Hey, all. Here's the next chapter of Heart Stopping Comeback. I apologize for the long wait. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it. :)

I hope you enjoy.

"If we're not going to give him a million dollars, then what are we going to do?" James asked in frustration. "He has Mama Knight, Katie and Kendall. We can't– We have to do something!"

"James." Antonio sighed, pressing two fingers against his temple, where a headache was surely beginning to form. "Just because we're not going to do as he says, does not mean we're not going to get them back," he said gently. "I'm going to try to track him, using the phone number he used to call Logan. There's a very good chance it might be a throw-away phone, since he probably does not want us to know where he is, but I'm going to try anyway."

"And if it is a throw-away phone?" Carlos asked. "Then what?"

"Then we figure something else out," Antonio told him. "And we will figure something out," he added, taking in the crestfallen expression that appeared on Carlos' face.

"I hope so," Carlos said as he sat back on the couch, his head falling against the couch cushions, eyes closing shut. "I don't want them to die."

"Nobody is going to die."

"But they could," Logan choked out, his eyes already tearing up. "They could, if he doesn't get what he asked."

"We'll get to him before the time is up."

"How? We only have… two days," James said, his voice getting lower at the last two words. "I can't believe this is happening."

Beside him, Logan let out a small whimper, his shoulders quaking where he stood. Before anybody else could react, James had closed the gap between them and taken Logan into his arms. He felt Logan push against him for a few seconds, but eventually his body relaxed, and he buried his face against James' shoulder. It wasn't long before James felt his t-shirt start to become damp with tears.

Over Logan's shoulder, James looked at Antonio with pleading eyes.

"It's gonna be okay, mijo," Antonio said as he started to rub Logan's back gently. "Just leave it to me, okay?"

James felt Logan nod against his shoulder, his cries becoming quieter.

Behind them, Carlos watched, his muscles feeling too stiff to move. He felt as if he'd been struck by a mixture of fear and dread. Even though he wanted to, his legs would not budge from where they remained leaning against the couch, feet planted firmly on the ground.

"Do you guys have a computer I can borrow?" Antonio asked.

"I'll get mine," James said, and gently moved Logan away from him, since he seemed to be doing better than he was a minute ago. "I'll be right back," he told him, feeling guilty because of the way Logan was looking at him – with fear clouding his eyes, as if he was afraid that James would disappear too.

After taking one last look at Logan, and then at Carlos, he turned around and rushed to his bedroom, pushing the door open all the way. He was quick to grab his laptop from where it sat on his desk, and ran out of the room, with it gripped in between both hands.

"Here," he said, handing it to Antonio.

Antonio gave him a grateful smile and took the laptop from him, then walked to the island and took a seat on one of the barstools. "No password?" he asked as he opened it and pressed the ON switch.

"No," James said. Logan always kept reminding him to put a password on his laptop, in case it was to ever get stolen, but he'd never listened.

"Here, sit down," he told Logan, as he grabbed him by the shoulders and led him to the couch. Once Logan was seated, he took a seat in between him and Carlos, wrapping an arm around them both. "You okay, Los?" he asked, noticing the way Carlos seemed to be staring off into space. "Carlos?"

Carlos suddenly flinched, his head turning in his direction after a second. "What?"

"Are you okay?" James asked again, his fingers tightening around Carlos' arm. "You zoned out for a moment there."

"Oh." Carlos frowned and rose to his feet then, his gaze landing on his dad. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay," James said quietly, not fully believing Carlos, but not wanting to press any further either.

"Papi, what are you doing?" Carlos asked as he took a seat to his dad's right, eyeing the laptop that was now open, displaying Google. He watched as his dad clicked on some keys, before he turned to face him.

"Trying to track the number," Antonio said, before turning back to the laptop screen and Logan's phone that he had beside him, and typing away.

Carlos only hummed in response, letting his gaze drift to James and Logan, who were watching them where they sat. James' arm remained around Logan's shoulders, while Logan was leaning into the touch, his head resting on James.

"Dammit," Antonio muttered, a heavy sigh slipping past his lips.

"What?" Carlos asked, a frown coming to his face. "Did something happen?"

Antonio shook his head, closing the laptop shut. "Just as I thought, the number can't be tracked."

Carlos felt his heart sink at his dad's words. "So it's a throw-away phone?"

"Seems like it," Antonio said as he ran a hand through his dark black hair. "I'll have to figure out something else."

"Something like what?"

"I'm not sure," Antonio sighed.

That's when an idea dawned on Carlos.

"I might have something," he said slowly. "I just don't know if it'll work."

"Anything's worth a try at this point. What is it?"

Turning to James and Logan, Carlos stood up and moved to where they sat. "I was just thinking… Kelly has been able to track our phones several times. Maybe, if she tells us how she did it, we can track Katie's or Mama Knight's."

"That… could work," Logan said. "I'm not entirely sure how she does it, but I think she uses an app."

"We could call her and ask," James suggested.

"We haven't even told them yet," Logan said quietly, detaching himself from James. "They don't know."

"Might as well let them know now," James said as he took out his phone and started scrolling through his recent calls so that he could call Kelly's number. Once he found it, his finger hovered over the screen, and he lifted his head to meet Antonio's eyes. "Can we call them?"

Antonio nodded his head. "Yeah, that's fine. I'm not sure if we'll be able to track either of their phones, but as I said before, it's worth a try."

"Okay." Breathing in sharply, James clicked on Kelly's number and raised the phone to his ear. It rang a few times, before Kelly's voice came from the other end. "Hey, Kelly, it's James. There's something we need to talk about…"

"He had a gun."

Kendall felt nausea start to build in his stomach at his mom's words, his throat feeling as dry as sandpaper. He knew what his father was capable of; knew that he was capable of hurting him and hurting those around him, if he needed to. But the thought of him or Trey having a gun – a weapon that can very easily be used to kill someone – made him feel absolutely powerless and terrified.

"A gun?" he heard himself ask, knowing that he had heard correctly the first time, but hoping that he somehow hadn't.

Beside him, his mother nodded. "Yeah, a gun."

"Do you… Do you think he would have used it?"

"I don't know." Mrs. Knight shifted where she sat, struggling to get closer to her two children. "But it's best we don't give them a reason to use it."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Kendall asked, his throat feeling tight. "Just wait around for someone to come rescue us?"

"Of course not," his mother said, her voice turning to a whisper. "But I don't know what they're planning. And if we want to get out of here, we need to think long and hard about what we're going to do."

"I know what they're planning, sorta."

"Sorta?" Katie asked, raising her head from where it had been resting against his shoulder. "What is it?"

Remembering the video and the things his father had made him say, Kendall felt a shiver crawl down his spine. He couldn't imagine how his friends would react when they saw the video. He couldn't imagine being in their position.

"They want a million dollars," he said slowly, feeling like he might empty whatever was left in his stomach – which he assumed wasn't much – if he spoke too fast. "A million dollars by Sunday, or—"

He paused as he heard the familiar noise of keys trying to unlock a door, followed by the door in the room opening as Trey walked inside. He was humming an unfamiliar song under his breath as he turned to look at them, the scowl on his face turning into a sinister smile.

"Well, look who's finally awake," he said, eyeing Jennifer and Katie. "Took you long enough."

"They wouldn't have been unconscious if you hadn't drugged them," Kendall said through gritted teeth, moving in between Trey and Katie, so that he couldn't get to either of them.

"Did I ask for your opinion?" Trey glared down at him, and before Kendall could react, he had grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground.

"Kendall!" Katie cried out, her voice echoing off the walls. "Leave him alone!"

"And why should I do that?" Trey asked, smiling at the fear-stricken expression on both Katie and Jennifer's faces.

"He hasn't done anything," Mrs. Knight said in a trembling voice. "Please, just let him go. Do whatever you want to me, but please don't hurt him."

Trey said nothing, but his grip on Kendall loosened and he went falling to the ground. He gasped for air as he landed on his side, hot tears building in his eyes from the pain that soared through his ribs. He closed his eyes when the room around him started spinning, causing him to feel all the more nauseous. They remained closed until he heard Katie's cry of "Mom!" as Trey hauled their mother to her feet and pushed her towards the door's entrance.

"Where—" he coughed, which did nothing to ease the pain in his rib cage. "Where are you taking her?!"

"Far away from you," Trey said, not even bothering to turn in his direction.

"Mom." Kendall's voice broke, his hands shaking. "Mom! Please, please don't take her."

"It's okay." His mother turned to look at him, her cheeks already damp. "I'll be okay."

"Move!"

"Mom!" Kendall's throat felt raw, his limbs weighing a hundred pounds. "Mom! Mom, please!"

His pleas went unanswered as Trey pushed his mom out of the room and the door locked behind them.

"Kendall." Katie moves uncomfortably where she sat, her eyes meeting his. They were red-rimmed with bags underneath them. Kendall had never seen his sister look so afraid in all his life. "Kendall, we have to do something."

"I don't know what to do," Kendall said, looking away. He couldn't bear to look into Katie's eyes for much longer. He knew that if he did, he would fall apart, and he didn't want to do that in front of her. "But we'll figure something out." He paused, blinking back tears. "We always do."

"Kelly! Can you call the dogs and ask them to come in later today? Griffin just called. He wants us to record a song by next Wednesday," Gustavo said as he plopped down on one of the couches that was in the Rocque Records' break room. In one hand, he held a clipboard with song lyrics that he had begun to work on. In the other, he had a mug with coffee.

He raised his head as Kelly came walking into the break room, a scowl on her face. "Why can't you call them?" she asked, taking a seat on the couch next to the one he occupied.

"Because they listen to you," he grumbled. "They never listen to me."

Kelly rolled her eyes but took out her phone. She was about to call Kendall's number, when her phone started vibrating in her hand. "Speak of the devil," she said, chuckling lightly. "James is calling."

"Hello?" she answered, raising the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Kelly, it's James. There's something we need to talk about…"

"What does he want?" Gustavo asked impatiently, leaning forward to try to hear the conversation.

Kelly raised a finger to her lips to silence him, her heart sinking at the tone in James' voice. "Is everything okay?"

She heard rustling in the background, followed by a heavy sigh. "I— no, not really. I don't know how to tell you this, but… Kendall's gone missing."

"Missing?"

"Missing? What's missing? Who's missing?"

Kelly sent a glare in Gustavo's direction, which caused the music producer to close his mouth. She distanced the phone from her ear and pressed the 'SPEAKER' button on her phone so that Gustavo could hear the rest of the conversation. "What do you mean he's missing?"

"It's… a long story. Too long to explain in full detail, but basically… his father took him." She heard James pause and inhale sharply. "His abusive father took him. He-he took Katie and Mrs. Knight, too."

Abusive.

Kelly felt her blood run cold.

"What?" This time, it was Gustavo who had spoken. "James, what is going on?"

"Kendall's missing," James said, sounding slightly agitated. "It's only been a few hours, but—"

"Why would he take them?" Gustavo asked, taking the cellphone from Kelly's hand.

"Because… he wants to get back at Kendall."

"Get back at Kendall for what?"

James was quiet for a moment, but Gustavo and Kelly could hear quiet whispering in the background.

"James?" Kelly asked, her heart hammering in her chest. "What does he want to get back at Kendall for?"

"Hello?"

Kelly and Gustavo shared a look, having not recognized the new voice that came through the phone's speaker.

"Who's this?" Gustavo asked, holding the phone tighter in his hand.

"This is Antonio Garcia, Carlos' dad. I take it you're Gustavo?"

"Yes," Gustavo said. "Is James alright?"

"He's fine," Antonio said, "but at the moment we need Kelly's help, to help us try to track either Katie's or Jennifer's phone. Would you be able to meet us here soon? We can explain everything once you get here."

"Yeah, sure. We'll be there in about twenty minutes."

"Thank you. See you then."

And then, the line went dead.

"What happened?"

"What did they say?"

"Are they coming?"

Antonio handed the phone back to James, who was clutching Carlos' hand with one hand, his face having turned an ashen grey. He took a seat on the other side of the L-shaped couch, clasping his hands together in front of him.

"They said they'd be here in about twenty minutes," he informed them. "But until then, there's not much we can do."

"Are they going to help us track them?" Logan asked, sounding hopeful.

"I think so," Antonio said, his teeth digging into his lower lip. "But as I said before, there's no guarantee it will work."

"We know." Logan's eyes were glazed over, his palms pressed tightly against his jeans, to stop them from shaking, Antonio assumed.

"I'm sorry, boys," he said regretfully, feeling like he wasn't doing enough, even though he knew this wasn't something that could be easily solved in a few hours. "I really wish there was more we could do at the moment."

"We know you're trying, papi," Carlos said, his lips tugging up into a tight smile. "It's not your fault any of this is happening."

"I just can't believe that bastard was set free so soon."

"Sometimes people don't get the amount of jail time they rightfully deserve," James said as he rose to his feet. "I think I need to go lie down for a few minutes," he added, rubbing at his head. "I don't feel so well."

"Are you okay?" Logan asked, standing up as well. "Because if you feel sick—"

"I'm fine," James said, already moving in the direction of the bedrooms. "Let me know when Kelly and Gustavo get here?"

"We will," Carlos said, before walking to where James stood and pulling him into a hug.

Caught off guard, James returned the hug, beckoning Logan over with one hand.

Looking a bit hesitant, Logan took the few steps towards them and wrapped his arms around them both.

"We'll find him," Carlos said, despite the feeling of hopelessness that threatened to drag him under. "We'll all be together soon."

"I hope so," James mumbled, and then unwrapped his arms from around them and made his way towards his room.

Well, now Kelly and Gustavo know. Hopefully they can help the others figure out how to find the others. And now Mrs. Knight has been separated from Kendall and Katie... But she'll be back with them soon, so don't worry... too much.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the chapter. :) Thank you for reading!

~ BigTimeRush-BTR :)