Ch 13 Lost and Afraid.

Raph sat at the kitchen staring down at his cell phone. His family sat with him but no one spoke. They were waiting for the police to get back to them but so far there had been no further word. It was early in the morning and the last anyone had heard, the detectives had been looking into the connection with Moore and Bradford. Casey had promised to call as soon as he heard something, but Raph's phone had not rung since they last spoke with him yesterday.

Splinter got up and walked over to where Raph sat. He placed his hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze. "Perhaps we should have some breakfast." He told him. He looked up at Michelangelo who had been attempting to read a comic book, but the words blurred together through his tired eyes. He nodded in response to his Sensei. They all were exhausted and no one had slept in two nights. But Splinter knew he had to keep his sons' strengths up, as well as his own.

"I don't want food." Raph whispered before Mikey could even start. "I don't want to eat or sleep…I just want to find him and get him home!" He voice crescendo into a loud yell and he pounded his fist on the table in emphasis. "Why hasn't Casey called?!" He yelled exasperated.

"Raphael." Splinter knelt in front of him and stared intently into his eyes. "Casey will call when he has something to tell us." He told him. "Not allowing yourself to eat or forcing yourself to stay awake will not help Leonardo."

Raph took a deep sigh and shook his head. "I know Sensei but it's been too long." He told him. "They were looking into Bradford and his connection to Moore." He looked from his Sensei to his brothers. "Why hasn't he gotten back to us?"

"Donnie?" Mikey turned to look at him. "Maybe you can find something?"

Donnie sat with his laptop in front of him, he had been typing away and his family had assumed it was something for work. He looked away from his brother with shame filling his eyes. "I…uh…I already did Mikey." He whispered.

His family looked at him in shock. "Well…what did you find?" Raph demanded.

"Nothing." Donnie admitted.

"What do you mean nothing?" Mikey asked. "There had to be something!" Mikey pleaded with him. "Maybe Moore is keeping Leo at Bradford's old house...or..or his old dojo."

"I thought of that Mikey." He looked at Raph. "Which I'm sure the police did too."

"And." Raph urged.

"The only thing I could find is that Bradford taught Moore martial arts in LA." He told them. "I checked into Bradford's previous addresses and his last home here in New York was sold to a family several years ago and they've since sold it as well." Donnie looked downcast. "As for his old dojo, that's now a bakery." He looked from his father to his brothers and sighed in defeat. "This is why I didn't say anything." He finally admitted.

Splinter stroked his long beard. "There has to….."

The ringing of Raph's cell interrupted Splinter's thoughts. "It's Casey." Raph said excitedly, he put the phone on speaker. "Hey Case." He answered. "You're on speaker. Please…tell us you have some news."

"Hey guys." Casey's voice sounded exhausted. "Slash and Spike have been going over Bradford's records of his previous known addresses." There was a long pause as Casey took a deep breath. "And I'm afraid they really haven't found anything that could help." Casey could almost hear his friend's faces falling as they heard the news. "We've discovered Bradford had an old training camp in upper state New York about three hours from here." Casey informed them. "They checked it out yesterday but it's been shut down for years and there has been no sign that anyone's been there recently."

"Casey." Donnie spoke up. "Who funded this camp?"

"What Don?" Everyone looked at Donnie curiously.

"I've done my own checking into Bradford's background and…."

"You What!?" Casey yelled. "Donnie, you're not suppose…."

"Enough Casey." Raph yelled back. "He's trying to help and since your police is just sitting around with their thumbs up their asses…"

"Enough of this." Splinter intercepted before Raph could go further. "Casey, please allow Donatello to continue."

"Okay." Casey sighed. "Sorry D….please go on."

"Anyway, from what I could tell, Bradford wasn't exactly very successful here in New York."

"Yeah, we know that Don." Casey told him. "What's your point."

"My point Casey." Donnie sneered at the phone. "Is how was he able to have a training camp set up if he didn't have the money?"

"I'm sure Slash and Spike already checked into this but let me speak with them and see what I can find out." Casey said. "And…uh..Thanks D."

Raph hung up his cell and looked at his family tiredly. "I think I'd like some breakfast now." He looked toward Mikey as he spoke. The younger turtle nodded and stood up. He walked over toward the refrigerator and pulled out a bowl full of eggs.

"Pizza omelet coming up."He said and smiled sympathetically at his older brother.

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Leo opened his eyes and blinked against the brightness of the dawning sky. He had been running most of the night, clutching the little flashlight in his left hand while holding tight to the cuff on his right hand. The loud sounds of Jeffrey's screams echoing behind him, demanding he come back to him, kept him running in fear well into the night. It was during this time, running blind due to the small amount of light the flashlight gave, that Leo had lost his footing and fell down a small hill. He had heard Jeffrey's footsteps close behind him and he quickly burrowed into the dirt to hide in. He pulled at the leaves and sticks that littered the ground and covered himself up with them. He held his breath as he heard Jeffrey run above him. Tired and uncertain of where he was going, he decided he would stay where he was until morning when he would be able to see the path that laid ahead of him.

Leo brushed the leaves and sticks off him and winced at the sudden shooting pain that radiated up his right arm. 'Sprained.' He thought inspecting the swollen limb. He slowly sat up and looked around. He was cold, tired and weak from lack of food and water and the nausea he was still dealing with was only making things worse. He moved slowly out of the little underbrush that covered him and stood up, the flashlight dropping out of his numbed fingers. 'Wasn't a big help anyway.' He thought as he began to make his way up the small hill.

He reached the top and looked around cautiously and listened hard for any sound that might belong to Jeffrey. But so far the woods were quiet. He looked around, debating which way he should go. He had spent most of his life in the city of LA and walking around in the woods was something new to him. But he had to keep moving, he had to find his way to a town or some place where he could find a way to contact Raph.

He gently rubbed his right arm and shivered lightly. It was a rather cold morning for July and he wished, not for the first time, that he was wearing something other then a t-shirt and shorts. He sighed as he thought about Raph and having his arms wrapped around him. To feel the warmth of Raph's arms around him would be so much better then having just his own. 'Raph.' Leo smiled at the image that popped into his head of his hot headed lover. It was this love he felt that kept him going and made him determined to get back home. He looked up at the sun raising in the morning sky and decided to head away from it. 'Maybe going toward the West would get me somewhere.' He told himself grimly. He took a deep breath and began walking.

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Raph sat at the table nursing his cup of coffee. He looked up at the kitchen clock and huffed. It was only nine in the morning and he was getting very impatient. Donnie and Mikey had done what they could to cheer him up and encourage him to not give up on Leo being found, but everything had gone in one ear and out the other. After, the two had gone to work with the promise of being home early, Raph had gone upstairs and searched through Leo's collection books.

He found the book Leo gave him for their first Valentine's Day and looked through it. The police had found it in the SUV and returned it to him the day before. His eyes scanned the pages noting how each page was filled out by both of them each day since they met, almost as though it was a diary. He let out a sigh and took his red pen. He noted the date and wrote in big letters: LEO'S STILL MISSING. He put the book back in it's spot and walked over to his desk. In Leo's cubby was a notebook. He took it out and realized it was the notebook Leo used for their wedding plans.

He smiled when he saw Leo's information all written down in very specific details. Information about their wedding. Dates regarding their honeymoon to Cape Cod, prices of various restaurants and tours he had hoped to take. Receipts for things Leo had already paid for. Raph gave a small chuckle. This was his lover, meticulous and did everything almost with perfection. As Raph perused the book, he came across one page with writing that looked like a letter. Raph's eyes narrowed as he read..

MY PROMISE TO YOU ON OUR SPECIAL DAY

With all my heart, I make this vow to give to you my love, my life, my soul. From the moment I met you I knew you and I were soulmates and meant to be together, forever. I pray that no matter what happens, we are always there for each other, our love guiding us through whatever tough times we may face and reveling in the joyous times we share. As we begin our new lives together walking down an uncertain road, holding hands in uncertain times, encouraging each other to push on through the bad and cheering each other on through the good, my love for you will continue to grow and I'll be by your side till the end of time. With all my Love. Always and forever.

Raph swallowed the lump in his throat and put the notebook away. He rubbed a tired hand over his eyes and stared down at his phone. "Where are you Leo?" He wondered. "Where the hell did Moore take you?"

Now Raph sat in the kitchen, waiting, wondering, hoping. He looked back at his phone wishing once again for it to ring. Nothing. He heard the footsteps coming toward him and smiled. His father always seemed to know when he needed him, weather he needed an ear or a shoulder, his father was there.

"How are you doing my son?" Splinter asked.

"It's going on two days Sensei." He replied. "I'm angry and I'm frustrated." He looked up at him with tired eyes. "I keep telling myself we'll find him but I'm scared…scared that if…when we do find him, he'll be really hurt or….or worse."

Splinter placed a caring hand on Raphael's shoulder. "Through meditation I have been trying to feel for Leonardo's spirit." Raph looked at him, his eyes begging him to give him hope."It is still very strong and very determined." Splinter walked over to the stove and began preparing himself a cup of tea. "He will come home my son." Splinter told him. "And with the help of this family, you and Leonardo will put this ordeal behind you and you will be happy again."

Raph gave his father a halfhearted smile and nodded. He looked back down at his phone begging, in his mind, for a call from Casey when his phone finally rang.

Splinter looked at Raph quizzically when he saw Raph jump. "It's Donnie?" Raph said in surprise."Yeah Don?"

"Raph.." Donnie sounded excited. "I've been going over the information on the training camp Casey told us about."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"The property the camp was built on only a small part of the territory that was purchased by...are you ready for this?"Donnie sounded excited. "Leo's father Oroku Saki."

"Leo's dad purchased the property and had Bradford build a training camp." Raph surmised. "Makes sense considering they were partners."

"And there's more." Donnie told him. "The property is extremely large and, you're gonna love this, several miles away from the camp is a very small cabin."

"That's great Don!" Raph was excited. "Have you called the cops about this."

"Not yet." Don told him. "I'm leaving work now and I called Mikey so he could leave work and meet us at home. You want me to call them now?"

"No." Raph advised. "I'll call Case, he's off work now and see what he wants to do, but you, Mikey and I are going to take a drive out to that camp." Raph looked at Splinter who was stroking his beard. "See you when you get here." He hung up. "Something wrong Sensei?"

"No Raphael." Splinter told him. "I was just wishing I could go with you so when you found Leonardo, I could be there to help you take down this Jeffrey Moore." He finished his cup of tea and looked at his son with a stern look. "Just make sure you give him a severe thrashing for me." Splinter looked at him purposefully. "I want him to know how angry we all are for what he did to Leonardo...and to you, my son." Raph smiled and nodded at his father. He grabbed his t-phone to call Casey and watched as Splinter walked back to the dojo where a few of his students were already waiting for him.

"Haven't seen Leonardo since last Friday Master Splinter." Karai smiled up at him as she bowed into the dojo. "Is he okay?"

"Leonardo is fine." Splinter replied. He did not feel it was necessary to give his students any details of what was happening. "I have given him the rest of the week off so he and Raphael can have time to go over their wedding and honeymoon plans." He watched Karai get into line with the rest of his students. He couldn't understand why Karai constantly seemed to be so interested in Leonardo. She was always asking questions about him and specifically about his health. At first, Splinter thought she was just trying to be a friend but now he was beginning to wonder.

Splinter shook his head. 'Stop being so paranoid Yoshi.' He scolded himself. 'She is only concerned about his well-being.' He bowed to his students and began the class.