A/N: Thank you so much for all those reviews you super-duper bunch! Very much appreciated.
I'm so sorry about the delay in the updates guys. I've been caught up writing a story called The Road To Happiness and am just LOVING writing it. It's hopefully going to be a very feel good story, so if you're into The Walking Dead, please check it out. But thank you to those who kicked my arse into gear again lol. I hope you all love this chapter :)
Also, in the last chapter you guys may remember that I set a little challenge for you all to see who could cheer me up because I've been a miserable old bugger as of late :-P and although I got a good chuckle at all, I really loved the limerick written by panfan87. That was absolutely brilliant! Had to read it to everyone in the house lol.Hope you enjoy this chapter dedicated to you :)
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Chapter Fifteen
Subtlety was the key. It was a term that Detective Max Guard wasn't overly familiar with, but deep down he knew that keeping things low key may be the only shot he had at getting the Princess back.
Conrad had wasted no time in alerting the King and Queen of the news. Relief and blinding fear both dancing in their eyes as they had taken in everything that was said. Their little girl had been taken by a convict. Held against her will by a man who had been known to have a violent streak in the past, and not only that, but seemed to be helping him. The King hadn't thought twice before demanding to be taken along to fetch his daughter.
Max had been adamant right from the beginning that that wasn't an option. Corrine too, if he was totally honest. The last thing he was needing was for yet another member of Corona's Royal Family to be put in harms way, but after very little deliberation, Fergus had put his foot down.
The journey to Flynn's house was spent mainly in silence, Fergus nervously glancing out the window as the streets they travelled down became more and more deprived. All Max could do was send up a silent prayer. He had never considered himself to have any sort of faith. Any belief he had in God died along with her, but as he thought back to the image of the Princess throwing herself at her kidnapper he felt something that he believed to be long gone.
Hope.
Conrad brought the car to a stop; parking a few houses down from the one in question. He was nervous. There was no denying it. There they were sitting outside the home of their probable kidnapper in and unmarked car with no back-up. The academy definitely hadn't prepared him for that. Turning to face his boss, he felt no comfort at the expression he faced. Max looked sick to his stomach, the little colour that he usually had completely gone.
"Boss..." He managed to stutter out, Max slowly turning to look at him "What's the plan?"
Clearing his throat a little, Max turned in his seat, Fergus leaning in between both from the back.
"We're just going to chap the door." Max informed leaving Conrad a little confused "Have a few words with him. We get any solid leads we come back to the car, call in back-up and take this son-of-a-bitch down."
"And what if he runs?" The young cop asked, Fergus snapping round to face Max as he realised it was a possibility.
"Well..." Max began, unbuckling his seatbelt "We were given guns for a reason."
With a shaky nod, Conrad followed Max's actions in unbuckling his belt, the idea of his gun being brought into play worrying him. In his short term in the force so far he had never had to draw his weapon, let alone fire it. The horror stories that he had heard from some of his colleagues could only send shivers up his spine.
"Wait!" Fergus cried, bringing Conrad back to the task at hand as the two officers opened their doors "What about me? I want to help. I can't just sit back and do nothing while you two 'chap the door'! That's my baby girl in there!"
"With all due respect, Your Highness..." Max began, turning once again to look at the distraught King "The best way for you to help us right now, is to just...stay here. Putting yourself at risk is not going to help your daughter in any way."
Not waiting for a reply, Max and Conrad stepped out of the car, quickly slamming their doors shut to block out the pained pleas of the King. Max could understand. He knew fine well why Fergus wanted to make himself useful. Why he wanted to help. He could just imagine the guilt that was running rampant throughout his body. The blame that he must be feeling at not being able to keep his little girl from harms way.
With a deep sigh he began to lead Conrad up the street, catching sight of Flynn's house straight away. The street as a whole wasn't much to look at. Over grown littered yards. Kids abandoning their toys and bikes in the middle of the streets as their crack addict mother's called them in for lunch. The Rider residence was one of the few houses that looked to be just that little bit better kept.
"What a dump..." Conrad murmured as he looked around "Can only imagine what's going through the Kings mind looking at this place. You really think we'll find her safe?"
"Only one way to find out." Max replied, pointing up the concrete stairs that led to Flynn's house "Up here."
Nodding, Conrad slowly followed Max up the stairs, the slabs shifting under his feet as they approached the blue paint chipped house.
"Just let me handle this one." Max began, knocking the door before turning back to the Rookie "Best thing to do in this situation is to make him feel as comfy as possible. No need to make him feel like he's being interrogated."
"Ok..." Conrad nodded, Max turning to bang the door once more.
But there was no answer. Stepping back, Max looked up at the house to see every window had their blinds drawn.
"Oh, don't tell me..." He muttered, banging the door that little bit harder "Mr Rider! This is Detective Maximus Guard and Officer Conrad Forest from the MPDC. We were just wondering if we could have a little chat with you."
But once again his rhythmic knocks were greeted with nothing but silence.
"Shit..." Max cursed, his hands flying to his hips as he turned to face Conrad "Son-of-a-bitch!"
With a defeated sigh, Conrad felt the hope that had been bubbling up within him slowly disappear. By the looks of it, the house had been empty for quite sometime. A large pile of mail visible through the frosted glass of the door. The Princess was never here to begin with.
Reluctantly, the two turned to leave, but it wasn't until they were half way down the rickety steps were they stopped in their tracks by the sound of a door opening and slamming shut.
So fast that Conrad was surprised he hadn't suffered whiplash, Max shot round to come face to face with a rather tall, rather large looking man stepping out from the house next door; his belly bouncing as he heaved out an unhealthy cough.
"You lookin' for Rider?" The man barked in between rasps.
"Yes!" Max practically cried, quickly making his way upstairs once again "Yes, we are. Have you any idea where he could be, Mr..."
"Parr." He replied, holding his hand out to shake the Detectives "Bob Parr."
Wincing slightly from the strong grip of the man, Max quickly returned the greeting.
"Hello, Mr. Parr." Max began "I'm Detective Maximus Guard and this here is Officer Conrad Forest. We're looking for Flynn Rider. We've traced him to this address."
With a slight nod, Bob crossed his arms over his chest; turning to look at the crumbling house to his right. The look of sadness which flashed in his eyes didn't go unnoticed by the Detective.
"I haven't seen him in a while." Bob sighed, scratching the back of his neck "The kids havin' a hell of a time with it just now. What with his brother bein' in hospital and all." Max could see hear pain in the man's voice "He's a good kid, Rider. Yeah he's had his troubles, we all have, but he's been doin' real good for the last couple of years, Detective. Helen, my wife, she even got him and his brother to watch the kids a few times...He's...He's not in some kind of trouble is he?"
Sighing, Max almost didn't want to confirm it, but with a slight nod he answered Bob's question.
"Yeah, he could be..." Max replied softly "We have reason to believe that Mr. Rider may be involved in the disappearance of The Princess of Corona, Mr. Parr..."
Bob felt like the wind had been knocked out of him, the words that Max had spoken taking their time to sink in. Not Flynn. Not the boy who he had watched claw his broken life back from the clutches of Death and Destruction, and piece back together.
"You said he had a brother in hospital..." Max carried on, pulling a pad and pen from his pocket "Do you know what's happening there?"
"Uh, yeah..." Bob replied with a nod "Yeah. Eugene Fitzherbert is his name. Adopted brother. He was admitted a couple of weeks ago with a brain tumour. Lookin' real bad as far as I know...Maybe Flynn has been spendin' all his time at the hospital. You could try there."
"That's great." Max mumbled, penning the information down before popping the pad back into his pocket "Thank you so much for your time Mr. Parr."
"No problem..." He nodded as the two officers began to make their way down the stairs once again, but no sooner were they at the bottom before Bob was calling out to them "Detective!" He cried, causing Max and Conrad to turn "I pray you're wrong about Flynn...He really is a good kid. But if he is behind it, then he'll have a reason for it. And if she is with him...then she'll be safe..."
Max forced a small smile, and with a soft nod accepted what Bob had said. The boy truly did sound like he was facing hard times, and much to Max's better judgement, he felt his heart soften towards him slightly.
"Thank you Mr. Parr..." He replied "I pray I'm wrong too..."
...
Clawing and screaming, Rapunzel was forced back into the darkened house, Mike grabbing hold of her as she dragged her bloodied heels across the dusty ground. With as much force as she could muster up, she continued to pull. A desperate attempt to get away, but the more she pulled the tighter his grip got. Like a snake crippling it's pray. Stumbling, she fell to the ground, Mike grabbing hold of her hair and dragging her further into the old shack. By the time he let her go her legs were red raw; splinters from the rotting floorboards embedding themselves under her porcelain skin.
With tears blurring her vision she looked in the direction of Flynn, his broken body having been forced into a sitting position. Never in her life had she ever seen so much blood; the little man's from outside still covering her face and clothes seeming very little to the smears that covered the floor around her beloved. On shaky legs she stood, clambering over to Flynn before falling at his side.
"Oh my gosh, Flynn..." She gasped, brushing his sticky hair from his eyes before snapping round to face the two brothers "How could you do this to him!? He's your friend!"
"Friend!?" Scott scoffed as Mike let out a chuckle of disbelief "That's no friend. Friends don't screw their friends over all because of a stupid girl!"
Shifting in discomfort, Flynn clutched his side as he propped himself up against the coffee table, his eyes narrowing on Scott and Mike.
"I didn't screw you two over due to anyone." He rasped out, Rapunzel quickly turning to face him as Scott let out a menacing laugh "It's you two who've betrayed me. Betrayed Eugene! What, you just going to let him die? Rot away in a hospital bed as you kill me?"
"Ah, always knew you were smart Rider." Scott smirked, slowly making his way over to Flynn before crouching before him "You know what I'm goin' to do..." He whispered, pulling his gun from the waistband of his jeans and waving it slowly in front of Flynn, Rapunzel gasping slightly at the sight of it "I'm goin' to have my fun here. Cause some pain before putting a bullet into the back of your skull, and then...I'm goin' to take that lovely lady of yours and make off with her. Sound good?"
Scott could only smirk. A cold, evil smirk that caused the bile to rise in Rapunzel's throat. Cause the hairs on the back of her neck to stand upright. But she couldn't help but feel confused when Scott's smirk was replaced with the amused laughter of Flynn. Worried that he had taken a severe blow to the head, Rapunzel placed a hand on his shoulder, his laughter continuing to anger the men before them.
"Oh man..." Flynn finally spluttered out through his laughter "Now that's funny..."
"Flynn..." Rapunzel practically whispered "What's wrong? You're scaring me."
"Oh, sorry Honey." He replied, briefly looking at her before turning his attention back to Scott "It's just, this guy here...He couldn't even put a burrito together without the help of me, let alone a plan like this." Scott's nostrils flared in anger as Flynn's amused smirk set into a firm scowl "You really think you'll get away with it? Really? You really think you're smart enough for that, Scott?"
"Shut up..." Scott snarled, getting to his feet.
"You think you've got enough brains in that thick skull of yours to pull the wool over the law enforcements eyes?" Flynn carried on.
"Flynn, stop..." Rapunzel pleaded, glancing between him and the two brothers.
"I said shut up." Scott repeated, his fist tightening.
"Face it, man..." Flynn smirked once again "You're nothing but a brainless fucker who would need a map to find his own ass."
"SHUT UP!" Cried Scott, bending down and grabbing Flynn by his blood stained shirt "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
In a fit of rage, Scott pulled Flynn to his feet, Rapunzel letting out a scream of fear as she watched the burly man lay punches into her love once again, all before throwing him over the table. Flynn collided face first into the brother's sports bags which still littered the floors, the contents spilling out before him...And that's when he saw it. The small Swiss Army knife which once belonged to their Grandfather. The very Swiss Army knife that Scott had used to open their beer bottles the night they kidnapped his Princess.
With anger building up within herself, Rapunzel got to her feet, launching herself at Scott before banging her fists against his chest. At the distraction, Flynn grabbed the knife, quickly shoving it in his back pocket before turning over to look up at the scene before him. Feeling the burning pain in his side, Flynn gasped; Scott finally grabbing hold of Rapunzel and throwing her into Mike's waiting arms as he turned her to face the two men, once again grabbing hold of her throat to force her to watch.
"I told you to Shut up..." Scott said a little breathlessly before turning to look at Rapunzel "I told him." With his gun clutched even tighter in his hand he turned back to face Flynn, slowly lifting it and pointing it at him, Rapunzel's panicked cries fading off into the background "You brought this on yourself, Rider...One..."
"No, please!" Rapunzel cried, tears streaming down her face "Please!"
"Two..." Flynn could only back up a little, his gaze never leaving the barrel staring down at him "...Boom..."
And with that, Scott pulled the trigger...
...
A/N: What an evil place to leave this chapter. Sorry guys lol. But I promise I won't leave you waiting so long for the next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a wee review to let me know what you all thought. Thanks :)
Guys, I've also made a 'Soundtrack' of sorts to go along with this story. Just songs that have helped and inspired me when writing this. Here they are :)
1. Beautiful - Eminem
2. Bloodstream - Stateless
3. Howl - Florence and the Machine
4. Nicest Thing - Kate Nash
5. Calling All Angels (Remix) - Jane Siberry & K.D Lang
6. Flume - Peter Gabriel
7. What You Want - John Butler Trio
8. Bullet - Mat Kearney
9. Deliver Me - Sarah Brightman
10. Love More - Sharon Van Etten
11. Let Me Go - Avril Lavinge (Feat. Chad Kroeger)
12. Coming Toward - David Crowder* Band
13. Mad World - Gary Jules
14. How Did I Get Here - Kurt Farquhar