The search of the castle grounds turned up nothing. Allura was sitting in Castle Control, Cady at her side, when the Force returned. Keith stood with Lance and Pidge at the monitor, speaking with Paton. Allura looked up expectantly, but Declan shook his head, letting her know they had found nothing.
"All right, Paton, let us know the second you hear anything," Keith said before disconnecting the call and turning to the others. "Well?"
"Nothing," Declan said tensely.
"We have an APB out, every police officer and guard who is available is out looking for Tess and Mytch Martyn."
"You think he has her?" Brina asked.
"He's our best lead."
"Who is talking to his family and friends?" Sky asked.
"Paton has gone to speak with his family personally," Keith explained. "She didn't think we should, for obvious reasons. She said his family is just as distraught as we are, they said that since he had been let go from the Brigade, he had changed, hanging out with new people. They're worried and willing to work with us to find out what happened."
Gideon nodded, "What about Kasen?"
"We have witnesses who saw him at the time the email was sent. He was no where near a computer."
"This is ridiculous," Declan exploded. "He couldn't have gotten far and I can't believe that no one saw the two of them!"
Allura pressed a hand to her mouth, stifling a quiet sob.
Keith quickly crossed to her, laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. "We'll find her."
A beeping indicated an incoming call and Lance turned to answer it. "Castle Control, Arus."
Paton's stern face appeared, "Lance, is Keith there."
Keith jogged over to the monitor, "What is it, Pat?"
"I have Mytch's brother here, he said he just remembered something that might help," she told him, stepping aside so a very nervous Kasen appeared. "Go ahead, son, tell him."
"Um, sir, I just remembered something that happened last week," the boy began, nervously tugging at the hem of his shirt. "Um, I saw Mytch last Wednesday, he was with a group of, uh, of people and they were heading down to the, uh, the western end of town, there's an old house down there."
Brina stepped forward, "I know the house, its an old condemned house about a mile outside of town, kids used to hang out there when we were in school before it really started falling down."
Keith nodded and looked back at the monitor, "Thank you, we'll look into it."
"Sir," Kasen cleared his throat. "I…I wouldn't do anything to hurt Tess, I mean it. I don't…I don't know what's going on with Mytch, but I had nothing to do with it. I like Tess, a lot."
Keith's cheek twitched as he clenched his teeth. He nodded stiffly, "We'll let you know if we find anything." He disconnected the call and turned to the Force, "All right, we're going there now, Brina, I want you to lead the way."
Allura stood, but Keith stopped her with a shake of his head. "You stay here, Angel, I'll let you know if we find her. Stay here with the kids."
Cady slid an arm around her mother's shoulders and hugged her.
Within a matter of moments, the Force, along with Keith, Lance, and Pidge, sped through the streets of Alforia in two castle cars where they were joined by Paton and several of her officers. The house was just outside of town, a relic from the days before the war with Doom, long forgotten. All the windows were broken, most of them boarded up. Grass and weeds had grown to absurd heights around the building and it was hidden by several large shrubs and trees. Huge holes dotted the front porch where only two of the four front steps still remained.
Paton motioned quickly and had her men surround the house. As soon as they had pulled up, a door in the back of the house slammed open and they could all hear feet pounding the ground as people ran for cover. Keith ran onto the porch, followed by the Force. He threw his shoulder against the door, feeling it shudder. Declan braced himself and ran full force into the door, hearing it splinter as he ripped it from its hinges.
The inside of the house was dark and musty, reeking of a sickeningly sweet smoke. Footsteps were echoing everywhere as people tried to escape. Keith grabbed the first person he could, a teenage boy dressed in sweats with a wild look in his eyes. "Where is she?"
"I…I don't know what you're talking about!" The boy cried, his voice rising to hysterics. "I mean it, man, I have no idea!"
Keith slammed him against the wall, "My daughter, you piece of crap! Young girl, dark hair!"
The boy sobbed.
Keith released him, watching with disgust as he fell in heap on the floor, bawling loudly.
The Force split up, searching the numerous rooms of the ancient mansion. Declan and Gideon searched the first floor while Sky, Brina, and Tristan ran up the stairs. Sky kicked open the first door on the left, interrupting a couple in the throes of an intimate moment. The girl screamed and scrambled up, clutching her clothes to her and running past Sky. The boy jumped to his feet, not at all embarrassed by his nudity.
He stepped closer, licking his lips and looking her up and down, "Hey there, baby, you seem to have chased off my woman before I was done. What are you going to do about it?"
Her lip curled in disgust as he came closer and she saw the glassy look to his eyes, "Stay back or I swear I will shoot it right off."
He grinned maniacally, stroking his erection, "I'll be the only one shooting here."
The bile rose in her throat and Sky took a step back, one hand on her weapon.
"I'm not done," he told her, grapping her arm with surprising strength.
Before Sky could pull her weapon out, he grabbed her other arm, turning her to face him. He shoved her hard against the wall, pressing himself obscenely against her. Struggling against his grasp, Sky brought her knee up in sharp contact with his crotch.
A low squeak escaped his lips as he released her to drop his hands to his throbbing genitals.
Sky grabbed him by the shoulders and brought her knee up again, this time into his stomach. He fell to his knees, gasping and cursing. Still angry, she punched him as hard as she could in the chin and he fell back on the floor, unconscious. Not taking her eyes off him, she backed out of the room, closing the door behind her.
"Sky, you okay?" Tristan asked, jogging down the hall.
She nodded, still too disgusted to speak.
"We didn't find anything up here and I didn't see an attic, let's go see if they've found anything downstairs."
Wordlessly, she followed him.
No one had found Tess inside the house and the people they had captured were all stoned out of their minds. All of them were young, the oldest appeared to be only twenty-five, and they were either very loyal too each other or too out of it to realize what was going on.
A door slammed and Gideon burst into the hallway from what had been the basement.
"No Tess, but you're going to want to take a look down there Paton, it's a bigger drug lab than the last place."
She nodded and instructed two of her men to investigate.
Keith walked into the hall from the front room, a look of anger and frustration marred his handsome face. "Anything?"
Everyone shook their heads.
The backdoor opened and slammed shut, one of the police officers ran straight to Paton. "Ma'am! We found a shed out back, it's locked, Harland went to get the tools to break in."
Keith led the way out back. The shed appeared to be as old as the house and was at the far edge of the land, practically in the woods. The big sliding wooden door wouldn't budge when he tested it. Tristan and Declan went in opposite directions around to the sides of the shed, looking for another way in. The back wall was damaged from years of neglect and having been chewed on and scratched by various woodland creatures. The bottom left corner appeared to be rotting quickly.
Declan found it first and poked at it with his boot, watching as splinters of wood fall. Grabbing the edge of the shed for support, he brought his foot back and slammed it into the wood plank, grateful for the steel toe. His foot went right through.
Tristan saw him and came over to help. The two of the kicked and swore before Tristan took out his weapon and shot down, weakening the wood even more and they widened the hole. Declan fell to his knees and peered inside the dimness.
He gasped and swore when he found himself face to face with Mytch. Recovering quickly, he reached through the sizeable hole he and Tristan had created and grabbed the front of Mytch's shirt, pulling him forward. "You worthless son of a bitch, where is she?"
Mytch struggled and pulled at Declan's arm, but found he was no match for a majorly pissed off older brother.
Somewhere, they could hear the sound of wood splintering as the officers struck the door repeatedly with an ax, working to get in.
"I swear to you," Declan hissed into the former pilot's face. "If you so much as harm a hair on her head, I will personally kill you with my bare hands and no one will miss you."
Keith took the ax from the officer and took to swinging it himself. Splinters of wood gave way to large chunks as he fought his way through the door.
The shed was lit by a single lantern and reeked of the same strange smell that permeated the house and a thick haze that left them all feeling a bit dizzy. In the back of the small room, they could see Mytch's back as he struggled against Declan's grip. Another man and a woman tried to run out, but were grabbed and led away by officers.
Keith's eyes swept over the room and settled on a small form on the floor against the side wall. Her head was down and her arms were bound with a belt and a scarf in her mouth. He ran to her and scooped her up, carrying her out into the fresh air. Gently, his heart in his throat, Keith laid her down, took the scarf from her mouth and the belt from around her wrists.
Lance, Pidge, Sky and Brina joined him, kneeling beside her.
"She's breathing," he said hoarsely, softly tapping her cheek. "Come on, Tessy, wake up kiddo."
Gideon ran around the back of the shed where Declan still had a death grip on Mytch. "Let him go, Dec, Paton wants to take him in to the station."
"Where's Tess?" Declan asked, not taking his eyes off Mytch.
"Dad has her."
"I know where you live, if she is hurt at all, I will kill you," Declan vowed again before releasing his grip.
"Come on," Gideon took his brother's arm and they and Tristan ran around to the front of the shed.
Paton and two officers were escorting a handcuffed Mytch to join the other people they had taken into custody.
"Tess," Keith rubbed her hand between his. "Come on, honey, wake up. Come on, it's all right, wake up."
"Is, uh, is she okay?" Declan asked nervously.
"The shed was filled with smoke," Brina said quietly, coming to his side and taking his hand. "When she comes to, she'll probably be high or sick."
Tess' eyes fluttered and opened slowly. She blinked and looked around, her eyes flying open in a panic, her body began shaking and she gasped in air.
Keith helped her into a sitting position and hugged her, gently rubbing her back, "Calm down, Tessy, calm down. You're okay, honey, calm down so you can catch your breath."
She sobbed and clutched the front of his shirt, "Wh-what's goin' on?"
"You're okay, sweetie, we're going home. Can you stand?"
"I…I feel weird, Daddy, somethin's not right!" Her voice tumbled out in a high pitched hurry.
"I know, sweetie," Keith got to his knees and took the hand Lance offered him, helping him to his feet. "We're going home, Tessy, you'll be all right." He groaned as his age caught up with him and he lifted his daughter, cradling her in his arms. "Call Becca, have her waiting for us when we get home."