Hi, thank you for all of your reviews. I hope I managed to reply to them all and I didn't miss anyone. If I did, I apologise. I have thought of a much better way of replying now so this time I won't miss anyone. I really appreciate the reviews you've been giving and I don't want to seem ungrateful.
Here is chapter 3 and chapter 4 should be coming as soon as I can.
Chapter 3
Sandy peered out of the window, scanning the crowd of paparazzi. They had been on the drive for hours now and were still not making any sign of leaving. He had half the mind to go out there and shout at them to leave his family alone but he knew it would just make everything worse.
The house was so quiet, deafeningly so. He hadn't seen Kirsten since breakfast when she'd poured almost half a bottle of vodka into her tomato juice, giving him a glare to silence him before he could say anything to stop her.
He'd checked on Seth earlier on, but he'd refused to leave the safety of under his comforter.
He'd tried to talk to Seth about how he'd ended up in his room that night but it had backfired and now Seth would only speak to Captain Oats and occasionally his mom.
His family was falling apart.
He'd spoken to his mom and she'd insisted on coming down to help the family out. At first he had resisted, Kirsten was not a fan of the Sophie Cohen but his mother, hard ass as she was, wasn't taking no as an answer.
Now that she was scheduled to arrive in a few hours, Sandy found himself longing for the hours to go quicker. He needed someone to take charge and tell him what to do.
She wouldn't be able to find Ryan but she could always keep the police men in line and make sure they were doing their job right. After all, his mother could be pretty terrifying when she wanted to be.
He needed someone to help him answer the numerous phone calls and police visits. Someone who would tell him that everything would be alright and that Ryan would be found. He had to stay so upbeat all the time for Kirsten and Seth, but no one was remaining up beat or reassuring for him.
The PI that he'd hired to work for them during the ordeal was supposed to ring his cell phone if he heard anything, anything at all.
He'd only received two calls from him so far. One was to let him know that the police were expanding the search and Sandy felt sick at the thought that Ryan really could be anywhere in America, not to mention in another country. The ordeal had been so planned and so well organised, there could have so easily been a helicopter or a plane waiting.
The other phone call had just declared that there had been no sighting thus far and that he'd keep Sandy posted.
Every time his cell made any kind of sound, Sandy would jump a mile and grab it before anyone could pick it up before him. The hope that Ryan had been found filled him every time and every time that the phone call turned out to be nothing, it felt like he'd lost Ryan all over again.
He frowned slightly when the heavy silence was lifted by the sound of arguing from upstairs.
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He jumped up quickly, following the sound of raised voices. It soon became clear that Kirsten was shouting at Seth about something and Seth was emotionally replying in an equally loud, albeit teary voice.
Sandy opened the door and watched Kirsten, in a drunken rage, gesticulating with her arms as she shouted.
"Why didn't you wake up your father? Ryan is out there somewhere and all you're doing is hiding under your sheets and acting like the sulky teenager that you are."
She was practically screaming at her son and Sandy watched as the tears slunk down Seth's face in response to her words.
"I can't remember what happened mom. One minute the guy was shouting and hitting me and the next you and dad were waking me up." His voice was quieter now and soggy with his tears.
"Bull shit!"
Seth looked as if he'd been slapped around the face and Sandy knew it was time for him to intervene.
"Okay guys, stop. This isn't helping."
He turned to Kirsten and softened his voice, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Honey, let's get you to bed, huh? You look exhausted and I'm sure some more sleep would make you feel a little better. I know you didn't get much rest last night."
He pulled her into his arms and at first she resisted but then she melted into the embrace. He could feel his shirt soaking up her tears and he held her tightly. He breathed in the scent of her perfume and kissed her crown, just as he always did when she was upset about something.
He looked up at Seth briefly and saw him standing uncertainly. The Captain was watching from the side and Sandy could see Seth repeatedly looking at the plastic horse. It was as if he was waiting for it to suddenly spring into life and look after him.
He gently pushed Kirsten out of the room and gestured to Seth that he'd be back in a moment.
Seth barely acknowledged him but Sandy knew he wouldn't be going anywhere.
He led Kirsten down the stairs, allowing her to let the tears out.
He should have seen this coming. He should have known in her drunken state she would have gone after the one person who was being the most unhelpful during this whole situation.
God, the night before when he'd tried to ask Seth about it, he'd nearly taken out his stress on the kid.
The thought of Ryan being alone and hurting, was just so awful and terrifying that it was just balling up inside of both of them and threatening to escape.
When he reached their bedroom, he lowered Kirsten on to the bed and stroked back a stray hair from her face.
"Oh Sandy, what do you think they're doing to him? I just… I was so annoyed with him… and Seth for not coming home on time and I…."
Sandy held her as she sobbed, wrapping his arms around her quivering body.
"We'll find him. You know Ryan; he's probably punched that man and is on his way home right now." He tried to give her a tentative smile but it barely reached the corners of his lips.
Yes, he knew Ryan. He knew Ryan wouldn't give up with a fight. He knew that Ryan would be no match to the man that Seth had described to the police.
He held Kirsten as she cried herself to sleep, lying with her on the bed.
Even asleep, tears still leaked from her eyes and her face still held a frown of sadness.
He carefully removed himself from her embrace and kissed her on the forehead. He pulled the blanket over here unconscious form and left the room.
As much as he wanted to cradle his wife and try and calm her aching heart, he knew that he needed to speak to his son.
He left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.
Seth was lying on his bed when Sandy entered his room. His watery brown eyes stared at the ceiling and he didn't make any movement suggesting that he'd heard his dad come in.
"Seth, your mom's just upset. She didn't mean what she said," Seth barely stirred but Sandy could see the tears collecting in his eyes again.
"This is hard on all of us and I can imagine it must be especially bad for you, being there when it happened," Sandy saw when he'd hit a nerve.
Seth's face crumpled and clenched his fists tightly, knuckles turning white.
He moved over and pulled up Seth's computer chair to the bed.
"Please Seth, just talk to me. You're usually so good at talking. God, usually we can't get you to stop." Sandy kept his voice soft and leant in closer.
Seth wiped a hand over his eye, swiping at the tears.
"Well, having your brother taken away when, if you hadn't been so drunk you could maybe have helped him, kind of changes those sorts of things." Seth's voice sounded choked and Sandy leant in even closer, trying to offer his son as much comfort as he could.
"You know, the nana's coming down to stay with us for awhile," At Seth's sudden frown he continued on. "She wants to keep the Private Investigator on their toes and the police in line, make sure they're doing their jobs properly."
Seth shrugged and turned slightly away from him.
Sandy stood up, sighing, ready to leave. t was obvious he was getting nowhere.
Seth's cracked voice stopped him in his tracks.
"You're wrong about Ryan dad, whatever you say to mom about him being a fighter. He may be a fighter but he is no match to this guy. I saw Ryan try to fight back, to protect me... but he couldn't."
The tears began to fall again.
"I saw him fall, I saw him being thrown into a van before the man turned to me. He didn't want me... I wasn't who he wanted..."
Sandy turned back to him. "Seth..." he began.
"Hello? Sandy? I'm here!" Sandy jumped and closed his eyes in defeat. He saw Seth turn to the wall, away from him.
"Hello? Sanford?"
He left the room quietly and made his way slowly down the stairs.
"Ma, you're early."
TBC...