Taken

Chapter 14- Motives

-Thalia POV-

"Is this some sort of a joke? Are you sure that kid is Percy Jackson?"

We had moved on into the dining area and brought the case files and tacos with us. We were currently discussing the lead that we had just come across.

"That's Percy, Thalia," Rachel concluded. "I've seen his baby pictures, and that's definitely him."

"Do you think this could have been photo shopped?" Nico asked. He looked like he was calm and collected, but a slight tremor in his voice told me differently.

"No, these are the original pictures from the case," Leo explained. The look of worry on his elfish face looked misplaced, as if it didn't belong there. "They couldn't have been photo shopped."

After seeing Percy in the picture with Annabeth, it made me realize that this wasn't some sort of game. I realized it wasn't some sort of game where they were hiding and we had to find them, as it went too far back for that. Our friends were really captured. A chill went down my spine at the thought of it.

"What does this mean?" Grover asked, his voice muffled from a taco that was currently being stuffed into his mouth.

"It means that we might have gotten it all wrong," Jason spoke, running a nervous hand through his hair. "We always thought that Annabeth was Luke's target, but this information might have proved us all wrong."

"But it could be a coincidence as well," Piper added, her eyes sharpening at the newfound information. "Technically we have no legitimate proof that Luke was actually after Percy at all."

"But if he was after Percy, why might he be? Sally isn't exactly the type to have skeletons in the closet that could endanger her son's life," Rachel continued, and a hand came to her forehead. "I'm starting to get a migraine from all of this thinking."

"It would have been his father," Nico concluded from the corner of the room. "I think his father is some sort of businessman, and maybe Luke wanted the money?"

I shook my head and crossed my arms. "Annabeth's mother isn't exactly knee deep in debt, either. She is a millionaire, so if Luke had wanted money, he would have given a ransom the first time, don't you think?"

Nico's eyes flashed and he opened his mouth, but Jason cut him off, "So if it isn't about money, what is it about?"

"Why would anyone want to hurt Percy?" Rachel moaned, letting her head hit the table. "Besides the fact that he's a jackass and a terrible boyfriend, he doesn't deserve this."

"Neither does Annabeth," Juniper voiced.

"That's why we need to save them," I spoke, confidence flowing through my words. "Does anyone know anything about his father?"

I looked pointedly at the guys, who all shrugged. They all seemed pretty beaten up at the fact that they had no idea who their best friend's father was, and I didn't blame them. Rachel seemed pretty out of it too, and I knew that she was just trying to get past the fact that her ex-boyfriend was being held by a serial killer.

To be honest, I thought she was handling this pretty well.

I couldn't help but start to think about Annabeth and what she must have had to have gone through. Her brothers were murdered, her mother was distancing herself from her, and she was captured again by the man who made her life hell all those years ago. I felt bile rise into the back of my throat at the thought of it.

I knew that if Luke didn't want Annabeth, then there was no reason for him to be keeping her alive. I don't know what I would do if my best friend weren't to come back. I haven't been able to function without her for a few weeks, but for the rest of my life? I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

I suddenly felt like I was slowly sinking back into my old thoughts and feelings of pain and worthlessness. But only this time I didn't have Annabeth to save me.

And sitting in a room full of people, I've never felt more alone.

"Hey Thalia, you okay?"

I jumped in surprise at my brother's voice, saving me from my thoughts.

Piper and Jason were sitting behind a laptop, while Grover and Juniper looked to be compiling old ideas from the police report onto a white board (when did that get there?), and lastly Leo, Rachel, and Nico were sitting at the opposite end of the dining table eating tacos and talking quietly.

I realized that everyone had stopped what they were doing to look at me with confusion, but I shrugged them off and put on a fake smile.

"I'm fine, just tired. So, uh, what are we doing?"

I probably looked really stupid sitting in the middle of it all and staring off into space. But what the hell, these guys probably didn't even notice until Jason said something.

Piper went off into a long description of what her and Jason were doing, obviously looking past my obvious awkwardness, while Jason threw me a knowing look.

I glared at him right back, which he, to my pleasure, returned for a brief moment before turning back to the computer screen and wrote something down on a pad of paper that was by his side.

Not really wanting to deal with my brother's problems I decided to move to where Grover and Juniper were working. As I approached, I was able to see just how in detail they were getting, and I have to admit that I was impressed. Juniper was basically outlining all the possible accomplices to when Annabeth went missing the first time, and comparing them to the ones now. When I asked her about it, her answer was a little hard to follow.

"We basically are looking for any possible connections between Annabeth's mom and Percy's dad. Did you know that Percy's dad's name is Poseidon? Anyway, apparently Luke's dad was actually employed at Poseidon Inc., which means that there actually was some sort of connection between the two. We just don't know the specifics."

I raised an eyebrow at the newfound information. "How exactly did you come up with this stuff?"

Juniper blushed while Grover reached back to rub the back of his neck in a sheepish gesture. "We might have hacked into the Poseidon Inc. mainframe," Juniper admitted, her blush becoming even more prominent on her skin.

I looked at her in shock. "How did you do that?"

Grover spoke up this time, "It was really quite easy actually, their server didn't have too difficult of a firewall, and-"

"You know what? I just decided I don't really want to know how you did it… just, uh, keep doing what you're doing."

Juniper nodded and dragged Grover back to the board to keep searching for possible leads. It kind of felt like I just stepped into an episode of Criminal Minds.

I found myself walking back toward Jason, who was now staring at the computer screen alone. I noticed that Piper was sitting next to Rachel and in an intense conversation with Leo and Nico. Rachel seemed to be getting along with everyone, which was nice to see.

I had hated her for a long time, so it was odd to see that she was so easy to get along with. But I guess that it was Annabeth who brought her into our little group, which makes sense. Annabeth is a great judge in character. Even though she is usually talkative, Rachel didn't really seem to be paying attention to what they were saying, sitting there with a lost look in her eye.

I wonder if that's what I looked like earlier.

"Hey, Thalia, I need your help," Jason called, gesturing to the computer. "It seems like I can't get much information on Athena Chase, so do you know anything that we don't know?"

I shrugged, taking a seat beside him. "I only know what Annabeth wanted me to know; she was always very secretive about her past, and now it seems as though she had a good reason."

"Was Athena the same way?"

"I only met her once," I admitted. "She was a lot like Annabeth, but she had dark hair instead of blonde. They had the same mannerisms, which I thought was hilarious. But there was a tension between them; like there was an elephant in the room that no one really wanted to talk about."

"So the relationship between Annabeth and her mother was strained?" Jason asked, leaning forward onto his forearms. "Do you have any idea why it was?"

"I did say that I only met her once, you know."

Jason sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I just want to find these guys."

My eyebrows rose in shock when Jason spoke in plural. "So you're telling me that Luke hasn't been working alone?"

He laughed, and looked at me like I just said something stupid. "C'mon, Thalia, you're telling me that only one guy can keep Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, the two most relentless people on the planet, captive for an entire month?"

I laughed and shook my head in disbelief. I never knew that my brother actually had a brain, nevertheless having the ability to prove me wrong. "You're right."

He looked smugly at his computer screen, and began typing something into a search engine, before pausing and turning back towards me. "So, tell me, how bad was it to say that I was right?"

I glared at him, taking a second to see if he would wither underneath my stare. If anything, the asshat's smile only got bigger. "It was like putting acid in my mouth and using it for mouthwash, you little bitch."

He laughed and turned back to his computer, a twinkle in his eye. But not before long the twinkle was replaced with doubt and worry. "Well, I can't find anything about Annabeth and Athena's relationship."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Even with the press after the first kidnapping?"

He nodded, his lips pursed together in thought. "It seems that Annabeth was kept out of the spotlight- Athena sure seems to be pretty protective."

I nodded. "Yeah, Annabeth doesn't get to go anywhere with her mom. She spends a lot of time alone in that house of hers."

"Seems lonely."

I nodded, and we slipped into an awkward silence, which Jason smartly broke before I could fall back into my thoughts.

"Did Annabeth ever mention having a brother before?" Jason asked, turning back toward me. "I mean, since you know her best, and all."

I rested my elbows on the table and held my head in my hands. "I had no idea that Annabeth had been kidnapped ten years ago, let alone had a brother before all of it. So, I think that it would be cool if you looked him up."

Jason rolled his eyes before starting to type again, and going through random databases, looking for anything on Annabeth's brother. He moved his lips as he read over the information on the screen in front of him, which I had no idea that he did when he read.

Hell, I didn't even know that he could read.

"Holy shit," Jason spoke, his eyes going wide.

"What?"

"Holy freaking shit!"

I smacked the back of his head, causing him to glare at me, but only for a second, before turning back to the computer and typing frantically. "You have got to be kidding me," he mumbled over and over again. "This has got to be some sort of joke."

"What the hell, Jason?" I asked, my voice carrying throughout the room. I vaguely noticed that everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the super-geek typing at the computer and I, who probably looked pretty pissed off.

"I know what connection Luke had to Annabeth," Jason said. "And I think I know why Malcolm was going to run away."

"What is it?" Piper asked, walking over to stand behind Jason's chair.

"Well, apparently Malcolm Chase had a blog, where he mentioned the name "Luke" and the word "friend" in the same sentence multiple times. Also, later on in the blog he started to talk about how his mother was being too over protective, and get this: he was talking about how his friend was getting into something big and he didn't want to be a part of it."

I held up my hand, and Jason looked at me mockingly, as a teacher would a student. "Yes, Thalia?"

"Question, why would Malcolm write all of this stuff on a blog for everyone to see? I mean, with Athena for a mother press would be all over the kid, and I know for a fact that he couldn't have been that stupid." When they all looked at me weirdly, I explained, "I mean, he does have Athena for a mother."

Everyone nodded in agreement and turned to Jason expectantly. "I found the blog searching for what websites Malcolm Chase had visited most frequently. The blog was anonymous, but every post was signed M.C.; I'd like to take the jump and assume that it was Malcolm who was posting."

"Do we know what was so big that Malcolm tried to get away from?" Nico asked, his voice sounding a little daunting coming from the shadows. "If we find out what he was running from, it will probably become a motive for Luke."

Nico has kept to himself, so it was odd to hear his voice. He has kept to himself even more so now that Percy is missing, which is kind of troubling.

The two of us have a lot in common, and I know that if I didn't have Jason I would probably be where he is now. Lurking in the shadows, keeping to myself… it doesn't seem like a great way to live. But for him, maybe it's his only choice.

Juniper spoke up, "All Grover and I found was that Hermes Castellan, Luke's father, worked for Posiedon. It's a possible connection to Percy, but we can't be too sure. Anyways, apparently Mr. Castellan died in a boat accident on the job… that could be possible motive for Luke to take Percy."

I nodded in agreement, as pieces of the puzzle starting to come together for me. "And if Malcolm found out about what his friend was going to do, he might have tried to stop it- only to be captured himself."

Jason smiled, and looked at the group. "I guess we got our motive."

"Yeah, and now I think that Grover and Juniper can continue to research Luke's family, while we turn in. I mean, beside Jason, who really just got lucky, no one is really that great with computers like they are." I turned to Juniper and Grover, smiling at their flushed faces. "If that's okay with you, of course."

Surprisingly Juniper was the one who spoke up. "Yeah, we can go finish up at my place. My families' study is kind of a technological masterpiece."

"Of course it is," Grover mumbled, shaking his head. "Yeah, I guess we can keep searching and see what we find."

Grover and Juniper seemed to be getting along with each other sweetly enough. Even a blind man would be able to see that Grover and Percy were really close, so it's nice to see that Juniper is keeping him busy with all of the research that I know she loves.

"Great," I said, smiling. "So it's settled then? We can meet up before school and talk to Brunner about what we found."

Rachel's green eyes were bright with excitement. "When should we meet up?"

"We should get there an hour before school, you know, just in case," Piper suggested.

"Seriously? That early? I can barely get up to get to first hour!" Leo complained, his elfish face becoming overwhelmed with a child-like annoyance.

Piper wacked him upside the head, and narrowed his eyes at him. "We are meeting Brunner an hour before school starts, and you will be there, got it?"

Leo looked at her with wide eyes, and I swore I saw him gulp. "Got it."

Jason laughed, and patted Leo's back in a mocking gesture. "Oh boy, Leo. Looks like someone needs to clean up because I swear I just saw you pee yourself."

Leo grumbled to himself while Rachel gave Piper a high-five. It was starting to feel like we were all meshing well together, like a team should. I took a second to smell the roses and studied the people in the room around me. Jason, Piper, and Leo seemed to be the troublesome threesome, constantly bickering with each other only like three friends should.

Nico seems to keep to himself, even more so now that Percy is missing, which is kind of troubling. We have a lot in common, and I know that if I didn't have Jason I would probably be where he is now. Lurking in the shadows, keeping to myself… it doesn't seem like a great way to live. But for him, maybe it's his only choice.

"Well, I hate to kick people out, but it is getting pretty late and I need to get my beauty sleep," Piper joked.

"Yeah, we should probably head out, right Thalia?" Jason asked, obviously trying to make a good impression on Piper. I just rolled my eyes at his antics.

"You bet, Jason. Thanks for having us over, Piper."

We all said our goodbyes, and Jason and I started to make our way back home. There was a silence between us that wasn't troubling, but uncomfortable. We knew that we were getting closer to finding Annabeth and Percy, but for some reason it didn't feel like it was enough.

It will probably never feel like it's enough.

"You okay, Thalia?" Jason asked, breaking the silence. "You were pretty quiet for a while back at Piper's house."

"I'm okay. I was just thinking about how far we've all come, that's all."

He hummed a bit in response, and put his hands in his pockets. "You know you don't have to distance yourself, right? That we're all in this together?"

I looked up at him with a small smile. "Yeah, of course I do, Jason. But sometimes there are things that you just have to figure out for yourself."

He nodded again, keeping his gaze straight forward. "I've been thinking about what you told me earlier today, Thalia."

"About how I tried to kill myself?"

I heard a sharp intake of breath, and I knew I hit it right on the bull's-eye. "Yeah, that."

"It happened a while ago, Jason. It's nothing that you need to worry about."

"But why? Why would you do it, Thalia? What made you want to do it?"

"I thought I already told you what happened, Jason. It was two years ago, and you know why."

"So it was because of me?"

I bit back a gasp at the sound of his voice. It wasn't accusing as it had been earlier today, but instead it was guilty and innocent.

"It wasn't you, Jason… it was just the thought that what we had lost, what our relationship had turned into. That's what sent me over the edge. It wasn't you- it was never you."

"Well, I'm never letting go of our sibling-ness ever again. Not for a girl, not for a friend… not for anything. Thalia, you're all I have, and I'm not letting that go."

I smiled, looking straight ahead. "Good."

His arm wrapped around my shoulders and it stayed there for the rest of the walk back to our apartment, where we took care of our mother and went to sleep, safe in our beds. But I couldn't get rid of this sickening feeling in the back of my stomach.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The next morning, Jason and I were too tired to do much but get ready and go to school. We had to get up an hour earlier than normal to have a meeting with Chiron Brunner, the man behind the operation that we were a part of.

To be honest, I think highly of him, and I knew that Annabeth did too. It's nice to know we have someone like him helping us, no matter how secretive he may be. Jason doesn't exactly agree with me, but that's because he's too proud to admit that it's okay not to know everything.

We walked into the school like zombies, as no makeup was too good to cover up the dark circles underneath my eyes from the minimal amount of sleep I had gotten the night before.

"That's three people, Jason. Three teachers looked at us like we were straight out of Star Trek or something."

He laughed quietly, softly elbowing my side. "Cut it out, Thalia, I'm sure they're just very surprised to see you so early in the morning. God knows that they hardly see you in first hour."

"And it's not the same for you because…"

"Because I'm a great student."

I slapped the back of his head before speed walking to get ahead of him, wanting to drop that subject before it even started. "Hurry up, fucktard! We're going to be late!"

I heard him grumble and pick up the pace from behind me. "You just don't want to talk about anything that's not you, huh?"

I turned to face him and started to walk backwards. "You caught me, asshat, congratulations. Now, we seriously need to get to Brunner's classroom."

It took one glance at the time on his phone to get him to walk faster. Apparently Mr. Brunner doesn't exactly appreciate tardiness, even at uncoordinated events.

We got to his classroom in record time, and saw that we were the last ones there, besides Rachel.

"Nice for you to join us, Mister and Miss Grace. Your friends here were telling me about how you found out that Percy Jackson was at the scene of the first kidnapping, and how you believe that the target was always Percy."

"Well, that pretty much sums everything up," I agreed, plopping myself onto a desk top. "What do you think, Sir?"

I saw that Jason chose to sit next to Piper, before Brunner replied, "Please, Thalia, don't call me Sir. It makes me feel like I'm running some sort of illegal act."

Leo laughed, "Oh, I wasn't aware that this was supposed to be totally legal."

Mr. Brunner's eyes crinkled in amusement when he looked at Leo. "Mr. Valdez, I can assure you that this is completely legal. It's simply an act of private investigation."

"Which happens to involve hacking into government systems," Piper pointed out.

"And stealing evidence from the police," Jason added.

I shrugged, smiling a bit. "I don't see what's wrong with that."

He threw me an annoyed look. "That's just because you happen to be a kleptomaniac."

I rolled my eyes. "Wow, took you that long?"

Jason looked like he was about to say something else before Brunner cut him off, "Enough bickering you two. Anyways, it seems like you have found something that even the police force hasn't been able to. Good job."

I felt a smug smile cross my face. "Now we just have to learn more about Luke's family."

Brunner nodded in agreement. "I will check in with my contact in the police department to see if they have any new developments as to where they are being held captive."

I looked at the clock. We still had thirty minutes until class started. I could probably take a solid nap in that time. "So we can check in after school to see what the police have?" I voiced, looking at everyone for agreement.

"I'll check in with Rachel, too. She's in my first hour- I bet she just forgot to come," Piper said, her eyebrows furrowing with confusion. Rachel never really forgets anything as much as we were concerned.

Mr. Brunner looked at us with concern at the new information. "Miss Dare was supposed to be here?"

"Yeah," Jason said. "And it's not really like her to forget things."

"Do any of you happen to have her cell phone number? I believe it would be wise to check in now and see if she is alright."

"Yeah, she gave it to me yesterday," Piper said, taking her phone out from her purse. "Just wait a second."

We all waited in silence as Piper both called and texted Rachel multiple times. We all knew that Rachel was practically connected to her phone all the time, I mean, we've never seen her without it, so a feeling of dread started to fill my bones.

"She didn't answer," Piper's voice wavered as she looked down at her phone in shock. "Something is wrong."

Mr. Brunner started to furiously type on his laptop computer and then stopped, and a grave look came onto his face.

"Unfortunately it seems as though there has been an Amber Alert placed for Miss Dare," he spoke. "She has been kidnapped."