Small note this is fiction and fan fiction at that, it's meant as a tool of the imagination and not based in/on reality at all. I have nothing but the greatest respect to those that survive horrific real-life situations.
I am cancer FREE and due to that piece of news I am writing again. I have several parts of this done and you will now see updates more regularly.
Part 5
As unlikely as it had been, Cody was still disappointed to see cookies instead of a SWAT team. Sir told them he'd ordered them dinner and the cookies were for desert. Zack eyed the package and mumbled, "at least they're a kind we like."
Cody hoped Sir would release the locks and let them go play video games but he didn't. Instead he went to the tiled corner and started digging through a lockbox. Left on the on the bed, with nothing to focus Zack's attention, which was nil at the best of times, Cody counted the seconds before his twin did something that would likely get them into trouble.
Sir lifted his head and looked back to them, "you two should practice. You can never tell when your master will want a demonstration. You should be ready at any time to give one without pausing." He placed some small boxes on the floor.
"Demonstration?" Zack asked and Cody wished he hadn't.
Sir stood and turned towards them, no hint of the smile that had so far played across his features.
"Don't act dumb Zack it does not amuse me." His tone was dark and his hand hovered over his belt, "do we understand each other?"
Zack saw the 'C', written on the tape of the remote Sir's hand hovered over and nodded frantically. "Yes Sir, I'm sorry Sir." He grabbed Cody and pulled him closer.
Sir lifted his hand. "Good boy," he crossed his arms, "now show me." His voice was hard and Cody could hear the steel anger beneath.
Cody didn't even have time to digest what was going on before Zack was there, pulling him into a frantic kiss. Cody's first reaction was to pull back but he did the opposite, moving into his brother and kissing back. He couldn't deign, if he could just forget who was behind it, it felt really good.
They jerked apart at the sound of the doorbell, "Dinner," Sir called out cheerfully as he quickly crossed to the corner, "behave boys I'll be right back." He went through his security checks with a speed that spoke of frequency and then was gone.
Zack slumped back against the head of the bed, his fingers pulled at a string on the comforter, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make him angry."
"It's ok. I know."
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Harris paced behind Kredi's chair, attempting to rein in his temper as he listened.
"There's an African legend that says the 2nd twin born is actually the elder of the two. The way the legend goes, the twins are scared to be born, so the elder one sends the younger down the birth canal first, to test it out. Then somehow telepathically the younger lets the older twin know that it is okay to come out." Kredi was impassioned, looking between Harris and Benson with an eager face.
Harris resisted whistling and rolling his eyes, this guy was loony tunes. The guy answered their questions and had already given them enough to give Blythe something to work with, but it was like he couldn't help himself. Kredi claimed his interest in the Martin twins was aesthetic and purely educational, based on his twin obsession and not because they were young boys. Harris was willing to bet dollars to donuts that theory would be put to the test when Blythe finished with his pc. "Okay Mr. Kredi, this man you call the 'Auctioneer' have you ever met him or spoke to him?"
Kredi quickly shook his head, "oh no. No, the Auctioneer only deals with people who have money."
"So how does a small time luggage vendor know him?" Benson asked with a taunting smile.
Harris looked away as the door opened. Stabler jerked his head towards him and Harris made his way over. Stabler leaned in, "Blythe has something for you."
Harris nodded as he and Stabler exchanged places, "have fun." He closed the door on Kredi's answer and walked past the people manning the phones and felt nothing but thankful sympathy. He was glad he didn't have to answer them as most were nothing but crazies and some well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful people. He rapped his knuckles against Blythe's door, before sticking his head through. "You ready for me?"
She waved a hand over her shoulder in beckoning motion. "Yes-yes, come on," she typed frantically as he approached her. "We've got issues." She took a deep breath and released it with a hail of words. "Okay so this guy has been at this a long time, I'm talking years, maybe even a decade or more."
Harris wished he could say he was surprised but sex offenders tended to be life-long. "Do you have a name?"
She shook her head, "I've got nothing on him. All I've got on him is references about him that stem back years and mentions of other deals even further back. See," she waved towards one screen that, as Harris watched, filled with conversation, "I got this from net-crimes it's one of the child porn groups they've recently infiltrated. I'm using one of the ID's they've created. They've been careful with this one and have had it for years. It's got an online life, been used between groups and so it got a good background and it's solid, so I have to be very careful that I return it in the same condition."
He nodded, understanding. "So we have nothing on the perp, what about our boys?"
"Glad you asked." She leaned over her keyboard. Harris looked between her screens and saw nothing until she clicked and a picture of the two boys kissing showed up on the screen. "The perp sells the pictures. Anyone in the know can get these for the right price and the right price is steep. It starts at 150 and then goes up, as I assume the pics get racier."
Harris nodded, "Ok".
"And before you ask, no, I can't trace him. I've tried and I'll keep trying but he's really covered himself well. This is no amateur."
He patted her shoulder, "I know Blythe and I have no doubt if he makes one mistake you'll be on him."
"Darn right I will mister." A little box showed up and Blythe typed quickly into it before sending it away.
"Kredi called him the Auctioneer,"
Blythe nodded, "I know, it's using that moniker that's got me in the know on the pics and gotten me to where I can buy them. I have a feeling if we keep buying as the price goes up it will lead us where we need to go. They call him auctioneer for a reason and the Intel I've gotten on him, while not clear, infers that he always sells the people he kidnaps."
"How many kids are we talking about here?"
Blythe shook her head, "I don't even have a guess right now. I have to get further in. Give me some time."
He nodded, hoping the Martin kids had time.
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They were allowed to go to the low table in front of tv to eat. Sir wouldn't let them watch the news, which was probably for the best. Cody really didn't think he could eat while the news talked about them. Sir didn't leave but ate at the brown chair he'd sat in earlier. Cody felt his eyes on them more often than not and could tell from Zack's fidgeting that he felt the same.
Cody wasn't really hungry; however, he was scared of what Sir would want them to do next. He took his time eating what he could and the rest of the time playing with his food, much like Zack was doing.
Sir didn't seem at all bothered by their lack of appetite. He finished his meal and moved the plate aside as he stood. "All right my lovelies we've got some work to do."
Cody shared an unnerved glance with his brother as they both stood.
Sir sent them to the bathroom, which they were both thankful for.
The tub was filling when they left the bathroom. Sir stood next to it, bottles stacked on the floor at his feet. "Okay boys in we go."
The tub was huge, but still, "Together?" Zack asked. They hadn't taken a bath together since they were little.
Sir scoffed with a chuckle, "Of course together. The tub is more than big enough and I want to make sure you match." He used his foot to tap the boxes on the floor.
Cody glanced at the hair stuff. The boxes were marked, so he knew they were from a store and not likely to harm them, but he didn't want lighter hair. He glanced to Zack, who shook his head and pulled off his tee shirt. Cody read his cues as this was not the thing to bulk about, hair color was not worth getting zapped for and he agreed but still. He sighed and started to unbutton his shirt. It wasn't about the hair dye really and it wasn't about being naked in front of Zack. He dressed in front of him all the time, but being naked in front of Sir was nerve racking. Cody didn't know what he'd do and he could tell Zack felt the same way.
Zack got to his boxers first but hesitated to take them off.
Sir turned off the water, dipped his hand in, testing the temp, before he looked over his shoulder. "Perfect. In, before it gets cold." He straightened, turning towards them fully, his hands held wide. "Come now my lovely boys. I'm not going to hurt you."
Zack figured whether he was or he wasn't it didn't make much of a difference. However if they didn't move it would hurt and then they'd have do what Sir wanted anyway. Zack didn't see the point of getting hurt twice and removed his boxers, hoping Cody would hurry and do the same.
Cody was going to, really he was, but he touched the collar, "will water, um."
"Smart boy. Don't worry I've perfected the water proofing. Through, if I were the two of you, I'd be very careful that I don't need to activate it while you're in the water."
Cody shuttered at the very thought. "No sir, we'll be very good."
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"Do what?" Harris scratched his head. For a moment Harris wished he was back listening to crazy luggage man, cause even he made more sense.
Blythe blinked and looked away from the screen she was both staring at and reading from in disbelief. "This guy, he's like a phantom. He's the Dread Pirate Roberts. I've got reports of him kidnapping kids, adults, men and women, hell he once nabbed an F.B.I agent. He's never been close to being caught. No one even knows what he looks like for sure."
"The Dread Pirates Roberts? You think it's more than one guy? Maybe a group?" Harris thought about the implication and wondered how much harder it would be to find their Auctioneer out of a group.
"Has to be, some of the reports go back 60 years." Blythe skimmed over the information. "Missing and Exploited thinks it's got to be a group, working under the same name and using the same MO."
"Lovely. What does this mean from your end?"
Blythe shrugged, "unless you tell me different, I'm following after the twins, regardless of who has them."
Harris stood. "Good, getting the twins back is our objective, if we can gather info that will help others all the better. If not, we'll try to get what we can after the Twins are safe."
"Yes sir."
Blythe turned back to her screens and Harris let himself out.
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Max had picked at her dinner and now looked at her homework with blank resignation. She didn't know what to do about the group project. What did someone do when half of their group had been kidnapped?
She shut the notebook. No one seemed to know what to, do all the adults walked around with pinched scarred looks. The news didn't have anything to new to report and her mom wouldn't let her call Ms. Martin.
Her phone rang off the hook with people she barely spoke to from school, all wanting to be her friend now that hers were missing. Every girl Zack or Cody ever dated claimed they were the current girlfriend. The rumors were the worst though, people speculating horrible things about Cody and Zack.
She thumped her head onto her desk and sighed, when would this end?
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Zack hadn't washed Cody's hair since they were maybe 7 or 8. It was kind a nice. It had felt good when Cody had done his. Cody had been real careful to keep the conditioner out of his eyes and he tried to return the favor. The light color freaked him out a little, seeing it on Cody he realized how blond their hair was. It was lighter than Zack ever remembered it being. He rinsed it one last time to be sure and then put the pitcher down.
Cody turned around and stared, he lifted his hand and touched Zack's blond bangs and then his own.
Sir shifted and both boys looked to him. Sir gestured between them. "He looks upset, how do you comfort each other?"
Zack wasn't sure which of them Sir even meant but he did know what he wanted. He closed his eyes and leaned forward.
Cody glanced at Sir and his sly smile, his hand a little too close to his belt, and leaned forward to meet Zack.
The flash surprised them. Zack felt Cody flinch and leaned back. Zack glanced up see Sir with a small camera in hand, he wasn't surprised but the mortification was hard to stomach. He was naked and kissing his brother. He didn't want to world to see this.
Cody dropped his head onto his shoulder, hiding in Zack's neck. He wrapped an arm around Cody, and lifted his leg, shifting so they were mostly blocked. He kissed Cody's shoulder and then dropped his forehead there. It wasn't until the flash stopped that he realized they'd been hiding and his stomach dropped out, terrified, he quickly lifted his head, but didn't release Cody. "We're sorry."
Cody's guts turned and clenched as Zack's fear and what it meant registered. He lifted his head and fully expected to see Sir's hand hovering over the buttons. "We didn't mean to." He quickly supplied even as he looked, but Sir's hand wasn't over the button at all, he was smiling at them.
"Well that was artistic as well as beautiful." Sir stuck the camera into his back pocket as he grabbed some towels, "come on out before you get cold."
Zack grabbed a towel and handed it to Cody before taking the other one and standing. He was relieved Sir wasn't angry. For a second his heart had been in his throat. He wasn't the smartest guy around but even he knew an electrical current in water would have gone very badly for them.
Sir left them to go to a box in the far corner.
Cody tried to hide his shaking but was pretty sure Zack felt it. Especially when Zack rubbed his arms and whispered, "we're ok Codes." Cody nodded and appreciated the huge towel as he was able to completely cover himself. Zack propped himself against him and wrapped his pinky into his. Cody couldn't remember the last time Zack had done that, not since they were kids.
Sir glanced down at the plastic, walking towards them as he ripped it open. "Here we are my boys, these should fit. I'm rewarding your good behavior with boxers, appreciate it."
"Thank you." Cody mumbled, Zack repeated the same next to him. Zack caught both sets of boxers and handed one to him. Cody put them on beneath the towel though it didn't make a difference Sir had already seen it all.
Sir turned away from them and towards the bed. He pulled down the comforter and sheets, before grabbing the leashes attached to the wall. "Come, time for beddy-bye."
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Carey threw open the door and slammed on the light then looked frantically around the room. It was real, her little boys were missing. She slumped against the doorway. She didn't know what to do. She had given the speech asked of her, memorized what to do if the kidnappers called, but they hadn't and now there was nothing to do but wait.
TBC
If people are still interested let me know it please. Thank you.
I'm aiming for the next update to be next week.