A/N Yes, I know, it's been a while. I planned my half-term to be all relaxed and write-y, and then I got given a monologue to write and learn, and I really wanted to enter Lolly's competition, and before you know it, it's Wednesday! (Yes I know it's Friday now, but this was started on Wednesday)... Anyways, enough with the excuses. This is Chapter 10, and if you have time, you should check out my other Mediator fic, The Stroke of Midnight.

TODAY'S HEADLINE: THERE'S ANOTHER?

De Silva spends time with his almost identical cousin!

Chapter Ten

Paul Slater

Two broad-shouldered and unpleasant-looking men loom behind Paul, their purple faces grinning in gormless delight at the sight of us. The one to Paul's left – who was slightly more toothless and hairy than his partner-in-crime – guffaws in his ear.

"You found 'em then, boss." Paul shows his white teeth as I reach for Anna's hand desperately. "They're like little mice – all scared. Me and Diego could squash 'em, no trouble." Paul holds up his hand to silence him, and the man falls quiet, exchanging a look of glee with Diego.

"Now, now, men," Paul says, just as conversationally as before. "We don't want to scare the ladies." He nods his head in my direction, and turns to speak to Diego. "You can take that one, Felix. Make sure you cover her mouth – you never know how loud these girls can scream."

Anna drops my hand and starts to yell – but Diego is already behind me and has kicked her to the floor, winding her. He seizes me before I have a chance to rebel, and his strong, sweaty arm is wrapped around my mouth, restricting my breathing and defeating any chance of screaming till we're found.

The other man scoops Anna up from the floor, who is still grimacing. Diego had kicked her hard, causing her ankle to twist as she felt to the ground. Paul spares no thought to the comfort of either of us, however, and simply snaps open his cell and orders whoever is at the receiving end to bring the car to the alleyway.

"That one first," Paul says to Diego, who carries me roughly to the car, before giving me a harsh shove into the back seat. "Keep them on the floor so they're not spotted." Diego sits on the hot, sticky leather seat whilst I'm forced to crouch, level with his knees. As Anna does the same to my left, and Paul climbs into the front passenger seat, I speak up, finding myself free from Diego's smelly clutches for the time being.

"You know, someone will realise we're missing. I'm supposed to meet Je – my tutor – in twenty minutes. If I'm not there in thirty, he'll be calling the cops."

Paul scoffs. "Whatever, little girl. No-one will find us." He cast a contemptuous look in Diego's direction, before adding, "Gag her. And the other one." I hated how he didn't use our names – though I was almost certain he knew them – and treated us like slaves. I also hated that five minutes later I was sat with a piece of material cutting into the sides of my mouth and making me feel like I was going to throw up.

There is no point crying out for help – the gag makes sure that no noise whatsoever can escape from my mouth – no-one would hear us anyway. Paul has the stereo inside turned up so loud that my eardrums feel like they are going to burst any second. Instead, I reach for Anna's hand and squeeze it. We'll get through this. I'm here.

Soon the car comes to a shuddering halt, and I'm thrown against the back of the driver's seat – Anna thrown against Paul's. Diego and his goof grin before grabbing the two of us by the shoulders of our shirts and yanking us out of the car, throwing us into the dust. I cough against the gag as some of it rises upwards into my mouth.

"Get them down onto the pier," Paul orders, and he heads down there himself. I realise for the first time that we're by the sea – an abandoned yacht club, by the looks of things. I'm pulled up again by my shirt and thrown down the stone steps to the wooden walkway. I land hard, grazing my knee. I'm also definitely sure I'll see a few splinters in my arm when I can get up again.

A dazzling white boat greets us on the pier, the golden lettering reading SLATER. We are thrown aboard the yacht and thrust into two chairs, our hands tied behind our backs like we are criminals. I'm too scared to cry, and Anna has turned a sickly yellow colour. My knees are trembling – knocking together like they do sometimes when they collide with Jesse's underneath the table.

Jesse.

My heart swells at the thought of him, and I squeeze Anna's hand tighter. The thought of him has given me fresh hope that we're going to be O.K. We have to be O.K… I need to tell Jesse how I feel.

"Do you know why I've gone to so much trouble, ladies?" Paul asks, sinking into a leather sofa opposite us. Because the gag has rendered me speechless, I merely shake my head, though I'm pretty sure of why we're here. Paul gestures with his hands for Diego to remove the gag, and I gasp, taking in as much fresh air as I can in one go.

"You don't?" Paul looks like he almost believes us. He stands up again and brings his face very close to mine. "It's because neither of you will give me a fucking story, that's why."

His breath is minty-fresh on my chin. "That's why you have us here?" I whispered. "So that you can add more crap to your rag?" Paul hits me instinctively, and my cheek burns. I can't even shield it from any more attacks, because my hands are still tied.

"Spill the beans on your boyfriend," he says, before turning to look at Anna. "Or your boyfriend… or whoever's boyfriend he is… and I won't kill you." Hysteria burbles up my throat and I laugh nervously. Paul pulls a knife from his pocket and digs it into my chin. "I'm not kidding around, little girl."

"I didn't say you were," I reply. He takes a step backwards and sinks back into his sofa.

"So," he asks conversationally. "Which one of you is going to go first?"

Jesse raps on the door – once, twice. There is no answer.

"Susan?" he calls, concernedly. He pulls his phone from his pocket and calls her cell. It's off. He replaces his phone and frowns confusedly. "Querida!"

"Hey." A low voice – obviously not belonging to Susannah – comes from behind him, and he turns to see his cousin Hector walking up the driveway. "You looking for the girls?"

"The girl, actually Hector," Jesse replies. "Susan – she was meant to be at home… we had a tutoring session." Hector realises for the first time that Jesse is holding flowers, and narrows his eyes.

"Dude, are you sure?" he asks. "'Coz it looks like a date to me." Jesse looks down and quickly stashes the flowers behind his back. Hector grins. "Do you like her, or something?" Jesse blushes.

"Or something," he answers, and then he pauses. "…I think I am in love with her." Hector shakes his head thoughtfully.

"'Bout time you figured it out, dude," he says, good-naturedly clapping his cousin on the back. "Well, as long as you stay away from my girl, it's cool with me."

"Thanks. Do you have any idea where they are? The house is locked and no-one's in." Hector looks pensive again – a usual rarity. "What time does their mother usually come in?"

Hector shrugs. "Sometimes she doesn't come home at all," he answered. "I mean, she says she's working… but Anna doesn't believe it. Nobody likes work that much, right?" Jesse says nothing. Hector notices his cousin's concern. "Hey, I tell you what. Maybe they went out to the pier, got some shopping in. All girls like to shop. You want me to drive you?" Jesse nods and the two walk back down the driveway towards the black shiny car that has been very badly parallel-parked.

"Aw, come on," says Paul, taking a men's magazine from his coffee table and flipping through the pages absent-mindedly. "One of you's gotta have some dirt on the guy. Which one of you is sleeping with him again?"

"None of us," Anna answers, to my surprise. "We've only been dating a few weeks." I smile at her, and she manages a weak one back. Paul, however, tosses the magazine at her, slitting her cheek with a paper cut. She winces.

"You brought us here on a boat to get some lousy story from us," I say, in a bored voice. "Are you insane? A normal person would just call us up." Paul stands up again, and I flinch at the sudden movement.

"I did call you," he says. "I called your phone and I waited outside your house. Hell, I even waited outside your school." I shake my head in disbelief.

"You're insane," I whisper. "All because of a story. Are you that desperate for a story? That desperate that you'd risk going to jail for kidnapping?" He doesn't answer, and instead kneels before me.

"Are you going to give me a story?" he asks. "Or am I going to have to kill you?" Anna squeals in fear, and I look at her fearfully.

"I'll give you a story," I decide, eventually. And then I spit in his face, causing him to reel backwards in disgust.

"Get the bitch outside!" Paul roars, and Diego wrenches me from the chair, wrenching my shoulder muscle as my tied hands are thrown over my head. Paul wipes his face with the back of his hand and follows me and Diego outside. Diego hauls up by my armpit, and lowers me over the side of the boat.

"Suze!" My sister tries to cry from inside.

"It doesn't look like they're here," Hector decides, once he and Jesse had searched the pier a couple of times. "Maybe they went home." Jesse shakes his head.

"No," he disagrees. "If they were home, Susan would have phoned me, demanding why I wasn't at our tutoring session. There's something going on, I know it." Hector frowns. "Why are you looking at me like that? What's wrong?"

"That girl is looking at you," he replies. "Behind you, blonde curly hair."

"Maybe she thinks I'm you," Jesse jokes, before turning around and groaning. "Ugh, great. That's Kelly Prescott, high school queen bee." Hector grins.

"They seriously have them in real life?" Jesse rolls his eyes, and makes his way over to Kelly, who seems a little shaken.

"Are you O.K?" he asks, and she's silent. After a while she manages to shake her head, before throwing herself at him and sobbing into his chest. "Kelly, what's wrong? Kelly?"

"They were kidnapped!" she cries. "I saw them together – you know, Anna and the freakish sister that you like so much – and they disappeared down some alleyway. I tried to call them, tell them it's a dead end, but then these guys followed them down and then…" She howls again. "This car pulls up and they're thrown in!"

Jesse is horrified. "Kelly!" he yells, shaking her by the shoulders. "Why didn't you go to the police? Something could have happened to them by now!" This just makes her cry harder. Jesse sighs, and hugs her. "Which way did the car go?" Kelly points, and Jesse gestures for Hector to come over.

"What's up?" Hector asks. "Does this chick know where Suze and Anna are? Why is she crying?"

"They were taken that way," says Jesse, pointing in the same direction as Kelly did. "It looks like they were taken to the old yacht club." He looks at Kelly. "Are you coming, or staying here?"

"I'm staying." Her answer is immediate. "I mean, I'll call the cops or something." Jesse nods, and beckons with his finger for his cousin to follow him.

"Come on, cuz. We're going after them."

I struggle as Diego continues to hold me over the boat – my toes are dipping in the water, rippling the surface. My wrists begin to burn against the rope that Diego is dangling me from, and my heart is pounding so hard my ears are starting to ache. Part of me is begging him just to let me go…

"Suze!" Anna attempts to yell again, and Paul's expression becomes one of irritation.

"Ugh." He waves an impatient hand. "Just drop her."

I land with a splash into the icy depths, coughing and spluttering as I manage to swallow a lot of water. I try to grab hold of the boat to steady myself, but I can't find it as my eyes are too cold to open. A roar of the engine tells me it's on the move – and I can't tell which way it goes.

"Help!" I cry, waving my hands up in the air frantically. "Help, someone please!"

"Querida?" A deep and wonderfully familiar voice floats towards me, and for a moment I think I must be imagining it. Until I hear it again. "Querida, are you O.K?"

"Jesse!" I yell. "I'm over here!"

A yellow inflatable boat drifts closer, and I see both Hector and Jesse peering down at me. Two strong, tanned hands reach down and pull me in with them. I pull the rope off my hands and breathe deeply, taking large gulps of fresh air. In, out… in, out…

"Oh, Jesse, thank God you found me…" I begin to gush, but Jesse interrupts me, grasping my hands.

"I'm so glad you're O.K," he says, before pulling me in for a kiss.

Thanks for reviewing, by the way! Do it again?