up, Tal?" Drew asked.

"Yeah…" Tallon came back out, looking a bit concerned. "Hunter isn't in his room,"

"Maybe…He went for a walk?" Madison offered. Tallon tried to call Hunter, but no answer.

"He's not picking up; it rings six times and goes to voicemail," Tallon informed.

"Well, let's not freak out; it's not the first time Hunter has disappeared because he was upset and wanted to be alone," Avery reminded. There was a knock on the door as Flynn went over to answer it; he checked the camera first.

"It's your dad," Flynn said.

"What?" Tallon asked.

"Your dad is at the door," Flynn repeated. Tallon went over quickly, opening it.

"Dad?" Tallon questioned.

"Where is Hunter?" Dustin inquired.

"He's…Not here. Why, what's wrong?" Tallon pushed; he felt like something wasn't right. Dustin pulled out a phone and held it up.

"This is Hunter's phone. It was found in the park near your hideout entrance after dispatch sent officers to its location," Dustin explained.

"What do you mean? Why would dispatch send officers to Hunter?" Seth said.

"They responded to a call that was placed by Hunter's phone," Dustin stated calmly. "When officers arrived, there was no one around, but they found the phone. The screen was asking if another call to emergency services should be placed. So a better question…Is why was Hunter in the park and calling 911, but he wasn't where his phone was?" his eyes met Tallon's. "The call came through at 6:05 pm, and officers arrived at 6:15. The phone was located by it's location signal at 6:20 and officers reported back to me. I ran the number and found that it was Hunter's,"

"H-He isn't here, Dad. Hunter got mad earlier at Sal and Greg; he yelled at everyone to leave him alone and locked himself in his room. We just got back from the hideout, and I opened Hunter's door with the key but he isn't in there…We…Left the hideout at 6:45…We never saw Hunter, or his phone," Tallon revealed. "When we left at 1 pm; his guards were posted outside the building…"

"They are still here," Trevor pointed out.

"Hunter must have slipped them…" Harper said quickly. "He does that when he doesn't want to be bothered,"

"Regardless…The only way to use the emergency services feature is to press the lock button five times fast, and then a five second countdown will start and a call will automatically be placed to the police. My dispatcher said that no one answered when she picked up the call," Dustin remarked. "Why would Hunter go to your hideout entrance?"

"He…Knows about Odin's Dragons, and that we are them…He knows it's undercover, and comes to hangout sometimes…He's…Helped us make a couple busts," Tallon admitted. He knew how much trouble he could be in, but something had happened and this wasn't the time to keep secrets. Dustin faced the officer beside him.

"Contact the president," Dustin ordered. "Tell him we have a situation involving his son who is currently nowhere to be found,"

"Yes, Director," the officer replied.

"Can't we ask the other agents first?" Trevor inquired.

"What good will it do? If Hunter slipped them, then they have as little an idea as we do about the matter," Dustin stated. "As it stands right now…Hunter is missing,"

"Isn't there a twenty-four-hour wait before reporting this?" Drew stood up.

"Not when it's the president's child. There is too much evidence to suggest that this is an emergency and we need to act quickly. Hunter is a constant target to anyone who dislikes the president, and now you tell me he's been involved with the undercover gang operation, which could have also led to this happening," Dustin told Tallon. "Hunter placed a call to police, and while the phone was found; he was not. Until proven otherwise; he is missing," Tallon felt the nervousness get worse.

"Dad…I swear that Hunter was only helping with the computer stuff. There was one bust he was part of, and we didn't ask him to be; he saved our lives from an ambush in the park. All he saw was his friends in trouble, and wanted to help. It was the Dragon Hunters; Hunter made that call about gang activity…He told us to run and let the others get caught. But we didn't ask that of him; he saw trouble and acted…" Tallon said instantly.

"It doesn't matter, Tallon. The situation at hand is that Hunter is missing and we don't know anything more. Hunter never should have been involved with Odin's Dragons," Dustin said firmly.

"We didn't tell him…" Seth started.

"He found us by tracking Flynn's cell phone signal with his computer, and then located a map of the underground tunnels once finding out they were there due to seeing an interface of the mainland…" Elijah informed.

"Still…He was involved and enemies of your operation could have found that out and will now use him against the gang. Or they know he's the president's son, and this could get a whole lot worse…" Dustin mentioned.

"This is all my fault…" Tallon held his head low.

Dustin put a hand on Tallon's shoulder. "It's mine. I'm the one who suggested to the president to place you and your friends on Hunter as undercover guards. I should have removed you from the Odin's Dragon's operation upon entering Hunter's life…I take responsibility for this, but you should have told me right away when Hunter learned about it," he said. "We'll find him, Tallon. I promise,"

"We want to help…" Trevor stated.

"All available hands will be part of this, don't worry," Dustin assured.

"Sir," the officer approached him. "The president demands we start the search right away and use the Archian House as the base of operations. He wants updates on everything as they become available,"

"Very well then," Dustin said. "Let's move," he told Tallon and his friends. Unable to argue and worrying for Hunter; they grabbed whatever they needed and left to get to the Archian House.

. . .

[Monday, 4/29/2019-4:30 pm]
[The Archian House]

An hour and a half short or twenty-four hours of Hunter missing, and everyone was worried. No one more than Salvatore Haddock. The search base of operations was the Archian House and efforts were being made around the clock to locate Hunter. Dustin explained everything to Salvatore and Gregory, leaving out that Hunter was involved with the Odin's Dragons operation, but mentioning that perhaps enemy gangs of the operation may have tied Tallon and his friends to Hunter being part of them because they were all friends. Salvatore wasn't happy about it, but understood that it was possible. Salvatore had a few people inform the university that Hunter was missing, and his teachers all hoped for a safe return and not to worry because this was more than a valid reason to miss classes. They were positive Hunter would make up the work once he was brought home and settled. Hunter's job was also informed.

"Salvatore, sit down and let the police do their work; you won't help any by getting in their way," Gregory demanded his friend.

"He is my only son, Gregory…" Salvatore reminded.

"And I know that, but it won't help find Hunter faster if you keep interfering," Gregory said firmly. "All available hands are putting in their best effort to locate Hunter," he added. The facts of yesterday and time frames were all gone over with a fine-tooth comb. Dustin was heading everything, but the Intelligence Agency, and Bureau of Investigation were helping as well. Tips were flying in, and all checked out, but none of which could be confirmed.

"We're doing everything we can, Mr. President," Dustin assured. "We'll bring him home,"

"Director!" an officer called. "This was just delivered by the postman," she said, holding up a brown box.

"We've screened it; no bomb or immediate threat," added someone else.

"There's no address," Avery said first.

"The mailman said it was left on his truck seat, instructions were to bring it to the Archian House," the officer claimed. Tallon took the box and opened it up with his knife. Tallon pulled out whatever was inside and inspected it.

"It's…A tablet," Tallon confirmed. "With a note on the back saying; turn me on," Tallon tossed the box aside and pressed the button on the side, holding it until the device powered on. "I don't see anything special about it, all the basic applications," he reported. Tallon inspected further, tapping through a few things to see if anything was out of the ordinary. Reaching the internet application; he pressed it as the last page it had been on refreshed and loaded. As soon as it did; Tallon's eyes widened. "Hunter!"

"What?" Salvatore lifted his head.

"It's a live stream," Trevor informed, looking at what Tallon was. "Showing Hunter," he stated.

"Let's get it on the main screen," Dustin ordered. It took a bit of work, but they got it up and running. It showed a semi-dark room with Hunter sitting in a wooden chair with his legs and arms tied to it; his head was down.

"Son…" Salvatore whispered in fear.

"Find the signal," Tallon demanded.

"Tallon; I am leading this…" Dustin reminded.

"Then don't waste time, Dad!" Tallon panicked.

"Easy, son…Easy…" Dustin told him.

"The signal is bouncing around to places all over the mainland, the other islands too," an officer informed. On the stream; everyone could see Hunter just sitting there; he wasn't moving. Masked figures approached Hunter as he lifted his head and looked around, annoyed and angry.

"Say hi, Hunter. Your search party is watching," came a voice. Hunter didn't say anything. "I gave you an order," the voice said again. With the snap of a finger when Hunter still didn't answer; he was backhanded.

"Hunter!" Salvatore called.

"He can't hear us," Gregory told Salvatore.

"Are you going to be a good boy and do as you're told now?" the voice asked. Hunter stayed silent. "Still won't talk, huh? Maybe another beating will teach you?" the figure leaned closer to Hunter. A second later, Hunter smashed his head into the person in front of him.

"Atta boy…" Gregory smiled.

Hunter glared hard. "I don't waste my breath on those who don't matter, so you can shut the fuck up," Hunter finally said.

"Still got some fight in you I see," the voice chuckled.

"Damn right I do," Hunter remarked.

"I'm sure we can remedy that fighting spirit," the voice informed; then there was a snap of the fingers before two people came forward and started beating the hell out of him. "This is fun, yes?" the voice asked. Nobody could do anything; it was hard to watch. After fifteen minutes, Hunter was thrown against the wall hard; he coughed a few times and tried to get up. "Why must you fight, Hunter? Things could go a lot smoother if you just listen," the man stated. One of the people lifted him by his collar and held him up.

"F-Fuck…You…" Hunter spat out. The man sighed and nodded as the person holding Hunter up punched him hard in the stomach as he cringed and passed out.

"That should have him out for a bit," the man ordered. "For those of you watching, stay tuned in. We'll be back later," Hunter just stayed beaten and unconscious on the floor before the stream stopped.

"We have nothing to go on with this…Other than perhaps he's being kept in some kind of cement cellar," Tallon growled almost.

"We'll find him, Tallon," Trevor said.

"I know that! But we don't have him now, and he's being hurt! They aren't just holding him captive; they're taunting us with being able to see him and watch him get hurt!" Tallon yelled.

"Tallon, son; in the same regard that Gregory told Salvatore, you're no help to this case if you can't calm down. And if you can't; I will remove you from it. Now can you settle down and work this or not?" Dustin stared.

Tallon hated it, but he didn't want to sit on the sidelines for this. "I'm…Fine…" Tallon replied.

"Good. Now, let's get back to work. Keep looking for signals, check all calls, and watch the stream for when it goes live again," Dustin commanded.

"Yes, Director," the officers replied.

"Tallon," Dustin said.

"Why don't you head outside for some air. I know this is hard for you, and you're worried. But you need a clear head to help us find and bring Hunter home. When you come back in, be ready to use your energy to work," Dustin stated.

"Yes, father," Tallon closed his eyes and headed outside. Once leaning on the balcony, Tallon bowed his head and let a few tears fall; he couldn't believe this. Hunter was right outside the hangout while they were there, and had gotten kidnapped just moments before they exited to go check on him, assuming he was at the apartment. Same with the bodyguards; they thought he was at home too. Hunter was out on his own, and now he was taken, being tied up, and beaten. Tallon knew his father was right; he needed to get his head together to put everything he had into finding Hunter and bringing him home where he belonged.