Info on earlier chapters.
Doug heard the crack of a gunshot and craned his head until his ear was against the side of the truck. Tom's scream of pain brought sheen of sweat to his brow more so than the hot cramped quarters. His heart nearly stopped when that scream was cut short by a thud.
"Tom? TOM!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, tears coming to his eyes in anger and fear when there was no answer. The car shifted weight as other people got in, and a rotten odor filled the space as the car was started. Penhall could only pray Tom was still alive and had somehow gotten left behind, away from whatever fate awaited him.
Tom's first sense as he regained consciousness was of something digging into his back. Damn, but he had gone to sleep in his clothes again was the first thought to cross his mind. But wait, no... "Ahhhh!" he screamed out loud as fire lanced through his shoulder in an arc of agony. The present came rushing back in a torrent and he found himself lying in the backseat of the old Buick bound and gagged, his back digging painfully into the seatbelt. Sweat broke out on his brow, and he fingered his bonds, checking how tightly they were tied. He could barely move his fingers as all the circulation in his hand was cut off. He would not be escaping himself.
"Well Hanson," a blurry face made itself known to him in the front seat. Tom grunted against another wave of pain and stared at his kidnapper with defiance and raw pain in his eyes. "Glad you finally to join us."
Tom closed his eyes as a pothole jolted his shoulder and he sank back into darkness.
Harry Truman Ioki was about to cuff his partner upside the head. Judy was positive that the kid they were tailing was not involved with the exploitation of young girls at Westside High in pornography videos. She believed they were following an innocent teenager, with the clues staring them blatantly in the face. It didn't bother him that she disagreed, they had been assigned to follow the girl, and he knew Hoffs always did her job. What was about to drive him absolutely nuts was the fact that she would not shut up about it.
"JUDY!" he finally exclaimed. "The evidence is all right there. She is leading these other girls to the source, and getting them involved with this stuff. Hey, I agree, she may be a victim herself, and got drawn in, but she's the best lead we've got. Give it a rest, huh?"
She looked on him with big eyes, and then settled her self back in her seat with a sigh. Harry rolled his eyes and kept tailing the blue convertible in front of him from a safe distance.
Hoffs started tugging on his sleeve silently, and he turned around with tired eyes.
"Judy, come on..." Ioki trailed off when he saw the suburban barreling toward them from the side. He slammed on the breaks and Judy let loose the scream that had been surfacing for the last few seconds. The car fishtailed and came to a rest with the help of a large dumpster. Stars exploded in front of Harry's vision when his head scheduled a meeting with the steering wheel. The next thing he was aware of was Judy screaming his name and a large man's lumbering form come into view. He noted the white nondescript van right before getting thrown in the back, and then nothing.
Judy screamed and kicked as she was pushed into the vehicle. Once the door was shut on her still struggling form, she crawled over to where her partner was lying, too still. There was blood running down his forehead, most likely from the collision, and he was pale, paler than he should have been. She patted his cheeks, and pried open his eyes, finally settling back for the drive after he reassured her with his efforts to get her to leave him alone to sleep. Hoffs had no idea where they were headed, but she swore she'd protect Ioki at any cost. Any cost.
